ISLAMABAD: The Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan (USC) on Tuesday signed an agreement with the National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) for its digitisation by July this year.

Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, Federal Minister for Information Technology Aminul Haq, Federal Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal were present on the occasion along with NRTC MD Brigadier Tofique Ahmed, USC MD Umer Lodhi and PTCL CBSO Zarrar Hasham Khan.

Around 4,881 retail stores, 124 warehouses, 64 regional offices, 9 zonal offices along with all USC business processes including supply chain, warehousing, financials, human resources, payroll, and E-commerce will be automated by July 2021. This would be one of the largest digital transformation of an organisation in Pakistan with an enormous network of operational locations.

In line with Prime Minister of Pakistan’s vision of Digital Pakistan, USC will have a complete technology upgrade to ensure fast, accountable and hassle free customer services using sophisticated technologies and automated processes, a statement said.

Once the enterprise resource planning system implementation is completed, purchasing activity will become a structured process whereby a situation arising due to over or under stocking of inventory can be controlled.

The whole inventory will be controllable and USC will be able to forecast amount of items needed, thus, preventing both product shortages and overstocking. Digitisation will enable USC to start targeted subsidy for the poor segment of the society with an assurance that it reaches deserving individuals.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2021