19 minute read
Cover Story: e-sale of plant & machinery
In 2014, the Ministry of Railways asked RITES, a Government of India enterprise under the aegis of Indian Railways, to construct a new workshop for freight wagon repairs and overhaul. In order to do so, RITES had to sell the decommissioned plants and machinery of East Central Railway, which were located at Rohtas Industries at Dalmianagar in Bihar. Nearly 60 different kinds of plants such as cement, paper, power and chemicals – were located over 160 acres. These were set up between 1940 and 1980, and had been lying idle since 1984.
Two years ago, mjunction stepped in, helping RITES to sell the decommissioned plants and machinery through a transparent e-auction mechanism, which fetched a record selling price.
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For mjunction, RITES was an important milestone in its entire journey of disposing of plants and machinery. However, it was not the first and it is certainly not the last.
Plants & Machinery Over the last few years, mjunction has emerged a domain expert in the Plants & Machinery category, with its vast and rich experience in selling over 20 categories of plants.
The categories include Power Plant (Thermal), Power Plant (Bio), Chemical, Zinc Smelter, Oxygen, Nitrogen,
Our focus is on transparency and price discovery of plants and machinery which are not only economically unviable but also hazardous for the environment, as in the case of decommissioned power plants.
Our Unique Approach to Get Our Customers the Best Price
For e-selling of plants, machinery and capital equipment, the following are some services mjunction provides for optimum price discovery:
Inspection, inventorying and valuation of the plant; Existing vast database of buyers spread across diverse categories; Online marketing of the plant on various business networking portals; Visits by Field service Delivery team to key business hubs of India for market making, reaching out to and identifying potential buyers; Creating awareness among the potential buyers regarding the plant; Arriving at the best possible e-auction solution based on our domain expertise;
Vinaya Varma MD & CEO
Hydrogen, Fertiliser, Soda Recovery, Caustic Ionizing, Gypsum Dilution, Paper, Cement, DALDA/Soap Factory, Acid Plant, Steel Foundry, Asbestos Factory, Bulk Sample Processing (Diamond) Plant and Textile. Power plants An independent research conducted by mjunction concluded that a large number of India’s power plants – nearly 50% – are past their ideal economic lives. After power utilities cross their ideal economic lives, they become inefficient and cost of production per unit of power increases. In a developing country like India, where demand for power is increasing, this
“We are working more and more towards a circular economy, achieving best market prices for our clients through our database of credible buyers and efficient service delivery platform enabling faster communication.”
Pankaj Mittal Vice President
“As International Markets are stretched , we are working with our customers to help them turn their stressed assets to cash.“
Dipankar Mukherjee Chief of Sales & Marketing
“Our objectives are aligned with customer to achieve best market prices, supported by our well defined processes, domain knowledge and capability to adapt in complex environment. “
Mihir Gandhi Business Head
p includes onsite inspection, inventorying, segregation and estimation - all of which culminate into an online sale to qualified and credible buyers which fetches the optimum price for the power plant. A power plant spokesperson said: “Considering that we need working capital to expand our operations, it is imperative that we sell our defunct units and scrap at a competitive price in the shortest possible time. mjunction’s online mechanism thus works the best for us. From identifying the right buyers to devising the right auction strategy, it is an efficient package.”
He added that the manual system was time-consuming, constrained by location and most often did not fetch the right price, as often they would not be able to identify credible buyers. mjunction’s holistic services addresses and resolves all these issues.
For English Indian Clays Ltd (EICL), in Haryana, mjunction sold its decommissioned biomass power plant. Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GSFCL) sold its 25 MW cogeneration power plant along with all electrical, accessories and IG equipment. For West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL), mjunction sold their 4 x 120 MW decommissioned thermal power plant, at Santaldih in West Bengal. The best price generated by the e-auction process was 23.5% above the client’s expected price. For WBPDCL, mjunction also helped sell its decommissioned 2 x 60 MW Bandel thermal power station, whereby the final price was 38% above the reserve price. mjunction helped Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company Ltd (MPPGCL) sell their decommissioned thermal power plant at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh using the most efficient e-auction methodology. As many as 26 buyers participated in the e-auction, which fetched an attractive price.
mjunction also has to its credit the e-auction of the world’s largest 2-stroke land based decommissioned diesel power plant for GMR Power Corporation Ltd at Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The e-auction fetched a price that was 35% above the client’s expectation.
In all these cases, mjunction adhered to all client expectations – ranging from a short turnaround time to arriving at the best price realisation in a transparent manner.
Steel mills mjunction has sold steel mills for SAIL and fetched good prices from buyers even at a time the steel market was going through a rough phase and the prices of ferrous and non-ferrous materials were on the decline.
Last year, it sold a Skelp Mill for SAIL in a single auction. Eight buyers out of 10 eligible buyers placed 62 bids for an attractive final selling price.
mjunction has also sold rolling mills and billet mills for SAIL ISP and BSP in the last few years. For SAIL ISP, it has sold a billet mill, a merchant mill, a light structural mill and Steel Melting Shop. For SAIL BSP, it has helped sell an oxygen plant. For all of them, the transparent and efficient process that mjunction deploys is the clincher.
Add to that mjunction’s rich domain knowledge, huge database of buyers spread over multiple categories, and valuation services make it a one-stop organisation for such sale events.
International markets mjunction stepped into the international markets when it successfully sold ferrous and non-ferrous scrap to buyers in the Middle East for its client Kludi RAK and RAK Ceramics.
For RAK Waste Management Agency, it sold non-ferrous and corrugated carton boxes.
In the United Kingdom, mjunction has completed valuation and e-selling of Industrial Bearings, Rolls, Mechanical Spares, Electric Equipment, Ferrous and Non ferrous Items.
Future Plans mjunction is geared to enter more new areas of operations which were in need of bringing in efficiency and transparency using futuristic technology such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics Process Automation and Machine Learning.
mj NEW
mjunction enters petrochemical sector with e-sale of HPG for Brahmaputra Cracker & Polymer
mjunction ventured into the petrochemicals sector with Brahmaputra Cracker & Polymer Pvt Ltd (BCPL), a Government of India undertaking, when it received its first mandate to sell Hydrogenated Pyrolysis Gasoline (HPG).
BCPL is a key player in the field of petrochemicals based out of Dibrugarh in Assam. GAIL (India) Limited is the main promoter having 70% of equity participation while the remaining 30% is equally shared by Oil India Ltd (OIL), Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and Government of Assam.
HPG is a by-product which is generated in the process of polymer production by cracking higher chain hydrocarbons like Natural Gas and Naphtha.
The Challenge Before mjunction conducted this auction, BCPL was selling materials to their existing customers on notice board mode
- buyers used to make payments and lift material as per their requirements. There were no commitments from buyers regarding the lifting quantity, as a result of which BCPL often faced challenges in terms of lifting and occasionally cut prices mid-month to enable bookings. There was no clarity on booking volumes, leading to accumulation of stock and finally a storage problem since evacuation is a necessity for these hazardous materials. This was mjunction’s big challenge.
What did mjunction do? After understanding BPCL’s existing process and issues, as well as a detailed market analysis, mjunction suggested a suitable auction strategy that addressed its needs.
In the process, mjunction needed to understand and consider:
The product, processing and its end use applications; Factors affecting the market and
substitute products; The existing market channels and business lines; The customer’s sentiment for migrating to online platform; and The sharp volatility in crude oil and naphtha market that majorly governs this product.
mjunction placed great focus on marketing the product and buyers were educated about the process of future booking.
Three auctions were successfully conducted where 10500 tonnes of material were offered and booked fully in advance, which helped BCPL to dispose their material smoothly throughout the month. Buyers also had clarity on their entire booking and could lift material in synchronization with BCPL.
There was significant price appreciation over the floor price. The entire process earned appreciation from the client.
...Sells 5000 tonnes of pig iron in single e-auction for RINL
mjunction sold 5000 tonnes of pig iron for the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, Visakhapatnam, in a single e-auction. This is the first time that mjunction sold pig iron for RINL.
The run-up to this e-auction posed its own set of challenges. It was important to have a clear understanding of the offered product and its application industry, to understand the attributes of the products which attract the buyers, to understand the downstream business, buyers’ purchasing behaviour, competition among competitors, and buyer’s pain points with the manufacturer. Before this online event happened from mjunction, buyers were completely into the direct traditional offline mode.
The mjunction team studied all aspects carefully and conducted an extensive market research by sending representatives all over India to identify buyers who are aligned with client expectations. This nationwide exercise culminated in identifying and getting 31 unique buyers on board for the auction. Thus, the very first e-auction of pig iron for RINL started in spite of all the challenges, and the event was successful as all the material was booked with 12 unique bidder participation. All the lots saw thorough competition among the participants, and the price achieved was much above the prevailing market on the day of the event.
The buyers were happy with the smooth proceedings and the client expressed satisfaction over the optimum results that the auction achieved.
mjunction services limited organised its 3rd oneday Global Procurement Conference on December 16 in Kolkata. The theme of the conference was “Driving up Procurement Excellence through Digitization”, which focuses on digitisation tools and methods that bring about efficiency and excellence to procurement processes. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) was the knowledge partner of the conference.
The conference provided a platform to procurement professionals across industries to come together to share and exchange learnings, ideas and developments in digital technology for improved efficiency and greater agility. Delivering the welcome address, mjunction MD & CEO Mr Vinaya Varma said, “The procurement function today is faced with the challenge of apparently having exhausted all avenues of savings. Though digitisation holds infinite opportunities, many of them are at an experimental stage. Today, our panel of carefully selected procurement experts will deliberate upon how to digitise effectively in the procurement space.” The conference was attended by industry experts, policy makers and other stakeholders in the area of procurement. Dedicated sessions on technological developments provided insights on how digital technology can be leveraged in procurement processes for greater efficiency.
Speaking at the conference, Mr Rahul Singh, MD of Bihar State Electronics Development Corp Ltd stated, “After liberalization, public procurement has gone through an interesting trajectory. The very fact that today we are talking about efficiency of public procurement at a conference, is itself an indicator of possibility of margins being squeezed in this area. A digitization platform should be able to assist in verifying the details and the verification process needs to be free from manual interpretation.” Rahul Singh, IAS MD Beltron
Ashish Palod CPO Nuvoco Vistas
The panel of Speakers
Kumaralingam M C Director, General Procurement - Asia Pacific, IBM India
Vijayanand Chowdhury Global Head - Procurement, Tata Technologies
Amita Khurana CPO Tata Steel BSL
Binny Mathews VP & Business Head, Infosys BPM
Biplab Banerjee Senior VP, Simplex Infrastructures
Krishan Batra CEO, Institute for Supply Management
Prasun Nandy Partner - Data & Analytics, PwC R K Singh CPO, Bulk Procurement, Tata Steel
Mahesh Salunke Head-Procurement, Essar Steel
Tilak Mukherjee BI Architect Wipro
Dr Bharat Bhushan Chief Digital Officer & GM - IT & Projects, Tata Metaliks
Smita Pandit Chakraborty MD, Phoenix Conveyor Belts Gautam Saha Div. Manager Central Purchase, ITC Ltd
Utsav Kothari Lead HR & CSR Embee Software
The CMMI-DEV ML5 re-appraisal exercise took place at mjunction’s headquarters in Kolkata from September 23 to October 1, 2019, aimed at evaluating the process of software development & its maturity in quantitative terms.
CMMI is a performance enhancement model consisting of collected best practices that guide organisations to improve key capabilities and elevate performance. An appraisal at maturity Level 5 indicates that an organisation is performing at an ‘optimising’ level, continually improving its processes based on a quantitative understanding of its business objectives and performance needs, as well as continuously evolving to adapt to changing stakeholder and customer needs. The exercise was led by Dr Rajiv Nag, High Maturity Lead Appraiser and a very senior practitioner of the CMMI quality
MD Vinaya Varma and CIO Amit Kumar Khan receiving the CMMI certificate from Dr Rajiv Nag.
The Appraisal Team Members with Dr Rajiv Nag
standard, having led various successful appraisals and exercises in both India and abroad.
An in-house team of eight junctionites was selected as the Appraisal Team Members (ATM). The cross-functional team was selected based on their individual high maturity exposure and experience with CMMI exercises. The team members were Rehan Firdausi, Alakh Niranjan Bakshi, Anew Nag Sarkar, Kallol Ghoshal, Abhishek Kar, Rajdip Tarafdar, Kabir Hossain and R. Vishwanathan.
The event consisted of eight gruelling days of document and record check, followed by a set of rigorous interviews - involving 13 sessions and 21 interviewees. The technology projects were checked for both artifact as well as affirmation aspects. Functional Area Representation (FAR) teams such as Organisational Training, Software Engineering Group (Development & Testing), Quality Management Group (QMG), Quality Audit Group (QAG) & Management Review Committee (MRC) were evaluated.
The final findings were presented to mjunction MD & CEO, Mr Vinaya Varma, on the last day of the exercise. The successful completion validates mjunction’s ability to execute high quality, complex IT programs on-time, within budget and to help clients realise desired returns from their IT investments.
Dr Mahul Brahma, Head-CSR, Corporate Communications and Branding, was invited by Ordnance Factory Board to deliver a lecture on ‘New Media, Government sector and role of the PRO’. The lecture was attended by DGOF & Chairman, OFB along with Heads of almost 40 branches of OFB. Dr Brahma during his lecture explained the nuances of digital media and the changing dynamics of conventional media, with special emphasis on crisis communication.
Dr Chaitali Basu Mukherji, mjunction's Head of Technology, addressed a session on "What Managers Want," at a Nasscom HR Meet by Kreeti Technology in Kolkata. In her address, Dr Basu Mukherji touched upon the definition of management, its expectations from its employees and what are the attributes of an excellent employee. She focused on what constitutes professional maturity and mentioned honesty, openmindedness and ability to integrate learnings to their work as some of the key qualities that take them nearer to the management's expectations from them.
mj team makes it to Regional Finals of Tata Crucible Corporate Quiz
For the 8th consecutive time, the mjunction team of Debasish Mukherjee and Abhishek Kar made it to the Regional Finals of the Tata Crucible Corporate Quiz, where they were the Regional 2nd Runners- Up.
Over the last eight years, the team has tasted success in this event. It has been regional champions twice, twice 1st Runners-Up, twice 2nd Runners-Up, twice Regional Finalist & National Finalist on one occasion.
A Customer meet was organised for Tata Steel IBMD FP Scrap at Ghaziabad, where 64 buyers attended from the cities of Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Delhi and Faridabad. Queries and concerns of buyers were discussed in presence of both Tata Steel and mjunction officials.
mjunction’s Jamshedpur Branch Head Mr Rajeev Upadhyaya, has won the Aspire KVHS Award for his improvement initiatives related to savings and digitisation during his tenure at IBMD Tata Steel. Mr Prabhat Kumar, EIC IBMD, handed over the award to Mr Upadhyaya during the Aspire Recognition event.
mjunction team consisting of Souvik Saha, Bhrigunath Pandey, Atin Banerjee and Navin Bhargava at the Tata Steel Coal Business Partners’ Meet “Udaan” in Kolkata.
Project Jyoti case study in int’l journal
Acase study on Project Jyoti has been accepted and published in coveted BR International Journal of Culture, Media and Trends in the July-December 2019 issue. The case study has been written by Dr Mahul Brahma, Head, CSR, Corporate Communications & Branding. Project Jyoti is mjunction’s initiative towards transforming lives of visually-challenged students using technology, in collaboration with the Government of Chhattisgarh.
mjunction shifted to its new office at the Tata Steel premises in West Bokaro.
A spacious and state-of-the-art Training Hub was launched at the mjunction headquarters in Kolkata by our Board of Directors. Mr Vinaya Varma, MD, lit the ceremonial lamp. It is the perfect venue for all events and workshops with advanced facilities for Webinars, Web casts and Web conferencing.
mj @ SAIL Vigilance Week
mjunction delivered a presentation on "The benefits of Online Tendering", at the Vigilance Week organised by SAIL RMD, Bolani Mines between October 28 to Nov 2, 2019. Team Lead MSS at Kiriburu, Mr Prithviraj Singh, made the presentation at the workshop, which was attended by some key SAIL executives including Mr G.C. Hembram, GM Contract Cell, Bolani, Mr S.C. Naik, DGM Vigilance, Mr U. Gaurav, DGM Electrical, Bolani, Mr S. Bisoi, AGM Finance and Mr S.K. Deo, AGM Mining.
Four other mjunction executives - Mr Suraj Pattnaik, Mr Anup Samanta, Mr Avijit Maity and Mr Birendra Das – also attended the workshop. Mr Prithviraj Singh was presented with a token of appreciation by SAIL for his presentation.
These junctionites have excelled in their respective work fields - exceeding their brief and going beyond expectation.
mj CHAMPIONS OF EXCELLENCE
Abhishek Sharma I joined mjunction in: November 2018 I am posted in: mjunction Bhilai Branch I spent my childhood in: Bhilai & Assam I finished my school and college from: Nalanda English Medium Higher Secondary School, Rungta College of Information Technology, Bhilai and MATS University, Raipur. My current role in mjunction is: Looking after Forward Auction activities My most memorable event in mjunction is: Certificate of appreciation from MD in October 2019 for managing MIS, proficiently. My role model at work is: Abul Kalam Azad My family consists of: My parents and two younger sisters A word of appreciation from my senior colleague: Abhishek is very polite, honest, sincere and quick learner. He is prompt in his deliverables and possesses multitasking abilities. - Kamlesh Ghode, CCO Bhilai Branch My motto in life is: To be honest, enjoy work and life
Debasish Banerjee I joined mjunction in: February 2015 I am posted in: Burnpur I spent my childhood in: Singhali, Monteswar, District Burdwan I finished my school and college from: Monteswar Sagarbala High School and Burdwan Raj College My current role in mjunction is: Buyer In MSS Team Burnpur My most memorable event in mjunction is: A letter of appreciation from DGM (MM) of SAIL-ISP for reducing the cycle time and bringing it within the range of our SOP. My role model at work is: Goutam Chakraborty and Jaita Bose. Mr. Goutam Chakraborty has made me self
14 Volume XII n Issue iII dependent at my work place and Mrs. Jaita Bose has made me excel in my skills My family consists of: My parents, wife and daughter A word of appreciation from my senior colleague: Debasish is an excellent resource who is responsible and accountable for all tasks assigned to him. He displays exemplary work ethics and his dedication to work is unparalleled. - Abhishek Chakraborty, Branch in-charge, Burnpur My motto in life is: The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible
Md Naushad I joined mjunction in: April 2015 I am posted in: PSMS coal in Tata Steel West Bokaro Division Ghatotand, Ramgarh Jharkhand I spent my childhood in: Jamdoba, Dhanbad. I finished my school and college from: Royal High School, Jorapokhar Jamadoba Dhanbad, Amanat Ali Inter College, Bundu Ranchi and Monad University Delhi. My current role in mjunction is: Taking care of all KYC activities for Tata Steel My most memorable event in mjunction is: Playing a key role in new branch establishment in “Jamdoba”-Jharia Branch. The work involved document generation and handling, Job related MIS, training to local employees, incorporation of relevant sites and features in system for smooth operations. My role model at work is: Bhrigunath Pandey who is Branch Head from whom I learnt all the skills of daily operations. He is a great source of inspiration who motivates me. From him, I have learnt to remain calm in tense situations. My family consists of: Parents Sarfuddin Ansari & Anisa Khatoon, wife Nilophar Saba, son Abu Talha and daughter Zara Fatima. A word of appreciation from my senior colleague: “Naushad is very efficient member of my team and I appreciate his approach in dealing with complex situations. He has a good understanding and knowledge of the work assigned to him”. - Bhrigunath Pandey, Senior Manager, Coal PSMS - West Bokaro Division. My motto in life is: Develop skills in a way that makes my family proud.
Pavel Bhattacharjee I joined mjunction in: May 2014 I am posted in: Durgapur I spent my childhood in: Panagarh District, Paschim Bardhaman I finished my school and college from: Ramkrishna Ashram Vidyapith Panagarh, Kanksa High School and M.M.M College, Durgapur. My current role in mjunction is: Account Management and Service Delivery for forward auctions of DSP, ASP and CMO Durgapur. My most memorable event in mjunction is: A letter of appreciation from business unit heads for error free execution of high value idle asset for SAIL DSP. My role model at work is: Obhishek Roy Chowdhury and Ashim Kr Kar, GM Marketing SAIL DSP. My family consists of: My parents A word of appreciation from my senior colleague: “Pavel is sincere, smart and understands the client’s requirements extremely well. A winning combination for mjunction and an asset to the Durgapur branch team.” - Obhishek Roy Chowdhury, Branch Head, Durgapur My motto in life is: Security through hard work and commitment
