NAME: Vishant Krishnan

ROLL NO: 714

ROOM NO: 24

PROJECT NAME:
Ultratech Cement: A SWOT
analysis and perception of the brand
CONTENTS

a. Cement Industry: An introduction

b. Company profile
i. Aditya Birla group
ii. Ultratech Cement

c. Objectives of the study

d. Research design

e. Data Analysis

f. Findings and observations

g. Conclusion
CEMENT INDUSTRY: An Introduction

An Overview

The cement industry is experiencing a boom on account of the overall

growth of the Indian economy. The demand for cement, being a derived
demand, depends primarily on the industrial activity, real estate business,
construction activity, and investment in the infrastructure sector. India is
experiencing growth on all these fronts and hence the cement market is
flourishing like never before. Indian cement industry is globally
competitive because the industry has witnessed healthy trends such as
cost control and continuous technology up gradation. Global rating
agency, Fitch Ratings, has commented that cement demand in India is
expected to grow at 10% annually in the medium term buoyed by
housing, infrastructure and corporate capital expenditures.

Current Scenario

The Indian cement industry is the second largest producer of quality

cement, which meets global standards. The cement industry comprises
130 large cement plants and more than 300 mini cement plants. The
industry's capacity at the beginning of the year 2008-09 was 198.30
million tonnes.
Cement production during April to October 2008-09 was 101.04 million
tonnes as compared to 95.05 million tonnes during the same period for
the year [Link] were 100.24 million tonnes during April to
October 2008-09 whereas 94.33 million tonnes during the same period
for the year [Link] April-October 2008-09, cement export was
1.46 million tonnes as compared to 2.16 million tonnes during the same
period for the year 2007-08.

Technological Advancements

Modernization and technology up-gradation is a continuous process for

any growing industry and is equally true for the cement industry. At
present, the quality of cement and building materials produced in India
meets international standards and benchmarks and can compete in
international markets. The productivity parameters are now nearing the
theoretical bests and alternate means. Substantial technological
improvements have been brought about and today, the industry can
legitimately be proud of its state-of-the-art technology and processes
incorporated in most of its cement plants. This technology up gradation is
resulting in increased capacity, reduction in cost of production of cement.

Future Outlook

Considering an expected production and consumption growth of 9 to 10

per cent, the demand- supply position of the cement industry is expected
to improve from 2008-09 onwards, resulting in an expected price
stabilization. The cement industry is poised to add 111 million tones of
annual capacity by the end of 2009-10 (FY 10), riding on the back of an
estimated 141 outstanding cement projects.
Major Players
The major players in the cement sector are :
• Ultratech Cement • Century Cements • Madras Cements • ACC•
Gujarat Ambuja Cement Limited • Grasim Industries • India
Cements Limited • Jaiprakash Associates and
• JK Cements. • Holcim • Lafarge • Heidelberg Cemex • Italcementi

Statistics:

Cement

(million tonnes)
2008-2009 2007-2008
(Apr-Oct)
(a) Production 101.04 95.05

(b)Dispatches (Including Export) 100.24 94.33

(c)Export 1.46 2.16

(d)Cap. Uti.(%) 85 93

Source: Cement Manufacturers’ Association

Policy Initiatives

FDI Policy: the cement sector has been gradually liberalized. 100 per
cent FDI is now permitted in the cement industry.
Useful Web Links
• Cement Manufacturers Association
COMPANY PROFILE

a)Aditya Birla Group

A US$ 29 billion corporation, the Aditya Birla Group is in the League of

Fortune 500. It is anchored by an extraordinary force of 130,600
employees, belonging to 40 different nationalities. In the year 2009, the
Group was ranked among the top six great places for leaders in the Asia-
Pacific region, in a study conducted by Hewitt Associates, RBL Group
and Fortune magazine. In India, the Group has been adjudged the best
employer in India and among the top 20 in Asia by the Hewitt-Economic
Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.

Over 60 per cent of the Group's revenues flow from its overseas
operations. The Group operates in 27 countries – Australia, Bahrain,
Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary,
India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Laos, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, UK,
USA and Vietnam.

Globally, the Aditya Birla Group is:

A metals powerhouse, among the world's most cost-efficient aluminum

and copper producers. Hindalco-Novelis is the largest aluminium rolling
company. It is one of the three biggest producers of primary aluminum in
Asia, with the largest single location copper smelter
 No.1 in viscose staple fibre
 The fourth-largest producer of insulators
  The fourth-largest producer of carbon black
 The fifth-largest producer of acrylic fibre
 The eighth-largest cement producer
 Among the best energy-efficient fertilizer plants

In India:
 One of the leading cement producers
 The top fashion (branded apparel) and lifestyle player
 The second-largest producer of viscose filament yarn
 The second-largest in the chlor-alkali sector
 Among the top four mobile telephony companies
 Among top 10 Indian BPO companies by revenue size
 A leading player in life insurance and asset management
 Among the top three supermarket chains in the retail business
 Rock solid in fundamentals, the Aditya Birla Group nurtures a
culture where success does not come in the way of the need to keep
learning afresh, to keep experimenting.

Beyond business

Transcending business for over 50 years now, the Group has been and
continues to be involved in meaningful welfare-driven initiatives that
distinctly impact the quality of life of the weaker sections of society in
India, South-East Asia and Egypt.

In India, the Group's social projects span 2,500 villages. It reaches out to
seven million people annually through the Aditya Birla Centre for
Community Initiatives and Rural Development, spearheaded by Mrs.
Rajashree Birla. Its focus is healthcare, education, sustainable livelihood,
infrastructure and espousing social causes.

The Group runs 42 schools, which provide quality education to over

45,000 children in India's interiors. Of these, over 18,000 children receive
free education. An additional 8,000 students receive merit scholarships.
Likewise at its 18 hospitals in India, more than a million patients are
given extremely subsidized medical care. To embed corporate social
responsibility as a way of life in organizations, the Group has set up the
FICCI – Aditya Birla CSR Centre for Excellence, in Delhi.

The Group transcends the conventional barriers of business and reaches

out to the marginalized because of its conviction of bringing in a more
equitable society.

b) Ultra Tech Cement

UltraTech is India's largest exporter of cement clinker. The company's

production facilities are spread across eleven integrated plants, one white
cement plant, one clinkerisation plant in UAE, fifteen grinding units, and
five terminals — four in India and one in Sri Lanka. Most of the plants
have ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification. In addition,
two plants have received ISO 27001 certification and four have received
SA 8000 certification. The process is currently underway for the
remaining plants. The company exports over 2.5 million tonnes per
annum, which is about 30 per cent of the country's total exports. The
export market comprises of countries around the Indian Ocean, Africa,
Europe and the Middle East. Export is a thrust area in the company's
strategy for growth.

UltraTech's products include Ordinary Portland cement, Portland

Pozzolana cement and Portland blast furnace slag cement.

• Ordinary Portland cement

• Portland blast furnace slag cement
• Portland Pozzolana cement
• Cement to European and Sri Lankan norms

Ordinary Portland cement

Ordinary portland cement is the most commonly used cement for a wide
range of applications. These applications cover dry-lean mixes, general-
purpose ready-mixes, and even high strength pre-cast and pre-stressed
concrete.
Portland blast furnace slag cement
Portland blast-furnace slag cement contains up to 70 per cent of finely
ground, granulated blast-furnace slag, a nonmetallic product consisting
essentially of silicates and alumino-silicates of calcium. Slag brings with
it the advantage of the energy invested in the slag making. Grinding slag
for cement replacement takes only 25 per cent of the energy needed to
manufacture portland cement. Using slag cement to replace a portion of
portland cement in a concrete mixture is a useful method to make
concrete better and more consistent. Portland blast-furnace slag cement
has a lighter colour, better concrete workability, easier finishability,
higher compressive and flexural strength, lower permeability, improved
resistance to aggressive chemicals and more consistent plastic and
hardened consistency.

Portland Pozzolana cement

Portland pozzolana cement is ordinary portland cement blended with
pozzolanic materials (power-station fly ash, burnt clays, ash from burnt
plant material or silicious earths), either together or separately. Portland
clinker is ground with gypsum and pozzolanic materials which, though
they do not have cementing properties in themselves, combine chemically
with portland cement in the presence of water to form extra strong
cementing material which resists wet cracking, thermal cracking and has
a high degree of cohesion and workability in concrete and mortar.

UltraTech Cement is the country’s largest exporter of cement clinker. The

export markets span countries around the Indian Ocean, Africa, Europe
and the Middle East.

The company's subsidiaries are Dakshin Cements Limited, Harish

Cements Limited, UltraTech Ceylinco (P) Limited and UltraTech Cement
Middle East Investments Limited.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To get an overview of the budding cement Industry.

To plot a fairly accurate picture of the image the company has in the
Indian market.

To recognize strengths and weaknesses of the product.

To provide relevant feedback for evaluating need for effective

communication for the success of the launched product Wallcare
Putty.

To prepare a model for reviewing the situation.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Sampling Frame
The project was completed through a survey. The study was mainly based
on SWOT ANALAYSIS OF ULTRA TECH CEMENT.
For this purpose personal interviews and questionnaire fill up were used
to
collect the relevant data.
Bhagalpur was chosen as the project area to be studied.

Sample Area
A survey was conducted for this purpose and the field work was done at
Bankura, Bardhaman, Midnapore, Barasat, Baharampur, Purulia,
Medinipur, Raiganj, Krishnanagar, Jalpaiguri and Kolkata.

Sample Size
The sample size for the survey was 15

Sampling Method
The method used for sampling was convenience sampling.

Type of data used

1. Primary data
2. Secondary data

Primary data
The primary tool used for data collection of survey was through
questionnaire to dealers and sub dealers
I visited the dealers and sub dealers personally and took information by
the help of questionnaire prepared and personal interview. Any extra
information which the respondent wanted to was collected in a structured
way.
Secondary data
Secondary tools used for the data collection was from books, Magazines,
News papers, Internet Etc

DATA ANALYSIS

A comparative analysis was done to find the perception that dealers and
consumers had about the product as against others in the market

For example :_

 How is the Pre-Sales Service support by the Company In

Comparison to other LEADING BRANDS?

 Excellent
 Good
 Average
 Poor

pre-sales service

Excellent
Good
Average
NOTE: Excellent- 65%
Good- 25%
Average- 10%

 How is the post-sales support by the Company in comparison to

other LEADING BRANDS?

 Excellent
 Good
 Average
 Poor

Average

Column1

Good

Excellent

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

NOTE: Excellent- 50%

Good- 35%
Average- 15%
FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS

During our survey under the restricted area provided by our company
whatever lacks I found which should be suggested to our company are
as follows:-

 To increase the sales of Ultratech Cement in such area that there is

a need of time to demo program, seminars & meetings.
 There is a need of more promotional activities
 Time to time offers should be provided to the customer from the
company.
 Need to make available all the construction parts, material and
tools to our distributor
 Ultratech company should be change the colour of PSC bags.
 Some of customers complained about product qualities which they
want to inform the firm by the medium of dealer and I think
company/distributer channel should do it.
CONCLUSION

My focus as an intern was to provide an exhaustive account on the brand

image and acceptability that Ultratech had in the sample area. Due to non
availability of consumers, feedback from the company, I shall only
elucidate the dealers’ perception.

After analyzing the data, I came to a conclusion that the dealers and the
sub-dealers prefer the brand which have a good brand image, good
quality, and must have consistency in supply.
As they consider that brand image is the most important factor which is in
the minds of customers when they come to purchase cement,
As the customer has the psychology that brand image represents the
quality of cement.
Secondly, there must be consistency in supply of cement, as I
the supply of cement is proper the demand can easily be met, which is
directly related to profit or earnings of dealers and the sub dealers.
Thirdly, the profit level must be better than the others as it
motivate the dealers and the sub dealers to sell a particular brand.
And last but not the least pre/post sales services should also be given
importance. It is very important in maintaining sound relationship with
the company.

Sincere thanks to my seniors at work and my guide Professor S. Banerjee.