INRODUCTION

COMPANY PROFILE

Birla Corporation limited is a multi product multi interest more than thousand

carore conglomerate. It plays significant roles in cement industry. The story of

Birla Corporation limited began 89 years ago, when young man Ganshayam das

Birla came to Kolkata. A man of vision an enterprise, Sri G.D.Birla set first Indian

owned jute mill near Kolkata in 1919. The firm was named Birla jute

manufacturing company limited. Time watched as small unit prospered, it also

embarked a young man to bacon the new industrial India.

After that Shri Madhav Prasad ji Birla transformed the humble jute manufacturing

company into a mighty conglomerate Birla corporation ltd. The name of company

changed to Birla jute and industries limited in 1983. In view the opportunities

offered by the liberalised fast growing economy and to promote brand equity and

international image the name was changed to Birla Corporation limited in 1997.

After the demise of M.P Birla, his wife Priyamvada Birla took over a chairman of

BCL and continue to leap company till her death in july 2004. Today under the

chairmanship of Mr. R. S. Lodha Company has crossed the 1800 crore plus turn

over and has wide spread interest in which cement, jute, and auto trims,

synthetic yarn, are their main product. Birla Corporation limited is keenly aware

of its social responsibility, it provide s education and healthcare facility to for

employees and their families and community at a large.

CEMENT INDUSTRY

1

Cement is a binding material used in civil construction. It is fine powder, which

on addition of requisite addition of water is capable of harding by the chemical

interaction of its constituents with water and is capable of blending together. The

real foundation stone of present industry was laid in the year 1912 when India

Cement Corporation limited established a small factory at Porbander in

Kahtiawa. This factory commenced in 1914 at the rate of about 100 metric tons

per day.

The raw material required for cement making are lime stone, coal, clay fly ash,

and gypsum which regulate setting time. There are two process of cement

manufacturing wet and dry. In the wet process the raw materials are grounded

along with water, but in dry process materials are grounded in dry state.

Regarding the varieties of the product there are eight varieties in the industry,

Portland cement, Blast furnace, Slag cement, Portland pozzolana cement, Grey

cement, White cement.

Important cement producing companies in India are Associated Cement

Company, Birla Cement Corporation, Jaypee Cement Corporation, Gujrat Ambuja

Cement etc in private sector and in public sector important Cement Company is

Cement Corporation of India Ltd.

BCL CEMENT DIVISION

The Cement Division of Birla Corporation Limited has seven plants, having an

installed capacity of 5.8 million tons. After the completion of the ongoing

expansion projects, the capacity will increase to 7 million tons.

This plant manufacture varieties of cement, including Ordinary Portland Cement

(OPC), 43 & 53 grades, fly ash–based Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), Portland

Slag Cement (PSC) and low- alkali Portland Cement. Recently, the Company has

started producing Sulphate Resistant Cement (SRC) and it has been well

accepted in the market.

OPC is marketed under the brand name of Birla Cement KHAJURAHO and Birla

Cement CHETAK, while PPC is marketed under the brand name of Birla Cement

SAMRAT. PSC is marketed under the brand name of Birla Cement.

2

The Birla Cement SAMRAT brand is ideal for mass concrete, RCC / pre-stressed /

precast structures (for reduced thermal crack), increased water tightness of

concrete , increased resistance to sulphate content in soil, aggressive water and

alkali aggregate reaction, besides corrosion resistant properties.

The brands have significant presence in the northern, western and eastern parts

of the country as well as central India. The company has a large network of

dedicated distributors and stockists in all its marketing regions.

Durgapur Cement Works and the two cement units at Satna have received the

ISO 9002 quality certification, covering production and marketing. The Satna

units have also received the IS/ISO: 14001 certificate for "implementation of the

Environmental Management System". The two chanderia units have received

the ISO 9001: 2000 certification for Quality Management System, as well as the

IS/ISO: 14001 certification.

The quality control laboratories of both Birla Cement Works and Chanderia

Cement Works have been accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing

& Caliberation Laboratories, Department of Science & Technology, and

Government of India.

The cement units have been receiving, since the past decade, prestigious awards

for productivity, pollution control, energy performance and worker's education.

Total capacity of six plants is 53.3 lakh tons. These plants have access to the

latest technology and infrastructure, and rated amongst the advance in the

country

MANUFACTURING PROCESSMining

The cement manufacturing process starts from the mining of limestone, which is

the main raw material for making cement. Limestone is excavated from open

3

cast mines after drilling and blasting and loaded on to dumpers which transport

the material and unload into hoppers of the limestone crushers.

Crushing Stacking & Reclaiming of Limestone

The LS Crushers crush the limestone to minus 80 mm size and discharge the

material onto a belt conveyor which takes it to the stacker via the Bulk material

analyser. The material is stacked in longitudinal stockpiles. Limestone is

extracted transversely from the stockpiles by the reclaimers and conveyed to the

Raw Mill hoppers for grinding of raw meal.

Crushing Stacking & Reclaiming of Coal

The process of making cement clinker requires heat. Coal is used as the fuel for

providing heat. Raw Coal received from the collieries is stored in a coal yard.

Raw Coal is dropped on a belt conveyor from a hopper and is taken to and

crushed in a crusher. Crushed coal discharged from the Coal Crusher is stored in

a longitudinal stockpile from where it is reclaimed by a reclaimer and taken to

the coal mill hoppers for grinding of fine coal.

Raw Meal Drying/Grinding & Homogenisation

Reclaimed limestone along with some laterite stored in their respective hoppers

is fed to the Raw Mill for fine grinding. The hot gasses coming from the

clinkerisation section are used in the raw mill for drying and transport of the

ground raw meal to the Electrostatic Precipitator / Bag House, where it is

collected and then stored and homogenised in the concrete silo. Raw Meal

extracted from the silo (now called Kiln feed) is fed to the top of the Preheater

for Pyroprocessing.

Clinkerisation

Cement Clinker is made by pyroprocessing of Kiln feed in the preheater and the

rotary kiln. Fine coal is fired as fuel to provide the necessary heat in the kiln and

the Precalciner located at the bottom of the 5/6 stage preheater. Hot clinker

discharged from the Kiln drops on the grate cooler and gets cooled. The cooler

discharges the clinker onto the pan / bucket conveyor and it is transported to the

clinker stockpiles / silos. The clinker is taken from the stockpile / silo to the ball

mill hoppers for cement grinding.

4

Cement Grinding & Storage

Clinker and Gypsum (for OPC) and also Pozzolana (for PPC) are extracted from

their respective hoppers and fed to the Cement Mills. These Ball Mills grind the

feed to a fine powder and the Mill discharge is fed to an elevator, which takes the

material to a separator, which separates fine product and the coarse. The latter

is sent to the mill inlet for regrinding and the fine product is stored in concrete

silos.

Packing

Cement extracted from silos is conveyed to the automatic electronic packers

where it is packed in 50 Kgs. Polythene bags and dispatched in trucks.

SATNA CEMENT WORKS, SATNA (M.P)

5

Commissioned in 1959, Satna Cement Works (SCW) has the distinction of being

the first Cement plant in Birla Group manufacturing Cement with the then

prevailing "Wet process" technology. In keeping with technological

developments, the plant was upgraded and switched over to "Dry process" of

Cement manufacturing in 1989. The plant has been conferred with ISO-9002 and

ISO-14001 certification in recognition of its performance in quality management

and environmental management systems. Besides the conventional general

purpose Cement OPC 33G, 43G and 53G, Satna Cement manufactures PPC

utilizing Flyash received from NTPC Thermal Power Plant at Unchahar(U.P) and

also special purpose Cements viz. Sulphate Resistant Portland Cement, Low

Alkali Cement and 1RS.-T-40 grade Cement for Railway sleepers. This plant has

the distinction of being the only plant in INDIA with an Alkali bypass system

installed. In consonance with its commitment to quality, necessary

instrumentation facilities including X-Ray analyzer and X-Ray diffractometer are

provided for monitoring and controlling quality of Raw materials and

Clinker/Cement. While domestic market requirements the met with our products

under the brand name "BIRLA CEMENT KHAJURAHO" and "BIRLA SAMRAT", our

Cement is being regularly exported to Nepal and Bangladesh under the brand

name "CAMEL" & "ROYAL TIGER".

An split location Cement Grinding unit was commissioned in Dec.1998 for Flyash

base PPC grinding capacity of 30000 TPM, Clinker is being sent from Satna and

Flyash is collected from NTPC Thermal Power house at Unchahar (U.P).

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APPLICATIONS

1. Birla Cement Khajuraho/Chetak - 43 grade Ordinary Portland Cement-

Brick and stone masonry.

Plastering and flooring.

Plain and reinforced cement concrete.

Pre-cast and pre-stressed concrete.

2. Birla Cement Khajuraho/Chetak-53 Grade Ordinary Portland Cement-

Railway sleepers

Pre-stressed girders and electric poles.

M25 & above concrete.

Roads, runways, industrial buildings, RCC bridges & lofty buildings.

Pre-cast concrete elements

3. Birla Samrat - Portland Pozzolana Cement-

Brick and stone masonry

Plastering and flooring.

Plain and reinforced cement concrete.

Ordinary Pre-cast concrete work.

4. Birla Cement Khajuraho - Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement-

Building near sea coast.

Below ground, where concrete or mortar is used in foundation, aqua ducts,

canals & culverts.

Desert conditions.

In swampy areas for footing, plinth beams, piles etc.

Industrial effluent treatment plant, cooling towers, chimneys, sewerage

treatment plant.

Marine structures

5. Birla Cement Khajuraho - Low Alkali Cement -

Bridges

Dams

Reservoirs

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6. Birla Cement Khajuraho - IRS-T40 Cement -

Railway sleepers.

PRICING

Price is one of the important elements of marketing mixture. Various factors

affecting pricing policy of company are:-

1. Competitor’s price- competitor polices affects Birla pricing strategies and

needed to be continuously watched.

2. Market positioning-a company can earn more profit if position of their product

is good. Birla also consider brand positioning of various brands.

3. Godown stock- godown stock, market demand and supply also affect the

pricing strategies.

4. Transportation cost- company continuously trying to reduce the cost by

transporting right quantity through most suitable mode of transportation.

5. Brand image-brand image plays important role in pricing policy.

BCL is continuously trying to reduce the cost without affecting the quality of

product.

PRODUCT

Product range of Birla Corporation Limited in cement sector includes three main

types that are:-

Ordinary Portland cement

Ordinary portland cement is the most commonly used cement for a wide range

of applications. These applications cover dry-lean mixes, general-purpose ready-

mixes, and even high strength pre-cast and pre-stressed concrete.

Portland blast furnace slag cement

Portland blast-furnace slag cement contains up to 70 per cent of finely ground,

granulated blast-furnace slag, a nonmetallic product consisting essentially of

silicates and alumino-silicates of calcium. Slag brings with it the advantage of the

energy invested in the slag making. Grinding slag for cement replacement takes

only 25 per cent of the energy needed to manufacture portland cement. Using

slag cement to replace a portion of portland cement in a concrete mixture is a

useful method to make concrete better and more consistent. Portland blast-

8

furnace slag cement has a lighter colour, better concrete workability, easier

finish ability, higher compressive and flexural strength, lower permeability,

improved resistance to aggressive chemicals and more consistent plastic and

hardened consistency.

Portland Pozzolana cement

Portland pozzolana cement is ordinary portland cement blended with pozzolanic

materials (power-station fly ash, burnt clays, ash from burnt plant material or

silicious earths), either together or separately. Portland clinker is ground with

gypsum and pozzolanic materials which, though they do not have cementing

properties in themselves, combine chemically with portland cement in the

presence of water to form extra strong cementing material which resists wet

cracking, thermal cracking and has a high degree of cohesion and workability in

concrete and mortar.

The Product and Brand names are as follows:

Units Products Brand Name

Birla cement works

Chanderia Cement

work

OPC-43G,55G,PPC Birla Cement Chetak

Birla Cement Samrat

Satna Cement Works

Birla Vikas Cement

PPC & OPC(43 Gr.) Birla Cement Samrat

Birla Cement Khajuraho

Raebareli Grinding Unit Portland Pozzolana

Cement (PPC)

Birla Cement

Birla Premium Cement

Durgapur Cement

Works

Portland Slag Cement

(PSC)

Birla Cement

Birla Premium Cement

Durga Hitech Cement Portland Pozzolana

Cement (PPC)

Birla Cement Samrat

Special features Birla Cement Samrat

Low heat of hydration which prevent cracks in concrete.

Prevent iron from corrosion due to low chloride contain.

Resistance against water leakage.

Ability to handle high pressure.

Low setting time & need less water for it.

Long life due to low magnesium and tricalcium aluminates.

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PROMOTION

Promotion a key element ingredient in marketing campaigns consists of diverse

collection of intensive tools. Sales promotion and incentive schemes are mostly

short term and designed to stimulate quicker or greater purchase of particular

product or services by consumer on the trade. The various sales promotion

methods adopted by the company are:-

1. Advertisement through television, newspaper, hording, wall painting, calendar

etc.

2. Dealers and retailers meet and training programme.

3. Architect and engineer meet.

4. Incentives schemes to dealers like cash discount, quantity discount, annual

discount, target setting, loyalty discount, annual visits to tourist places, annual

gifts.

5. Dealer’s relationship programme like best seller award and other award

programs.

6. Company visits to dealer’s shop.

TECHNICAL CONSUMER SERVICE CELL

Backed up with a dedicated team of highly skilled professional and experienced

application Engineers, the cell functions in an advisory capacity. Besides

handling their constructional problems the cell offers all kind of assistance and

guidance in the selection of the right cement for different application to ensure

cost-effective, durable and safe construction.

PLACE

Two type of distribution network mainly followed by the company are followings

1. Trade- This is available for the distributor, in this type company supply the

cement through deport or directly from the factory.

2. Non Trade- It is basically contract basis, it include contractors and

government. It is for a fix period at fix rate.

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There are two methods which followed by company regarding transportation cost

1. To be billed- In this category company pay fright and transportation cost, it is

applicable in stock transfer only. The company first supply the cement to depot

then supply to the dealer.

2. To Pay- In this category supply cost is given by the stockiest or dealer.

Application in direct sale means from industry to Dealer.

75% transportation is through railway and rest through from road.

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OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF STUDY

MAIN OBJECTIVE:-

“To analyze the market of Birla cement in Satna region”

SUB OBJECTIVE:-

1. To identify the leading company.

2. To identify best promotional method.

3. To study dealer’s satisfaction about Birla product.

4. To know current position of Satna market.

5. To know about the effectiveness about distribution channels.

6. To know about heavy users of cement in Satna.

7. To collect the suggestion of retailers and dealers for Improvement of Birla

policies.

SCOPE OF STUDY:-

Company can use this information for the betterment of the policies and making

new strategies.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

It’s imperative that any type of organisation in the present environment needs

systematic supply of information coupled with tool of analysis of for making

sound decision which involves minimum risk.

A research design is purely and simply the framework or plan for a study that

guides the collection and analysis of the data.

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

Through interaction with retailers.

Through questionnaires filled from the consumer and retailers.

SAMPLE DESIGN

Considering the constraints, it was decided to conduct the study based on

sample size of 100 respondents.

The selection was made through combined approach of random sampling and

convenient sampling. Scientific method was not adopted in this study because of

financial constraints and also because of lack of time, also the basic aim of doing

the research was academic, hence most convenient way was selected.

TOOLS USED

There are several methods of collecting primary data, particularly in surveys and

descriptive research. Important are:-

Observation method.

Through questionnaires.

Interview method.

In this project I have used questionnaire method.

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RESULTS

The survey is conducted in SATNA and its nearby districts .Total number of

respondent covered under this survey is 100 which are either dealers or

retailers.

In SATNA mainly five companies are in the markets that are BIRLA, ACC, PRISM,

MAIHER, and JAYPEE. Prism is toughest competitor of Birla cement.

The following are company main brand in SATNA market.

COMPANY MAIN BRAND M.R.P(Rs)

BIRLA SAMART 174

ACC SURAKSHA 180

JAYPEE BULAND 178

MAIHAR FAULAD 175

PRISM CHAMPION 182

.

Cementing the future

Har nirmaan ki jaan

14

Majboot har pal

Vishwas se kare nirmaan.

Chtaan sa majboot khare sone ki quality.

Buland Bharat ka buland cement.

Engineers ki pehli pasand.

15

1. LEADING COMPANY

COMPANY RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

ACC 25

BIRLA 20

JAYPEE 18

MAHIER 09

PRISM 28

2. LEADING BRAND

16

BRAND RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

SURAKSHA 21

BULAND 19

SAMART 18

CHAMPION 25

FAULAD 17

3. LEADER IN SUPPLY OF CEMENT

17

COMPANY RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

PRISM 24

ACC 21

BIRLA 20

JAYPEE 18

MAIHER 17

4. HEAVY USERS OF CEMENT

18

CATEGORIES RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

HOUSEHOLDER (H.H) 50

BUILDER 28

GOVT. CONTRACTOR (G.C) 14

ARCHITECTORS 00

OTHERS 08

H.H BUILDERS G.C ARCHITECT

OTHERS

6. PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR OF CUSTOMER DEPENDS ON

REASONS RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

19

PRICE 30

ADVERTISEMENT 10

QUALITY 33

BRAND 06

OTHER 21

7. MOST EFFECTIVE METHOD OFSALES PROMOTION

METHODS RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

DEALERS, RETAILERS MEET 42

20

AND TRANING(D.R.M.T)

ADVERTISEMENT 28

INCENTIVE SCHEMES(I.S) 11

AWARD PROGRAMS 13

OTHERS 06

8. BEST SOURCE OF ADVERTISEMENT

SOURCE RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

TELEVISION 65

NEWSPAPER,MAGZINES 16

21

RADIO 02

HORDING,WALL PAINTING 11

OTHERS 06

9. BEST IN QUALITY

COMPANY RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

PRISM 43

ACC 26

BIRLA 18

22

JAYPEE 13

MAIHER 00

10. OFFER BEST INCENTIVE SCHEME

COMPANY RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

PPRISM 14

ACC 58

BIRLA 10

JAYPEE 14

MAIHER 04

23

11. SATISFACTION IN PACKAGING

COMPANY RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

ACC 20

BIRLA 26

JAYPEE 22

MAIHER 10

PRISM 22

24

12. MOST REASONABLE PRICE

COMPANY RESPONDENTS IN FAVOUR

ACC 05

BIRLA 66

JAYPEE 05

MAIHER 14

PRISM 10

25

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTH:

1. BIRLA Samrat is third most preferred brand after ACC Suraksha and JAYPEE

Buland.

2. It has reasonable price in comparison to its competitor.

3. Quality of product is good.

4. Setting time and shining is better than competitors.

WEAKNESS:

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1. Lack of distribution channel.

2. Lack of availability of product.

3. Low advertisement budget.

OPPORTUNITIES:

1. Boom phase in cement market.

2. Immense export opportunities.

3. Rapid infrastructure development.

THREAT:

1. Tough competition from ACC, JP, PRISM.

2. Scarcity of raw material in near future.

3. Lack of infrastructure in near future.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONSBirla Cement can easily increase its market share in Satna market by giving

more attention to various element of marketing mixture. For this purpose

suggestions are followings:-

FOR PRODUCT

1. Company should more invest in R&D.

2. Company should improve packaging because some complain about the

packaging is found.

3. Company should give more training to workers about total quality

management.

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4. Company should organise more mansion meet, so that opinion and suggestion

of users can be known.

FOR PRICE

1. Price fluctuation is one of the complaints from dealers and retailer; company

should fix prices at least for one month.

2. Company should also give credit facilities to dealers and retailers.

3. Price of brand should be reasonable and not more than competitor’s price.

4. Company should fix certain amount of margins for dealers.

FOR PROMOTION

1. Company is for behind in comparison to its competitors in all mode of

advertisement, hence budget for it should be increased and serious attention

should paid on it.

2. Company should provide good incentives scheme to dealers and retailers.

3. Dealers and retailers meet should be organised to understand and solve their

problem, and utilised as promotional method.

FOR PLACE

1. Birla distribution channel is not so strong in comparison to others, especially in

Madhya Pradesh; hence company should pay attention to it.

2. Company should increase its number of dealers for easy availability.

3. Company should supply the cement directly to its heavy users i.e. railway.

LIMITATION1. Sample size of 100 is not enough to generalise result.

2. Response is depending upon psychology of respondent.

3. The survey is geographically limited to Satna district.

4. Some of the respondent tries to hide information like sales volume.

5. Dealers take it lightly and do not show interest in providing sufficient and

exact information.

6. Some secondary data which I expect to collect from the company is not

provided to me.

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REFRENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. MARKETING MANAGEMENT by Philip Kotlar.

2. RESEARCH METODOLOGY by C.R.Kothari.

3. MARKETING RESEARCH by Tall, Donals & Howkins.

4. www.birlacorporation.com

5. BUSINESS MAGZINES i.e Business Today, Business World.

6. NEWSPAPERS i.e Economic Times.

7. BIRLA CORPORATION LIMITED annual magazines and reports

8. www.acclimited.com

9. www.prismcement.com

10.www.jalindia.com

11.www.maiharcement.com

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APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE

DEAR RESPONDENT,

I am doing the survey project in Birla cement work SATNA (A venture of

Birla Corporation Limited) for my summer training .I need your expensive time. I

assure u that this survey is only for academic purpose.

Name: - __________________________

Address: -________________________

Contact: - _________________________

Q1.How many companies you are dealing for sale of cement?

1) 1

2) 2

30

3) 3

4) 4 or more than 4

Q.2 Which company is leading the market?

1) Prism

2) ACC

3) Birla

4) Jaypee

5) Others

Q.3 Which brand is leading the market?

1) Champion

2) Surksha

3) Buland

4) Samart

5) Others

Q.4 Which Company is best in quality?

1. Prism

2. ACC

3. Birla

4. Maiher

5. Jaypee

Q.5 Best packaging offered by which company?

1) Prism

2) ACC

3) Birla

4) Maiher

5) Jaypee

Q.6 Which company is leader in supply of demand?

1) Prism

2) ACC

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3) Birla

4) Maiher

5) Jaypee

Q.7 Purchasing behaviour of customer depends on

1) Advertise

2) Quality

3) Brand

4) Others

5) Prise

Q.8 Best source of advertisement.

1. TV

2. Newspaper

3. Magazine

4. Hording

5. Others

Q.9 Most effective method of sale promotion

1) Dealer meet and Training

2) Award programs

3) Advertisement

4) Incentive schemes

5) Others

Q.10 Which company has best sales promotion scheme?

1) Prism

2) ACC

3) Birla

4) Maiher

5) Jaypee

Q.11 Any suggestions for our Birla Cement Co. Ltd.

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