BMJ has established itself as the primary supplier of high quality paper and packaging solutions to the Indonesian industry as well overseas markets such as Vietnam. It has invested heavily in state-of-the-art equipment and quality control system. The company's second line opened recently, a state-of-the-art paper mill producing consistently high quality products it supplies to most of the major players in the global markets. It has been at the forefront of developments in light kretek and other fast-growing segments in domestic and overseas markets. The company's growth has been steady and dynamic as it has moved at its own pace to develop and refine its products and processes.
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Along the way, BMJ has earned an enviable reputation as a supplier of choice to many cigarette and kretek manufacturing facilities around Asia and beyond, including most of the majors. It has achieved this as much through its innovative approach to building customer relationships and service, as through the consistent quality of its products & its fair pricing policy. This unique position as a customercentric supplier has led the company to expand its scope to provide more customer-centric solutions to its customers, many of whom are more traditional businesses that may struggle to implement more modern management/logistics concepts within their corporations.
"Since its inception, BMJ has always been committed to providing its customers with consistent quality product and responsive delivery at a fair price," George Hendrata, BMJ's managing director told Tobacco Asia. "But at the same time BMJ is committed to offering more "customer-centric" solutions, such as Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Anti-Counterfeit/Contraband Program (ACP) and Vendor Development Training (VDT)"
This is not a cynical approach to boost sales in the short term but a well-reasoned and carefully thought out strategy employing a win-win end game.
"We are not just viewing our relationships as buyer & seller, we are trying to achieve more than that," Hendrata said. "We are trying to provide solutions to the customer in the short, medium and long term; trying to help them understand their market and operation needs better. We look at the relationship as a supplier-buyer partnership. We try to be responsive to customers' needs, whether it be in logistics (with our VMI solution), in product integrity (with our ACP solution), or in modern management concepts (with our VDT solution)"
Some markets have very specific needs, which require local customization. In these markets, BMJ also helps introduce systematic process to identify specific end-market requirements, and develop custom end-market-specific paper and packaging solutions. Some recent tangible results include compact ash/white ash paper for "visually demanding" markets and cost-effective paper and pack for very cost-conscious markets.
[b]Gala Dinner[/b]
Recently, Hendrata and Liem, BMJ's business development director, were in Vietnam hosting the company's series of BMJ Gala Dinners, this time in the seaside resort city of Nha Trang. This is the fourth consecutive annual event the company has hosted in Vietnam, and its guest speaker, Simon Denby of TP Solutions continued the theme of leading consumer trends. Past Gala Dinners have covered diverse topics such as, AFTA, WTO and Marketing Light Cigarettes.
"BMJ has been doing business in Vietnam since 1999," Hendrata said. "Therefore, the logic behind the Vietnam gala dinners, with presentations given by leading industry experts, is all part of the company's philosophy of involving all its partners - in other words, its customers - and associated industry leaders - in discussions and seminars aimed at developing a systematic process and framework to identify consumer needs and developing solutions to meet these requirements successfully."
"BMJ is entrenched in the market: we know what their requirements and needs are," Hendrata clarified. "The purpose of such a meeting is to get significant players in the tobacco industry, not only tobacco manufacturers but also printers, research institutes, industry leaders, directors and top executives together, in the same place to share some quality time and to gain a clearer understanding of some important aspects of the market and beyond that, the opportunities this awareness can bring."
[b]Movers and shakers[/b]
The event itself attracted quite a few movers and shakers as a quick glance at the assembled dignitaries proved.
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Simon Denby's presentation on developing light cigarette brands, based on his extensive experience in developing products and market for BAT and KT&G before he joined TP Solution, was listened to attentively.
Denby delivered two key messages of particular importance for cigarette markets such as Vietnam.
"Firstly, correctly identifying consumer needs and segmentation and secondly, from that developing a road map using dynamic, culturally acceptable and market-specific solutions, are the most important points you should take away from here tonight," Denby said. "For markets such as Vietnam, these solutions may well incorporate variations of strategies and solutions that have been implemented in other markets and segments, such as the tremendous growth of the kretek light segment in Indonesia spearheaded by Sampoerna's A-Mild. These solutions typically involve a complete understanding of all aspects of product development, such as understanding your consumers-in other words, proper segmentation; adopting a back-to-basics approach, by which I mean building products from the bottom up. Correctly researching these to identify acceptance involving qualitative and quantitative research in conjunction with brand, trade and manufacturing strategies will lead to the successful execution of a product launch."
Most attendees took copious notes, and the questions asked at the end of the presentation hinted at the depth of interest the topic had aroused.
"We always try to give inspirational seminars in the Vietnam market," said Hendrata. "A previous topic we covered was about ISO certifications, and shortly afterwards some companies were inspired to apply. Now many are certified. But at the time we gave the presentation, there were none," Liem added.
The format of the Gala Dinners is simple: the event takes place in the evening, in a good hotel's function room, with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres followed by the presentation and then dinner. Actually, it's hard to think of a better way to spend a few hours, learning about topics of great interest from a leading industry professional in a convivial, relaxed and informal setting.
"The current inspirational solution the presentations are not detailed - is to get customers thinking about the direction they may want to follow," Hendrata explained. "This is important for them and also for BMJ as it enhances its position: we are not only a supplier of good products of high quality but we also inspire our customers to innovate and lead market demands."
Clearly, BMJ is continuing to hit the right chord with its customers and partners in Vietnam as the success of its most recent Gala Diner demonstrated. And as BMJ continues to expand its horizons, it may be sooner than you think that a BMJ Gala Event arrives at a city near you. Enditem
