Service beyond VSF

The Aditya Birla Group is a world leader in viscose staple fibre (VSF), commanding a global market share of 24 per cent. Branded as Birla Viscose, this man-made versatile fibre is manufactured by the Group in four countries:

• India (Grasim Industries Ltd)
• Thailand (Thai Rayon Public Company Ltd)
• Indonesia (PT Indo Bharat Rayon)
• Canada (AV Cell Inc)

It is exported to over 50 countries, and customers the world over have warmed to the texture, colours and finish of Birla Viscose.

Customer value creation

In a unique initiative, Birla Viscose is now offering a customer value creation service which goes well beyond the requirements of a timely delivery of good quality fibre and product-related after sales service. Through this service, Birla Viscose aims to increase the customer's profitability by working on the key variables of:

Productivity: For increasing their asset utilisation levels
Improved quality: For better realisations
Reduced costs: Like power, packaging and labour, by comparing them with benchmarks

The process map followed at Birla Viscose has been clearly defined to ensure viability and sustainability. The team, comprising in-house and outsourced technical and commercial experts, first visits the mill for an exhaustive evaluation of its process parameters and ambient conditions. Extensive data collection is done at this stage, apart from mill management. This data is then scrutinised and subsequently benchmarked with industry standards, data for which has been collated over time for production capacities, vintages and product mixes. A gap analysis is done to identify problem areas and, based on this, a solutions package is worked out and presented to the management of the mill.

The quest for helping customers does not end there, as Birla Viscose participates in implementing the suggestions, helps carry out audits and continues to work in close collaboration till the joint effort yields results.

Birla Viscose has taken up this project with 22 of its customers so far. In many cases (see the table below), the mills have gained significant advantages, with an improvement in the quality of yarn manufactured or in substantive cost savings. Customers have saved Rs 32 million as a result of the customer service value creation initiative, which is Birla Viscose's way of demonstrating that it cares for its customers – beyond VSF.

Customers Services
	GSL India Limited	Increase in spindle speed by 1000 rpm. Reduction in packing cost by 25 paise per cone. Better realisation of yarn.
	APM Industries	Quality improvement. Higher productivity.
	Sri Bhagirath Textiles	Stabilisation of denier and cut-length of fibre. Improvement in yarn quality in respect of uster, imperfections and classimate faults.
	Kumar Polycot	Improvement in yarn quality. Reduction in imperfections. Overall increase in production by 5 per cent in spinning and 20 per cent at ring frame.
	Varuna Spinners	Increase in productivity. Imperfections level reduced. Reduction in packing cost and selection of product mix which can lead to better realisation.
	Aditya Spinners	Reduction in packing costs by substituting packing material and increasing cone weight from 1.5 to 2 kg
	Kaderi Ambal Mill	Increase in spindle speed by 500 rpm while maintaining the same quality parameters.