A two-day regional convention of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) was held with director of Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, Mallika Srinivasan, urging the professionals to work towards making low-cost strategy a sustainable business model.

Noting that enterprises looked up to the professionals for direction,  Srinivasan said the significance of lowering costs for the manufacturing sector was more in the backdrop of the emerging competitive environment. She was inaugurating the cost convention being organised by the southern India regional council of ICWAI.

The growing interest in India among investors worldwide was because of the magic combination of quality (products), skill base and low cost platform that it promised. Another aspect that made low cost operations important for the enterprises was the growing customer expectations of accessing better products at lesser prices.

Srinivasan said the low cost strategy should be robust and sustainable. She urged ICWAI to consider making ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) course compulsory in the curriculum.

Bala V Balachandran, Professor of Accounting and Information Systems and Decision Sciences, Kellog School of Management, said while adopting cost reduction strategy, enterprises should identify their core competencies and spread the message about its plans ‘ from top floor (management) to shop floor.‘

The four Ms to be considered while implementing the strategy were measure, manage, monitor and maximise. ICWAI president Pravakar Mohanty said cost management was gaining momentum in view of industry’s focus on reducing the cost of production and increasing the sales.