27th April, 2015 was a big day for an Indian industry when Westlife Development, which owns Hardcastle Restaurants, the master franchisee of the American restaurant chain in India, announced that Mr. Vikram Ogale will be elevated from his position of general manager, national supply chain to director national supply chain and quality assurance at McDonald's India. This is not the first time that an Indian has made it upto this position. Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo), Anshu Jain (Deutsche Bank), Rakesh Kapoor (Reckitt Benckiser) and many more have proved the level of talent and leadership skills Indian professionals have.
McDonald's is the largest chain of fast food restaurants in the world. It has more than 35,000 outlets worldwide. The first outlet was opened on October 13, 1996 in Delhi and now the chain has grown upto 250+ outlets in India. McDonald's has planned to set up 175-250 new restaurants by 2020 in west and south India, as well as to introduce new formats such as McCafe to its existing restaurants. Vikram has taken over from Sriram Venkateswaran to execute the extension plan using his experience in supply chain management.
Vikram joined McDonald's in 2012 as general manager, after having worked for over 12 years with companies including Asian Paints, Marico and Sony DADC India. He will look after the long-term supply chain strategy for McDonald's India as well as operational supply chain goals. His past experience in de-risking commodity fluctuation and establishing pricing protocols with McD’s suppliers have given him the opportunity to lead at a higher position, as per the company officials. He has effectively aligned the supply chain strategy with McDonald's' strategic business priorities in order to better serve the customers. As he is all set to expand and grow the business, his main challenge whilst achieving excellence in operations would be competition from Burger King to local food chains in new areas. Every step from an establishment of the store to supply chain should be smooth in order to tackle the competition. Consistency in the services is still a big concern which needs better outlook.
Vikram has excellent analytical skills and is conceptually sound in his chosen field of Operations Management, on which company has shown faith by appointing him at the higher position. Vikram loves reading and photography, holds a BE degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Mumbai, and a postgraduate diploma in industrial engineering, with a specialization in operations and supply chain management, from the National Institute of Industrial Engineering.
Talking about the operational knowledge, Vikram talks about his learning experience in NITIE with excitement, a leading college for excellence in supply chain and operations management. He has won Kris Pennathur's Rolling Shield and Silver Medal for Best Student in Production Management. His vast experience in manufacturing, Supply Chain Consulting, Materials, business strategy and Distribution Business will help the chain to get the best out of him, And McD India has set high growth targets to achieve with Vikram because his expertise has made him a colossus for the company. I wish his future challenging assignments would lead him to reach new heights in expansion projects wherein the mettle he has shown in supply chain and operations area would help him a lot.
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