DISTRIBUTION

HUL Distribution of FMCG Products (Dove Distribution)

Dove as a brand comes under the umbrella of Hindustan Unilever Limited. The distribution of various products is done by the parent company. HUL covers the consumers mainly with the combination of carriers and forwarding agents and stockiest who indirectly deal with the retail outlets. The company which is headquartered in Mumbai has appointed Hindustan Cargo ltd. as the C&F agent.

C&F agents can be classified as:

1.      One’s with investment

2.      One’s  without investment.

The without investment C&F agent then supplies the goods to the authorized stockiest.

These stockiest are also classified into 2 categories called U1 and U2. 

The stockiest are classified as U1 and U2 stockiest on the basis of the product that they stock.
E.g. U1 stockiest generally stocks products like surf and ponds whereas the U2 stockiest deals with high profile products of HUL like Lakme and Dove(premium products).

The stockiest in HUL system are commonly referred to as Re Stockiest. 
E.g.  In Delhi region there are approximately 8 U1 stockiest and 6 U2 stockiest. These are appointed for a particular region of the city. Each stockiest is then responsible for distributing the goods to the retail counters in his locality.

The stockiest then deliver the value product for general trade to comprises grocery stores, chemists, wholesale, kiosks and general stores.

HUL provide tailor made services to each of its channel partners. 2,800 suppliers and nearly 2000 distributors serve HUL’s 37 factories reaching 6.3 million outlets.

Based on the factors like the investment capacity, number of retail stores covered, appropriate Sales force, infrastructure etc., the stockists are evaluated and are selected by the company. Company’s policy is to work in advance payment mode. This is to ensure that the there is no delay in fulfilling the demand of the consumers and sufficient stocks are available to cover the entire range and categories of Dove face wash.

According to HUL Annual Report 2013, the Company has a robust Supply Chain savings programme with continuous focus on end-to-end Supply Chain cost reduction through new technologies, alternative sources of energy, efficient processes and methods. During the year, the Company has delivered 5% saving in Supply Chain cost with sourcing network optimisation, logistic efficiency through improved utilisations, and factory production cost reduction through improvement in energy efficiency, technical efficiencies, wastage reduction and yield improvement.

There has been a 15% improvement in innovation OTIF (On Time in Full) with more than 150 innovation networks being executed during the year touching more than 50% of the product portfolio. The focus on better and faster innovation and capability development has significantly helped the Company launch innovations first time right. The Company has identified beauty, foods, modern trade and rural as key capabilities to win in the future and the supply chain function has significantly improved capability and skill building in these areas during the year.

The Partner to Win programme with supplier and business partners in procurement function focuses on reducing lead time, decreasing procurement cost, improving reliability and work on new innovation.