Sometime in the late 1980s, long before real-time dashboards, ERPs or cloud-based MIS tools became commonplace, one of India’s sharpest business minds – let’s call him Lala – ran his factory operations with a mix of discipline, intuition and systems that were deceptively simple but remarkably effective.
Every evening, without fail, a young factory assistant would walk across the shop floor, speak to each machine operator, and collect a verbal update of the day’s production numbers. Once done, he would head straight to the nearest landline and make a single phone call. Not to his supervisor. Not to the plant manager. But directly to Lala – who would be sitting hundreds of kilometres away, listening intently, often jotting down figures, occasionally asking sharp questions and always ensuring that nothing was missed. This routine was non-negotiable.
There were no spreadsheets, no apps, no instant sync across teams. But there was an unwavering focus on numbers, on discipline and on maintaining absolute clarity on what was moving and what wasn’t. That was inventory tracking in its most raw and human form – driven by intent, not infrastructure.
Decades later, that instinct still survives. Except today, businesses don’t need to depend on one boy, one phone and one Lala. Instead, they rely on digital inventory tracking systems that brings the same sharpness and real-time visibility to multi-location operations, without the friction of manual updates or delays.
What has changed is the toolkit. What hasn’t changed is the mindset: that daily tracking matters, numbers must be respected and clarity drives better decisions.
Some things, after all, don’t change.
They just evolve.