Sabro Pakistan

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AT SABRO

The SABRO group of companies among is the largest manufacturer of home appliances in the country, the Islamabad based company manufactures different type's home appliances products, employs over 1,000 people, and sells its products in 07 countries.

Sabro Corporation was established in 1968, and it was the mix of superior management skill, experience, technical know-how and decision for offering the right products at the right time, which made SABRO a successful name in the history of manufacturing of air condition. The company had a defining moment at the beginning of operations, when the three brother decide to start business and on the them Mr Ashiq Ali Director, picked up a sledgehammer and began to smash newly assembled air condition. Today SABRO is considered to be a pioneer in Air-conditioning field and known as the largest manufacturer of residential and commercial units of all kinds. The secret of SABRO'S success is rather general to a management student but the two slogans under sabro's flag made SABRO an organization of its kind in Pakistan, i.e. total quality management and the network of after sales services. SABRO is very conscious in having long term commitments with its customer.

By the late 1970s, Sabro expanded and increased manufacturing requirements due to enhanced market demand, subsequently the management decided to establish a new plant for the manufacturing of commercial and industrial products. Initially they started with manufacturing of Coils and Fans etc. as replacement accessories. The company had diversified its product line, and its domestic market share in air conditions, refrigerators, washing machines, freezers, water cooler and split air conditions. In 1980s Sabro starts the process of innovation and research and development and introduce first Mini Split Air Conditioner in Pakistan. Sabro is manufacturing different types of splits packages, chillers, air handling units. Air curtains, humidifier, dehumidifier, hot water generators etc. Now Sabro has entered into new millennium with new product range of DVDs and Instant water geyzers, as a dynamic and growing company, with the resolve to define levels of excellence. At the same time, Ashiq Ali started to look beyond Pakistan for more growth opportunities, and embarked on a strategy to globalize operations. The company established international design centers, developed products that would be attractive in various markets around the world, and established offshore production and distribution through direct investments and partnerships.

"In the appliance industry, product life cycles are becoming shorter," says Siddique Ali, Director of the Sabro Group. "Competition among enterprises is not only based on price and quality, but more importantly, on the speed and efficiency of the supply chain." By reengineering its business processes, Sabro achieved a market advantage by adopting an approach focused on centralized order handling. It also established a better way to manage the flow of physical goods and capital that are connected to customer demand. With process reengineering, Sabro could achieve higher rates of factory throughput and better customer service with minimal cost and capital investment. Using this optimized approach, Sabro also shifted manufacturing operations from make-to-stock (MTS) to make-to-order (MTO), and put in place just-in-time (JIT) inventory management principles. Through these actions, which are consistent with the concepts of lean manufacturing and distribution, the company was able to minimize material inventories in its production network and become more responsive to market demands.

However, running lean processes required a new supply chain strategy - one that would allow the company to benefit from production efficiencies and economies of scale, with full visibility of supply and demand information worldwide, using a highly responsive supply chain planning process.

Less than 25 years after its founding as a state-run manufacturer of air conditions Sabro was in the position to grow internationally because of its successful domestic growth strategy However, Sabro faced significant challenges in executing that strategy globally, including substantial domestic and offshore competition, shortening product life cycles, and government regulation. In 1990s, Ashiq Ali set out to achieve globalization by providing personalized products to meet each customer's needs. To support this approach, the company established appropriate innovation and research department and took important steps in supply chain management. In this contest they introduced different products in market but mani split air condition is one the best product they innovated , in 1997 they got ISO 9000 Certificate.

During 1990s, Sabro achieved consumer recognition as the Pioneer air condition manufacturer