Bajaj Electricals to light up homes smartly

The electric appliance-maker is using IoT for smart lighting in homes and smart cities and is taking an omni-channel approach to reach the masses

PRATAP GHARGE

BAJAJ ELECTRICALS

We sail through distributors, retail channels and modern retail stores but have failed to collect data of our customers over the last several years. Hence, this digital project has special focus on the end customer.

Pratap Gharge, CIO at consumer electric appliance manufacturer Bajaj Electricals, is on a mission. Gharge, who has worked up the ladder at Bajaj Electricals over 34 years, has massive plans to transform the company digitally and the work for the same kick-started around nine months back.

“We have taken a big digital transformation project. As it is strategic in nature, I will not be able to divulge much information about it at this stage but broadly we want to recognise the digital disruption in the market. We want to align our business model as well as our business processes so that we are equipped to leverage digital technologies, particularly the consumer-centric ones,” shares Gharge.

Talking about the importance of the project, Gharge adds that it will help the company reach out to its customers faster and enhance customer experience as traditional companies like Bajaj Electricals do not know their customers directly and hence do not have enough data about them.

Adding the project will start capturing this information about the end customers and utilise it for the betterment of the organisation as well as forwarding better experience to the customer, from products as well as services.

Bajaj Electricals operates in consumer products (home appliances, fans and lighting), luminaires (commercial light sources, LEDs, solar lighting etc) and EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) segments in which it undertakes turnkey illumination, high-mast lighting, transmission towers).

On challenges of using legacy infrastructure, Gharge puts in that the infrastructure needs to be refreshed periodically. However, the company now plans to take a bi-modal approach where it will have a Cloud-based infrastructure for customer specific requirement as well as legacy infrastructure for the systems of records and systems of engagement with respect to the employees.

The company has chalked out massive plans on the technology front for 2017, starting from focus on analytics and automation (manufacturing processes automation, like 3D printers), mobile apps development and product innovation.

Gharge shares that the company is looking at utilising social media and other such channels for its transformation project for making smarter products.

On the changing role of CIOs in typical consumer facing companies, Gharge says, “The role of a CIO is changing phenomenally. We are not only talking about traditional IT setups. Our role is more of an educationist as a lot of effort is required for changing management perspective and educating them about the transformation technology can bring to the business.”

Gharge, one of the veteran CIOs in the industry, feels it is important for the CIO to understand the business side too.“There is a common IT setup to serve the needs of both B2C and B2B businesses,” he says.

Another big initiative at Bajaj Electricals is taking an omnichannel route of reaching out to its customers. It has tied up with Amazon and Flipkart for ecommerce and is selling products through its own portal. Gharge puts in that the company is working towards partnering with other vendors for IoT-based smart lighting for the upcoming Smart Cities projects.