Eternis Fine Chemicals Ltd.: Data Science & BA Intern Interview Guide
At Eternis Fine Chemicals Ltd., the Data Science and Business Analytics intern works on two problems that hit a specialty chemicals business directly. The first is how exposed the company is when a critical raw material has too few suppliers. The second is how much time teams lose when customer, material and product records disagree across systems.
This guide is for Master of Business Administration (MBA) students in operations, supply chain and analytics preparing for this summer internship. It explains both projects in plain English and covers the skills interviewers test and a likely interview sequence. It also includes 28 practice questions with answer frameworks and a four-week preparation plan.
1. About the Data Science & Business Analytics Intern Role
This internship is two business improvement projects, and each one ends in a tool the company keeps using. In the first, you decide which raw materials deserve alternate suppliers and back that call with cost and risk evidence. In the second, you build one trusted version of customer, material and product data so reports stop contradicting each other.
Your work sits close to the procurement team, which sends out Requests for Quotation (RFQs) and approves new suppliers. You also work with the people who maintain records in SAP, the company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, along with on-time in-full (OTIF) delivery trackers and customs data. You will also deal directly with chemical manufacturers when chasing quotations.
2. Required Skills and Qualifications
Educational Qualifications
Skills Overview
Strong Excel is the core requirement. A chemistry background and Power BI exposure are company preferences: they strengthen a profile but are not mandatory.
3. Day-to-Day Responsibilities
Most weeks split between desk analysis in Excel or Power BI and follow-ups with suppliers and internal data owners. The cards below cover every deliverable across both projects, so you can speak to each one with confidence in the interview.
Supplier Development Project
Rank Raw Materials by Risk
You take purchase data for roughly 26 raw materials and rank them on two things: how much the company spends on each, and how hard each would be to replace. A high-spend solvent with three domestic sources is less worrying than a low-spend catalyst bought from one overseas plant. You then narrow the list to 10 critical items and defend each choice.
Find the Actual Manufacturers
For each of the 10 critical items, you build a list of who actually produces the chemical, not just who sells it. Traders and distributors often appear in searches alongside real producers. You cross-check shipment records, industry directories and supplier websites, then confirm plant locations and capacity before anyone is approached.
Compare Landed Costs
A quoted price is only the starting point. Landed cost adds freight, insurance, customs duty, port clearing and inland transport up to the factory gate. An imported quote that looks cheaper can end up costlier than a producer in Gujarat or Maharashtra once duty and transit are added. You build a like-for-like sheet in rupees per kilogram for every supplier.
Score Supplier Risk
Alongside cost, you rate each candidate supplier on risk. Factors include dependence on a single plant, distance and lead time, financial health, compliance record and past quality issues. A supplier whose only plant sits in a region with frequent shutdowns scores worse than a slightly pricier one with two plants. The output is a transparent score that procurement can challenge.
Track RFQs and Qualification
Once suppliers are shortlisted, RFQs go out and you maintain the tracker. It records who received an RFQ, who replied, the quoted price and its validity. It also shows where each supplier stands in qualification, such as sample received, lab test passed or plant trial pending. Chasing overdue replies by email and phone is part of the job.
Build the Supplier Intelligence Hub
Everything above comes together in one Excel or Power BI file covering critical materials, suppliers, landed costs, risk scores and RFQ status. A manager should be able to pick a material and see its sourcing options in seconds. You close with written recommendations, for example qualifying a second domestic source for one item and renegotiating with the current supplier on another.
Master Data Harmonisation Project
Audit Records Across Systems
You pull customer, material and product records from SAP, the OTIF tracker, customs data and team spreadsheets, then count where they disagree. The same customer might be 'Shree Ganesh Polymers Pvt Ltd' in SAP and 'SHREE GANESH POLYMERS PRIVATE LIMITED' in customs filings, or one material may carry two codes. The audit puts numbers on duplicates, gaps and conflicts.
Create Golden Records and Mappings
For each customer, material and product, you create one master version, called the golden record. You also build a mapping table that links every old code or spelling back to it. If a material appears under three codes across systems, the mapping shows all three pointing to one master ID, so reports can be joined without manual cleanup.
Define Matching Rules
Matching rules decide when two records are the same entity. Strong identifiers come first. Examples are the Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN) for an Indian customer, or the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number for a material. Where identifiers are missing, you fall back to cleaned names and addresses, and you document which source wins when values conflict.
Build the Data-Quality Dashboard
The dashboard shows the health of master data over time. It tracks the share of complete records, duplicates found and resolved, and mismatches by source system. A team lead should be able to see, for instance, what share of material records lack a CAS number and which system they sit in. This turns a one-time cleanup into something the company can monitor.
Write the Data Dictionary
A data dictionary defines every field in the master tables, including its meaning, format, allowed values, source system and owner. It settles questions like whether 'customer' means the billing entity or the delivery plant. It also records whether a weight field is stored in kilograms or tonnes. Without it, the next analyst recreates the same confusion you just removed.
Write the User Guide
The user guide explains how colleagues use and maintain what you built. It covers how to refresh the dashboard, how to add a new customer without creating a duplicate, and what to do when a matching rule flags a possible conflict. Write it for a busy colleague, with screenshots and short steps, because it keeps your work alive after the internship ends.
4. Key Competencies for Success
Excel and the right MBA specialisation get you shortlisted. What sets strong interns apart on projects like these is how they behave when data is incomplete, suppliers go quiet and two teams disagree about which number is right.
5. Interview Process at Eternis Fine Chemicals Ltd.
Summer placement interviews for operations and analytics roles at manufacturing companies usually run within a single placement day, on campus or online. The sequence below reflects that typical pattern. Your placement committee will confirm the exact rounds closer to the date.
Curriculum Vitae (CV) Shortlisting
The company reviews CVs for MBA specialisation, Excel depth and any chemistry or Power BI exposure, and shares a shortlist through the placement committee. A line such as 'built a Power Query model reconciling 5,000 vendor records' carries far more weight than 'proficient in Excel'.
Group Exercise or Short Case (if conducted)
Some manufacturing firms use a group discussion or a short written case to narrow a long shortlist. Expect a business topic such as import dependence for raw materials or supply chain resilience. Evaluators watch whether you structure the problem and build on others rather than talk over them.
Functional Interview
Usually conducted by a manager from procurement, supply chain or analytics. Expect questions on Excel logic, landed cost, supplier risk and data cleaning, plus a deep dive into any CV project. Be ready to explain formulas step by step or share your screen if the round is online.
HR and Fit Interview
Covers motivation for a specialty chemicals company, comfort with a Pan India location, and how you work with plant and procurement teams. Short, specific answers about why this internship fits your goals matter more here than polished speeches.
Offer Through the Placement Committee
Results are typically communicated through the placement committee on the same day. Once you accept, keep your committee updated on any joining instructions and the location confirmed for your project.
6. Interview Questions
Use STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioural questions and keep each story under two minutes. For technical questions, talk through your logic as if you were building the file in front of the interviewer. For cases, state assumptions, calculate, then recommend.
Expect follow-up questions that push past your first answer. Interviewers want to see that you can check your own numbers and defend a recommendation.