Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Index
A glance at the Indian steel industry.3 Tata steel-a global power..3 External analysis of the steel industry..3 Internal analysis of the steel industry..9 Business level strategies.12 Tetra threat framework..17 Recommendations..18 References.18
Government Policy: The government policy of a country plays an important part in the steel business. A supportive host country government is a must for success in the business. Product differentiation: Steel has very low barriers in terms of product differentiation as it doesn't fall into the luxury or specialty goods and thus does not have any substantial price difference. However Tata Steel still enjoys a premium for its products because of its quality and its brand value created more than 100 years back.
2. Bargaining power of buyers: The bargaining power of buyers is high. Buyers buying in bulk quantities have a huge advantage in price negotiations. Also, switching costs for the buyers are low when choosing from a multitude of equivalent steel products. 3. Bargaining power of suppliers: The bargaining power of suppliers is high. Most of the sourcing is done from foreign markets due the unavailability of raw materials in most of the countries. Suppliers command a price premium due to this reason. 4. Rivalry amongst competitors: Rivalry amongst competitors is high in the global steel industry. It is mostly based on price and potential source for differentiation is very low. Arcelor mittal is the major steel producer in the world. Posco, Nucor and Heibei are the other main steel producer s in the world. Tata steel is ranked in the number 10 position. 5. Threat of substitutes: It is low. Aluminum, carbon fiber and plastic are the major substitutes for the steel industry. Although usage of aluminum has been increasing it hardly poses any significant threat to steel as the latter cannot be replaced completely and the cost differential is also very high.
TATA steel has become a large global player through huge projects in a number of countries in South East Asia, UK and other parts of Europe. It has seen growth through acquisition of firms like Corus steel, Millenium steel and Natsteel holdings. It has sufficiently achieved economies of scale, scope and large scale consolidation of the steel industry. Due to its ability to continuously raise the entry barriers of new entrants and forcing them remain competitive or face the risk of acquisition we can say that TATA steel is in the shakeout phase of its life cycle.
Strategic Groups
Indian Iron and steel industry can be divided into two main segments Integrated producers Those that convert iron ore into steel. There are three major integrated steel players in India, namely Steel Authority of India (SAIL), TATA Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO) and Rashtritya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL). Secondary producer These are the mini steel plants (MSPs) which make steel by melting scrap or sponge iron and a mixture of the two, Essar Steel, Ispat Industries and Lloyds are the largest producers of steel through the secondary route. TATA steel is one of the top most Indian companies in the integrated steel producers segment. Investment in innovation and R&D which helps it in achieving low cost and thus get higher margins from the industry. Tata steel is also backward and forward integrated having captive mines; Logistics Company etc. which further helps it in getting higher margins. The company focuses on:The domain of high value added products. a strong customer focus for brand creation. The steel industry has been racing along at a surprisingly high speed during recent years, largely due to the huge buying from China. Tata Steel has also done extraordinarily well as the industry moved upwards, but the next big challenges are already seen on the horizon: global reach with global branding.
Threats: Rising environmental costs due to the increased concerns on Global Warming is a potential threat to the steel industry. The generation of CO2 and per fluorocarbons (PFCs) which occur during the manufacture of the steel constitute another type of environmental threat to steel. High raw material input cost and scarcity of non- renewable raw materials are a threat to the industry. Constant threat of foreign players invading the markets. Capacity management measures need to be implemented to prevent constant occurrences of over-capacity.
Brand Based on the performance of all Tata Group companies over many years, the Tata brand has come to stand for quality, trust, business leadership, the highest ethical standards and respect for all its stakeholders. The specific attributes associated with Tata Steel, including product excellence and safe, and sustainable manufacturing, have led the Tata Steel brand to represent reliability and quality to customers; fairness and opportunity to employees; creation of wealth to shareholders; and corporate responsibility to local communities and society at large. Tata Steel has, in turn, created a number of sub-brands for its speciality businesses and products each of which carries the same values and attributes. Capacity Throughout its century-long history, Tata Steel in India has been a pioneer in industrial and employment practices. Today it has a 6.8 mtpa crude steel production plant as well as a significant presence in all the key product segments. Capacity expansion is a key strategy for Tata Steel in India, where it derives much of its competitive advantage as a low-cost producer from the quality and yield of its raw material sources. The mines have provided raw material security and also partially insulated Tata Steel from the volatility within the global markets for these raw materials. Work is currently under way to increase steelmaking capacity at Jamshedpur to 9.7 mtpa of crude steel by 2012. This additional capacity will enable the company to increase its market share in flat products and to use its existing resources more efficiently, including manpower, utilities and its captive mines. Looking further into the future,
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the company plans to continue to increase its capacity significantly through both brownfield and greenfield developments. Raw material A pioneer in prospecting, discovering and extracting iron ore, coal and other minerals required for steelmaking, Tata Steel has almost a century of experience in mining raw materials safely, efficiently and sustainably. The companys long-term strategy is to have as much control as possible over its raw material resources and to ensure security of supply for its operations globally. Company-owned and operated mines and collieries have met most of the raw material needs of the Jamshedpur steel plant since its inception. Tata Steels raw materials division in India produces over 14 million tonnes of ores a year from its captive collieries, iron ore mines and quarries in the states of Jharkhand and Orissa. Other significant investments in raw materials include a recently enhanced holding in the Riversdale Mining Limited coal project, development of an iron ore project with New Millennium Capital Corporation, and Dhamra Port Company Limited a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro to construct a deep water port on the eastern coast of India. Tata Steel also has several joint ventures in Africa, Australia and Canada to further increase its raw material security. Research and Development A collaborative approach, cross-fertilisation of better practices and technology absorption through integration of processes have led to measurable and continuous improvement in many aspects of Tata Steels performance. In addition to its ongoing drive to improve the quality and quantity of the steel it produces, Tata Steel continues to conduct extensive research with the objective of making its steel production operations more energy efficient, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable. The research and development (R&D) centres are located at IJmuiden in the Netherlands, Rotherham and Teesside in the UK, and Jamshedpur in India. A clear focus on development of cutting edge technology has enabled Tata Steel to become one of the lowest cost steel producers worldwide. Current activities in this area include research on agglomerates chemistry, blast furnace burden distribution, integrated through-process modelling, and reduced zinc consumption during tube galvanising, and many others. A number of research groups in India and Europe are actively engaged in developing new products. Research relating specifically to the automotive sector, for example, includes the development of advanced high strength steels, new forming techniques, new and improved joining techniques, innovative coatings, and improved fatigue life of components. Tata Steels R&D centres also conduct many
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programmes to improve the life cycle and sustainability of its products. These include projects to reduce energy consumption, CO and other emissions.
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First Mover Advantage: It was in the mid-2000 that Tata Steel realized that trading on the Internet will happen and will be there to stay. Company decided to get together, form a task force and put in place a mechanism whereby we could leverage on the Internet not just for mutual benefit but for the benefit of the entire steel industry as well, to begin with. So in this way it was TATA Steel who got the first mover advantage in India.
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(c) Improvements in steelmaking and casting by reducing process variations, improving yield, etc; (d) Improving quality and yield while reducing cost in rolling. In the financial year 2011-12, efforts are being made to extend PITs to other functions like Supply Chain, Commercial, etc. Inbound Logistics At the current production level of four million tonnes of hot metal annually, Tata Steel's Jamshedpur plant handles about 13million tonnes of raw materials.Tata Steel has urged the Railways to take note of the projected requirement and plan for making available the rakes when the demand for additional traffic actually materialises. But, then, making available additional rakes is only one part of the story. Equally, if not more, important is line capacity. On its part, Tata Steel is also taking steps to improve its infrastructure keeping in view the projected increased volume of raw materials it will have handle. It is spending Rs 60-70 crore to upgrade its various facilities. Thus, the company's own railway system will e electrified, signalling system improved and tracks upgraded. More track hoppers are being acquired. The introduction of the engine-on-load system within the plant is to halve the unloading time of an iron ore rake from eight-nine hours.The coal unloading system is being revamped, and with it the tippling capacity, so that the detention of rakes is also halved to 12 hours or so. The facilities are being created to handle a full rake, which is not possible now.Tata Steel wants the Railways not only to enlarge the average size of wagons but also to introduce high capacity wagons so that the average rake capacity increases to 7,000-10,000 tonnes from the 3,500 tonnes now. The company has also mooted a proposal for laying high capacity 30-axle load line. Operations Kar Vijay Har Shikhar (conquer every peak) is a new initiative launched during the year, focused on Tata Steels aspiration to improve its EBITDA. It is a multi-unit, multi-location, cross functional improvement programme that aims to excel across the entire steel value chain all the way from the raw materials mining to marketing and sales of finished steel. Take a look at Tata Steel's integrated value chain, from the mining of different raw materials, through their processing, right up to the final product. You will see that all activities sales and distribution, material management, finance are lean and mean with the use of SAP (ERP). The company operates seven collieries and 14 mines and quarries spread over Jharkhand, Orissa and Karnataka, all of which are comprehensively e-connected. It describes the phasing out of old units and outdated technologies, and the use of the very latest. Through this process, Tata
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Steel keeps up the tradition of getting the best resources in the world involved for the creation of wealth and the continuing development of a basic industry for nation building. Outbound Logistics Tata Steel is also taking steps to improve its infrastructure keeping in view the projected increased volume of production it will have handle.TM International Logistics Limited (TMILL) and its subsidiaries offer logistic services pertaining to port and terminal handling, maritime shipping, ship agency, custom clearance and freight forwarding. The company is involved in the activity of handling port operations at Haldia and Paradip on the east coast of India backed by fully dedicated customs clearance and shipping agency services at both the ports. It runs a clean cargo terminal at berth number 12 at Haldia, which is equipped with modern handling facilities including heavy equipments, shore cranes and vast open storage area as well as covered warehousing facilities. Marketing and Services The company soon realized that a strong customer focus is essential if any branding approach was to be successful. It soon began to introduce internal campaigns in order to bring the customer-centric message to its employees. In the late 1990s, the company launched several internal marketing programs to emphasize customer focus and service. The programs had taglines such as, customer first her haal mein (Customer comes first in any case), customer first her haal mein, her saal (customer comes first in every case, every year), customer ki kasam hain taiyaar hum (We pledge to the customer that we are ready for him). These are the mantras behind Tata Steels success. This transfer from producer logic to customer logic was seen as the path to influence customer behavior for mutual gain. Before jumping on to the crucial brand wagon, Tata Steel set up a branding task force in January 2000 to explore the possibilities of branding Tata Steel products. Only after three months, the task force evolved into a brand management department. Within this department they created the distinct sub functions market development, order generation and order fulfillment which were computerized, enabling Tata Steel to reduce its customer response time significantly. The company also initiated the concept of customer account managers who were authorized and empowered to solve specific customer grievances immediately. The company further sought to increase customer interaction in order to better understand customer needs and to explore new and improved ways and means to meet these needs and expectations.
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Supporting Activities
Human resource
Technology Infrastructure Procurement
Performance Ethic Program (PEP) Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program completed five phases of the modernization program
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Threat of imitation Considering Indian scenario of TATA steel it is very difficult for existing competitors to imitate because of resources that TATA steel has. The brand image of TATA steel has created a favourable position for it the market which is an intangible resource and is not easily imitable by the competitors. Threat of substitution Steel faces threats from the aluminum, rubber and the carbon fiber industry. However, due the extreme usage of a variety of steel in different sectors of production and its inexpensive cost compared to other substitutes, steel is not easily replaceable in most of the industries. Threat of Hold-up As TATA steel has its own mines for supplies of raw materials like coke and iron-ore, it is less dependent on suppliers. Also, it has mines in various parts of the world which makes raw material extraction extremely inexpensive for TATA steel. Bulk buyers however have many
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options from leading steel manufacturers all over the world and thus maintain a constant threat over the TATA steel.
Threat of slack The management at TATA steel is extremely competent and has set global standards. However constant threats like labor strikes, over capacity, changes in government regulations, etc. have kept the management on their toes. Overall the management slack is very low for TATA steel.
Recommendations
Continual investment revenue contribution as it is a major supportive growing business in the steel industry. Focusing on innovative steel production techniques and procurement strategies to lessen overall costs. Tapping the rural markets on the domestic front where there is a huge potential for increasing consumption of steel.
References
www.metaljunction.com www.tatasteel.com www.tata.com www.businessweek.com www.tatasteel.com/newsroom/financial-result/11.pdf www.investopedia.com http://www.tatasteelservices.com/en/products_and_services/consulting_services/environmen tal_services/lifecycle
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