Manufactured
Capital
Financial
Capital
Human
Capital
Intellectual
Capital
Social &
Relationship
Capital
Natural
Capital
Our future-ready investments are aimed at achieving process efficiencies, leveraging economies of scale, and impacting speed to market. This helps us to be more competitive in the market, directly impacting our Manufactured Capital and consequently strengthening our Financial Capital.
We are enhancing our Intellectual Capital by scaling up technology, increasing capabilities, and evolving best practices. We are also building smarter, safer work environments in line with global standards to enable our team members to deliver more efficiently and improve Human Capital.
We work closely with our partners and suppliers and together reach out to our wide consumer base and build Social and Relationship Capital. Our work impacts the environment, and we are constantly working to improve the sustainability of our process and make a positive impact on Natural Capital.
For more details, refer to the sustainable development goal mapping on our website
1. Customer Service
Focusing on agile fulfilment initiatives to respond efficiently to changing consumer demands
Across all our regions, our customer fill rates took a hit in this unprecedented year of operations. The first two quarters were especially affected as we experienced lockdowns across our key geographies, and several of our units could not operate at full capacity once open.
Despite challenges, we bounced back strongly by ramping up production at record speed. By the third quarter, we were clocking fill rates in line with pre-COVID-19 levels.
In India, post the third quarter, we achieved new highs on fill rates with most of our organised trade partners.
Quarter-wise improvement in fill rates in our India operations
Cumulative fill rates across geographies
| Country | Fill rate of FY 20-21 (%) |
|
|---|---|---|
| India | 88 | |
| Indonesia | 97.20 | |
| Argentina | 95.90 | |
| Chile | 91.40 | |
| Kenya | 96.20 | |
| South Africa | 95.56 | |
| Nigeria | 82.75 | |
| Ghana | 89.72 | |
| Tanzania | 97.10 | |
| Mozambique | 97.36 | |
| USA | 88.30 |
In line with demand patterns, we focused on improving the agility of our manufacturing capacity across geographies.
We adopted dynamic network planning to ensure we have a backup for any impacted node in the network. This helped us manage business continuity, and we had minimal disruption in the year despite challenges on ground. We managed to fast track some movements by dispatching directly and billing from plant locations.
For organised trade channels, we rolled out pilots with multiple companies who had experience in working as aggregators and reducing choking issues at customer locations. This was a win-win solution
as we had a faster turnaround time and freight savings and our customers had lesser load as we gave them consolidated consignments.
We also extended support by providing direct-to-store deliveries during the start-up phase when there was a need to replenish the stores after a hiatus of lockdown. We managed to be among the fastest growing non-food FMCG companies in a few key retail chains. Our resilient fulfilment options helped us surpass our previous performance on fill rates across all chains.
2. Employee engagement and
productivity improvement
Extending best practices and shop floor employee engagement globally
We have adopted best-in-class manufacturing practices such as Theory of Constraints, TPM, Lean, Kaizen, and Low- cost Automation across our global supply chain from procurement to manufacturing and shipping.
We are constantly exploring new technologies and solutions to improve the utilisation of our assets, materials, and resources to ensure improved freshness of our products.
A. Total quality management
We drive total quality management through shop floor employee engagement initiatives across geographies. As part of this, we train all shop floor employees in TPM, Lean, Quality Circles, Task Force, and Kaizen.
Shop floor engagement strengthening employee relations
through participation in sporting activities in Ghana
B. Productivity improvement
In fiscal year 2020-21, we engaged with over 16,000 shop floor team members to improve manufacturing processes, productivity per person, and employee connect and relations.
All team members are encouraged to suggest changes to improve process efficiencies. Like every year, we ran an employee suggestion scheme and got over 7,459 suggestions, 58 per cent of which were implementable. So far, we have implemented 93 per cent of the implementable suggestions, and the others are in process.
Our team members also registered 104 Kaizens for performance improvement across our Africa and Indonesia manufacturing plants. All 104 have been implemented.
Shop floor team members across Indonesia and Africa are helping solve problems related to their own jobs through quality circles, a participatory management technique. Currently, we run 32 quality circles in Indonesia, Kenya, Ghana, and Mozambique.
Improving teamwork through regular trainings in Kenya
Total quality management training session in Indonesia
Productivity improvement across locations
| Country | Product | Improvement (%) |
|---|---|---|
| India | Godrej aer Power Pocket Godrej Expert Rich Crème Goodknight Fast Card Goodknight Refill |
3.8 5 4.8 7 |
| Tanzania | Braids | 12.55 |
| Uganda | Fluffy Kinky Afro Kinky Afro Baby Elite Curls |
22 37 55 104 |
| Kenya | Adara Afro Baby Elite Curls Spring Twist |
42 75 33 50 |
| Mozambique | Dry hair category | 32.6 |
| Nigeria | Natural Twist Wet Wave Kinky Straight |
23 22 15 |
| Ghana | Kinky Natural Twist |
9.8 16.6 |
| Indonesia | Mitu Mega 1 | 0.95 |
Our Darling hair extensions
factory in Mozambique
3. Industry 4.0
Making future-ready investments
to further improve productivity
In our North East Cluster, data insights from IoT in our Lokhra unit at our hair crème lines helped us identify and act on minor and medium downtime. We improved the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) by 5 per cent compared to last year. IoT at the refill lines at our New Conso unit improved OEE by 15 per cent on line 7 and by 8 per cent on line 8. We also conducted digital twins for one of our crème factories, which facilitated changes in layout for improved efficiency, transfer of material, reduction in manpower, energy savings, and better space utilisation.
Data insights from IoT in our Baddi and Katha soap lines in our North Cluster helped reduce downtimes in wrapping, stamping, and banding and resulted in improved line synchronisation. In Katha, our average soap production rate increased by over 8 per cent from the baseline before IoT, and the soap line number 2 average production (MT/day) was up by 7 per cent. Productivity of 100 gm Cinthol improved to 40.5 MT/day from 36.4 MT/day and 50 gm Godrej No.1 soap improved to 27.8 MT/day from 25.6 MT/day.
In our Central Cluster, we implemented several IoT projects at our Malanpur Soap plant and saved over ₹22 lakhs. We installed IoT in LP Boiler 3 that helped in taking decisions for cleaning and control of various process parameters. IoT in the soap noodle plant 2 helped in data monitoring and analysing the specific utility consumption. IoT in one of the chilling units monitored critical parameters of the compressor and helped us take action accordingly. IoT in the RO unloading section helped in reducing steam consumption and saved ₹22 lakh per annum. To combat COVID-19, we installed an automatic temperature scanner that measures temperature through face detection.
In Argentina, we recently installed a flow- packing machine for an in-house core stock keeping unit that was earlier outsourced. We are also investing in a new case- packaging machine to increase in-house capacity. With these, we will be able to produce 100 per cent of volume in-house without depending on a third party.
Our Indonesia team had one of our can vendors install their manufacturing unit inside our plant premise. This increased the flexibility of operation in our largest product category. As a first step towards industry 4.0, we have started digitising manufacturing records.
4. Sustainability of the process
Driving sustainability initiatives across the supply chain and extending them to key vendors through sustainable procurement policies
Manufacturing
As part of our Good & Green vision, we have identified five environmental sustainability goals to be achieved by fiscal year 2020-21 — we aim to be carbon neutral, achieve water positivity, send zero waste to landfill, reduce specific energy consumption by 30 per cent, and have 30 per cent of total energy from renewable sources. Our performance is guided and tracked by the sustainability team at the corporate centre and driven by manufacturing cluster heads and team members at each location.
We track energy, emissions, water, waste, and renewable data for all locations where we have 100 per cent operational control. We are in the process of adopting carbon and water pricing to capture the financial implications of our emissions and water use and build sustainability into decision-making at every point in the value chain.
Ensuring judicious use of natural resources
To measure our progress against our environmental goals, we obtained standards, methodologies, and assumptions used for the purpose of our calculations from the ‘IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, 2006' and the ‘IPCC AR5 Assessment Report'.
Our data calculations are performed for all locations where we have 100 per cent operational control. All our manufacturing plants strive to achieve these goals by fiscal year 2020-21. Our performance is guided by the sustainability team at the corporate level and driven by manufacturing cluster heads and team members at each of our manufacturing locations.
Our process includes the following:
Our goals and performance - India
1. Energy
Approach
Performance*#
2. Water
Become water positive
Approach
Performance**#
3. Waste
Achieve zero waste to landfill
Approach
Performance***#
4. Emission
Become carbon neutral
Approach
Performance****#
#Performance as of March 2021 against fiscal year 2010-11 baseline
*Energy use is calculated by specific energy consumption per tonne of production
**Water usage is calculated by specific water consumption per tonne of production
***Waste generated is calculated by specific waste to landfill per tonne of production
****Emissions are tracked for Scopes 1 and 2 and calculated by specific GHG emissions per tonne of production
This year, our energy performance for the year was affected due to COVID-19 disruptions and intermittent start-stop operations. This also caused delays in all new energy and renewable initiatives that had been planned. Despite the challenges, we implemented 54 energy efficiency initiatives across all our locations.
Key initiatives in fiscal year 2020-21:
Though our overall performance was hit, we were able to get back on track as the year progressed, evident in the improving performance from the first to the further quarter.
Quarter-wise improvement in energy performance
| Quarter of FY 20-21 |
Specific energy in comparison with same quarters of FY 19-20 (%) |
Renewable energy (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | + 6.1 | 27.1 |
| Q2 | - 0.7 | 27.8 |
| Q3 | - 5.9 | 29.3 |
| Q4 | - 3.8 | 31.0 |
Energy report - Global
We evaluate and implement innovative projects to reduce our specific water consumption. However, this year, our overall water consumption increased across all locations due to increased cleaning and sanitation requirements to fight COVID-19. Additionally, at a few locations, there was an increase in the manufacturing of water- intensive products such as hand wash and sanitisers.
Meanwhile, we continue to source our water from sustainable sources and have also supported integrated watershed projects to replenish groundwater levels.
Key initiatives in fiscal year 2020-21:
With the continuing focus on health and safety and the continuing impact of the pandemic, our water consumption is likely to be high in the next fiscal year too. However, our performance did show gradual improvement from the first to the fourth quarter.
Quarter-wise improvement in water performance
| Quarter of FY 20-21 | Water performance for FY 20-21 in comparison with same quarters of FY 19-20 (%) |
|---|---|
| Q1 FY 20-21 | + 10.7 |
| Q2 FY 20-21 | + 1.9 |
| Q3 FY 20-21 | - 1.7 |
| Q4 FY 20-21 | + 2.4 |
Despite this challenging year, we undertook several initiatives to reduce waste generation and divert waste from landfill. By continuing to send ETP sludge from our Malanpur plant to co-processing at a cement plant, we already achieved over 99 per cent reduction in waste to landfill, and our India operations is zero waste to landfill.
We are also on track with our extended producer responsibility (EPR) commitment. We use just over 20,000 MT of plastic packaging for our products. We are now plastic neutral, which means we take back the equivalent amount of plastic that we send out to our consumers. In addition, we also continue to invest in community solid waste management programmes.
Key initiatives in fiscal year 2020-21:
All our manufacturing units have systems in place for monitoring GHG emissions and short-term reduction targets with the long- term aim of achieving carbon neutrality. Our initiatives on improving energy mix and reducing specific consumption have helped us reduce our GHG emissions.
Some of these initiatives include switching to renewable biomass for boilers, increased procurement of renewable energy, flue gas heat recovery from boilers for process utilisation, and installation of energy- efficient equipment, among others.
Key initiatives in fiscal year 2020-21:
In fiscal year 2020-21, we reported a higher emission trend in India. The main reasons for this performance deviation are as follows:
Innovating sustainable packaging
As an FMCG business, packaging plays a very important role in maintaining product integrity. We use delightful design and packaging to differentiate our products, and we aim to do this in an eco-friendly way. Several of our products are known for unique packaging, which balances utility and recyclability.
In addition to our Good & Green targets, at a company level, we have identified sustainable packaging targets for fiscal year 2024-25.
Our goals and performance
1. Reduce packaging consumption per unit of production by 20% from the base year of FY 17-18
Approach
2. Have 100% of the packaging material be recyclable, reusable, recoverable, or compostable
Approach
3. Use at least 10% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content in plastic packaging
Approach
Key initiatives in fiscal year 2020-21:
As part of our goal to replace 10 per cent of all virgin plastic with PCR plastic, we ran a pilot with Goodknight coil poly bags made out of 90 per cent PCR plastic for our South Coil units. This is a first of its kind project in India on circular economy. The recycled granules used to make the poly bags are sourced from our solid waste management project in Hyderabad. We collect PCR waste as part of our EPR obligation, get it processed in a facility that was co-funded by us, and use it back in our packaging. We could successfully complete the pilot implementation after several trials and detailed assessment. We aim to replace 600 tons of virgin plastic through this initiative on full-scale implementation.
Supply chain
Since 2015, we have defined our sustainability commitment expectations for suppliers, linked to our Good & Green goals. This is detailed in the GCPL Sustainable Procurement Policy. All our key suppliers are expected to align with this, and we are committed to enabling them to get there. Existing and new suppliers are expected to conform to the expectations listed under the policy. We are committed to helping our suppliers make their operations more sustainable through the following:
As part of our supplier scoring process, we collate qualitative and quantitative data and develop a composite score based on the responses. To drive continuous adherence, we schedule self-declarations from suppliers, as well as external audits, identify category-wise targets, and share industry best practices and suggested actions.
As a part of supplier assessments in India, we have evaluated 128 suppliers so far (accounting for around 70 per cent of our procurement spends) on being quality centred, ethically driven, green inspired, and socially focused.
Due to the pandemic, we conducted only paper audits and no physical site visits. Of 128 vendors with historical scores, 120 showed 8 per cent improvement. None of the vendors showed any noncompliance on ethical policies. We flagged 3 per cent of the evaluated suppliers in the sustainability risk zone.
To drive continuous improvement, we have shared industry best practices and suggested actions. Additionally, sustainability assessment through a self- declared questionnaire has become part of our new vendor initiation protocol.
In Argentina, we are assessing over 10 exclusive vendors (accounting for close to 50 per cent of our purchases) who comprise raw material suppliers, co-packers, and local material vendors. Our onsite audit plan is on hold until COVID-19 concerns fade; however, we have made efforts to execute an online audit of our vendors and have been monitoring their issues and risks.
Last year, in Indonesia, we covered 18 of our exclusive vendors (accounting for 65 per cent of our purchases), and in Chile, we covered 13 exclusive vendors (accounting for close to 50 per cent of our purchases). Due to the pandemic, we halted our engagement on supply chain sustainability in these regions and have renewed our work on it since May 2021.
