Management
A Tech-Driven
Home Appliance Firm
Outsmarts Competitors
Maharaja Whiteline Industries, a Delhi-headquartered home appliance company,
outsmarts competitors in the market by riding on technology.
A
competitive world offers two
possibilities. You can lose. Or,
if you want to win, you can
change! This was the attitude adopted
by Harish Kumar when he started
Maharaja Whiteline Industries, a
Delhi-based home appliance company,
back in 1976. It helped him outsmart
competitors – both desi brands
and multi-national giants. What set
Maharaja Whiteline apart was the
wholehearted adoption of technology
to propel its growth. Today, the
company has 22 per cent of the home
appliances market, with an annual
32 / March 2010 / BenefIT
turnover of Rs 250 crores, employing
over 1,000 people. Embracing change
has definitely paid off!
“Technology has been
instrumental to our growth. It helped
us streamline our growth strategy
resulting in faster and better decision
making. Further, it has helped
manage our expansion plans for the
future. We started with a single unit;
today we have two factories and 10
sales units. Technology has helped
us manage this growing set-up,” says
Sanjeev Nigam, manager, Finance,
Maharaja Whiteline Industries.
Moulding Shop
Technology
The initial technology adopted by
the firm was a basic accounting and
inventory management software.
But it soon outgrew this application.
“Our accelerating pace of growth
required software that went beyond
just managing the business. We needed
software that would allow us to forecast
and plan for the future of our business.
Thus, we decided to go for ERP,” says
Nigam. Since Tally had supported the
company’s basic business management
needs for the first seven years, it
decided to opt for Tally ERP in 2009.

“When we decided to go in for
an ERP solution, we wanted one
that was simple, easy to manage
and scalable. The simplicity and
usability of Tally.ERP 9 won our
hearts. Considering that most of our
staff members were not technology
experts, the simplicity of Tally ERP
gave it an edge over competitors like
SAP,” says Nigam.
ERP, a growth booster
Maharaja Whiteline used the default
capabilities of the ERP software,
incrementally implementing modules
based on its growing needs. The ERP
software helped the company achieve
business efficiency, smarter and faster
decision making, improved customer
satisfaction and also reduced
operational costs.
Improved business efficiency:
Whether it was the management
of inventory, finance, purchase
or sales, the ERP solution did it
all. It not only managed business
processes but steered the company
towards the path of growth and
efficiency. Nigam shares an
example,“In our line of business, we
generally offer various schemes to
promote our products and attract
customers. Using the ERP solution,
we could now track and calculate
the effectiveness of each scheme,
allowing us to zero in on growth
oriented schemes. This was a huge
boon for us,” says Nigam.
Useful options like customer
credit limits to reduce the risk of
defaults also helped the firm to
improve the health of the business.
Similarly, the solution can help in
supplier chain management, which
is crucial for the timely delivery
of the product, thereby improving
overall business efficiency. “The
software allows you to mark the
goods supplied to you that don’t
“The ERP software
provided us
synchronisation and
availability of data at
the click of a mouse.”
Sanjeev Nigam, manager,
Finance, Maharaja Whiteline
Industries
meet your needs. Further, supplier
dues, input taxes and inventory
positions are updated. This helps
build a positive reputation among
suppliers and also ensures timely
production of the goods, improving
customer satisfaction and business
health,” says Nigam.
Quick decision making: Further,
the detailed and timely reporting
tactics of the software helped
Maharaja Whiteline make quick
decisions. This related to the basic
funds flow, cash flow reports,
locating bottlenecks in production
and distribution, and branch wise
reports – all of which helped the
firm map the path ahead. “We
are a multi-location business,
which makes the synchronisation
and availability of data crucial to
manage and plan our growth. The
ERP software provided this at the
click of a mouse through its smart
reports. Earlier, it would take two
to three days to get the financial
and stock reports from across our
business. Now it is available the very
same day,” says Nigam.
“One can get MIS reports very
quickly. The VAT and sales tax reports
too are very crucial and apt for their
business. Further, Maharaja Whiteline
has been able to get detailed reports
on multiple subgroups—branch-wise
data, product-based reports, etc,”
says Manish Gupta, CEO, Saraswati
Accountants Software, implementation
partner for the ERP software.
Management
Cost effectiveness: The ERP
solution has also helped lower
operational costs, especially related
to manpower. “For instance, earlier
we needed about 3-4 people to record
data in our south Indian branch.
Now the work is done by one person.
There are numerous similar instances
where we have been able to save
on manpower costs, wastage, lost
sales opportunities, etc. All this has
reduced our operational costs by one-
third,” says Nigam.
IT breathes innovation into R&D
Further, Maharaja Whiteline has
adopted innovative technology at its
two R&D centres in Baddi (Himachal
Pradesh) and Delhi to roll out end-
to-end products quickly, in order to
maintain a competitive edge. “We invest
about Rs 4 to 5 crores a year in R&D. We
always focus on product innovation.
For instance, we integrated our food
processor technology in the hand
blender to make it easier for working
women who are in a hurry,” says Nigam.
An accelerated tech drive into
the future
Looking ahead, Maharaja Whiteline
plans to enter new product
segments like coolers, targeting an
annual revenue of Rs 500 crore. And
technology will continue to be an
eminent partner for growth. “We will
continue to adopt technology that
helps simplifying our operations or
enables us to grow. We are planning
to start using the payroll module
in the ERP software, which will
handle simple functions like payslip
generation to complex associated
processes like handling loans and
advances, salary revision and arrears
calculation, deductions and ad-hoc
payments,” concludes Nigam.
Vanisha Joseph
BenefIT Bureau
BenefIT / March 2010 / 33