Q&A: The Success Story of Tausif Bashir through MISI

20 Jan 20

Tausif Bashir obtained his masters in supply chain management at the Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain and Innovation (MISI) as a full-time student in the class of 2016. Prior to studying at MISI, he was the Manager of finished vehicles logistics at Tata motors in Dharwad, India. His thesis project at MISI helped an international chemical manufacturing organization with its global distribution network identifying significant cost savings and service levels improvement opportunities.

His thesis project was titled “Facility location: Quantitative scenario development for (Regret based approach)”. We spoke with Tausif about his thesis development and his career success in a recent interview.

MISI: Tell me about your thesis.

The thesis provided an opportunity of working on a vexing problem facing a major global chemical manufacturing company.

An Inventory-routing-warehousing problem enables the organization to decide on the number of warehouses required to service demand most efficiently without compromising on service levels through holding sufficient inventory.

This problem had been solved in several ways previously by a plethora of researchers’ world over. Along with the guidance of my thesis guide, we were able to address this problem uniquely by short-listing the most probable scenarios which the organization would face in the medium to long term. My thesis was able to provide a tool to the organization, which was scalable, able to minimize the losses of making a particular decision by considering the variabilities in the market and global economic scenario.

Hence, the thesis titled ‘Regret based approach’. Because of its innovative solution, it was published in the prestigious MIT Sloan Review magazine.

MISI: How does getting your Masters in Supply Chain Management contribute to the success of your career?

I would attribute my way of thinking by taking the course at MISI along with the guidance of faculty and mentors. Although the course is significantly technical, it emphasizes the practicality of solutions and the implementation of the capabilities. The case study-oriented course helps us to understand how similar problems were faced by an organization and tackled successfully. With guidance from the MIT faculty in multiple facets, it helps us leverage their years of industry experience. I would attribute the majority of my achievements to the ways of thinking I learned at MISI. The course helped me to devise quantitative approaches to supply chain issues being faced at my organization.

MISI: What are your career path since then?

Following MISI, I joined a major car battery manufacturing organization in Malaysia as a group in-charge of Supply Chain Management performance. With the tools, I learned at MISI, coupled with guidance from leading researchers, I was able to revamp the supply chain of my organization with significant cost savings in inbound & outbound logistics. I was able to implement innovative concepts in the industry, which helped us become a preferred supplier to a majority of the customers.

Through the successful delivery of these projects, I was promoted to become in-charge of all operations of the company and helped impact the production and quality of our products as well. Following these two stints, I was made in-charge of a subsidiary of my previous organization. With a hands-on approach and mathematical understanding of the business, we were able to deliver a 150% increase in the market within a period of 5 months and lay down the foundations for an efficient and profitable business.

MISI: What are your achievements so far?

My achievements so far have been a significant revamp of the Supply Chain Management of the organization leading to substantial cost savings in inbound & outbound logistics and implement innovative concepts in the industry which helped us to become a preferred supplier to a majority of the customers.