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School of Business, Public Policy and Social Entrepreneurship

Ambedkar University Delhi

YAKULT

FIELD REPORT

(OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT)

Submitted By: Group 5

Akriti Sondhi

Deepti Bandooni

Neha Bajaj

Shalini Gupta

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

OBJECTIVES OF OUR STUDY 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4

INTRODUCTION 5

ORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND 5

VISION

MISION

ABOUT THE COMPANY 6

ABOUT THE SOINIPAT PLANT 6

LOCATIONAL BENEFITS 8

THE PRODUCTION FLOW 9

Mixing of raw ingredients

Sterilisation

Fermentation tank

Control Panel

Flavour tank

Storage tank

Water steriliser

Mixing tank

Injection blow-moulding machine

Bottle storage tank

Selector

Printing station

Filling, capping and sealing machine

Shrink wrap and packaging machine

Finished product

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Finished product

Refrigeration room

Distribution

Hygiene

Yakult quality management system

Waste management

Energy management

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 14

DEMAND PLANNING

FORECASTING

DYNAMIC INVENTORY TARGETS

ALLOCATING STOCK IN SHORTAGE SITUATIONS

TRANSPORTATION OPTIMIZATION AT YAKULT 16

LOAD BUILDER

LOAD SCHEDULER

SYNCHRONIZATION AT YAKULT 18

Forecasting Accuracy

Matching Production to Replenishment Schedules

Integration With The Corporate ERP Environment

QUALITY AT YAKULT 19

WASTE MANAGEMENT 20

SIX SIGMA 20

CAPACITY BUILDING 20

ISSUES IN CAPACITY 20

UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES 21

PROCESS AND CAPACITY ANALYSIS 21

SUPPLY CHAIN 21

CONCLUSIONS 22

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project was started on 20th January 2015, gradually developing and compiling

information about various operational and strategic aspects of the YAKULT plant under

the guidance of our mentor professor Dr. Anshu Gupta. The first part of our project involves

the study of organizational background, operations of Yakult which is helping Yakult to full

fill the set objectives. To surmise upon these crucial factors, our professor of Operations

management organized a field trip to Yakult Production Plant which is situated in Rai

Sonipat. The second part of this study involves the competitive advantage and the product

which is being produced or manufactured by Yakult. This study required a detailed scrutiny

of Yakult and how it operates to compete with the brands like Amul, Mother Dairy etc. The

third and the last section of our project includes the awareness activities that have been

undertaken by Yakult in order to promote its organizational culture, apart from that we have

also included the four most important test which Mother Dairy takes in order to enhance the

quality of its products. The main focus of this study is to determine the operations strategy of

Yakult and find out some recommendations if required.

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OBJECTIVE OF OUR STUDY

The main objective of this study is to report the operation system of Yakult.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Methodology is the rationale behind collection of concepts, ideas, theories, and assumptions.

Our research methodology requires gathering relevant data from the specified documents and

compiling databases in order to analyze the material and arrive at a more complete

understanding of operations management of Yakult. So, the founds that we have included and

talked about in our project are based on following procedures:

Field Trip to Yakult

Database Collection

Compiling the collected information

Analysis

Interpretation

Find out the recommendation if there is some scope

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INTRODUCTION

VISION: Yakult pushes forward with the quest for new possibilities for probiotics in the

academic and medical fields

MISSION: The global corporate philosophy of the Yakult Group is:

"We contribute to the health and happiness of people around the world through the pursuit of

excellence in life sciences in general and our research and experience in microorganisms in

particular.”

ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND

Yakult is a probiotic dairy product made by fermenting a mixture of skimmed milk with a

special strain of the bacterium Lactobacillus casei Shirota. It was created by Japanese

scientist Minoru Shirota. In 1935, he started manufacturing and selling Yakult. Since then,

Yakult has also introduced a line of beverages for the Japanese market that contain

Bifidobacterium breve bacteria, and has also used its lactobacilli research to develop

cosmetics. More recently, the Yakult Honsha played a major role in developing the

chemotherapy drug irinotecan.

After its introduction in Japan and Taiwan, Yakult was first sold in Brazil in 1966, due to the

large number of Japanese immigrants in the country, before it was marketed elsewhere.

Today, Yakult is sold in 31 countries, although it’s bacteria cultures are provided from a

mother strain from Japan regardless of production location.

Yakult is marketed in different sizes. In Australia and New Zealand, Europe, India,

Indonesia, and Vietnam Yakult comes in 65mL bottles. In the Americas (including Mexico,

one of Yakult's largest selling markets), Japan, Philippines, Thailand and South Korea, 80 ml

bottles are available. It is also available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China where

Yakult comes in 100 ml bottles.

The product is made by Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd., where Groupe Danone has a 20% share.

The company also owns one of Japan's major baseball franchises, the Tokyo Yakult

Swallows. It has been also one of the partner companies of the FINA World Aquatics

Championships since 2005.

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About the Company:

Yakult DANONE India Pvt. Ltd. Commenced production in Delhi NCR in 2007. An

investment of 200 Crore INR was made. The brand belongs to Yakult Danone India, the

50:50 joint venture between Japan's Yakult Honsha and France's Group Danone, both of

which are global probiotic companies. The JV was formed in 2005 for the manufacture and

sale of probiotic products in the Indian market.

Yakult was launched in India in 2007. In the same year, the brand had appointed M&C

Saatchi as its creative agency. At the initial stage of the product roll out, the brand leveraged

media channels such as print, radio, out of home and on-ground. A large part of the initial on-

ground promotion campaign was an aggressive home delivery system wherein

'Yakult Ladies' reached out to people at their doorstep and advocated the benefits of

consuming probiotic drinks on a daily basis. This below-the-line campaign is

something Yakult has adopted in other markets as well. In fact, this system of educative

door-to-door distribution was created in Japan in 1963.

About the Sonipat Plant:

The plant in Sonipat (Haryana) has a factory area of 8 acres which can provide a production

capacity of 10 Lakhs units of Yakult PROBIOTIC Dairy Based Drink, which is a fermented

milk based drink. Yakult contains probiotic bacteria - Lactobacillus Casei strain Shirota,

which can help the digestive system to remain healthy. The factory now produces at least

2,00,000 Lakhs bottles annually, supplying Yakult to Delhi NCR, Chandigarh, Jaipur,

Mumbai, Pune market to name a few.

Inside the automated factory, raw ingredients (skim milk powder, sugar and dextrose) are

mixed together with filtered water and undergo sterilization. Live Lactobacillus Casei

Shirota strain is added to the milk to begin the fermentation process. Citrus flavor is added to

the mixture. During fermentation, the bacteria rapidly multiply. The mixture is homogenized

so that it has a smooth consistency and then it is diluted with filtered water to produce the

final product.

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Yakult’s unique plastic bottle (they are very small - 65ml) are created on site, and

manufacturing staff monitor the quality of product to ensure it meets the highest standards. A

filling machine which has the capacity to fill 36000 bottles per hour fills the bottles with

Yakult. They are then capped with a foil lid, printed with a use-by-date, sealed and

transferred along the conveyor belt to the packaging facility. Yakult needs to be stored and

distributed at temperatures below 4 degree Celsius.

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LOCATION ADVANTAGE OF SONIPAT

The HACCP certified factory in Sonepat was inaugurated by Mr. Subodh Kant Sahai,

Honorable Minister of State, Food Processing Industries, Govt. of India, on January 18th

2008.

Haryana government has established two food parks at Rai of Sonipat (about 35 km from

Delhi) and Saha of Ambala district over a total area of 186 acres equipped with facilities like

reliable electricity, water, roads and communication.

With a stable political environment, successive governments have been committed to creating

a progressive environment. The state offers a wide range of fiscal and policy incentives for

businesses under the Industrial and Investment Policy, 2011. Moreover, it has sector-specific

policies, particularly, for IT and food-beverages.

These Parks have been equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and the most modern

technology essential to cater to the food processing industry. These Food Parks provide

locational advantage for all small and medium scale entrepreneurs and industrialists with a

food processing idea. The proximity to metros such as Delhi and Chandigarh is one of the

major advantages of this Park as these offer a good market where majority of the consumers

are well-educated and are able to appreciate the advantages of this product.

Connectivity holds the key to growth of any belt and acts as a magnet for investment.

Creation of world-class infrastructure has been and remains top priority of the Haryana

Government. Constant and consistent efforts are being made to improve connectivity, ensure

adequate power supply, water supply and provide effective logistics support, which is vital

for industry. This is specifically helpful in the case of Yakult as a constant power supply is

required to maintain the temperature of the cold room. Good roadway connectivity also helps

in transporting the product in refrigerated trucks to supermarkets and obtaining raw materials.

A constant water supply is also necessary as water is a major ingredient in making the

probiotic drink.

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THE PRODUCTION OF YAKULT (STEP-BY-STEP)

Yakult's purpose-built factory in Sonipat (Haryana) is a technologically advanced

manufacturing facility. It incorporates some of the most up-to-date food-processing

equipment available. Strict standards apply to producing Yakult, ensuring a drink yield that is

close to 99 per cent (this means that 99 per cent of the raw ingredients end up in the bottle).

There are no by-products and little waste. The Yakult factory in Sonipat is based in Haryana,

India, which produces Yakult for the whole of Delhi NCR, Chandigarh, Jaipur to name a few.

It was launched in India by the partnership of DANONE India Pvt. Ltd. in 2007 due to its

close proximity to Asia.

Steps in the production process

1) Mixing of raw ingredients

Skim milk powder, sugar and dextrose are mixed with filtered, sterilised water a sweet

sterilised water to make a sweet milky solution

2) Sterilisation

The sweet, milky solution is sterilised at a high temperature for a short time, destroying

any bacteria that may be present. This process is called UHTST (Ultra Heat Treatment,

Short Time). The solution is then transferred to a 6000-litre fermentation tank via a closed

system of pipes and valves.

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3) Fermentation tank

Live Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain, cultured and tested in our laboratory, is added to

the tank. The temperature of the tank is then reduced until the contents are at 37°C (body

temperature). The solution is allowed to ferment in the tank for 6–9 days or until the

numbers of Lactobacillus casei bacteria reach their ideal concentration.

4) Control Panel

This machine is fully computerised and controls the flow of production. Different

coloured lights indicate any areas that need attention.

5) Flavour tank

Citrus flavour is added to the concentrate.

6) Storage tank

The flavoured, concentrate is transferred to a 12 000-litre storage tank, containing a chilled

syrup solution. The tank is chilled to around 2°C.

7) Water steriliser

Yakult uses water that is de-mineralised (any dissolved chlorides and fluorides are

removed) by a process called ‘reverse osmosis’. The water is then UV sterilised, after

which it is stored in a 25 000-litre holding tank before being used in the production

process.

8) Mixing tank

Prior to bottling, the concentrate is diluted with filtered, sterile water at a ratio of 1:1.

9) Injection blow-moulding machine

The plastic bottles are produced, on-site, from triple-grade food polystyrene.

The injection blow-moulding machine has the capacity to produce 11 000 bottles per hour.

10) Bottle storage tank

Extra bottles are made and stored in a large, sterile bottle storage tank that is capable of

storing 750 000 bottles.

11) Selector

Bottles drop down a large funnel from the bottle storage tank into a large circular

selector that places the bottles in an upright position before being fed onto the filling

line.

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12) Printing station

Bottles move along the conveyer belt to the printing station where the name ‘Yakult’

and the appropriate labelling information required by law are printed on the bottle in an

instant-drying, red ink.

13) Filling, capping and sealing machine

The filling machine has the capacity to fill 40 000 bottles of Yakult per hour.

After the bottles are filled with Yakult, they are capped with a foil lid, printed with a

use-by date, sealed and transferred along the conveyor belt to the packaging facility.

14) Shrink wrap and packaging machine

It is here that the single bottles of Yakult are sorted into groups of five or 10 andshrink

wrapped in polyethylene film. Ten x five packs are grouped together and wrapped

again in polyethylene film and then heat shrunk, forming a ‘slab’ of 50 Yakult bottles.

15) Finished product

16) Refrigeration room

The slabs are transferred to a pallet, wrapped and stored at a temperature of 2–3°C

while awaiting delivery to the stores.

17) Distribution

Refrigerated trucks deliver Yakult to the warehouses of the major supermarket chains

(e.g. Woolworths and Coles) for distribution to individual supermarkets. Yakult is also

delivered directly to independent supermarkets, milk bars, gyms, health food stores,

motels, hospitals and other outlets by Yakult sales consultants.

18) Hygiene

Yakult is a fermented milk drink that contains a live bacterial culture. In order to

maintain the high quality of Yakult, strict hygiene standards must be met in the

production.

19) Yakult quality management system

Yakult maintains a comprehensive quality management system that complies with the

International Organization for Standardization (ISO 9001:2000). This ensures that its

products and services meet the highest international food-manufacturing standards. To

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make sure that Yakult’s product is of the highest quality, samples are collected for

laboratory analysis throughout the production process to confirm that the quality

assurance measures and the quality control testing have been effective.

Yakult testing involves more than 120 samples per production run, upon which a total

of more than 120 tests are conducted. These determine Lactobacillus case numbers,

check for potential contaminants, microbiological quality, composition, acidity,

physical attributes and taste. In addition, each bottle is inspected for undesirable

markings and incorrect printing.

Quality assurance measures are in place to maintain standards for personnel and factory

hygiene, equipment cleaning, processing methods and parameters, and product

handling. Yakult's quality assurance utilises a system called ‘Hazard Analysis and

Critical Control Points’ (HACCP). The principles of HACCP are internationally

recognised as an excellent method for assuring stringently high standards.

20) Waste management

Cleaning: Yakult adheres to a comprehensive hygiene and sanitation program,

following a cleaning program that is predominantly governed by CIP (Cleaning in

Place). Steam, an environmentally friendly cleaner, is used to sterilise the pipes and

tanks. A single-phase chemical cleaner is used, reducing the numbers of chemicals

introduced into the drains; chlorine-based chemicals are not used.

Solid wastes: the amount of solid waste is relatively small and a number of measures

are made to reduce waste. Recycling occurs where it is economically and

environmentally viable. Paper products (skim milk powder bags, etc.) are recycled. The

bottles are crushed and mixed with other resin to be made into a variety of plastic

products, such as chairs and tables.

Liquid wastes: any liquid waste goes into a holding tank in our water treatment facility.

The acidity (pH) of the water is adjusted with acid or alkaline to meet Melbourne Water

standards before being released into the sewage system.

21) Energy management

Yakult has a commitment to using energy efficiently and wisely for sound

environmental and economic reasons. The factory incorporates the latest equipment and

techniques to reduce the amount of energy used. For example:

• All fluids are heated using heat exchange plates

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• All machinery is well maintained to function optimally, ensuring that energy is not

lost or wasted

• No CFCs are used in cooling or refrigeration

• Off-peak rates are used for utilities whenever possible. For example, the ice bank

water storage keeps all water at 0°C using compressors that are run in the evenings,

during off-peak rates

• Yakult’s boiler uses natural gas and is run for short periods as required (therefore, no

pollution is emitted).

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AT YAKULT

DEMAND PLANNING

Estimate daily requirements by warehouse and product.

From the plant warehouse perspective, there are 3 types of customers demanding product on

a daily basis: major supermarket chains, distributors and all the warehouses (regional and/or

local).

Supermarket chains and distributors daily demand is deterministic, given by confirmed orders

placed before 4pm on the day prior to shipments. Warehouse requirements, on the contrary,

have always been quite volatile and therefore problematic to estimate.

At the time the Supply Chain organization was established in 2007, warehouse daily

requirements were ‘guesstimated’ by the warehouses themselves, which at the time happened

to report into Sales.

Supply Chain management decided this had to change. Detailed daily warehouse product

requirements would no longer be estimated by the warehouses themselves. It would be done

by the system based on a forecast and dynamically adjusted inventory targets:

If we define:

F (t) Sales forecast in period t

Inv (t) Inventory target at the start of period t (or open inventory for t=1)

Inv (t+1) Inventory target at the start of period (t+1)

Req (t) Net product requirement in period t

Then:

Req (t) = Inv (t+1) + F (t) – Inv (t)

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FORECASTING

A time series forecasting model was developed to forecast weekly sales by product family

and warehouse. Smoothed historical splits are then applied, first to split the weekly family

forecast by product, then to allocate it by day of the week.

Yakult network has a two-tier configuration (plant to regional distribution center to local

warehouse). The Demand Planning module uses a ‘bottom up’ approach, forecasting at the

local warehouse level, consolidating daily requirements at the ‘parent’ level and scheduling

deliveries accordingly. This approach allows Yakult to quickly adjust the system to any

changes in the configuration of the network.

DYNAMIC INVENTORY TARGETS

Because of the seasonality pattern of daily sales within the week, YAKULT felt it necessary

to dynamically adjust inventory targets by product and warehouse on a daily basis.

The Demand Planning module incorporates an inventory control model developed

specifically for this purpose. It will automatically adjust safety stocks and daily targets based

on lead times, estimated sales, forecast errors and the importance of the product in terms of

demand (ABC classification).

ALLOCATING STOCK IN SHORTAGE SITUATIONS

Once the detailed daily requirements are calculated, the system consolidates the information

at the plant level and totals the daily demand by adding to these requirements the

corresponding supermarket chain and distributor orders. The module incorporates a model

that, based on priorities, will allocate available inventory in shortage situations.

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TRANSPORTATION OPTIMIZATION AT YAKULT

Translate the requirements into a cost-effective replenishment schedule.

Once Yakult have determined the daily requirements and volumes to be assigned by

warehouse location and product, we need to translate them into a cost-effective delivery

schedule. That is the task of the transportation optimization module.

This module is composed of two integrated heuristic models: Load Builder and Load

Scheduler.

Both models base their decisions on the capacity dispatch table.

In this table we include every feasible route, be it single or multi-stop. For each route and

day of the week, the table will identify (with a zero or a one) what hours of the day a truck

could leave the source point and arrive at the destination, based on loading capacity, time

windows and maximum waiting time at the destination, transportation lead time and

unloading time.

Among other things, this unique table provides us with two important pieces of information:

How easy it is to schedule the route on any given day (if the total ‘ones’ are close to 24) and

whether it is difficult (just a few possible time slots) or even possible to be shipped at all on

that day (zero entries).

LOAD BULIDER

The deliverable of this model is a detailed list of loads to be shipped in each of the coming 14

days, using the following logic:

Based on the requirements, calculate the number of full trucks and partial trucks by

destination. Full truckloads are ‘set aside’ for scheduling.

They are left with partial loads. If the load does not exceed the minimum pallet drop

size, it is moved to the next day.

The next step is to try to combine partial loads in multi-stop deliveries. The model

follows an iterative approach to check what loads can be combined and how to ‘top

up’ the loads to fill the truck. These calculations are driven by a number of rules and

parameters set by the user community.

All loads that cannot be scheduled (capacity dispatch table) or partial loads that

cannot be combined are moved to the next day.

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Depots that have not any full loads scheduled are given priority among the partial

loads scheduled (service level consideration)

LOAD SCHEDULER

The Load Builder provides us with a list of loads to be scheduled in each of the coming 14

days, by day, shift and hour. It is the job of the Load Scheduler to build a feasible and

efficient daily delivery schedule for them, based on the following logic:

Rank the loads as a function of the importance of the destination and the total loads

already designated for shipping to it.

Starting from the top of the list, find a loading slot with a match in the capacity

dispatch table. Assign the load to that slot. In order to balance shifts, start the search

in the shift with most slots available

At the end of the first pass there may be still loads left to be allocated for which there

is no available loading capacity in their permitted time slots, but there is still some

available loading capacity available in other time slots. If so, we check each time

slot that could have been used to ship this truckload but had already been allocated to

see if the currently allocated truck could be shifted to one of the still available

loading capacity time slots.

Once this procedure is complete for the day, we store the information of the loading

pattern and continue to the following day until the end of the specified loading date

range.

Once the schedule is reviewed and if necessary adjusted by the users, it is uploaded

to the corporate ERP environment for further processing and, eventually, load

picking and dispatching.

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SYNCHRONIZATION AT YAKULT

Maximize effectiveness by ensuring the system communicates and is synchronized with key

functional areas

We knew upfront that the supply chain was going to experience dramatic changes in the not

too distant future, including its reconfiguration and a significant expansion in volumes and

products.

Five key elements have helped make the system developed at Yakult a success:

Improved forecast accuracy at the warehouse/product level

The matching of production and replenishment schedules

Sound routing and delivery schedule algorithms

A user-friendly and reliable interface

Integration of the application to the corporate ERP environment

We described the algorithms in the previous section, and will cover the user interface in the

following one. In this section we focus on the other three elements, which were achieved by

synchronizing and coordinating the activities surrounding the system with other areas in the

organization.

Forecasting Accuracy

The forecasting models in the Demand Planning module improved the accuracy of weekly

and daily forecasts. However, they are time series models based on historical data, and do

not factor future promotional activity so critical to actual sales levels.

The Marketing/Sales department at Yakult generates monthly forecasts by warehouse and

product, which reflect promotional plans for that particular location. This data is imported to

the system, and compared to the aggregate monthly forecast it generates for the

corresponding warehouse and product. Users can extrapolate detailed forecasts by applying

the ratio of the two monthly figures. This process of synchronization was able to further

improve the accuracy of the detailed forecasts generated by the system.

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Matching Production to Replenishment Schedules

Prior to the implementation of the system, there was no attempt to match production and

replenishment schedules. This resulted in frequent supply-demand imbalances, shortages,

spoilage and lots of stress.

Yakult’s continuous replenishment system incorporates the logic and reports required to

address this issue. The system does not schedule the plant. It aggregates daily requirements

at the plant level and compares totals to the daily production schedules imported through the

interface.

A set of management reports helps synchronize the two sets of numbers and flags variances

in total weekly production versus required quantities.

Integration With The Corporate ERP Environment

As an operational, quasi-real time planning and scheduling tool, the system requires and

consumes a large volume of daily input data. The resulting delivery schedule, including the

composition of each load, is uploaded to the corporate environment for further processing.

A major component of both the development and implementation focused on adapting the

logic and interface to the corporate data structure, ensuring a seamless, relatively error-free

operation.

QUALITY AT YAKULT

Yakult’s quality management system (QMS) complies with the International Organization for

Standardization’s relevant standard (ISO 9001:2000). This means that Yakult meets the

highest international food manufacturing standards. All company procedures are documented

and regularly audited. In terms of quality control, individual bottles are randomly inspected

for incorrect printing and lid sealing. Product samples are collected and assessed for quality,

composition and taste in Yakult’s on-site quality control area.

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WASTE MANAGEMENT

Yakult Sonipat is very much aware of the need to minimize its environmental impact. Its

waste management strategies, such as recycling of paper products and plastic waste, have

resulted in more than 99 percent of raw ingredients being utilized. Cleaning waste goes into a

holding tank in the on-the site water treatment facility.

SIX SIGMA OF YAKULT

To break from competition an organization has to reconstruct the market boundary which is

the first and the foremost principle in creating blue ocean strategy . There are six basic

approaches to reconstruct market boundaries also known as Six Path Frameworks . These

path challenge the conventional approach of the organization in strategy formulation to work

within its boundaries , but instead break out of the known boundaries .

Yakult competes with health drinks at the same time it competes with pharma industry . But

health drinks producers and pharma brands don’t consider yakult as their competitor . Thus

Yakult has created a blue strategy for itself across industries.

CAPACITY BUILDING OF YAKULT

Capacity of Yakult depends on the amount of raw material it can obtain from the market. It

also depends on the demand of the product in the market.

In Yakult plant there are facilities like :-

Production facility

Packaging facility

Warehouse facility

ISSUES IN CAPACITY

*Size of the market: The production depends on the desire of the market of the product .The

company also looks at the structure of the market (oligopoly, monopolistic market etc.).They

also look at the adequate number of sources of finance.

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UTILISATION OF RESOURCES

The Company also builds the skills required to have the capacity realized upto the

benchmark set.

PROCESS AND CAPACITY ANALYSIS

Capacity:-It denotes the maximum operation of product and services the company can

achieve using the resources.

SUPPLY CHAIN

It starts from the suppliers and ends to satisfying customer .Yakult has an internal capacity of

10 million. Plant size has land capacity of 10 million . Only 4 million bottles can be produced

by the size of the employees

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CONCLUSIONS

PROBLEMS FACED BY YAKULT:

Poor availability of stocks

Slow stock turnaround

Shelf-life wastage

Stock being positioned in the wrong place

Yakult has to make a change in how it operates. To stay competitive in a fast changing

environment it has to improve its logistical processes and reduce overall supply chain costs.

With pragmatic quantitative tools, strong management support and a practical

implementation plan it will able to accomplish this in a relatively short period of time

The ride is not always smooth, and the process definitely not painless. However, through true

team effort and the ability to adjust on the go, without losing sight of the goals, the project

team should generate very impressive results.

"India Probiotic Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2019"

India's probiotic market is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 19% till 2019

The market has been segmented into Probiotic functional food and beverages; Probiotic drugs

and dietary supplements; and Probiotic animal feed. Of these segments, tremendous growth is

expected in Probiotic drugs and dietary supplements and Probiotic animal feed segment.

Major companies engaged in offering probiotic food products in the Indian market includes

Mother Dairy, Amul, Danone Yakult, Nestle, Tablets India, Dr Reddy Laboratories, Unique

Biotech, Zeus Biotech, etc. Mother Dairy has the dominant position in the Indian probiotic

functional food and beverage market, followed by Amul. Tablets India, on the other hand,

has established itself as a major brand in Probiotic drug and dietary supplement market.

Over the past few years, India has been witnessing a large number of deaths due to rising

incidences of digestive, diarrhoeal and cardiovascular diseases. According to a study

conducted by Centre for Global Health Research at the University of Toronto and Indian

Council of Medical Research (ICMR), around 18.8% of all deaths in 2010 were caused by

cardiovascular diseases alone.

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Yakult has to make a change in how it operates. To stay competitive in a fast changing

environment it has to improve its logistical processes and reduce overall supply chain costs.

With pragmatic quantitative tools, strong management support and a practical

implementation plan it will able to accomplish this in a relatively short period of time

The ride was not always smooth, and the process definitely not painless. However, through

true team effort and the ability to adjust on the go, without losing sight of the goals, the

project team weathered the storms and delivered a system that is currently generating very

impressive results.