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Supply Chain Challenges: A case study of Uttarakhand Woolen Handicraft

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June
2015
IJMIE Volume 5, Issue 6 ISSN: 2249-0558

Supply Chain Challenges: A case study of

Uttarakhand Woolen Handicraft Industry

Dr. Satish Ch. Pant*

Dr. Mukesh Pandey**

Abstract
Woolen handicraft is a traditional skill practiced in hill district of Uttarakhand and has
been vertically passed on for generations. The geography of hill districts viz. high altitude,
mountainous terrain, cold climate but excellent sunshine provides ideal conditions for rearing of
animals like sheep, Angora rabbits and Pashmina goats. This creates an environment, which
permits extraction of finest quality of wool.The major advantage of woolen handicraft sector is
its enormous employment potential despite low investment of capital; however, the industry is
not geared up to tap this opportunity.In Uttarakhand, weavers produce a lot of woolen craft per
year, yet the socio economic condition of the weavers continues to be poor. The woolen carpet
business needs to address various challenges at different stages i.e. improving availability of
requisite quality and quantity of raw material, wool processing, grading, design improvement,
strengthening of marketing arrangements and mobilizing institutional finance for growth of this
industry. All these stages involve a chain of intermediaries. The present paper is an attempt to
explore the existingsupply chain scenario of the woolen handicraft sector in hill districts of
Uttarakhand. Exploratory research design was used for the study and Chamoli and Pithoragarh
district of Uttarakhand were selected purposively as they had highest production among the
districts. Primary data was collected from traders, retailers and artisans involved in the trade
through interviews and structured questionnaire. The result of the study highlights various
constraints and the issues afflicting the supply chain.
Keywords: Artisans, marketing, supply chain

*
Teaching Personnel, CABM, GBPUAT, Pantnagar
**
Assoc. Prof., CABM, GBPUAT, Pantnagar

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INTRODUCTION: Woolen handicraft is an inherited, traditional skill practiced in the
mountainous region of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand government has identified major clusters in the
state where people have been engaged in weaving since ages. These clusters are Dunda in
Uttarkashi, Dharchula and Munsiyari in Pithoragarh, Manglore in Haridwar, Chinka in Chamoli
and Kalsi in Dehradun district (Prashant, 2008). In all these clusters artisans are engaged in
making carpets and other woolen crafts. The woolen handmade carpet industry of Uttarakhand
employs around 11000 weavers (Planning Commission, 2006). These weavers produce a lot of
woolen craft per year, yet the socio economic condition of the weavers continues to be poor.
In Uttarakhand, a separate body has been set up as Uttarakhand Handloom &
Handicraft Development Council (UHHDC). It is a registered council constituted by the
Government of Uttarakhand and acts as the apex body for the overall development and
promotion of handicrafts in the state. It aims at generating sustainable employment opportunities
by promoting specialized products for commercialization. It acts as a catalyst to encourage,
guide and organize the artisans and provide platforms to producers and buyers where they can
meet and engage in fruitful interactions.
Besides, wool banks have been set up by the Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB)
to provide all kinds of wool varieties required for the production of variety of products. KVIB
also encourages hand spinning by promoting use of efficient charkhas in homes.As a result,
buyers who are looking for actual handmade woolen products can find these in Uttarakhand.
District Industrial Centers (DICs) are also actively engaged in supporting weavers in
Uttarakhand. A number of wool-based firms registered between 2000-01 to 2010-11 in different
DICs are shown in table 1
Table 1:Number of registered wool based firm (producing carpet/rug) with DICs
District Industrial Number of Registered firm
Center (2000-01 to 2007-08) (2008-09 to 2010-11)
Chamoli 95 NIL
Pithoragarh 15 1
Uttarkashi 07 NIL
Source: Directorate of Industries, Govt. of Uttarakhand

Despite of the above registered firms, there is a substantial decline in number of

registered firm since 2000-01 to 2010-11. In case of Chamoli district, 95 firms were registered
till 2007-08 and since then there has been no more registration seen in the area. In Pithoragarh
district, 15 firms were registered before 2007-08 and since then only one firm has been registered
till 2010-11. If we consider Uttarkashi district, 7 firms were registered before 2007-08 and since
then there has been no any increment seen in the listi.e. the industry is declining in a pace.
However, DIC is continuously trying to facilitate the weavers with the introduction of
information centers, counseling centers and training centers under MSME act.
Although woolen handicraft industry of Uttarakhand is well known for the uniqueness of
its design and weaving patterns, it has not been able to capture a substantial market share even in
the domestic market let alone the international market. There exist several inefficiencies in the
supply chain of woolen handicraft industry which need serious managerial attention.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1) To study the supply chain of woolen handicraft industry in Uttarakhand
2) To identify the gaps in different stages of supply chain
3) To recommend a suitablesupply chain model for woolen handicraft business for the area
under study
METHODOLOGY: For attainment of the research objective exploratory research design was
selected which involves secondary as well as primary data. Chamoli and Pithoragarh district of
Uttarakhand were considered for primary data and primary data werecollected from traders,
retailers and artisans involved in the trade through structured questionnaire and interviews.
While for Secondary data prior research publications, newspapers, magazines, online data from
various Government agencies like Planning commission, Ministry of Textile, Carpet Export
Promotion Council (CEPC), Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT), Wool Research
Association (WRA) and other nongovernmental web services were considered. The result of the
study highlights the constraints and the issues afflicting the supply chain.
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS: One of the notable features of woolen handicraft industry of
Uttarakhand is that entire workforce is women. Majority of them work part time for 3-4 hours
and do it along with agricultural activities.This implies that every other woman in the region is
involved with handloom in one-way or the other. Major findings of the study are described under
following heads.
Existing supply chain of woolen handicraft industry of Uttarakhand: The woolen handicraft
making activity undertaken depends on the season. In summers, artisans focus primarily on
 weaving activities and procurement of wool. Winter is the season when they sell their
produce.The commonly used marketing channels are local melas (fairs), trade fairs and
exhibitions. Major proportion of artisans have created SHGs (Self help groups); an initiative
under Integrated handloom development plan promoted by Uttarakhand government. Existing
supply chain of the industry is described under following heads (Figure 1):
a) Backward Linkage b) Forward Linkage
Raw-Wool (Sourced from local market)
Market Linkage Through SHG outlet Through Fair (Mela) Through Exhibition Through Saras market
Through Nepali Itinerant seller Through Himadri Emporium
Weaving (Production) End Customer

Readymade Processed wool

(Sourced from Local merchant)

Backward Linkages Forward Linkages

Figure 1: Existing supply chain of Woolen handicraft industry of Uttarakhand

Backward Linkages: It was found that majority of weavers source their wool requirement from
local merchants. Table 2 clearly shows that 97% of respondents source processed wool yarn ready
for weaving whereas 45% of respondents sourceraw wool (unprocessed) from nearby area. However,
the share of local raw wool from sheep rearing has been declining continuously as raw wool requires
complex processes like washing, carding, spinning etc. before it can be made ready for weaving
which in itself requires heavy labour inputs.
Table 2: Sources of wool
Source Respondents Percentage of
Reared from self-owned sheep 6 6%
Raw wool procured from nearby area 45 45%
Processed wool 97 97%
Source: Field survey
Forward Linkage: The role of distribution channels in carpet industry is extremely important as
they help transfer a handicraft item from a remote district of Uttarakhand to consumers living in
various parts of the country thus providing livelihood to thousands of weavers. Different
distribution channels adopted by carpet weavers of Uttarakhand are shown in figure 2.
 Local retailer Nepali itinerant
A) Artisans

Trade fair/Exhibition Saras Market Himadri Emporium Cooperative societies SHG operated outlet
End Customer
Artisans SHG
B)

Tourist/Reference Artisan‟s door step

C) group

Figure 2: Woolen Handicrafts: Existing distribution network in Uttarakhand

Channel A: This type of distribution channel is commonly found in remote areas where
involvement of SHGs or NGOs was not observed during research. In fact, the local retailer and
Nepali itinerant sellers are actively involved in distribution here. These Nepali itinerant sellers
practice door-to-door marketing in the neighboring districts. These agents make handsome profit
margins vis-à-vis artisans. However, the mobility of these agents is geographically limited only
to neighboring districts.
Channel B: This kind of distribution channel is found in most of the small towns of border areas
of Uttarakhand. Artisans have created SHGs and Co-operative societies with the guidance of
Government agencies and NGOs. These SHGs and Co-operatives then market the handicraft
items weaved by these artisans in different trade fairs and exhibitions that are regularly held in
various districts of Uttarakhand and Delhi. Besides, some SHGsalso sell these itemsthrough
Saras Market and Himadri Emporium. Saras Market and Himadri Emporiumareplatforms, which
provides a common platform to the artisans/weavers for distribution of their produce.
Government of Uttarakhand and UHHDC promotes these emporiums.
Channel C: In this channel, tourists who happen to tour the area, buy these items directly from
weavers by visiting their looms. Since the Mana village (Near Badrinath) of Chamoli and
Dharchula and Munsiyari of Pithoragarh are well known for woolen handicrafts area, tourists
more often than not, buy different hand crafted items for their own use or as gifts or souvenirs as
they return. Since, all these sales transactions are executed right at the doorstep of the artisan; his
return are excellent with this channel as it involves virtually no selling effort and resources.
Gaps in different stages of supply chain:
Gaps in Backward Linkages (Procurement of raw material): The ever-increasing cost of raw
material is a major concern among the artisans. Declining rate of local sheep rearing is
responsible for this increase. At present, artisans outsource major portion of their wool
requirement as processed wool from local merchants, which puts an extra burden on them.
Sincethese artisans are small purchasers,they are not able to negotiate prices as large firms can
do.
Gaps in Processing (Production/weaving): Most artisans are from economically deprived
sections and lack resources required to meet working capital and other requirements. Therefore,
they are forced to procure low grade of raw materials, which hampers the quality of their
produce. As a result, they obtain uncertain returns. The earnings of artisans are meager as
compared to the investment of time and labor put in by them. Artisans still follow age-old
traditional designs; whereas the market increasingly needs modern and contemporary designs.
Lack of consumer research, market research and training and skill development programs have
forced artisans to continue weaving the traditional designs.
Further the lack of availability of requisite quality of raw materials force artisans to take
whatever is available, of whatever quality. This negatively affects their production, quality and
costs. The result is low productivity, poor quality of products and high costs.
Gaps in forward linkages (Marketing and distribution): Distribution network of woolen
handicraft industry of Uttarakhand is limited to neighboring areas. The major portion of artisans
depend on direct marketing, local SHG outlets, trade fairs and exhibitions, Saras market and
Nepali itinerant sellers.
Saras Market provides a platform to artisans and SHGs to sell woolen handicrafts.
However, due to its limited reach it doesn‟t work as an efficient distribution channel. Nepali
itinerant merchants directly sell door to door. Since carpets are bulky and voluminous products,
the merchants can cover only a limited area per day. Besides, wear and tear of carpets is another
major challenge as these merchants roam door to door repeatedly showcasing their stuff.
To strengthen the distribution of woolen handloom and handicrafts, Government of
Uttarakhand has opened various retail shops by the name of „Himadri Emporium‟ in various
tourist destinations across Uttarakhand. These emporiums are located at places like Badrinath,
Haridwar, Nainital, Ranikhet, Uttarkashi, Srinagar and Dharchula. During the research, it was
 found that only limited woolen crafts were exhibited in the emporium.Carpets, which are woven
universally by all the weavers, do not find a place in the display as they occupy large shelf space.
It was also found that the most preferred channel is direct marketing followed by fairs &
exhibitions as shown in table 3. Most of the artisans use these two channels to sell their produce
in the vicinity. Share of middlemen and agent constitute a small portion, which shows “do-it-
yourself” approach. The only middlemen are Nepali itinerant sellers. Besides, it was also found
that procurement by government is very limited in the region.
Table 3: Ranking of marketing channels used
Distribution channel used Frequency Percentage of Ranking
Direct marketing 100 100% 1
Fair/exhibition 65 65% 2
Agent/middleman 18 18% 3
Govt. institutions 2 2% 4
Source: Field Survey
During the retailer survey, which covered two cities in Uttarakhand namely Dehradun,
and Haldwani (Nainital), Retailers were asked about woolen handicraft and handloom of
Uttarakhand and their responses were negative about the quality, cost and availability of
products. One retailer named „Internationals‟ in Haldwani stated that some customer demands
for hand woven shawl but we could not provide them the same due to lack of intermediaries i.e.
agent we cannot get handmade shawl from Uttarakhand hills. In case of handmade carpets it was
found that as carpet needed high maintenance, is costlier, are not in attractive colours and
attractive looks as compared to machine made, therefore, customer prefer machine made.
As far as margins are concerned, it was found that machine made products offer good
margins as compare to handmade. Simultaneously both retailers accepted that handmade carpet
industry is facing lot of challenges like slow process of new design development, high cost, lack
of awareness, promotion and marketing.
Mapping a value chain for woolen handicraft business in Uttarakhand: The value chain
depicts all the activities a firm engages in while doing business. Therefore, a framework has been
identified which suggested different strategies for different activities involve in the woolen
handicraft business. Though, the scale of operation is limited for a weaver therefore as an
individual it is impossible to follow this framework, hence the value chain framework needs
active participation of government and the apex body UHHDC in each stages of the framework.
Firms Infrastructure:(ffiinnaanncicnign, gp,lapnlnainngneintcg(Setattce) of the art facility center)
Human Resource Management:(TTrraainininign&g &DevDeelovpemloepntm(Teranint)ing centers)
Technological Development:(Pprroodducutcatndd ePsroigcnes,sCdAesDignetectc. (ICT, CAD)
Procurement ((RRaawwmmateratiaelr)ial

Inbound Logistics Operations Outbound Marketing & After-sales

Margin
Incoming (weaving) Logistics: Sales (sales service
material, order force, (complaint/
storage etc. processing, promotion, replacemen
(Wool bank) warehousing advertising, t)
etc. website etc.)

Figure 3: Value chain framework for woolen handicraft industry of Uttarakhand

Inbound logistics: Inbound logistic is an integral element of business operations, which involve
the processes of receiving, storing and distributing raw materials for use in production. It is the
first stage in value chain, however Michael Porter outlined in his 1985 book "Competitive
Advantage." Small business manufacturers may not manage as much inventory, but should still
optimize inbound logistics processes. Therefore with the introduction of wool banks in different
clusters this process can be optimized which results easy access and availability of requisite

quality of wool at cheaper rates.

Operations i.e. weaving activities: In operations stage value can be added through following
activities.
a) Use of Technology: It is extremely important for carpet weavers to adopt new technologies
for better results. Therefore, design development initiatives such as integration of computer
applications like CAD and upgraded tools such as loom etc. should be adopted for simplification
of design and process. For technological support, tie up with various design development
institutions such as NID (National Institute of Design), NIFT (National Institute of Fashion
Technology), IICT (Indian Institute of Carpet Technology) etc. for enhancing capabilities of
weavers should be considered.
b) Use of Traditional design: As far as the traditional designs are concerned, this creates
distinctiveness that is hard to copy by machine made due to heritage designs involved in it.
Therefore, these designs should be focused to the heritage and classy people who cares for art,
history and heritage. Apart from this, fusion of traditional and modern designs can make business
more profitable.
c) Consumer survey: To know the changing taste and preferences of consumer, time to time
survey should be considered, which gives an idea of most accepted or prevalent design
preference in the market place.
d) Stringent quality control: Focus should be on assured quality through testing and inspection
of raw material, process and finished product, so that quality of carpet will become easily
acceptable in the market place. Apart from this quality management standards like ISO and
internationally accepted certifications like Rugmark (GoodWeave) should also be adopted.
Apart from this, woolen handicraft industry of Uttarakhand has ethnic and traditional
value and true hand based crafts in nature as compared to other machine made carpets.
Therefore, these carpets should be positioned as traditional and heritage brand to ensure a robust
domestic market. In addition, the carpet should be differentiated on the basis of original Tibetan
designs, which is probably a unique design of the handmade industry of Uttarakhand
Outbound Logistics: It was observed that all the weavers are solely depend on themselves for
distributing their final produce i.e. handcrafted items whether it would be nearby outlets of Saras,
Himadri or fairs/exhibitions. Therefore, there is an urgent need to avail the outbound services so
that they can focus on their production process.
In case of fair/exhibition, all the handicraft material from different places can be
transported through pooled van/truck to the exhibition place. While online orders can be
executed through the collaboration of Indian postal services. As Indian postal service has a vast
network all over India, it can be used as a tool for market expansion.

Marketing and Sales: Due to the low education level and decentralization of woolen handicraft
weavers of Uttarakhand, they often lack direct access to markets and market information,
resulting in a mismatch between production and market demand. Therefore, following strategies
are recommended.
a) Expansion of market coverage: To bridge the gap between artisans and customers, both in
terms of distance as well as perception, coverage of market should be expanded beyond the
existing market i.e. nearby location. For that matter organizing fairs and exhibition in various
cities as well as setting up website to bring artisan and customers together on a common platform
can be a good initiative.
b) Selection of distribution channel: The artisans depend mostly upon direct marketing and
fairs and exhibitions for disposal of their finished products i.e. woolen handicrafts. Some artisans
sell directly to the consumers, whereas some sell through Nepali itinerant sellers, and local fairs
and exhibitions. Therefore the distribution channels should be expanded through sales emporia,
which directly contact the galaxy of consumers through its various outlets located at various
important towns in India. As far as Co-operative societies are concerned, there are limited
numbers of co-operative societies serving in the study area; therefore, to strengthen the
distribution more co-operatives should be formed for better distribution and profitability.
c) Relevant promotional strategies: The following promotional strategies are suggested for
better promotional support.
i) Effective advertising: Weavers and SHGs are not in a position to do individual advertising
because of their limited resources and heavy investment associated with it. Therefore, the apex
body UHHDC (Uttarakhand Handloom and Handicraft Development Corporation) should
undertake print as well as media advertisements for the better awareness among customers. For
that matter, the allotment of funds and expenditure for advertising should be increased by
UHHDC. The advertisement programs should be focused on heritage, cultural and sustainability
aspect. In the customer centric era, social media is a primary channel for customer engagement
and it also incurs a very low cost as compare to others. Therefore, social network advertising
should also be considered.
ii) Effective sales promotion: The industry is totally dependent on Government bodies for sales
promotions. The only tool they have is point of purchase (P-O-P) displays and demonstrations in
trade fairs and exhibitions. However, the results from these fairs/exhibitions are very poor due to
lack of awareness among people. Therefore, to strengthen the sales promotion following
strategies should be considered.
1. Time to time fair and exhibitions should be organized in various locations by different
government bodies, like KVIB (Khadi & Village Industrial Board), UHHDC etc.
2. Awareness among customers related to fairs and exhibitions should be created through
advertising campaign.
3. Proper display and demonstration support in fairs/exhibitions should be provided to weavers.
d) Branding of handicraft items: Developing a strong brand that differentiates handloom of
Uttarakhand in a competitive global market is very important. Therefore, a well-designed
strategy is needed which repeatedly reminds potential and current customers why they should
purchase carpets of Uttarakhand over others. Therefore, the use of a Geographical Indication as a
brand identity should be adopted, which act as a certification that the product possesses certain
qualities, is made according to traditional methods, or enjoys a certain reputation, due to its
geographical origin.
Human Resource Development through extension services: While analyzing the adaptation of
new designs and technology use, it was found that adaptation of technologies gets severely
handicapped because of knowledge related constraints‟ viz. lack of awareness of modern
designs, improved technological up gradation, etc. this is where the role of extension services
become very important.
The primary aim of the extension strategy should be revitalization of the traditional
techniques of carpet making as a source of income for the weavers and their families. The main
priorities should be on development of jobs for indigenous communities through training
programs, the creation and marketing of products with new designs applications, the undertaking
of cultural outreach programs through the development of collaborative exhibitions and
publications, and the care of natural resources for producing handmade carpets.
NGOs, co-operatives and other organizations working in the field of rural development
and sustainable development should be included for the successful distribution.
Technological Development: As witnessed by the profitability in the working of other sectors
by the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), similar initiatives
should be taken by the group of woolen handicraft producer to implement the ICT in the process
of export as well as domestic marketing.
With the help of ICT, marketer can produce as many designs which can be customized as
per the buyers‟ requirements, thereby getting an order without any initial investment, a method
presently adopted by the Chinese in the handicraft business. Also information related to the
sample like sample designs, revised sample designs, etc can be abruptly exchanged through the
technology.
Firms Infrastructure: The industry needs a state-of-the-art facility centers at block level where
weavers can have access to all the facilities such as processing of wool, training related to design
development through computer etc. Besides, Wool banks should be setup for better quality of
input availability all the time so that delays in processing can be minimized. Apart from this, for
requirement of upgraded loom and tools credit should be provided by financial institutions at a
lower rate of interest.
Procurement (Wool): The ever increasing cost of raw material is a major concern among the
artisans. At present, artisans outsource major portion of their wool requirement, which puts an
extra burden on them. Moreover, the raw material used by them is not available at a low cost.
Therefore, initiatives such as opening of wool bank should be taken by government so that wool
can be avail at a low cost.
Recommended supply chain model for woolen handicraft business in Uttarakhand:
i) Backward Linkages: This model starts with the formation of state-of-the-art facility center at
Block level (development unit of district) where unprocessed raw wool reared from local sheep
will be processed. These facility centers act like a mini wool bank in the blocks and weavers can
get low cost quality raw material easily from these centers. However, the local sheep rearing is
very limited now and excess demand of raw material will be fulfilled by main wool bank which
will be located at district level. These facility centers will also act like training and skill
development centers. These centers will be backed by trained staff from reputed institutions like
Indian institute of carpet technology (IICT), National institute of fashion technology (NIFT) and
other design development institutions. The work of these institution will be focused on
modernization of the craftwork according to the need of the ultimate consumer like
standardization i.e. value creation, process re-engineering for cost reduction and quality
production, assistance through computer aided design (CAD) and other technical assistance like
up gradation of age old tools.
ii) Forward Linkages: On the other end the final handcrafted produce will be marketed by the
state handloom & handicraft development council (UHHDC) and government of Uttarakhand.
UHHDC will assist weavers in promotional and distribution activities like trade fairs, exhibitions
etc, capacity building program that includes human capital development through extension
network support and R&D, certification of the produce like Rugmark, ISO etc, financial support
i.e. easy accessible credit facility, assistance in market development through tie up with some
retail chain for the better market linkage, effective promotion and distribution support and last
but not least modern buying facility i.e. E-commerce platform (Figure 4).
 State-of-the-art facility center (Block level) (reared from sheep)
Raw-Wool

Weaving (Production)
Market Linkage
Wool Bank (Cluster approach) Through Fair & Exhibition
Through Saras market
Through Himadri Emporium
Government procurement (Wool) Through e-commerce

End
Customer

Backward Linkage Forward Linkage

Figure 4: Recommended Supply Chain Model

Conclusion: Woolen handicraft industry of Uttarakhand represents a rich cultural heritage of
India. As an economic activity and in terms of employment generation, it is estimated that
around 11 thousand weavers are employed in woolen handicraft and handloom sector of
Uttarakhand (Planning commission 2006). This sector however is confronted with various supply
chain issues such as, low productivity, inadequate working capital, increasing cost of raw
material, inadequate distribution channel and poor promotional activities, absence of market
intelligence etc.
From the discussion of the data analysis, it is concluded that artisans as individuals are not in
position to address various supply chain related issues such as technology up gradation,
productivity and quality, marketing, credit and product innovation on its own. Therefore, a
holistic strategy and approach aimed at these issues should be considered for overall cluster
development.
Woolen Handicraft items are in high demand in the developed nations and upper segment of
consumers, who are environment and health conscious. Therefore, there is a need to understand
the potential of export market and domestic market trends. As the woolen handicraft industry of
Uttarakhand is wool based industry, special emphasis should be given on improving availability
of requisite quality and quantityof raw material, wool processing, grading, design improvement,
strengthening of marketing arrangements and mobilizing institutional finance for growth of this
sector.
In addition, in the era of automation, the artisans of Uttarakhand are dependent on age old tools
for the production of carpets, to cope up with this issue; there is an urgent need to bring new
technologies to empower the weavers.
As far as distribution and promotion is concerned, due to growing purchasing power of
consumers, increasing double income families, foray of new retail formats like supermarket,
hypermarket and shopping mall and growing social and environmental consciousness among
consumers in domestic as well as international market, new doors have been open for the woolen
handicraft industry of Uttarakhand. Therefore, it is an immediate need to develop new markets
apart from the limited local market. Action should be taken up to develop new distribution
channel to provide increased access to markets outside the state.
Apart from this, it is concluded that production of woolen handicrafts does not alone serve the
customer‟s purpose; therefore there is an immediate need to understand „who is the customer‟,
„where he wants the product‟, in what form at what price. Hence, to sustain in the fierce
competitive business environment, the industry needs proper market survey periodically to
understand these aspects and practices in reality.
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