The VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) world, aptly described by our keynote speaker, Bridgestone India MP Parag Satpute, has introduced danger administration to the centre stage on this new regular. From merely a compliance exercise to a contentious matter of debate throughout boardrooms, danger administration tops the agenda of each organisation the world over. To perceive the disruptions brought on by the black swan occasion within the Manufacturing sector and its impression on provide chains,
ICICI Lombard & CNBC-TV18 organised a specifically curated “Risk Masterclass 2021”. It is a particular initiative beneath the aegis of India Risk Management Awards that acknowledges India’s main organizations which have taken the lead in managing enterprise dangers.
The session kickstarted with a context setting handle by Sandeep Goradia, Head, Corporate Solutions Group, ICICI Lombard General Insurance. He stated, “As a part of the non-life insurance sector, we have always been working towards shifting our focus from being a risk transfer entity to playing a much more active role as a risk management partner.”
Sharing some alarming statistics on cybercrime, he said, “For cyber events 2021 has actually recorded the highest incidences ever–on an average 30,000 websites are being hacked every single day and there is a cyber-attack every 39 seconds.” He welcomed Satpute to deliver his keynote address. Stressing on the importance of agility, Parag said, “What we have learned through this crisis is that the importance of agility and the importance of adapting to the situation very promptly will hold us in good stead during future crises also. So, this is the lesson we are taking from the COVID-19 crisis and hopefully this is what will help businesses to continue to thrive in future situations as well.”
He discussed how at Bridgestone they followed a structured approach to counter the challenges during the pandemic by deploying the 4S — secure, streamlined, sustained and shift.
Next up was an invigorating panel discussion with Industry leaders where Paromita Chatterjee, Special Correspondent, CNBC-TV18, had a conversation with Anil Chopra, Group Head–CEO, Apollo Tyres Ltd; Dinyar Manekshaw Jivaasha, Global Head & President, ESSAR; Abhay Baijal, CFO, Chambal Fertilizers; and Alok Agarwal, Executive Director, ICICI Lombard General Insurance. Anecdotal references, insightful strategies, and contextual analogies were shared as the panelists unanimously agreed on digitisation being the driving force that kept manufacturing units well oiled and running amid the pandemonium.
Anil shared how technology came to their rescue when 400 of Apollo’s trucks were abandoned midway during the lockdown, and with the aid of a GPS tracking mechanism they were able to avert a major crisis. He also delved into interesting acronym coined at Apollo, called ‘DRIVE’ — discovering new sales, inventory and production optimisation, value of cash, and elimination of bad costs. He maintained that a blended combination of offline and online is needed to stay ahead of the curve. Speaking of digital transformation, Alok shared how ICICI Lombard ramped up their IT systems for transitioning the entire insurance process one and also ensure seamless claims clearances. Abhay shared valuable lessons learnt during this period of trial and rightly quoted that, “Risk is like a snake in your backyard and you will not know which way it turns and bites you”. Being in a continuous process industry, he shared how the company navigated the challenges of labour, packaging material and maintenance of the plant through the first and second phase of the lockdown.
Dinyar reprimanded companies for not taking the role of risk management seriously and emphasised the growing relevance of the digital world, which he warned is not risk averse. He said, “Strong risk management practices are the backbone of a successful company and that will distinguish people, otherwise it is like an elephant in a room and we’ll just be groping in the dark.” He spoke at size on leveraging tech instruments corresponding to Cloud computing AI, ML, blockchain, 3D printing, predictive evaluation, which could have an necessary play within the days forward.
Alok defined how the play of Internet of Things (IOT) is reworking the availability chain area. Use of digital provide networks and options are useful instruments for seamless provide chain administration. In addition, ICICI Lombard has developed a Corporate India Risk Index which measures an organization throughout six broad danger parameters, 32 detailed danger parameters, and evaluating their danger preparedness versus what’s the response time on the time of the chance occasion taking place. This danger index then provides a benchmark to the corporate in opposition to the opposite friends within the trade. He additionally drove the significance of self-sufficiency together with consciousness of world occasions that trigger disruptions to provide chain and making ready for vendor back-ups, he said “the buzzword Just-in-time is changed with Just-in-case.”
Likening the pandemic to a war scenario, Alok summed up the session by stating, “We have to anticipate the risks, we have to prepare ourselves during peacetime so that during wartime we react better.”
(Edited by : Vijay Anand)