Built on legacy, trust and value to customers – Tata Astrum
Selected as Asia’s Most Promising Brands 2019, redefining the industry at every step seems to be the biggest differentiator of the Tata brand.
Company Name: Tata Steel Limited
Brand: Tata Astrum
Industry: Manufacturing of Steel ( Hot rolled coil- 1st branded hot rolled coil in the world for MSME customers in India having a sales revenue of Rs.7,500crs & leading brand among B2B customers)
Category: Steel
Country: India
Company Name: Tata Steel Limited
CEO: Mr. T.V. Narendran
Annual Turnover (2017-2018): Rs 5750 Crs
Key Mergers & Acquisitions:
Bhushan Steel Limited (BSL), India
NatSteel Holdings Pte Ltd, Singapore
Millennium Steel, Thailand
Corus Steel, U.K
What is your brand proposition?
Best-in-class product backed by a legacy of trust and spectrum of services to add value to customers’ businesses and keep them ahead in a competitive business environment. Tata Astrum is a B2B brand catering to the needs of the MSME segment in manufacturing.
What is the brand image that the company wants to portray to its target group?
Trusted, reliable, dependable – a partner in your business.
What according to you are the five competitive brands in the country and in Asia in your category?
Main competitors in India – JSW, Essar Steel, SAIL.
Competitors in Asia – Posco, Bao Steel, JFE, Nippon Steel.
However, no steel manufacturer has got a well organized distributor network and branded product like Tata Astrum from Tata Steel.
According to you what is the consumer perception of your brand?
The consumer perception is that it is a trusted brand, from the ‘House of Tatas’ with a spectrum of offerings.
Tata ASTRUM: Asia’s Most Promising Brand 2019
Tata astrum has been chosen as Asia’s Most Promising Brands 2019 because ever since it was launched as a brand, it has been constantly exceeding expectations, delivering value and redefining the market for HR steel. It is a leading brand in the category of Hot Rolled Steel, having a market share of 20% with CAGR growth of 35% in the last six years and most preferred supplier among its 9,000 customers. In its customer centric approach, Tata astrum has always helped customers to become competitive thru sharing & nurturing best manufacturing practices thru its flagship initiative “Ecafez Qualithon” in both BTL & Digital platforms.
Six years ago, HR steel was a nameless, faceless commodity. Quality was erratic, supplies were irregular and prices would fluctuate. Customers faced a tough situation. In such a scenario, Tata astrum made a promise to the customer – a promise built on exceptional values of world-class quality, backed by service.
For six years now, Tata astrum has adapted, innovated and structured its offerings to meet evolving needs of the customer in the various segments it serves. From a spectrum of Technical Delivery Conditions, customised for each segment to customisation through certified Service Centres and Technical Support, Tata Astrum has set the pace in the hot rolled market. It has set up an exclusive distribution network of channel partners with dedicated service centres. Building channel capability is a top priority to enhance the customer buying experience.
The brand’s willingness to listen and adapt to customer needs has been integral to its growth journey. It has addressed the needs of various customer segments and worked single-mindedly to deliver value and enhance customer’s competitiveness.
The backbone of manufacturing: India that is set to win the 21st century, needs its corporate sector to drive the dynamism necessary to stay ahead in a business landscape that has long since evolved from the transactional. In India, Tata Steel has led this evolution, with the impulse to generate thinking for tomorrow through its customized manufacturing concepts, technologies and business processes, at the heart of which is the customer.
Nothing showcases this drive more than the launching and evolution of Tata astrum, a cutting edge hot rolled steel brand delivering unprecedented value. Tata Astrum does not only represent the most sought after in the hot-rolled sheets and coils from Tata Steel, it is a veritable star that has defined standards of excellence with best in class product and services .
Tata Astrum has been playing a pivotal role in the market by virtue of its impeccable quality and best-in-class service offerings and providing the backbone of the infrastructure and manufacturing sector ever since its inception. It is this pursuit of excellence that exemplifies the attributes that will shape India’s growth path with its gross domestic product growth hovering in the vicinity of eight per cent amidst high infrastructure spend that expands the playing field for Tata astrum. From steel making to final finishing, the entire production line incorporates state-of-the-art technologies and processes that make Tata astrum a best-in-class product. It spans every consumer segment, particularly the small and medium enterprises that make the emerging corporate ecosystem.
Spectrum of Customer Engagement Initiatives
The Tata Astrum-customer relationship is built on a foundation of service and trust. The brand believes that growth is most inclusive and rewarding when every stakeholder grows together. This means extensive customer engagement activities conducted across India: Digital and On-ground with some of the country’s most reputed and experienced organizations and subject-matter experts.
Ecafez Qualithon is a first-of-a-kind programme for customers of Tata Astrum with the single minded objective of partnering them on their quality awareness journey.The attempt is to achieve a mind shift from a limited assessment of quality to a broad and strategic perspective, one that manages quality in all aspects of business processes, products and services – from the ‘small q’ to ‘the big Q’. Tata astrum hopes to achieve this by bringing into play, a comprehensive gamut of activities for all touch points in an organization. Focus in on sharing knowledge on Best Manufacturing Practices and giving inputs on Lean Manufacturing to help organisations gain a competitive edge through the Government’s capability building ZED ( Zero Defect Zero Effect) programme.
Focus on safety in manufacturing segment
According to International Labour Organisation, 48,000 people on average, die in India per annum, due to occupational hazards. Through visits to the manufacturing premises/ shop floor of ECAs, Tata astrum realised that Safety is an oft-neglected facet. Tata Astrum, in the process of fostering stronger relationships and enhancing brand reputation, took the step of improving safety practises in ECAs.
Tata Astrum collaborated with National Safety Council (NSC) – the apex body for safety in the country, set up by Govt. of India – to devise an initiative called Safety First. Under Safety First, Tata astrum Safety Champion Seminars were conceptualized. Also, constant communication via digital platform and offline medium was done to propagate the message
Safety First was launched with the singular motif of ‘Think Safe, Work Safe, Be Safe’. The initiative seeks to drive awareness on ways to identify, control and abstain from unnecessary risks on the shopfloor. The objective is to gradually move to zero hazard workplaces
Pervasive Digital Presence
To expand reach and be available to each and every stakeholder 24/7, there is a digital knowledge-sharing platform www.ecafez.com, offering an online resource that customers can access – articles, case-studies, webinars and an ‘Ask Expert Helpdesk’ to answer customer queries on a broad range of topics.
A webinar calendar on various topics that impact quality is drawn up and rolled out every month. These are hosted on our online customer engagement platform www.ecafez.com
In addition, Ecafez 360˚ – an app that connects all stakeholders in Tata Steel’s ECA universe has been developed to share news, insights and details of customer engagement conducted.
A quarterly newsletter called ECA TIMES is rolled out and circulated among all customers in digital and print formats.
Communication via digital platform in the form of mailers and WhatsApp communication is being done to consistently hammer upon quality awareness.
Webinars are regularly conducting on topical subjects of interest and quality improvement tools.
PATHSHALA : continuous training programme for sales
Teams that improve customer service
Changes in the marketplace and increasing competition made it imperative to continuously upgrade our channel frontline team with skills and information needed to address customer queries and serve ever-evolving customer needs. In the wake of ‘Make in India’ initiative rolled out by the Government and focus on emerging corporate segment as the backbone of Indian economy, our customers were looking for solution providers to anticipate and meet their ever-changing needs and to help them scale up.
Our channel team were the key to success in this emerging scenario. Recognising that each and every member of the distributor’s sales force must be responsive to these needs and equipped to meet them smartly and efficiently, we rolled out a back-to-school Training programme called PATHSHALA.
The Pathshala programme was created to address these ongoing challenges with the single-minded objective of arming our frontline sales team with all the tools they need to stay ahead of competition and address customer needs. The programme is based on updating sales and communication skills and imparting in-depth brand knowledge. It is branded ‘ Pathshala’ because it offers a back-to- school experience, with classroom sessions structured around a timetable, with plenty of interactivity and fun thrown in.
Tata Astrum: Asia’s Most Promising Brands 2019
The journey so far has been enriching and rewarding – for both, Tata Steel and its customers.. There has been positive feedback, encouragement and learning. Customers have acknowledged the roleplayed by Tata Steel in scaling their competencies. honing performance parameters and preparing them for global competition. Positive feedback continues to encourage us to anticipate customer needs and reach higher – to move from mere transaction to value-creation – and play a greater and more impactful role in our customer’s growth, as partners are expected to do.
