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N P Singh, Sr. Vice President and CIO—Textile and Apparel, Madura Garments , Aditya Birla Group

Title: Sr. Vice President and CIO—Textile and Apparel.

Company: Madura Garments , Aditya Birla Group.

Annual Revenue: Rs. 1500 crore.

Your biggest challenge when you joined Madura Garments: Disparate application platform; distributed system architecture; lack of centralized MIS and financial consolidation system.

Biggest career influence: My stint in Hindustan Unilever, which provided a high-end tech environment to work.

The person who has influenced your life most: Vikram Rao, Business Director, Aditya Birla Group with whom I have been associated with over the last 10 years, as he has been instrumental in guiding.

Upcoming technology Decision: Implementation of Oracle’s retail solution, Retek, for Madura's Retail business along with the Warehouse Management System (WMS) at its warehouses integrated with Retek RMS system thru SAP's XI infrastructure. We will be testing and rolling out the 360 commerce POS solution across all Peter England People stores. This implementation will be the first of its kind in India. The interface between Oracle Retek and SAP will also be done for the first time globally.

Biggest challenge in your Industry: Dominance of mass merchants, increased focus on private label and emergence of Agile Vertical Retailers.

How to tackle this challenge: To create a timely and accurate plan.

• Establish in-season excellence to maximize sell-through by increasing availability of fast-moving items and by reducing liability on slow movers.
• Develop a synchronized supply chain by facilitating the above through technological intervention / excellence.

Your success Mantra: Do things 'Right First Time' (RFT).

Technology you cant live without: Smartphone and ipod.

Your most memorable moment: When I demonstrated RFID enabled item level sales at Retail store as a proof of Concept to my colleagues in MG in 2005-06. This was the first time any organization was testing RFID tagged item level sale at a retail store globally.

What do you enjoy doing most: Gymming, playing tennis, and going for a long drive.

Favorite movie: Guns of Navarone.

Your obsession: Wearing trendy/fashionable clothes and collecting model cars.

One thing you want to change in yourself: My temperament.

One thing you would never want to change in yourself: Being straight forward and truthful.

Best advice you have ever received: Don't react immediately when in a provocative situation but think and respond.

— Mexy Xavier