EPR Drives NGO To Greater Heights

CASE STUDY – AKSHAYA PATRA 2012-13

By Manu Sharma

Company Profile

The world has enough food for everyone, but millions of children still face hunger and malnutrition in India. Akshaya Patra Foundation, a NGO providing hot, nutritious freshly cooked classroom lunches for underprivileged children in India runs the world’s largest midday meal programme. The journey began in Bangalore in 2000, by feeding 1500 children in schools and today has grown into a huge organization providing lunch for nearly 1.3 million (per the school enrollment data) underprivileged children in eight states from 18 kitchens. The NGO plans to reach 5 million such children by 2020 expand through out India.

PROBLEM DEFINITION

Due to lack of information and control the need for Information Technology (IT) within the organization was first felt as early as in 2006-07. During the same period  Akshaya Patra that had only 5-6 centres cum kitchens grew by adding 10-14 new centres over the years at the rate of 3-4 new centres each year.
Initially the NGO had only accounts and financial reporting that were centralized and done out of the head office in Bangalore. It made use of Tally software for accounting until March 2011. “However, we felt there was no real-time availability of data and had no standardized way of recording data either. And besides there was no common platform for distribution, collaboration, and sharing of information was bare minimum and employees were working in silos. Since the information was not accurate so a sense of discomfort was felt by the high reps at the head office,“ said Shridhar Venkat, Executive Director, Akshaya Patra.

THE SOLUTION

The IT wave within the organization happened in 2009-10, when Akshaya Patra started to look and shop for adequate software. A major beak-through happened when they implemented the Microsoft Dynamics AX2009 (ERP)among other equipments. In fact, Microsoft Dynamics AX is the complete ERP solution for enterprises that provides a purpose-built foundation across the organization, along with comprehensive, core ERP functionality for financial, human resources and operations management. 
The NGO has positioned the ERP project in three phases. In the Phase I, they stated off with finance, purchase and stores which is up and live from April 1, 2011. While Phase II will cover payroll, production, distribution, maintenance and quality that will be completed and up by June, 2012. The final Phase III will cover HR, projects, CRM, business intelligence (BI) etc that will be completed and up by April 2013. The ERP is being implemented by Microsoft Dynamics Gold partner Affordable Business Solutions, Bangalore.

In fact, the ERP has today 230 users across 19 centres and expected to grow to 1000 by 2012-13 with new modules says, Vinay Kumar, Head ERP, Akshaya Patra Foundation.

Since 2011, Reliance Communications via MPLS lines has linked all the centres through a private Wide Area Networks (WANs). “Reliance is our preferred service provider for data, Internet, leased line and voice (mobile). Almost all the centres are today linked and up running. Even our ERP runs on this network,” says Harsha E, former IT Manager, Akshaya Patra Foundation. 

IMPLEMENTATION LEARNINGS

With the end of Phase 1 of ERP, the NGO has noticed reduction the errors in various systems by about 25% today despite being utilized in three separate phases. But it is a move towards a standardized operating environment looking at the same data. 

Despite being in the initial stage, the NGO was able to develop a lot of user and training manuals in-house to help read and understand EPR and other technologies better.
Besides no repository of the report required for each function to perform smoothly that was discovered during the implementation stage. It has only settled down now on the  reports. In fact, the first six months was a big struggle, signs Kumar.

OPERATIONAL BENEFITS

Some of the business benefits with the ERP running in phase II stage has helped to standardize on procedures like accounting, finance etc. It has also helped in  consolidation was one of the biggest challenges. Also since everyone connects at the same time so able to get real-time data benefits unlike earlier besides it has cut down on travel and also on communication costs.
“The best thing that has happened by installation of ERP is everyone from our top management, auditors (KPMG)and our CFO are all happy since every thing done is more timely and accurately. All counts on the ERP database now,” remarks Kumar.
Since every one talks about 'Green' today, we were able to get system-based approval rather than the earlier manual-based approach. So though this green approach helped in reduction of paper and time, says Kumar.

CONCLUSION & FUTURE TRENDS

Akshaya Patra with the full implementation of the ERP platform will be able to get 100% of benefits in terms of data availability, accuracy and transparency.
As the NGO has no plans to increase the strength of the IT staff, it has plans to move entirely to the cloud and mobile  platforms in the coming years.
They also have plans of opting for central procurement using a e-platform to help do a lot of research on the season to buy, location, state etc. Also on the cost of operations/spending and so dependent on ERP Analytics coming up for procurement. “So it would be complete database decisions by 2013 by integrating exchange server with ERP on real-time basis. We also would be going in for trading on the commodity exchange – MCX, NCDEX through Food Corporation Of India on items like oils, dal, rice, wheat, sugar, jaggery and spices etc,” remarks Vinay.  “Akshaya Patra as an NGO is a pioneer in the use of IT in the real sense for maximum impact. It is definitely a pointer to how other NGOs can do the same to maximize operations and exploit the potential of IT to better their programmes. Akshaya Patra can be looked at as a best practice NGO for the use of IT.” concludes Mohandas Pai, Trustee, The Akshaya Patra Foundation.

Toshiba Branches From LCD TVs to GaN-on-Si Lighting LEDs

They’re an electronics brand that you’re familiar with for countless reasons, but just what are Toshiba working on now? From LCD TVs that still pack a decent punch to GaN-on-Si lighting LEDS, this is one manufacturer who has their finger firmly on the digital pulse.

According to a report, the firm’s LEDs are already available – showing the world just what cost-reducing technology can achieve. Toshiba has claimed that their intended use is for general lighting applications within ceiling lights and normal bulbs as well as in the public sphere for street lights and floodlighting.

For those who haven’t heard of GaN-on-Si lighting, the big news is that these are made in a way which is considerably cheaper than the standard format. The emissive GaN layers are made on large silicon wafers – much cheaper than the SiC or sapphire wires used previously and only available in smaller sizes.

These developments are therefore just another example of the brand proving their worth in a market that is continually evolving, but their dedication to improve services and cut costs doesn’t end there.

Toshiba have also been continuing their development of LCD TVs, focusing no high-end models which will pack a sizeable punch in the battle for TV supremacy.

According to a report they will be restructuring the spending associated with their TV and PC businesses, planning to put the majority of their time and effort into premiums, high-end LCDs and adjust their focus to B2B businesses. 

For consumers, there’ll still be plenty of variety when it comes to the devices and units which are available for them but you can guarantee the introduction of a large number of high-end devices too. 

LCD TVs remain one of the major forms of display unit for consumers and corporations, rivalled only by LED units which tend to appeal more to the budget-conscious audience. Boasting exceptional contrasts when it comes to picture quality and with the ability to be integrated within slimline designs, LCD TVs have all the perks the modern user wants from their home entertainment viewer. 

Toshiba’s focus on the higher end of this scale will ensure that devices continue to meet the growing needs of consumers which not only call for high quality pictures and stunning displays but also interconnected media and the ability to connect to the internet.

The rise of the so-called Smart TV is something which you cannot have missed and has in many ways overshadowed the simultaneous rise of 3D TV sets. Integration of the two ideas may seem inevitable but whatever the outcome they’ll need a unit in which to sit. For many, this is the LCD TV which continues to be a market leader across various realms. Capable of handling HD broadcasted content, the possibilities really are endless for this unit and Toshiba are sure to drive this growth even further. 

Source: Toshiba

Philips Efficia to Help Reduce Infant Mortality in India

The Bangalore-based Philips Innovation Campus (PIC) in its quest to provide innovative and affordable healthcare solutions for India, has launched an innovative and advanced suite of mother and child care solutions during the Annual Media Onsite, 2013 recently in Bangalore. This suite of products focused across the continuum of care is affordable and caters to a diverse set of care areas.

“India loses over three lakh babies every year. Many of these are premature and low birth weight infants who are exposed to hypothermia – a condition where the infants’body temperature drops below the normal temperature required for metabolism and body function. The Philips Efficia range of infant Warmers and Incubators are intended to reduce infant mortality which is the need of the hour in India. Other major causes for infant mortality are neonatal jaundice and respiratory distress, which are addressed by products such asBiliChek transcutaneous bilirubinometer,BiliTx phototherapy system and NeoPAP respiratory support solution for neonates” said Dr Wido Menhardt, CEO, Philips innovation Campus.

“The launch today is in line with our commitment to focus on next generation healthcare solutions. We believe that this whole new suite of products launched today will provide value to customers through cost effective solutions and greater efficiencies. We have solutions for premium urban corporate hospitals as well as tier-2 cities and primary health centers.” said Krishnakumar, President - Philips Healthcare India.

It is also important to monitor the bilirubin levels in infants since neonatal jaundice is common in newborn babies, affecting nearly half of them in the first two weeks of life. The Philips BiliChek measures bilirubin levels in a non-invasive manner making use of light instead of a needle, reducing pain and trauma to the babies. The most convenient aspect of  BiliChek is that, it can be utilized without the hassles of undergoing a lab test and waiting for results. 

BiliTX wraps babies in healing light. Neonatal jaundice can be effectively treated through phototherapy, and, Philips through its global expertise in healthcare and lighting is focused on developing products that support the infant’s development and the health of the mother.

With NeoPAP Philips provides a sophisticated neonatal CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) delivery system, developed to treat newborns and infants with Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS). This non-invasive, dynamic system features a lightweight interface made of soft, skin-friendly silicone to ensure patient comfort and safety.

Philips Innovation Campus, whose vision is to create innovative and meaningful healthcare solutionsfor the community, with focus on constantly improving patient care, believes that this launch will provide easy access and efficient healthcare forall.

Philips Connects Remote Hospitals with its eICU Platform

Philips India, a critical care equipment manufacturer, continues on its mission to increase healthcare access across India, especially in the field of Critical Care. As part of this mission, the company has announced the expansion of the network of hospitals connected using the IntelliSpace Consultative Critical Care (ICCC) solution, which is inspired by Philips’ pioneering global eICU platform. This is a solution that enables an intensivist at a central location to monitor patients in distant multiple Intensive Care Units (ICUs), almost in real time without compromising on quality of information available to them. It provides a solution to the growing shortage of qualified physicians and nurses, while dramatically improving quality of care.

The new hospitals added to this network include Aditya hospital (Warangal, Andhra Pradesh),  Sreeranga Hospital (Chengalpet, Tamil Nadu) and Geetanjali hospital (Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu). These hospitals will be connected to the Chennai-based InTeleICU, which will act as the command centre monitoring the ICUs of the newly connected hospitals.

“It is a well-known fact that only the most critical patients of a hospital are housed in ICUs. Although bedside care providers are present in the ICUs, monitoring all the patients all the time, including multiple high-acuity patients, is a big challenge. This is where a solution like InteliiSpace CCC can be extremely helpful,” added Dr. N. Ramakrishnan, Managing Director and CEO, InTeleICU.

This solution enables the ICUs of several remote hospitals to be connected to a big specialist ICU care where best in class critical care specialists monitor and review patient remotely through online data from connected patient monitors and real-time video images of patient conditions.

“The IntelliSpace CCC solution has been designed to meet two big healthcare challenges that India is currently facing – lack of qualified Critical Care experts and access to quality Critical Care for people in smaller towns and villages. With the help of this solution, patients can now be monitored by Critical Care experts from miles away, without having to move to a bigger city,” said A. Krishnakumar, President- Healthcare, Philips India.

The IntelliSpace Consultative Critical Care solution, conceived and developed at Philips Innovation Campus Bangalore, is an innovation that focuses on the needs of the community today. The focus of this solution is on empowering and providing best specialized advice to the onsite clinical staff and working collaboratively with all other specialists. Additionally, sophisticated clinical Decision Support Systems allow the command center to manage many more patients enabling access and reach to the masses. It is an advanced clinical decision support and documentation solution designed to improve clinical and financial outcomes. 

Some of the benefits of ICCC include access to qualified experts and facilities from Tier I metro cities, ability to deliver the same level of care to Tier 1 and Tier 2 hospitals and providing consistent practice standards of critical care medicine, meaningful alerts and dashboards that make it convenient for intensivists at the command center to act quickly on critical patients and, given decades of experience in developing products for Critical Care, a cost-effective technological transformation.

Ramco's HCM Now on the Cloud Platform

Ramco Systems, an enterprise software product company focused on delivering ERP on Cloud, Tablets and Smart phones has announced the global launch of its comprehensive HR & Talent Management solution, Ramco HCM on Cloud (Human Capital Management). The launch also marked the unveiling of Ramco’s In-memory engine, Minnal which dramatically improves processing speed by up to 100 times. 

Speaking at the launch, Virender Aggarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems, said, “The Enterprise Cloud market is growing rapidly with adoption across organizations of all sizes. Our investments in technology and our focus towards bringing Mobility, Gen-Y User interface, role-based WorkSpaces and In-memory engine into a Cloud-based offering has helped us carve a niche position, globally. 

After taking ERP and Aviation solutions on Cloud, we are now taking our comprehensive HR solution on Cloud. Our ability to offer a multi-country payroll that is flexible enough to integrate with any standard ERP has been a key differentiator in the global market. In order to capture the booming HR software market, we are also partnering with large ITeS players to offer our HR Platform as a Service.” 

Ramco HCM on Cloud

IDC's revenue forecast for worldwide HCM market is $11 billion in 2016, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.1%. Gartner is projecting a $10 billion HCM market by 2015, with $4 billion in talent management, 75% of that market coming from SaaS. According to an Aberdeen study published, 39% of “High Growth” organizations planned to invest in cloud computing in 2012.

Market data and trends show that the HCM market is predicted to grow rapidly in the next few years. Ramco has been offering its on-premise HCM software globally, and it now runs in 300+ organizations, including customers with employee size of 100,000+. 

The experience and knowledge gained over the years has been invested in re-architecting the product to bring in a Gen-Y interface, making it accessible on Smart phones (iPad, Android and Windows 8), integrating it with Social channels, besides bringing in the speed and agility of an In-memory engine and the intuitiveness of a context-aware solution. 

Ramco HCM on Cloud is a comprehensive solution that covers every aspect of an employee lifecycle: Workforce Management, Recruitment, Talent Management, Employee Development, Workforce Planning and Payroll & Benefits. 

Launch of Minnal: Ramco also unveiled Minnal, a flexible, light weight, In-memory Engine which can be used for any Planning, Scheduling, Optimization and batch processing (APO) activity. 

The newly launched HCM on Cloud was test launched in a few markets and is currently being implemented at leading organizations such as RedTag, Khimji Ramdas, (retail brands from Middle East); and Podar Group of Institutions in India, among others.

Panasonic P51 to create a dent among smart phones in India

Panasonic launched its first smartphone in India, the P51, earlier today and it’s certainly a very interesting addition to the Indian market. Priced at Rs 26,990, the P51 will face some really tough competition from the likes of Micromax and Karbonn, not to mention market leaders Samsung and fellow Japanese electronics giant Sony. Obviously, the P51 has to bring the right set of specs to the battle – and it does so to a large extent. Let’s take a look a closer look at the specifications of the P51. 

OS – Stock Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
The Panasonic P51 stands out among a sea of TouchWiz and Sense-running smartphones thanks to the stock Android 4.2 roots. The company has also included the on-screen navigation buttons just like Google intended. And overall, we are pretty chuffed about seeing stock Android on a smartphone. It makes a whole lot of difference in the user experience when bloatware or badly-designed skins don’t hog your RAM resources. There are minor customisations in the interface, but nothing too drastic.

The stylus can be used to mark out portions of text or for simply doodling

Cellular connectivity – Dual-SIM, 3G and 2G
Just like most phones launched in India these days, the P51 goes the dual-SIM route. However, only one SIM can be used for a 3G connection, while the other can be used to surf the internet on EDGE. 

Display – 5-inch 720p display
We would have been really disappointed if the first ever Panasonic smartphone for India would have launched with WVGA resolution display. Mercifully, there’s a 720p 5-inch display on the P51 and the resulting pixel density of around 294 ppi sounds really good even in this age of 1080p displays. The display is of the IPS variety, so colours should be well-balanced and still look punchy enough; however, Super AMOLED fans will miss the really deep blacks. The screen of the phone is made of Asahi Dragontail glass and has an Oleophobic coating to prevent fingerprint smudges.

Form factor – Unibody design
While at first look the P51 looks plain as can be, the unibody construction makes a great impression when looking at the overall design. The matte black back panel looks great and should keep fingerprints to a minimum, but the glossy white back is totally opposite. The 8 megapixel camera sits smack in the middle of the back with an LED flash underneath, while a loudspeaker grille occupies a left-of-the-centre spot towards the bottom. The right edge of the phone has the volume rocker and the microSD card slot. The power button is at top along with the 3.5 mm audio jack, while the left edge of the phone has the dual SIM slots and the microUSB out.

Wi-Fi – Nothing out of the ordinary
The P51 plays nicely with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n standards, which seems slightly lacking when seeing more and more phones are supporting 'ac' and 'a' standards. As is usual for an Android phone, you can use the phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot.

SoC– MediaTek MT6589 (quad-core)
The P51 will not be found lacking for processing power. It features MediaTek’s MT6589 SoC, which contains a quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU and PowerVR Series5XT GPU. While the CPU uses the slightly older architecture from ARM, the SoC is built using the newer 28nm fabrication process, so it should do well in terms of power efficiency. The four cores should easily help in gaming and even the general responsiveness of the UI. Another noteworthy feature is the inclusion of 1GB of RAM, which should put it on par with competition like the Micromax Canvas HD.

Storage – 4GB internal memory with microSD card slot
While 4GB of onboard storage seems rather disappointing, the presence of the microSD card slot make up for it. The slot can take cards up to 32GB in capacity.

Cameras – 8MP sensor with LED flash and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera
The primary camera is an 8 megapixel shooter like the Micromax Canvas HD and the Karbonn Titanium S5. The camera is of the autofocus variety and there’s an LED flash as previously mentioned. Sadly, there’s no mention of it being a BSI sensor like the one on the XOLO A800. Still, we’ll have to wait and see how good the real-world performance of the camera on the P51 is.

The 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera might not be able to hold a candle to the 2 megapixel and even 5 megapixel ones we are seeing nowadays, but it should still be good enough for basic video calls and the occasional self-portrait.

GPS and miscellaneous
The P51 has the usual collection of sensors, but a gyroscope is missing. There’s Bluetooth 4.0 for wireless audio playback and for interfacing with other devices. P51 has good ol' GPS while GLONASS is missing from the picture. We guess including that piece of hardware would have driven the cost up further. 

Battery – Li-Ion 2500 mAh
The battery capacity of the P51 drew a smile on our faces. With a capacious 2500 mAh battery, the P51 should easily last the whole day, unless you go overboard with the usage. The quad-core CPU in the P51 and the 720p display will be the real power hogs, but battery life should still prove to be peaceful.

The bottom line
There’s no doubt that the P51 is a very attractive smartphone both in terms of looks and design; however, if there is one sore point for the phone, it’s the price. At Rs 26,990, the phone is priced miles ahead of similarly-spec'd Micromax Canvas HD, Xolo Q800 or the Titanium S5. Expect a quick drop in the price of the phone soon after it hits stores next week. If that doesn’t happen, then Panasonic could have a flop on its hand with the first foray into India. In other aspects, the P51 seems very appealing and could be a worthy competitor to the Indian-made smartphones.

Source: T2

Tools & Applications To Create Own Website

CIPL (Corporate Infocom), an IT entrepreneurship based company focusing on simplifying technology introduces applications and tools to enable customers create their own websites/e-commerce portals.

CIPL has introduced user friendly application and tools in order to assist the aspiring web builders. These applications can be used by people from different verticals and across industries. The content available in the training manual is easy to understand and implement practically.

Rahul Walia, Chairman, Corporate Infocom says “We endeavor to create one such platform where we give opportunity to people who aspire to create their own web site economically and easily in today’s scenario where you need to on the web to create your identity”.

Highlights of the tools and applications:

· 100 template designs

· Customizable menus and support form fields

· Training manual

· Personal administrative support

· Web building tools such as soholaunch pro edition and template express for easy website designing

· Tips to increase website ranking

· Domain name and web

CIPL also deals in providing SEO training, online learning courses, mobile building course and complete domain and hosting package for newbies.