Priya Srinivasan, Business Today It’s PURELY ONE OF THOSE PERCEPTUAL THINGS, BUT GODREJ & BOYCE, a company with eight business divisions spanning refrigerators, furniture, security equipment, typewriters and storage isn’t top-of-the-mind for this writer when it comes to being wired. Still, in what must be a first of sorts, Godrej & Boyce’s entire ERP (enterprise resource planning) system, an information-aided management support system that runs through the company, is available to all executives in the sales and marketing function on their mobile phone. Godrej & Boyce worked with telco Hutch to design a SIM (subscriber identity module) card with a customized menu that makes it possible for the user to access information on billings, outstanding payment, collections and stock position. Users can also access specific information by sending an SMS that is routed to the company’s server, which, in turn, replies with the information, again in SMS format, through a modem. Users can also set alerts to access information according to a pre-ordained schedule. For instance, a regional sales manager can set an alert to alert to access information on weekly sales in a particular city every Friday at close of business; the server will generate the information on the basis of invoices generated and SMS it to the manager. Some 3,000 employees of Godrej & Boyce are currently part of the wireless development initiative and the benefits have been significant enough for the company to roll it out to 150 dealers. “We have never adopted technology for the sake of it,” says George Menezes, Head (Commercial Organisation), Godrej & Boyce. “We evaluate technologies regularly and adopt them as and when we need them; we are the first company to offer such a menu on the mobile phone.” That, it is.