How Syska Group is banking upon data analytics in CX lifecycle

Please elaborate on the business journey growth at Syska, especially during the recent times
The pandemic has in some way affected all businesses, however at Syska we continued to work even during the lockdown. Lighting, wires and personal care formed a part of essentials and our sales only increased. We have recently launched a new ‘fans’ vertical. We are continuously growing as a company, and trying our best to remain “Light years ahead”.

What have been the key digital initiatives at Syska which have helped the company optimise operations and processes?
Most of our reporting was already digital. Emails and WhatsApp have always been an integral part of our communication process. Ensuring to stay in touch with my team through conferencing technologies like Zoom or Teams during the lockdown has worked out very well. We often got together, had strategy sessions, brainstormed ways to come back stronger, discussed new product ideas and more. Most of our operations like payroll and attendance are already digitized, so we did not really face much of a challenge there either. I even started using DocuSign within my team to continue to get things processed smoothly.

There’s an increased emphasis on digital transformation, especially automation and Industry 4.0 practices in the manufacturing sector. Please tell us more about your efforts in this direction
I think changing mind-sets by laying an emphasis on being digital first, is a hard journey in itself, and the pandemic has played a crucial role in doing so. As a company, it was key to fastrack digitally in order to drive efficiency. The thing is, we were already halfway there when it came to manufacturing. Smart manufacturing and our key focus on automation has always been our strategy to move towards digital transformation. Not only are we using data analytics to observe trends in sales, but also for customer experiences that help us work on streamlining production. Further, along with encouraging consumers and playing a pivotal role in the Smart Homes vertical, we are adopting similar technology at our manufacturing units – be it the incorporation of sensors, or feeding of data into our machines for mass production or for testing of our products. It is vital to drive change digitally in order to survive in this wired competitive market.

In a post Covid world or the new normal, digital is expected to play a key role. What will be the industry best practices in line with this trend?
If someone asks me what is the most important asset a company needs to keep in mind to grow- I’d say ‘data’. Enabling your company to use data wisely to strategise and expand is a very powerful weapon. Data Analytics, AI and Cloud Computing must be tools that companies should invest in. They will help drive scalability. However, in order to get on the right track, it is a must for every company to define clear roadmaps and processes, and moreover, goals must be established. If you as a company leader cannot answer the question, “How will my company benefit if we digitally transform or what challenges we are trying to overcome with going digital?”, then you are clearly doing something non-productive. Not only that, but also educating your employees and encouraging them to utilise these technologies must be included in your strategy.

What is the digital roadmap set for Syska in the future?
I’d like to drive data analysis and get real time feedback of my products from customers. What I want is to engage with my customers at every point of the customer experience lifecycle. Being a distribution focused company, it is hard to know the buyer engagement at a retail store. I have to depend a lot on my sales team or my distributors. I would like to create an infrastructure that creates a base for connecting and receiving data from all silos, be it internally in the workplace as well as externally that will help me to develop products that my customers want and also what they really need.