Milking Computers in India

Mr.BM Vyas, Managing Director of Guajarat Co-operation Milk Marketing (GCMMF) Federation Ltd gave a riveting presentation this morning explaining how his company had transformed itself in 5 years from being a milk marketing company to an "IT company in the food business."

GCMMF started in 1946 in two villages producing 247 litres of milk....today it supports 10 product groups through an Internet-enabled distribution channel which includes 25 supply centres, 4000 stockists, 500,000 retail outlets and a turnover of $US 500 million.

Much of the success of the company has been attributed to supporting the existing culture of the village co-operative societies.

Some of the issues debated:

1. cost benefits of the large IT investment made by the company,
2. the merit of the GCMMF model for other developing countries,
3. building brands on the Internet,
4. supporting traditional distribution channels for domestic and global sales,
5. de-mystifying e-commerce for employees and stakeholders.

Moderator's comment: Much of GCMMF's success appears to have come from harnessing the existing infrastructure and culture. The Internet was a means to release the value of this asset. Thoughts?

ITC Moderator: John Gillies