FOR one of the most ambitious VSAT projects In the country, look to Hindustan Lever Ltd. Lever's aim is to keep real-time track of every box of every Lever product along its full journey: from factory, through 44 clearing and forwarding agents to 350 wholesalers, and finally 3 lakh retail outlets. This will enable the company to do far more precise sales forecasts based on daily updation of inventory data at every level of the distribution chain. The company will now be able to save production and inventory costs through quick stock transfers from regions where a particular brand may not be doing well, to areas where the brand's supply appears less than the demand. The swift information flows also imply that Lever will be able to monitor every shift in demand and purchase trends of its own and competitors' products as soon as they appear.
