Introduction
Galaxy Surfactants Ltd. (GSL), founded in the year 1980, is one of the leading organizations in India, manufacturing Performance Products and Specialty Chemicals for the Personal and Home Care Industry. Its products cater to some of the largest global brands in the FMCG sector as follows
Hindustan Unilever Limited
Procter & Gamble
Colgate
Himalaya
Henkel
ContextWe students of ITM PGDM marketing visited headquarters of GSL on 20th December 2019. The main objectives of the visit were-To give students a platform to enhance their interpersonal skills.To give students practical experience how theoretical concepts are put into action.To help students to see the best practices opted by different companies for similar work.The visit started after we were done with the lectures. The visit started at 2 pm with students boarding on the bus. The driveway was of 30 minutes. There was a security check at the entrance and we submitted our belongings for safety purposes. We were accompanied by the manager of the plant which started the session by a safety prayer and played a video.
The Video gave brief details about
Foundation of the company – The founders of the company and its vision and mission.
Organization structure – The company has 5 major departments
Chief Financial Officer – Handles financial aspects like costing, investing and
COD – Handles quality, sourcing, and distribution of materials
Innovation – Market research and surveys to meet growing industry needs
BPE – Handles Admin and Human resource
CSR – Plans and incorporates CSR activities of the company worldwide
CSR activities – GSL has worked in the fields of water saving, energy efficiency, and tree plantation. Example – Above their admin building they had solar panels which gave power supply to the entire building.
Employee engagement activities – They reward employees of the basis of-
P-Productivity
Q – Quality
C – Cost
D – Delivery
S – Safety
M – Morale
They encourage employee suggestions and maintain confidentiality. Their core value is equality, they provide the same facilities and benefits to all levels of employees i.e. same uniform, canteen and bus services.
After the introduction video, the host showed us different samples of chemicals and their uses. For example, sodium Laureth sulfate which is used in shampoo and its properties are cleaning and foam making. He further explained its types and companies like loreal are its customers.
He showed us many other chemicals with different types and how its properties and uses affect its logistics and type of the product it is used in. Example soaps like Lifeboy have less price as its PH ranges from 3 to 4. Medium price range soaps like Dove have more ideal PH and premium soaps have ideal PH 5.5 to 6. This gave us the idea of how the target audience changes with the properties of the product.
Before we visited the plant, we were given safety helmets shoes and glasses. During the visit to the plant, we observed the products were made in the batch process and continuous processes. We, in the end, visited the warehouse of GSL, where finished goods were piled up in tree structure. The host explained how packaging differed with the nature of the product and how they customized the packaging according to the needs of the client
Reflection
Every marketing student dreams to work with an FMCG company and wants to be industry-ready. This visit was useful as I learned the detailed insight of the GSL products, which serves as raw materials to leading FMCG companies. I got to know about various ingredients, their chemical proportions, and their uses. As a student from a commerce background, it was an enthralling experience for me in observing batch and continuous production processes. Safety measures were followed by the company throughout the visit. I learned the holistic approach of the manufacturing process, packaging, logistics and marketing. The visit taught me an important aspect that how closely these departments work.