Indian automotive market is heading for one of the lowest sales over the last eight years. Entire industry is in the state of confusion due to various factors like BS1V to BSV1 migration, electric vehicle, GDP decline, NBFC crisis and this led to overall negative consumer sentiment. Globally retail numbers are reported by government agencies, however in India retail numbers are neither reported nor considered for Sales and Operations Planning. There is urgency and necessity to incorporate retail numbers for planning for auto manufacturers in India. There are 3P’s of demand sensing and shaping which are Position, Protect and Pull. This paper emphasises on theoretical framework for application of 3P’s which includes strategic inventory positioning, Strategic buffers & its adjustment and real demand-based planning and execution. Strategic inventory positioning helps to identify and position decoupling points to protect and promote the flow of relevant information and material.

Proposed framework of 3P’s will help to mitigate nervousness, supply continuity variability and bullwhip effect. This means current situation of overproduction, overstocking and lack of adequate working capital for India auto industry can be tackled.

Keywords

Demand sensing, Strategic inventory positioning, Decoupling points, Buffer levels, Indian auto industry