FORE School Of Management 
 
Industrial Visit Report 
 

Parle Products 
&  
Relaxo Footwares Pvt. Ltd. 
Bahadurgarh 

on 

11th October 2010 

 
Submitted by: 
Padia Archin Ramakant 
(191039) 
Section A 
 
 
  
 

Table of Contents 
About the Company: ............................................................................................................................... 1 
About the Unit: ....................................................................................................................................... 3 
Market share: .......................................................................................................................................... 4 
Operations Perspective: .......................................................................................................................... 4 
Salient features in Parle Factory for operations : ............................................................................... 4 
MARKETING MANAGEMENT: .................................................................................................................. 5 
FINANCIAL ASPECTS: ............................................................................................................................... 5 
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ....................................................................................................... 5 
CSR (corporate social responsibility) ...................................................................................................... 6 
Report on Relaxo……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6 

 
 

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About the Company: 
Parle Prodcuts emerged in the year 1929 when India was still under the British Rule. This
company was started by Shri Mohanlal Dayal Ji, who learned confectionary from Germany.
A small factory was set up in the suburbs of Mumbai, to manufacture sweets and toffees. A
decade later it was upgraded to manufacture biscuits as well. Since then, the Parle name has
grown in all directions, won international fame and has been sweetening people's lives all
over India and abroad.

Apart from the factories in Mumbai and Bangalore Parle also has factories in Bahadurgarh in
Haryana and Neemrana in Rajasthan, which are the largest biscuit and confectionery plants in
the country. Additionally, Parle Products also has 7 manufacturing units and 51
manufacturing units on contract.

Parle Products has been India's largest manufacturer of biscuits and confectionery, for almost
80 years. Makers of the world's largest selling biscuit, Parle-G, and a host of other very
popular brands, the Parle name symbolizes quality, nutrition and great taste. With a reach
spanning even the remotest villages of India , the company has definitely come a very long
way since its inception.

About the Unit: 

The unit we visited was the Bahadurgarh Haryana Factory of parle which is producing
Biscuits brands of

1 Parle G

2 Monaco

3 Krack Jack

We were received by Mr. Vishal Joshi, the HR head of the Parle-Bahadurgarh factory. We
were given a detailed presentation about the creation, evolution and functioning of the brand
Parle and different processes that are combined to manufacture a host of Parle products like
biscuits, confectionaries and chips.

We were then taken around the factory and each process was explained to them in easy to
understand and clear manner. We could see how efficiently, hygienically and smoothly
Parle was carrying out its manufacturing operation.

Later on a question and answer session was held where all questions asked by the
management were answered to our complete satisfaction. We were also given
complimentary gifts by Parle as a token of appreciation.

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Market share: 
Parle has a mrket share of 60% in the organized sector and that of 40% in the organized
sector. It is giving tough competition to established players like Britania etc. Its Market
penetration in urban area is 75% to 85% and that in rural areas is 55% to 65%. If we look at
the region wise market share than Parle enjoys maximum share of 28% in the East Zone.
While compared with the peers Parle enjoys maximum share of 40% followed by Britania
38% than Priya Gold 15% , ITC 11% and other players 6%. The company has been observing
a decent growth rate of 15% to 17% annually over the years.

The total product mix of Parle consists of 17 products in biscuits category, 14 from
sweets and 7 products in snacks category making a total of 38 products rolling out from
various factories of Parle.

Operations Perspective: 
Production capacity of the plant:

Product Capacity (Per Day)

1. Parle G 100 tons
2. Krack Jack 50 tons
3. Monaco 25 tons
4. Total capacity 175tons

Salient features in Parle Factory for operations :  
 

1. In house printing for the packing wrappers. This has reduced the cost of packaging
considerably.

2. Standard of 12 hrs a month breakdown. Maintenance department has to maintain

this level. 12 hrs a month is the permissible limit for breakdown of machines.

3. Large and efficient machines ensure the sufficient production to meet the demand.

4. Proper network of supply chain. There are 90 depots owned by Parle, which
further distributes the products to distributors, retailers and then finally to
consumers.

5. The products manufactured in Parle factory are shipped to depots same day at any
condition. This is done in order to ensure inventory is kept properly.

6. Hygiene factors are maintained. All the employees in manufacturing unit have to
follow certain restrictions in order to maintain the hygiene of the products.

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MARKETING MANAGEMENT: 
Parle has been a market leader in biscuit market. This has been possible because of the
dedicated marketing team of Parle. Amir Khan was selected by Parle as the brand
ambassador for Parle products like Monaco, Smart chips, Parle G.

Various strategies adopted by Parle are :

1. Emphasis on quality of the products. This has been the main factor for Parle for
being the market leader. Products have to pass the specific quality test to be sold in
market. Quality of Parle products is such maintained that even WHO has given
preference to Parle products over other brands while distributing them to calamity
hit areas.

2. Value for money is another approach to invite more and more customers. Parle
products are priced aggressively to counter the competition by other brands.

3. Rural market is the priority for the Parle. The major source of revenue for Parle is
from rural markets. Products like Kismi Bar, Poppins, Rola Cola, etc which are
gradually disappearing from the urban market still are very popular among rural
population.

4. Intelligently selecting Amir Khan as their brand ambassador proved to be boost for
Parle.

FINANCIAL ASPECTS: 

Revenue of the whole parle group around 5000 crores.

Break up of that revenue is

Biscuits segment- 4000 crore

Confectionary segment- 1000 crore

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT  
At Parle, special care is being given to each and every employee of the industry.
Following are the special privileges provided to the employees :

1. Incentives in case of daughter’s marriage is given the employees.

2. In case of death of any employee, all the other employees contribute their one day’s
salary and give to the family of the deceased.
3. Various recreational activities are made available to the workers like Art of Living,
etc.

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CSR (corporate social responsibility) 

At bahadurgarh plant as a csr activity management has distributed free lunch boxes in the
government school,they distributed free hand pump.Parle Centre of Excellence as an
institution is dedicated to enrich the lives of people through conducting various cultural
programs across all region to facilitate the all round development of the children. Every year,
Parle organises Saraswati Vandana in the state of West Bengal during the festival of
Saraswati Puja, inviting schools from all across the state to participate. The event is one of
much fanfare and celebration, keeping alive the culture and traditions of ages. Our
involvement in cultural activities has seen the inception of Golu Galata in Tamil Nadu, held
during Navratri. Its gives a platform to all the members of a household to showcase their
creativity and being judged by immanent personalities. Thousands of families participate and
celebrate the occasion on a grand scale.

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 FORE School Of Management 
 
 
Industrial Visit Report 

 
Relaxo Footware Pvt. Ltd. 
Bahadurgarh 

on 

11th October 2010 

 
 
 
Submitted by: 
Padia Archin Ramakant 
(191039) 
Section A 
 
   

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Table of Contents 
About the Company ................................................................................................................................ 9 
About Unit Visited: .................................................................................................................................. 9 
MARKET SCENARIO OF THE INDUSTRY ................................................................................................. 10 
Operations Management ...................................................................................................................... 10 
MARKETING MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................. 11 
Human Resource Management ............................................................................................................ 11 
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................... 12 
Other Observations: .............................................................................................................................. 12 
 

 
 

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About the Company 

Relaxo has established itself as one of the most stalwart, quality conscious and avant-garde
footwear companies in the Indian economy today. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, it
maintains a fine combination of comfort, style, and workmanship and is embarking upon
appreciable growth plans for the future. The company began as a small enterprise in the year
1976 and was officially incorporated in 1984 and further went into public listing in 1995.
According to the 2008 Business Survey, it has now emerged as the second largest footwear
producer in India.

Relaxo Footwear commenced its journey with the manufacture of Hawaii slippers. It has now
grown into a large-scale entrepreneurship catering to the basic needs of the quintessential
Indian citizen. The company has experienced a record-breaking growth since inception.
Today, the company manufactures over 3 lakh pairs of footwear per day, which
approximately adds up to over 10 million pairs per year. Each pair is given thorough attention
by the dedicated and skilled employees working at the 10 state-of-the-art manufacturing units
in Northern India.

Factory Location Products Manufactured

S
No.
1 RFL I Bahadurgarh Hawaii, Spark Hawaii
2 RFL II Bahadurgarh Hawaii
3 RFL III Bhiwadi Hawaii
4 RFL IV Bahadurgarh Flite
5 RFL V Haridwar Sparx Shoes & Sandals
6 RFL VI & VI B Bahadurgarh Flite, Schoolmate, Casualz, Sparx
DIP
7 RFL VII Bahadurgarh Canvas
8 Nu Wave Shoes Delhi Schoolmate, Casualz
9 Patel Oil Mills Delhi Canvas, Bahamas, Sparx Fabricated
Hawaii
10 Marvel Polymers Delhi Sparx Shoes & Sandals
 

About Unit Visited: 
th
We visited the Manufacturing unit RFL IV which is situated at Bahadurgarh, Haryana on 11
October 2010. The state-of-the-art unit is equipped with futuristic infrastructure powered by
cutting-edge technology and progressive machinery.

The plant started functioning in 2004. It uses the EV injection technology, which is first of its
kind technology in entire Asia. The main raw materials used in the production are
EVA(Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) and PVC(Polyvinyl Chloride). EVA is injected into the
machines using EV injection technology.

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The unit focuses on the production of Flite footwear brand. Flite is Relaxo’s most exclusive
brand. Its unique “fashionable and light” quality is ensured by its manufacturing process,
involving cutting-edge EVA technology. Available in an array of colours and designs, it is
among the popular products in the casual footwear industry.

The production capacity of the plant is around 60,000 pairs per day and the functioning of the
plant takes place 24 hours (in shifts) per day for 6 days a week and one day is kept for
maintenance and repair of the machines, it is basically for Preventive maintenance of the
machines.

MARKET SCENARIO OF THE INDUSTRY 
RFL is one of the largest players in this sector. Other big names in the footwear industry are
Bata India, Liberty Shoes and Lakhani Footwear of which Lakhani is not a listed peer. Bata
India cannot be compared to the business of RFL as Bata follows a different business model.

RFL enjoys a very good market share especially in the northern part of the country. RFL has
the capacity to manufacture over 100 million pairs, per annum. It is second only to Bata
India. Its capacity to manufacture 200,000 pairs of Hawaii slippers per day is one of the
highest in the footwear industry. A network of 350 distributors and 30,000 retailers operating
across India ensures that all its products reach customers in almost all parts of North, West
and South India.

Operations Management  
1. The Machinery used in the production process appeared to be very highly complicated
and technical. The machinery is imported from Italy.
2. The machinery has capacity of 60,000 pairs of Flite footwear per day.
3. The production process has a combination of automation and manual labour. The various
components of the product are produced by the machines and the manual labour
assembles them to form the product.
4. Innovation in production by the use of first of its kind EV injection system.
5. Presence of a State of art testing laboratory where all the designed products have to go to
various tests before being passed for production. The tests include checks for Specific
gravity, temperature sensitivity, etc. Even the box used for packaging has to go through
certain tests.
6. Certified by ISO 9001:2000 and BIS/SATRA Standards are being followed for
production.
7. There is support of quality control managers through entire production process right from
shaping the footwear and continuing to the final stage of finishing, thus ensuring that
footwear is scanned at every stage of production. Some of the quality tests the products
undergo include:
 Random Testing
 Batch Testing
 Tactical Wear tests

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 8. SAP has been implemented in the Company covering all manufacturing units of the
Company in order to run the enterprise in accordance with strategy and plans, accessing
the right information in real time. Among other benefits, SAP will improve operational
efficiency and productivity within and beyond the Company.
9. Full utilization of resources, the machines are used for 24 hours each day for 6 days a
week and 1 day is reserved for Preventive maintenance.

MARKETING MANAGEMENT 

RFL produces different products under different brands. It produces Hawaii Footwear
in the brand name of “Relaxo” whereas the light slippers segment is branded as
“Flite”. The school and sports shoes segment are branded Sparx for which with brand
ambassador is Model and Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh. In FY09, RFL spent Rs 30.3
crores on advertisements and sales promotion, which accounts to 7.5% of sales. All
three brands – Relaxo, Flite and Sparx are quite well known and well accepted by the
common man and therefore this brand value helps the company push its sales further
and create more faith in the minds of the customers. Also a reputed brand name
enables the company to have a higher pricing for its products in the market.

Human Resource Management  
1. The Company organises training and development programmes to boost up the morale of
employees, maintain work life balance and to create a feeling of team-work to develop
capabilities to enhance its leadership in the talent domain.
2. Areas for focus have been leadership development, sales and quality of services.
3. The Industrial Relations in all the units of the Company have continued to be cordial.
4. Adequate measures for safe guarding the safety and health of employees and labourers
are installed at the plants of Company.
5. The Company installs fire fighting equipments at all manufacturing plants. Workers/staff
are trained to handle these equipments effectively in case of any eventuality.
6. Management Team: The team is headed by 6 Directors, a President, 8 GMs & over 35
managers, who hold expertise in varied fields including marketing, finance, production,
HRD & administration.
7. Workforce: The Company has service support of over 3000 personnel who are well
trained in their respective production activities including 400 officials who are spread
over all 9 manufacturing units & corporate office.

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FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT  
The financial year 2009 has been a year of lots of ups and downs for the markets and the
economy. The same was also felt by RFL. The raw material prices were pretty high in the
initial quarters for the company. The company could not transfer the volatility in the raw
material prices on to the customers and thereby took a hit on the margins. During Q4FY09,
the company witnessed a big jump in the operating margins as there was a fall in the raw
material prices and so the company could reduce its raw material expenses (while keeping its
sale prices constant) in turn increasing the margins. In Q1FY10 also the margins remained
high due to a fall in purchase of finished goods.

In FY09, RFL took a hit on profitability in the first 3 quarters of FY09 due to rising raw
material prices (Rubber and EVA) that could not be passed on to the customers. Prices of
natural rubber rose 11% in FY09 while that of synthetic rubber rose 16% and EVA rose 33%.
In the fourth quarter however, due to reversal in prices of raw materials, RFL performed well
and posted an impressive OPM of 15% (vs 7-10% in the previous 3 quarters). Rubber prices
that had risen from Rs 75 to Rs 140 a kg have fallen back to Rs 80 per kg currently. Similar is
the case with EVA prices (largely imported). RFL has not reduced prices of its products post
the fall in price of raw materials. Hence it has cushion to launch schemes for
distributors/retailers and fight competition. Traditionally the 1st and the 4th quarters are good
for RFL.

Other Observations: 

 The raw material price fluctuation is a matter of concern as ~47% of expenditure

incurred by company is expenses related to raw materials
 Another matter of concern is the fluctuation in the currency. RFL imports Ethyl Vinyl
Acetate (EVA) for the production of Flite brand. Any depreciation in the rupee would
impact the margins of the company.
 RFL sells almost 65% of its products in the north Indian market thereby creating a
very high dependence on the states of north India. It is unable to reap the benefits of a
wider market and diversified geographical base as its network in other regions is not
as strong.
 Being a branded footwear company, one of the important expenditure incurred by
RFL is the expenditure on advertisements. It will have to keep on spending large
amount in advertisement to sustain and improve value of its brands.
 There is always a risk of fresh competitors in this segment as there are no high entry
barriers into this industry.

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