Field Notes from Active Work

Practical guidance for stores and inventory professionals in infrastructure.

No generic supply chain theory. Only what applies to infrastructure companies managing materials across dispersed project sites in real conditions.

FeaturedStores Governance 2 min

Reverse Logistics on Infrastructure Sites: The High Cost of Unmanaged Scrap & Surplus

On most sites, reverse logistics is completely ignored. Unused materials are tossed into unmonitored corners of the yard, off-cuts are left to rust in mud, and usable spares returned from field work sit uncatalogued in receiving bays.

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Operational Intelligence Journal

More from the field.

Practitioner Voice 2 min

Preservation Architecture: Protecting High-Value Capital Assets in Harsh Remote Environments

If your ₹2-Crore equipment components are sitting on bare mud, your project is bleeding capital before installation even begins. Remote project sites are brutal on materials. Heavy monsoons, blowing dust, and harsh UV rays silently destroy precision valves, hydraulic hoses, and electrical panels stored in open yards. The worst part? Most companies don't discover the damage until installation day-triggering emergency re-procurement, lost warranties, and critical path delays. Site stores need more than space; they need Preservation Architecture. Elevating stock on plinths, enforcing timber dunnage off bare soil, and establishing UV-shielded storage zones aren't luxury options-they are essential capital protection measures.

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Practitioner Voice 5 min

Two failures, one disease: the custody gap.

A battery died waiting. A part vanished quietly. Neither was really about what broke, both were the custody gap wearing a different face.

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Practitioner Voice 4 min

The GRN Fallacy: Why Paper-to-Digital Disconnects Erode Project Margins

"The GRN Fallacy" - a dangerous window where physical stock is consumed long before it exists digitally, or unverified shortages are signed off without physical inspection.

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Practitioner Voice 5 min

The Audit Is Over. What Are You Doing About It?

A ₹4.92 lakh crore lesson in discipline. What 31 years in the Army taught me about benchmarks nobody keeps checking, and what it's costing India's infrastructure sector now.

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Practitioner Voice 8 min

The Stores Problem That Infrastructure Companies Don't Talk About Openly

I was having coffee with the COO of a fairly large infrastructure company. He runs a Rs 3,000 crore order book across eight states. He could not tell me what was sitting in his own project stores.

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Stores Governance 6 min

Why Reconciliation at Project Close Is Always Painful

By the time the project closes, the gaps have been compounding for years. There is a structured way to prevent this, and it begins on day one of mobilisation.

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Compliance 14 min

Labour Codes 2025: The 100-Day Readiness Test Corporate India Wasn't Given

What stores governance has to do with the new labour codes — and why your site teams are exposed in ways your HR function may not have flagged.

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Practitioner Voice 2 min

The Indian Army Taught Me Why Most Companies Fall Apart Under Pressure

A short note on what military logistics teaches you about resilience that no business school will.

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Stores Governance 5 min

What Happens to Your Store When the Storekeeper Leaves

The institutional memory question every infrastructure CFO eventually faces — and the three-part fix that outlasts any single hire.

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