Month: April 2020

Random Acts of Kindness by MILMA and Others Delivery Apps

~ bjcharles ~ Leave a comment

Two years back when Kerala was hit by floods, I thought of the same concept. I think I had pened it down, but I don’t remember which was that post. However, now the same concept has surfaced in a new avatar.

Earlier I had thought that it would be great help if Amazon or such online delivery sites had an option to gift necessary products to the needy. For example, from blankets to pre-packed food.

Karma at the Time of Corona
Now we are in the midst of this pandemic. It’s still not clear if we can contain the spread by May 3rd or we need more time to zero the hot spots and to isolate the disparate attacks.

One of the unseen problem people of India face is money. Most people in India depend on daily or monthly salary to push that month’s expense. Now that the supply of funds is cut, there’s unimaginable pain and worry for a big majority of people.

How Can People Help others – Can Milma Facilitate it?

One thing I liked about Milma is the their new milk delivery app – AM Needs. I had heard about it before the lockdown phase. At that time, I had the habit of buying milk from a near by shop. So, with social distancing plan, we opted AM Needs to buy milk and vegetables. And, all things were delivered to us on time.

How to be generous with AM Needs

One thing a user can do is buy an additional 1 ltr of milk or so and get it delivered to someone needy in the neighborhood or someone who is going through a difficult time. This is a an act of generosity and it needs a willing heart. However,most time we don’t think about it. We focus on our purchase and it’s done.

What about a Prompt ( to Donate) during checkout?

There are two options for MILMA.

One is that Milma can use their network and create a big list of needy households who would require milk or veggies. It could be widows with kids, daily wage earners who are now immobile, migrant workers, or old and poor people who are living on rations and handouts.

And, then at the time of checkout, a customer can select a donor or the quantity to donate. Minimum could be kept as a liter of milk. Imagine, this prompt at the checkout can be trigger for someone to think of helping people who are going through a difficult phase.

Secondly, a user can create a list of donors in their account. At the time of purchase, the user can select one or more donor to give milk or essentials. In an instant, Milma AM App takes care of donating the items along with the main order.

Make it Easy to Achieve Good Karma

I’m sure many of such things are used in other apps. It’s similar to asking for donation of money for flood or covid at the checkout. However, I feel giving a physical things is better than just asking for money.



Better Protection against Corona Virus

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Protective Gear in a Pandemic

Don’t know if it’s a coincidence. I was thinking of a similar thing – a light-weight glass bubble kind of stuff which can be worn like a helmet. The purpose is to act as a shield against any viral infection.

Inc.com carried the same concept which I had in mind – light weight transparent helmet with has in-built oxygen supply, speaker and microphone, etc.

Face Mask – Don’t provide complete protection
If lockdown continues, we should start thinking of a long-term solution to get back to our vocation. The current method of using a face mask has many limitation and its susceptible to contamination. A bubble shaped transparent helmet is more secure and safe. It will let wearer to freely travel, do work and enjoy social life without fear of virus thing.

Disinfecting Kiosks – Is it effective?
Another protective method to disinfect people is using high-powered sanitizing spray. Many offices have made it mandatory for employees to pass through the kiosk before entering office area. I was thinking the same will be common place in apartments complexes, theater, religious workshop places and even houses.

Places where bubble shaped glass helmet will be useful.

1. Check out counter staff at stores
2. Bank customer care staff
3. Ticket inspectors in trains or bus
4. Nurses and doctors, lab technicians
5. Saloon ( Hair dressers)
6. Delivery boys

Bubble Glass Protection
This idea look may sound crazy now, but who know we’ll soon be walking around like astronauts or like the sea divers ( Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea).


Btw, it’s an idea for start-ups in India. Shhh, China is listening.

Random Lines

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Headlights cutting through the dark
A cool wind found its way in through a narrow slice of open window and whipped the driver’s shaggy hair into a minor frenzy.
Story structures that’s so pervasive, people harbor and project it onto the arc of a faint career well in advance.

Let ideas sift, settle and reconfigure

Adhering to the write-every-day adage.

My bank account is so threadbare that if it were a pair of underwear, somebody would’ve been right to tell me to throw it away months ago.

Psychological traps, cages, built in pettiness

(brands) parroting ignorant influencers or faulty evidence.”

A single film is just a stone in the mosaic of collective memory. One stone is not enough to affect the color, meaning or quality of the whole. But when more and more stones are added into the mosaic, it eventually changes.

Digging up your ‘graveyard of knowledge’ can help elicit new ideas and insights that could contribute to major breakthroughs in marketing and optimization.

As well as a panoply of meat from other animals, including bats and snakes

But like where do I go more to dive down this rabbit hole of, I’m wanting to understand this on a deeper level.

Obliviousness is a talent they have cultivated well.

The neighbors bring food and comfort and kinship; there’s the feeling in town that we’re all in this together.

Nobody wants to believe that they stand on the blade between sanity and madness.

The neighbors bring food and comfort and kinship; there’s the feeling in town that we’re all in this together.

Nobody wants to believe that they stand on the blade between sanity and madness.


From YouTube music comments- What Caught my eye!

Stirs all the memories i thought i had lost…days gone and forgotten. Sad. Time is not a friend…

Looks like they cranked up the studio AC halfway through the song.

At one time along time ago I could relate to this song.

Memories. ..momma said there would be days like this

All sad memories. Nothing good ever comes when you’re torn between two lovers.

Mary MacGregor’s voice and the way she sang it always brings me back to a place and a time gone by, that has a magical charm to the days of love that still is so evergreen till this day.

My teenage years listening to this great song while fixing my hair in my bedroom mirror

oming of age song….. just starting to date boys…. what a fabulous time in philadelphia…. haven’t seen anything like it since….. her song is part of my life….

Somewhere over the Rainbow

~ bjcharles ~ Leave a comment

A month back I discoverd this song and I kept it playing on the loop. And then I searched for more details about the singer Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole.

It’s also strange that we move from one song to another, day by day, week by week. Of course there are few songs which sticks for a long time.

This post is to remind me to visit this lyrical beauty.

Importing Files from Blogger to WP

~ bjcharles ~ Leave a comment
Imported All my Journals

From the time I started blogging, I have started and opened more than a dozen blogs. Most blogs were pockets of topics, which began as an outburst of thoughts. So, just like sudden burst on the blogging world, it also fizzled out due to neglect.

New Blog on WordPress – epiphany

Now that I have started with the new blog, I imported all the relevant blogs it to WordPress. All of this done in the hope that I will frequently update this blog and make it my companion – the spot to share my momentary thoughts and feelings.

Convert Milk to Milk Related Products – Value Addition

~ bjcharles ~ Leave a comment

Corona Virus is a mother of all disruptions for all business. Call it a wake-up call to a new world. As for our personal life, it has unplugged many joys and everyday comforts from our lifes.

One example of disruption heard from the local news was about the slump in the demand of milk by MILMA. With excess litters of milk in hand, MILMA was running helter-skelter to find a taker. And to make things worse, Tamil Nadu was not willing to take our excess milk and process it into milk powder. Later with political influence Milma managed to get TN to accept the milk. Why all this trouble!

Also, in another related news, many small milk producers where throwing away milk on the road as a protest against MILMA for not taking their produce. What a waste!

While this Corona virus lockdown was totally unexpected, there were few things this disruption should teach many business, especially the milk supplying and distribution firms like MILMA.

Few things which came to my mind.

1. Instead of depending on other state for converting milk to milk powder, Kerala should have factories to do the same. If we can start a big factory, then smaller units ( Private or run by MILMA) should be in operation to convert milk into milk powder or other products from milk.

2. Give training to local producers to convert milk into ghee/curd/paneer/condensed milk/milkpowder/butter, etc. This sort of knowledge transfer at grass root level will help them to covert their excess milk supply to something which can be sold later.

3. Create training videos, posters, articles and upload them on the website

4. Each collection centre should double as a training centre.

5. Make posters on how to milk cow in the right way. Tips on how to increase the production of milk. All these tips can be posted on social media.

6. Create Whatsapp group in each community so that tips, video material could be shared with them. Also grievances could be heard.

7. Each collection centre should act as the data collection centre, which will collect the contact information of each seller ( Name, phone#, address). This will help MILMA to contact them with newsletter, new training material, etc. Also a column on the size of milk produced or supplied by each person. This way, a person in the central office will have the data on the big suppliers, and region wise data of supplies.

8. One thing lockdown has brougt in was the disruption of supply chain for many produce and packed goods. For instance, I called many shops for Amul Fresh Cream. None of the shops had a packed which was required for making and teaching cakes online.

In this lockown situation, if Milma had fresh cream, it could have easily supplied and sold its stock to all the stores. It would be a windfall profits for Milma from such Supply Chain disruptions! Also, Unsalted butter available was from Milky Mist. Where is Milma?

I’m not sure, what’s the reason behind Milma, not making packed milk like Goodlife from Nandini, Fresh Cream like the one made by Amul, or set curd ( big bucket), Condensed Milk, etc.

All this info in a mobile app will help the management team to view instantly the places with excess supply, or places with shortage, etc.


MILMA Unmanned Milk Delivery

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About two years ago, I wrote a blog post on Milma. I had listed few points on the blog which was mostly from my observation and few from the experience of visiting their outlet at Pattom.

Every time I pass by MILMA outlet at Pattom, I often wonder what plans they have of bettering their service. We have reached a situation that we hardly see MILMA products in the shelfs of supermarkets and margin free outlets in Trivandrum. (Need proof – visit Drive in Margin Free at Kumarapuram). This shows that Milma’s influence and market is shrinking. Why is MILMA milk or curd unavailable in these shop?

What’s happening to the milk brand which was a part of our life?

I’m afraid that it’s loosing time. It’s time to do something magical to bring back the sheen and regain market share. Where should the management focus on improving? It’s from customer service to innovation in packaging, process, marketing, cleanliness, etc.

Today in Covid times, I felt the need to revisit the same topic. I wonder what has changed at MILMA in these intervening years. Has it become a better managed place? Are decision taken faster than what it was done earlier? What’s the turnaround time for implementing new ideas?

Also, in today’s times of social distancing, has it implemented new methods to sell their products?

If we look at MILMA’s market share of milk and milk related products, it’s evident that their share has come down. One competitor which has taken a big slice of its market is Muralaya. This is a privately run biz – young and more agile than the middle aged MILMA brand. As a small place, they can bring fast changes, implement ideas faster than MILMA which has legacy system and process.

The entry of Muralaya Milk and the way they marketed, distributed and build business worth a marketing study. It’s a Marketing Case Study worth discussing in MBA classes.

The old blog post has points which I wanted to share or discuss with the company’s decision makers. But, it just remained in this blog. I should have send the blog link to the top brass. Lazy me! Btw, will they bother to read. 🙂

Hire me as a Disruptive Change Agent aka Marketing Consultant for MILMA
Another epiphany moment. I coined this title for me. In simple words, I am willing to work as a freelance marketing consultant for Milma and suggest them innovative and disruptive ideas.

ANYONE HOME!

As an external consultant, I will present my finding, suggestion to the management team.What all will the disruptive ideas that will help organizations like MILMA to improve their day-to-day outlook and improve their marketing.

Few Points of my Work Role

1. Website ( Optimization suggestion)
2. Comparing features with local competition
3. SWOT Analysis
4. Ideas to STAND OUT
5. Propose Marketing Strategies
6. How to bring out the stories out ( Storyteller)
7. Customer service training
8. Write to companies for follow-up
9. Mystery shopper

Innovation and Inspiration from another Source
Hey another epiphany moments while writing this. Yesterday, I was watching a YouTube video related to baking. A Malayalee lady from US was showing how to make a cake. On the table there was a long butter strip which looked different from the block of butter we get here. The butter was wrapped in a paper which had measurement marking on it. BINGO! COPY THIS.

Simple Innovation – Easy for HOME BAKERS
A simple innovation in packaging of Unsalted Butter can be useful for home bakers and newbies. Beginners usually require a small portion of unsalted butter for baking. In some cases it will 1/4th cup or 1/2 cup would suffice. Currently in the market there’s a 200 gm, 1/2kg and 1 kg pack. This is usually too big or small for baking.

If there’s a packing for 1 cup, with measurement of 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 cup in it, then it will be convenient for home bakers. A person can easily look for the mark and take the required portion. This will save a lot of time, less messy and make baking more enjoyable. There is not need to dig a measuring cup in the butter and make a mess of it. Less cleaning, and happy baking. It’s just an innovation in packing.

If Milma is late in implementing this, Muralaya or Amul will come with a butter strip very soon. What about Nandini?

Let me know Milma if you going to take this idea or I can pass this suggestion to Nandini. I know a higher up in Nandini to pass this suggestion.
Sample of how this looks – Quora and one on Reddit ( Just for reference)

GOT IT!
Another problem plaguing Milma could be the insidious bureaucratic step up. There could be too many managers, too many heads to approve a single change. Is it so Milma bosses?
Is the complacent attitude that lead Milma to loose it’s market share? Or is it the Union and Political interference stalling its growth? I’m just guessing.

MILMA – Recent Innovations
There’s good news and signs MILMA is making changes in their business. Their new app for milk home delivery and also AM Needs have garnered many positive reviews. Good going! I ordered through AM Needs and the delivery person came well protected and delivered in a professional way.

Conora Virus – It’s not business as usual

We are now reeling under the clutches of National lock-down due to the spread of Corona Virus. It’s now been more than a week. I lost count of days and I was surprised to know that today was Friday. Oh, how sad. I remember those days of my visit to Tavern Pub or Purple Haze on Friday after office hours.

My question and thought now is not about the days that are invisibly flying, but about the MILMA’s business improvement stuff.

24/7 MILMA Outlet

One thing I have noticed about MILMA office in Pattom is the limited working hours. Why can’t it be run 24/7 so that customers can visit any time and buy.

Initially I thought that a person can be deputed to work the midnight houses. But the question the management would ask is – what is the ROI?

Concept Milk Booth – Remote and Unmanned Unit

What are the other options of running an unmanned outlet? Sure, it can be done, but the question for the management will have will be returns. Imagine an unmaned MILMA outlet near Secretariat, one at Pattom, one at Kovalam beach, one in Vazhudacadu, one inside Museum compound. etc.

How about an automatic milk dispenser kept in the existing MILMA parlour at museum compound? The early morning walker also can buy milk packets from this store or buy butter or ghee while they return after the morning walk.

It could be something like the condom selling kiosk near Pullimoodu junction.

What and how?

1. Install a large modified refrigerator kind of machine which will dispense milk or any product on display. ( The cold storing unit sponsored by LG or Haeir, Samsung in return for a banner on the machine. Now that cost is taken care). Customer makes the payment by Gpay or by scanning the QR Code for the amount displayed on the screen of the unit

2. Remotely manned unit. Here a person controls many such Milma outlets from a remote location. The camera and microphone at the counter is used to get the customer request and based on it, remote employee will press buttons and product is delivered to the customer through a chute.

3. A feature of this device is the display screen. It will show the remaining stock of each item, bill, date of manufacture of the products, etc.

Also, each such kiosks or units should be connected via Internet network. Tapping on the screen at one location , customer should know how much of each material is available in each store. Also, make this information available on the Milma’s App. Imagine this senario – I want to buy 4 kg of unsalted butter from Milma. So, before I leave the house house I should be able to see where is the closest shop where I can buy Unsalted butter. This will save a lot of my time.
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( Another idea popped up while writing is. This is related to ATM in banks and I’ve felt the need of this in Bangalore. Sometimes on weekends when I go to deposit cash in ICiCI Cash Deposit Machine (CDM) at Indira Nagar. Very often the machine shows – Sorry, machine is temporary unavailable” Damn it. There are two CDMs at this branch, but on Sundays the machine stops functioning as its Cash FULL.

Just imagine, I need cash to book a tatkal train ticket or something urgent. In this case, the only option for me is to visit any other CDM unit of ICICI and it’s at MG Road. But, what guaranteed is there if the machine there is also full. Sometimes, I ask the security but they are have no information. why can’t banks at least give them the phone number of security staff in that counter or close by counters).

Now, if the machine is connected to the near by ATM, and fetch data about it’s status ( working or not). Then, if this info is displayed on the screen, it will be great help to customers. Same way, if an ATM runs out of cash, it can also display the nearest ATM where the customer can draw cash. ( I guess, most of you must have faced this situation when we see an ATM without cash. Which is the closest ATM? But, what are the chances that it’s also empty!

Every business should think of the pain points of the customer and work out a way to help them). If the technology is not present, at least use human resource ( ATM Security staff) to help the customer.
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This is beneficial to people who are buying large quantities. For example, in few instances visited Milma main outlet at Pattom to buy unsalted butter ( make than 4 kg during Christmas baking) Shop assistant un-apologetically said that stock is over. NO STOCK. – WTF ( You forgot to say Please ( sorry) – Terminator Starting Scene ( Judgement Day ) came to my mind)

When I get only a part of the butter, I have to again visit another shop. What a waste of my time. In my case I had to stopped at Amuls’ outlet at Pottakuzhi to buy butter.

Suppose, a caterer or baker who stops at Milma’s outlet for a big purchase, then it would be great it they can get everything at one visit.

WHY THIS POST – Just a Suggestion for Improvement

The point of writing this post is to share few of suggestion which came to my mind. I am sure most of these tips must have been thought by the Milma’s board. However, it’s my turn to make it black and white.

Btw, I’m open for discussion with the management team at MILMA or the concerned person in charge. Feel free to hire me as a Freelance consultant. I come not too expensive, nor on a small budget. Try my services if you can.

For the Good of MILMA

P.S – Another set of suggestion for MILMA. Mostly above value addition and processing of milk to other products.

15/4/20 Update – Latest on what Milma can do with AM Needs App

Happy Present

~ bjcharles ~ Leave a comment
Today is a Happy Moment!

How we overlook the beauty of the moment, only to reside in the past or in the unknown future. Why are most people ( me) not really anchored on the present?

This simple and heartfelt story sums it well in a page.

Let this be a reminder.

Lockdown Days Diary

~ bjcharles ~ Leave a comment
Buns ready
I’m becoming a Pro in this!

How do you spend your time during the lockout days at home?

For me, I’m really, really busy from dawn to evening – working on things which I think matter, de-clutter, reading, updating the Pages, helping in the kitchen, spending time in the garden, practicing bread making, also candle making, and more…