AL BUYING BEHAVIOUR

rce of about 9,600 persons and a countrywide distribution network of over 9,000t companies in India to include commitment to environmental protectionves, the company installed sophisticated pollution controllitation, water management techniques and ‘greening’ activities. The companyte management including testing, suggestions for reuse, recycl ing and co-   RAW MATERIAL REQUIRED ACC has a countrywide spread of 14 modern cement plants. This large network of   manufacturing units consumes a wide spectrum of inputs – about 60,000 different itemsranging from Coal, Gypsum, Slag, Packaging material (bags), Refractories, Steel,Grinding Media, Electrodes, Cables,

Bearings, Conveyor Belts, Spares of variousmechanical, electrical and instrumentation equipment, Mining Equipment and their   spares and explosives. The main raw materials required are limestone and coal.SUPPLIERS OF RAW MATERIALLimestone ACC has rich experience in mining, being the largest user of limestone. It has access to limestone mines from where it extracts limestone required for their cement factories.ACC acquired 100 per cent of the equity of Lucky Minmat Private Limited. This company holds limestone mines in the Sikar district of Rajasthan, and helps supplementlimestone supply to its cement plants.Coal ACC Mineral Resources Limited has already entered into Joint Venture arrangements for   prospecting, exploration and mining coal from the coal blocks in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. The company is also exploring other opportunities for securing additionalcoal and gypsum resources in India and abroad. As the largest cement producer in India,it is one of the biggest customers of the domestic coal industry.For its other materials, ACC has a vendor base of more than 6000 suppliers spread acrossthe country. A team of professionals at Corporate, Regions and Plant Level manages the  procurement function. The function is organized so as to derive maximum value for thecompany through economies of scale from central pooling and procurement of someinputs at the corporate level and thus meeting individual operational requirements at  plant level.

  They have implemented a SAP based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for the procurement function. Central procurement is divided into the following major groups:•Raw materials

•Energy, Fuels and Gases•Maintenance spares•Wearing parts, Consumable materials•Administrative & office supplies•Services•PackingThe structure provides for procurement managers at regional level and plants. There is aseparate projects head for procurement of capital equipment and purchases.TRANSPORTATION A C C i s t h e b i g g e s t c o n s u m e r o f I n d i a n R a i l w a y s , a n d a c o n s i d e r a b l e u s e r o f t h e country’s road transport network services for inward and outward movement of materialsand products.PROCUREMENT MANUAL The procurement manual describes the processes and sequential and procedures to be fol lowed in procurement including vendor registration and appraisal, indenting and t e n d e r i n g . T h e r e a r e d e t a i l e d g u i d e l i n e s f o r n e g o t i a t i o n , o r d e r a c c e p t a n c e , o r d e r    processing and execution and payment.

  FACTORS AFFECTING VENDOR SELECTION Their vendors should be technically and financially sound.They should have the intrinsic capacity to serve the demand of ACC on time.P r e f e r e n c e i s g i v e n t o v e n d o r s w i t h w i t h I S O ( Q u a l i t y & E n v i r o n m e n t a l ) certification.T h e y a l s o c o n s i d e r f a c t o r s s u c h a s e n v i r o n m e n t a l p e r f o r m a n c e , s o c i a l responsibility

initiatives and employment practices implemented by the vendors.Care is taken to ascertain that vendors and contractors, who operate within the c o m p a n y ’ s p r e m i s e s , o b s e r v e a n d c o n f o r m t o f a i r l a b o u r p r a c t i c e s . T h e engagement of children and adolescent labour is not permitted.There is no specific policy for preferring local suppliers. In 2007 as many as 70 per centof their suppliers were regionally based and they supplied 30 per cent of total purchase volume.

  Any prospective vendor who wishes to do business with ACC must sincerely fill thefollowing vendor registration form.