When my new friend told me he once worked for LouisVuitton, I was like ‘wow.
So where were you based.... France? – I asked.
No, Pondicherry. – He answered.
Really. Never knew LV was in India. Well, it
was and this is their Indian story.
They built a factory at Pondicherry. But it had problems from day one. They treated it like a step-child. They - the old guard at Paris - couldn’t wrap their head around the fact that their products were going to be built in third-world India. And with the same quality, if not better.
Anyways, our guy was invited to Paris for the annual meet. He talks of one incident. There is one LV store in Paris. Only for employees. The only one in the world. And has 90% off on products. So our guy goes gaga. And decided to buy everything on his next trip. Sadly, that was never to happen.
LV was actually doing well in India. Production cost was brought down. Quality was acceptable. But you know the French. They never can let a good thing be.
That group in France didn’t allow the factory to flourish as it should have. One point they raised was who will buy Indian-made products. To answer that, India made 85% of the product and the final finishing and packing was done in France, thus they could label it ‘Made in France.
The Head of design and quality (both Indians) made it hell for the Head of LV India who’s main task was manufacturing. And was French. The two Indian were technically reporting to him but played the game of that powerful group. Anyways, the India Head ploughed alone and made wonderful products. Another drawback was leather. The powerful group ensured that the leather was to be procured by head office and sent to India. This was always delayed or sometimes reached Pondicherry damaged. India Head convinced his boss to allow him to source leather in India itself. This was a wild success and it brought down manufacturing cost dramatically with no compromise of quality.
The powerful group couldn’t stand this victory. Even if it made a tons of money for everyone. France couldn’t be defeated by India. So after four years in India the unit was closed down. The two henchmen immediately moved to France – only to find out they were no longer needed.
The India head stayed back and started his own venture.
Thus ended what could have been a great love story.
#louisvuitton
#outsourcing
#french #thefrench #france
Article by Hemant Singh
None of the products here are LV
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