LOG.India March 2012

INDIA

Let it pass: Reducing production lead time is key to smoothening logistics flow...16suppLy shyLocks: Extortion from transporters at checkpoints is routine. A report.8

Devadas Nair, head supply chain, shoppers stop, is in the thick of a retail revolution, shaping the supply chain of one of its prime catalysts.

page 22

Shop Shop Shop Shop Shop Shop TalkTalkTalk

a maN‘s WoRLD: Where are the ladies in the industry when we need them? ....42

march 2012 Vol. 5 — No.7 `100

the humaN aNgLe 50An update on talent management in supply chain.

Salary

Guide 2012

Pg.34

IndIa’s LeadIng LogIstIcs MagazInewww.logisticsweek.com

WE WANT YOUR AIR CARGO, BECAUSE WE WANT TO HELP YOU REDUCE ITIf there is one thing we can all agree on, it’s that cargo should only be shipped via air for the right reasons. Often, there is no better option. But in many cases, the options just aren’t easily comparable or actionable.

As the manager of the world’s most extensive supply chains, we’ve developed new ways to optimise the use of air cargo to reduce cost and carbon.

Give us your air cargo and we will help you reduce it. What other global air cargo provider can credibly say that?

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5INDIA| March 2012 | www.logisticsweek.com

Guess what? Not too far in the distant future, warehouses could become a thing of the past. How did I arrive at this epiphany? Well, the signs are there. A technology called 3D

printing could make it possible I am told. Until recently, 3D modeling and printing were processes only used by engineers of big companies like Boeing, which uses the technology to make certain air ducts for its planes. And now the technology has crossed over into the realm of tech enthusiasts.

As you know, 3D printing is the process in which you can create objects from a 3D design, using a printer with cartridges that contain glass, plastic, even metal in the form of powder or gel.

What it means is that, one day, end-consumers can make all sorts of products sitting anywhere with this technology—be it a toy, an accessory for your car (no precision components, yet) or simple industrial parts. It has only been a couple of years since this technology has been introduced to end-consumers, and they have lapped it up with gusto.

According to the US-based research and consulting firm, Wohlers Associates, sales of 3D printing products and services touched an estimated figure of $1.6 billion in 2011. And they are set to grow by 20 percent and more in the coming years.

Currently, the technology is in the early-adapter phase and as and when it becomes ubiquitous, it will have a huge impact on supply chain costs. In other words, warehousing and transportation costs will never be the same again. Sounds like science fiction? Well, new technologies have a way of impacting us sooner than we think.

It will beat the implementation of GST, for sure, going by the speed at which GST is moving. In other words, we may not need GST at all by the time it finally comes through. No, I am joking about this one. And I hope this remains a joke.

On a serious note, be it futuristic technology like 3D printing, or existing ones like RFID and speech recognition, new ideas influence global supply chain at all levels all the time, because of the pan-industry nature of the function. This is the reason a supply chain manager is (or needs to be) the most future-savvy professional around.

When we had to think of a central theme for our upcoming March 15 event, ‘Supply Chain 2.0’ seemed a natural choice. As clichéd as the topic sounds, we thought we could do justice to the subject by learning from the best minds in the business. Fortunately, we have been able to get nods from some respected experts in our field. I know I am plugging our event here, but I feel quite proud looking at the names and experiences of people who will share their views with us. Let me offer you a glimpse or two: Professor N Viswanadham of Indian Institute of Science will speak on India’s food security goals and how India’s supply-chain infrastructure can be used to attain those goals. Then, Mr Darryl Judd of Logistics Executive will be unveiling India’s first logistics salary survey report (the results are published in this issue) and give a presentation on the subject.

Need I say more?

www.twitter.com/logisisticsweek www.facebook.com/logisticsweek

Not So Far Away

Aanand [email protected]

6

Contents08 AnAlysis

Bucks From TrucksTransporters are an aggrieved lot. Their drivers are constantly being stopped on roads and highways by henchmen seeking bribes.

18

42

44

47

48

34 EmploymEnt spEciAlSalary Survey Report 2012Logistics Executive has brought out a Salary Survey Report that highlights the salary structures for the supply chain in India.

34

12

16

UpshotAn industry event, an interesting launch and invaluable takeaways from an international meet were on our radar this month. We present the reports.

GoldrAttMaintaining That Free FlowA supply chain can move smoothly if there is timely completion of orders and production lead time is reduced.

colUmnStrength In DiversityThis sector will f lourish when both the sexes are given equal opportunity, when one is selected on merit, not gender.

The Balancing ActSensitizing male colleagues, work f lexibility and security will help create a perfect environment for women to unleash their fullest potential.

The Herculean TaskAs the logistics sector gains importance, hiring and retaining talent becomes the need of the hour

Hitting Some LimitsRetaining employees is not an easy task. But with limited opportunities, what can companies do?

22 covEr storyShop TalkDevadas Nair, Head Supply Chain and Mission Control of Shoppers Stop has perfected the back-end to make shopping a delight for customers.

22

colUmnWaters Of WealthThe potential of inland waterways has gone unnoticed by the government.


mArch 2012

56

62 EvEntsA list of forthcoming events in March.

ADVeRtIseRs InDex

BLR Logistiks (I) Ltd ............................................21

Capricorn Logistics ..............................................15

Damco ...................................................................3

Gandhi Automation ................................................9

Greenearth Translogistics ...................................53

IBM ................................................................... BC

Intermec ..............................................................11

Om Logistics .......................................................43

Pheonix ............................................................. IBC

Safexpress ..........................................................41

Sevenseas Global Express Logistics Pvt Ltd .......33

Toyota ................................................................IFC

Vijay Logistics .......................................................4

Vodafone .............................................................13

INDIA

On the ball: Critical lessons on building an agile and responsive supply chain...20

CheCk my flOw: How to find a contraint in a system and how to empower it....14

Sachin Vyas, VP – Sales & Distribution and anil tandon, VP – Operations (asia), tata Global beverages, have seamlessly integrated their functions with brilliant results.

Page 22

That Perfect Blend

PaV wOw: A sacks-to-kitchen story on the supply-chain of Jumboking vada pav.....46

february 2012 Vol. 5 — no.6 `100

frOzen flaVOrS 34How Natural Icecreams puts its offerings together.

Sachin Vyas

anil tandon

IndIa’s LeadIng LogIstIcs MagazInewww.logisticsweek.com

FEbrUAry 2012

Books, Journals, Blogs, Technology, C-Profile, and Mobile Apps - a look at what's new in and for the supply chain industry.

pAnorAmA

50 The Human AngleThe Supply Chain suffers from the 'unglamorous job' syndrome. The industry has a task at hand to lure young talent.

STATEMENT ON OWNERSHIP OF THE JOURNALForm IV

(See Rule 8)

1. Place of PublicationHamburg Media Private Limited, B-4/6, Sona Udyog, Parsi Panchayat Road, Andheri East, Mumbai 400069

2. Periodicity of its publication Monthly

3. Printer’s NameMustan Sir Saifee Savai, Nationality: Indian, Savai Printers Pvt Ltd, A-661 TTC Ind. Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai

4. Publisher’s NameJacob Joseph Puthenparampil, Nationality: Indian, Hamburg Media Private Limited, B-4/6, Sona Udyog, Parsi Panchayat Road, Andheri East, Mumbai 400069

5. Editor’s NameAanand Pandey, Nationality: Indian, Hamburg Media Private Limited, B-4/6, Sona Udyog, Parsi Panchayat Road, Andheri East, Mumbai 400069

6. Names and address of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or share holders holding more than one per cent of the total capital.

Mrs. Honey JacobB-4/6, Sona Udyog, Parsi Panchayat Road, Andheri East, Mumbai 400069

I, Jacob Joseph Puthanparambil, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.Date: March 31, 2011Sd/-(Signature of Publisher)

50

8

< news analysis

INDIA| March 2012 | www.logisticsweek.com

Bucks From TrucksTransporters in India don’t have it easy. Besides having to grease palms at various checknakas, they are also subjected to constant harassment from ‘so-called officials’. Jayashree Mendes reports.

Talent is more a strategic issue for us now that we are entering

different industries, and different geographies. Talent is a concern. Good people are always scarce.

— ajay G Piramal, Chairman of Piramal

Healthcare ltd and Piramal Glass ltd

on his group’s approach to innovation and leadership development in an

interview to Business Standard.

Train of ThoughT

Handling auto waste is a big issue and the automotive industry should create a ‘disposal chain’, similar to supply chain, so that vehicles that turn into scrap bundles can be effectively disposed of.

— R. Chidambaram, Principal scientific advisor

to the Government of india,

in an address at ‘Automotive R&D trends 2015: automotive technology – mobility

as a system’, organised by the CII.

The cabotage law does not allow a foreign flag ship to carry Exim cargo between Indian ports which has been transported on the same shipping line. This affects the ‘Just In Time Logistics concept’ as it increases the cost of the end product.

— Rizwan soomar, MD, india & sri lanka Cluster, Maersk line india,on the prospects of ICTT at Vallarpadam on its first anniversary.

A couple of months ago, two truck drivers were found beheaded on a

highway in North India. Wit-nesses told the police investi-gating the crime that they had last seen two police women quarreling and demanding money from the truck driv-ers. Probably, the drivers were beheaded because they could not cough up the money. The police are still looking into the case.

While this is an extreme case, it is true that truck driv-ers are subjected to constant humiliations and trials some-times by the police who are supposed to protect their in-terests, and sometimes by roughnecks.

Navin Gupta, Secretary General, All India Motor Transport Congress, an apex body of transporters (both car-go and passenger), says, “Au-thorities and musclemen don’t need a reason to extort money out of drivers. All they need is to sight a loaded truck so they can demand money.”

It is a common sight to see trucks lined up at octroi posts and RTOs fishing out docu-ments and money to hand over

to officials who demand them. But little is known and spoken of truck drivers being stopped at certain routes by the hench-men of political parties who also demand their share of money. A manager with a large transportation company based out of Mangalore, who does not want to be named, says, “We give our drivers enough money to help them pay toll and for their personal expense. But most often their lunch money

Little is spoken of truck drivers being stopped on routes by the henchmen of political parties who also demand their share of money.

is usurped by hoodlums laying claim to certain sections of roads and highways.”

Coming to the issue of driv-ers being stopped by authori-ties, Mahesh Pai, owner of Sarayu Transport, says, “The people manning the octroi posts and RTOs waylay drivers on the pretext of checking doc-uments, and out of pure habit point out emission levels, or accuse them of overload-ing. Unless money exchanges hands, they will not be al-lowed to pass.”

Citing the case of two in-dustries (Sunflex and Lloyd Steel) based out of Nagpur, Mr. Gupta says, “We have heard that these two companies al-low overloaded trucks to leave

For next year we have a target of 9,000 km ... what the PM has promised before election. When we go to elections we will be in position to tell the masses that we built 20 km of roads a day.

—C P Joshi, Transport and Highways Minister,

to a media gathering.

10 INDIA| March 2012 | www.logisticsweek.com

their compound. But they do make it a point to mention the excess weight on the papers. While the Nagpur RTO may al-low them to pass, the problems arise when crossing other state borders.”

This leads to complaints from other truck drivers who carry under-loaded trucks and are stopped and have to shell out money. Especially at Jaipur, the officials are known to stop trucks that do not carry a Ra-jasthan plate number. Officials are also known to charge Rs 2,000-2,500 from the drivers, from the earlier Rs 1,000, con-firms a source.

According to Mr. Gupta of AIMTC, “Drivers are not skilled to deal with authorities. They allow themselves to be bullied

and willingly pay up. It is unfair that these authorities do not re-alize the role of the transporta-tion industry. We carry crores of rupees of materials and are the first and last mile connec-tivity to various states.”

The associations are also piqued that while Railway wagons are exempt from any payments at state borders, trucks are hauled up even within states, leave alone state borders. The issue of paying

toll is also nettling. Ravindra Hegde, Head of Transporta-tion at Shrimad Transport, a company based in Chennai, says, “Every transportation company given to crossing borders frequently ends up paying around 25 percent of operating costs in toll. Be-sides this, the companies have to constantly put up with ris-ing fuel costs, replacement of tires, increasing insurance, spare parts costs, salaries,

etc. But we are not allowed to increase freight rates and pass them on to customers.”

Another sore point for the associations is the audacity of the concessionaires to start collecting toll even before the roads have been completed. Mr. Gupta, who has been high-ly active in taking this issue to the notice of the government says, “A build-operate-transfer (BOT) concession typically lasts for 25-30 years. The op-erators are ideally supposed to stop collecting toll once they have recovered their money. But they continue till the end of their time.”

The issues go on. But in all this, it is the transportation company and the truck drivers who suffer the most.

The associations are also piqued that while Railway wagons are exempt from any payments at state borders, trucks are hauled up even within states.

< upshot

Toyota Inaugurates HO At Gurgaon

Georgia tech Meets Future supply Chain solutions

Toyota Material Handling (TMH) India, a majority held

subsidiary of Toyota Industries Corporation, Japan, inaugurated its Head Office and Delhi branch office at Gurgaon, on February 25, 2012. Toyota is a leader in Material Han-dling equipment and TMH (India) brings the Toyota and BT range of such equipment to India.

The facility is located on NH-8 at Manesar, Gurgaon and is spread over 20,000 sq. meters. The ware-house, which can hold over 6,ooo spare parts, will serve north and western India. It also has a work-shop which will offer overhauling and major repair service of equip-ment to its clients.

Speaking at the inauguration of the facility, Mr Toshiro Ishihara, MD, Toyota Material Handling, India, said, “I want to emphasize that our entire network is our own captive network and no independ-ent dealers are appointed. This is

Future Supply Chain Solutions Ltd. hosted a visit from Geor-

gia Institute of Technology’s Ex-ecutive Master’s in International logistics and supply chain strategy (EMIL-SCS) on February 20, 2012. The meeting discussed the retail logistics challenges of the Future Group and various innovations in India. The Georgia Tech team com-prised of vice-presidents, directors and senior managers of companies like Dell, Tiffany & Co., L’Oreal, UPS, etc. from the US, Canada, Thailand and Venezuela. The meeting was a part of the global

programme chalked out by EMIL-SCS and included a trip to India as part of the programme’s Asia residence, which also included meetings with industry leaders in Thailand, Hong Kong and China.

Dr Vande Vate, Founder and Executive Director of EMIL-SCS, declared that the Georgia Tech Group was “honoured to have the opportunity to meet and share ide-as with such distinguished leaders and innovators as the team of Fu-ture Supply Chain Solutions Ltd.”

Future Supply Chain discussed the evolution of logistics in India

Date: February 25, 2012Event: Toyota Material Handling (TMH) India Organizer: Toyota Industries Corporation Venue: Gurgaon

Date: February 20, 2012Event: Georgia Tech Meets Future Supply Chain Solutions Organizer: Future Supply Chain Solutions Ltd


and the transformation strategies of its own supply chain across vari-ous verticals like fashion, food, consumer durables, electron-ics and IT with the visitors. The growth and the on-going matu-rity of India’s logistics sector im-pressed the visitors from the Geor-gia Institute of Technology.

because we would like to offer our customers first class maintenance and services by our own trained service engineers and by using gen-uine high quality parts with desig-nated repair tools.”

TMH wishes to have a partner-ship with its customers and “sup-port equipment throughout its life-time.” The company believes that these methods will help it to retain its clients. Apart from Delhi, TMH has a similar facility in Bangalore and is establishing offices-cum-workshops at Pune and Chennai as well. Within the next three or four months the company will be in-augurating offices in Kolkata and Jamshedpur too.

Mr Virendra Oberoi, Director-Sales and Service, maintains that “our facilities in terms of quality, safety of product and features fol-low European standards of product development.” With its penchant for quality and emphasis on excel-

lence, TMH is sure to retain and consolidate its position in the In-dian domestic market.

TMH India Head office


< upshot

Chief Supply Chain Officers CongressThe India CSCO Congress held over

February 2-3, 2012, concluded successfully in the company of scores of chief supply chain officers of some of India’s best and biggest manufac-turing and retail companies.

Day 1: Fork lift Grand prixAttached to the event was India’s first Fork Lift Grand Prix held at a circuit especially created for the purpose at the Ocean Gate Container Termi-nal near Mumbai. The circuit was designed to test skill, agility, safety consciousness and speed of opera-tion instead of speed of driving.

The trophy was lifted by Ankush Phulse of Ocean Gate Container Ter-minal in a nail biting tie between Ocean Gate, LCL Logistix , Transport Corporation of India and R K Food-land, with a margin of a mere six sec-onds.

The event program included a field trip to Arshiya’s state-of-the-art free

trade warehousing zone near Mum-bai, India’s first and largest. IBM chose the event to share their global Chief Supply Chain Officer Study in India containing thoughts from 400 supply chain professionals world-wide.

The event was compered by Aryan Gajaria, the official Master of Ceremo-nies of Force India. The gathering was entertained by cocktails served from a freezing ‘Breezers in Freezers’ bar set in a reefer container over live music by Michael and Angelo.

Gautami Seksaria, Founder and Partner, Supply Chain Leadership

Council, the organizer of the event, commented, “The longer term posi-tive impact of mutually sharing ideas and expe-riences even with peers and competitors far out-balances the gain, if any, from hoarding them and this is what the CSCO Congress provides a plat-form for.”

Day 2The second day of the In-dia CSCO Congress fea-tured an array of supply chain personalities who

shared their knowledge and experi-ences. A special speed networking session was arranged in the morning to help enable easier and warmer con-versations as the day proceeded.

The first debate session of the day entitled ‘CSCOs in the board rooms’ was moderated by Aanand Pandey, Editor, LOG.India. The panelists were Winnie John, Director, Value Chain, GSK; Pradeep Chechani, Head- Sup-ply Chain, Wadhawan Retail; Ujjwal Mukherjee, Head Supply Chain, Avon; Rakesh Sinha, COO, Godrej Consumer Products; and, Ramesh Krishnamurthy, Procurement Opera-

tions Director – South Asia, Unilever. Thereafter, Niranjan Deshpande, General Manager, IBM Global Busi-ness Services gave a presentation.

‘The Mathematics of Outsourcing SCM’, the second panel discussion, moderated by Arif Siddiqui, Coign Consulting, had Dilip Save, Head-In-direct Tax, Hindustan Unilever; San-jay Sahay, Head-Supply Chain, L&T; Pradeep Shukla, Head-Supply Chain, Hindware; Arvind Kalra, Head – Sup-ply Chain , Amway; and, Rajkiran Kanagala, Vice President and Nation-al Head, Business Development, TCI Supply Chain Solutions, as panelists.

‘SCM driven Market Leadership: in good times and bad’, the next debate session moderated by Ashu Khanna, ValYou Consultants, had panelists like Shubham Ray, Chief- Private Brands, Future Value Retail Limited; Sumit Chandna, Vice President- Buying and Merchandising FMCG, Aditya Birla Retail Limited; Shashank Raodeo, GM – Automotive Logistics, Mahindra and Mahindra; Sridhar Balakrishnan, Executive Vice President and Head – Sales and Supply Chain, Marico Ltd.; and, Chaitanya Prabhu, Supply Chain Head, Arshiya International.

The last panel discussion ses-sion of the day was ‘The Grand In-dian SCM Debate’, moderated by Mr. Khanna again. The participants were Rajesh Srivastava, COO, Idea Cellular Ltd; Uday Pimprikar, Chief Planning and Commercial Officer, Arshiya In-ternational; Robert Lobo, President-Apparels, Raymond; Samson Samuel, COO and CIO, Future Supply Chain Solutions; Jayanty Sastry, Director – Logistics, ACC Limited.

The event ended in entertainment with a comic play ‘Whatever You Say’ by Shivani Tibrewala, Tom Alter and Mona Ambegaokar, followed by comic acts from stand-up comedians Ashish Shakya, Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba.

Date: February 2-3, 2012Event: India CSCO Congress Organizer: Supply Chain Leadership Council Venue: The Westin, Mumbai

From L-R : Aanand Pandey, Editor, LOG.India; Ramesh Krishna-murthy, Procurement Operations Director – South Asia, Unilever; Rakesh Sinha, COO, Godrej Consumer Products; Ujjwal Mukherjee, Head Supply Chain, Avon; Pradeep Chechani, Head- Supply Chain, Wadhawan Retail; Winnie John, Director, Value Chain, GSK.

INDIA| March 2012 | www.logisticsweek.com 14


< The enable Flow series

reducing production lead time and improving on timely completion of orders will enable a supply chain to move smoothly, notes Prabhakar Mahadevan.

Recently we met with an auto components manufacturing company and we were invited to

analyse their business reality in order to improve their financial performance. While analysing their reality, we realized that the company caters to the replacement market besides supplying components to the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). As a process, while planning for the forthcoming month’s capacity the company typically considers the forecasted OEM demand (delivery schedules) that it has received from its customers, and assigns the rest of the capacity to cater to the replacement market. We also learnt that the company

maintains an average delivery performance of close to 90 percent.

The company serves two different markets—as an OEM supplying parts to the auto manufacturer and also distributing spare parts to the replacement mar-ket. On further evaluation, it was clear that the com-pany assigns higher priority to automotive customers (OEMs) relative to the replacement market when it comes to fulf illing demand, although the profit mar-gins are apparently higher when the components are sold in the replacement market. The sales team fur-ther revealed that their customers (auto companies) were quite unhappy about the very low availability of spares in the replacement market as well as the low due date performance (DDP) of their company. The lack of spares in the replacement market encourages spurious players to f ill the gap, which leads to a spi-ralling impact on the auto company’s reputation and service levels to customers.

The situation clearly mandated deeper introspection.

Measuring the DDP When questioned further, the company’s team explained how they were used to measuring the due date perform-ance (DDP). Currently, the company measures its DDP as the percentage of SKUs supplied to the OEMs as per the entire month’s requirement, for example, in a given month nine out of ten SKUs are supplied in full to the customer and therefore the DDP is 90 percent. If the rel-evant SKU, for example, was needed by the customer at the beginning of the month, and the company supplied the SKU by the last day of the month, from the compa-ny’s perspective, it is considered as on-time supply (for its DDP calculation). In reality, since the OEM custom-ers hold a few weeks of stock at their premises, they are actually providing a few weeks of advance intimation to the auto parts manufacturers to fulfil their orders.

However, in the replacement market, customers ex-pect instant availability of relevant parts since the vehicle is under maintenance/repair and needs to be put in order soon. To summarize, the needs of the two market seg-ments are distinctively different: The OEM customers are willing to provide advance intimation for the supply of their SKUs and need high reliability from their sup-pliers, whereas the replacement market customers need high availability of the parts they require. Therefore, the needs of different segments have to be dealt with differ-ently, which mandates appropriate manufacturing and supply chain strategies which will enable the company to fulfil the needs of the respective market segments.

how To be successful What is mandatory for being successful?

The automotive industry example can be general-ized across several industry verticals. For example, if a customer walks into a store to buy products like soap, shampoo, bread etc., he or she expects to see the prod-uct on the shelf instantly, while a customer who wish-

Maintaining That Free Flow

Prabhakar Mahadevan,Goldratt Consulting, Regional Director, India region

16

< The enable Flow series


Maintaining That Free Flow

es to buy a car, will be willing to wait for few days or weeks to receive a car of his choice (colour/model/other configurations). Based on all these examples, we can claim that customers across markets segments have an intrinsic ‘tolerance time’—a time that he or she is will-ing to wait to avail the relevant product or services. If the suppliers (across the value chain) don’t supply their products/services within this ‘tolerance time’ of the customer, there is a big risk that the customers will buy any available alternate product, with the suppliers los-ing the business opportunity, market share and profit opportunities. Therefore, it is necessary that suppliers develop their manufacturing and supply chain strate-gies which enable them to deliver their products/serv-ices well within the customer’s tolerance time.

How to satisfy customer’s need within tolerance time?

In most production environments, the manufactur-er typically takes about four to eight weeks to process a given order. Let us evaluate the scenario a bit deeply. In most situations, the sum total of all processing time for a given order can be technically termed the ‘Touch Time’. It is observed that the total Touch Time to manu-facture a given order is always a fraction (five percent to 30 percent) of the overall lead time of the order. For ex-ample, in an airport, from the moment a passenger en-ters till he reaches the departure gate, it typically takes between 30 to 40 minutes (sometimes even more). However, the actual Touch Time, the time he spends to get the boarding pass and pass through security check, is normally just a few minutes. The rest of the time he/she spends waiting in the queue.

Similarly, in a majority of production environments, for any given order, although the Touch Time is a small fraction of the overall lead time, a significant amount of the time is spent waiting for the order to be processed (due to resources, waiting for decisions, matching parts, etc). Therefore, the flow of the order is impeded at several points in production due to several reasons and this in-creases the order lead time, which results in lower supply performance to customers. Due to low supply perform-ance, companies tend to release customer orders much earlier than usual to the shop floor for processing (since supply reliability is below satisfying levels and custom-ers demand better performance). This eventually results in long queues of orders in-front at work centers, thereby causing accumulation of Work in Process inventory. This in turn impedes flow to the shop floor, which increases the lead time (much beyond the needed Touch Time) and thus results in an overall low supply chain performance.

Thus to reduce production lead time and improve on timely completion of orders to customers, we must have a smooth flow of orders within the shop floor.

reducing waiting Time In the manner that supply chain (including produc-tion) is managed currently, there appears to be an assumption that requires introspection. The assump-tion that ‘in order to complete orders at the earliest and to achieve better on-time performance, we MUST start processing customers orders immediately upon receipt’ is damaging. As discussed earlier, it causes excessive waiting time and work-in-process. The ap-plication of the Theory of Constraints philosophy (invented by Dr. Goldratt) works on the principles as given below.

In order to accomplish smooth f low within pro-duction, it is imperative to control the number of open orders (customer orders that require processing in the foreseeable future) on the shop f loor. In order to implement the above said principle, it is required to design a process to control the rate of releasing work on the shop f loor which should be aligned with the capacity of the plant. The way to get this done would be to release work within a pre-defined time interval (known as time buffers) ahead of the committed due date of the order. This would ensure that only rel-evant customer orders are allowed on the shop f loor, thereby reducing the quan-tum of work (WIP) within production. This will im-prove the f low of work, resulting in shorter produc-tion lead times. In addition, a global priority system to manage customer orders would better the f low and improve supply chain performance (signif icantly im-prove supply chain reliability and the availability of required SKUs).

Implementation of these concepts does not need any change in plant layout. Based on several implementation experiences, typically a comprehensive TOC based sys-tem can be implemented within few weeks and benefits can be experienced within a short time. More interest-ingly, implementation of these solutions does not need any major investment, on the contrary, it reduces work in progress (WIP) significantly and releases a substantial amount of cash. However, the company would have to undergo several paradigm shifts to successfully imple-ment these concepts. Therefore, due consideration to human dimensions needs to be given during implemen-tation to get complete involvement from all the stake holders involved.

17

In order to accomplish smooth flow within production, it is imperative to control the number of open orders on the shop floor.

18 INDIA| March 2012 | www.logisticsweek.com18

Transportation cost comprises 50 percent of the over-all logistics expenses (spend) incurred by a majority of Indian industries ranging from hi-tech electron-

ics and communications sectors, to the traditional ones such as food, textiles, and automotive. The modes avail-able for companies for transportation of their cargo can be broadly categorized into three types – land (road, rail, and pipeline), air, and water. The main water transport routes are oceans, coasts, seas, lakes, rivers, and channels. While oceans and seas are used for international cargo transpor-tation, the other water transport routes are used for domes-tic cargo transportation.

Coastal and inland waterways are considered to be the most economical, safe, and environment-friendly modes

of transportation for domestic cargo movement across the world; this is widely practised by large industrial nations, including China. Further, coastal shipping has proven to be the most energy-efficient and the cheapest mode for trans-porting bulk goods like iron and steel, iron ore, coal, tim-ber, cement, etc. over long distances. It is also well-suited for transportation of petroleum products.

It is estimated that using the waterways mode offers sav-ings from 25-50 percent in the overall transportation cost, especially when utilized for long distances.

India has an extensive network of coastal and inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters, and creeks, with a total navigable length of 14,500 kms. Out of this about 5,200 kms of river and 485 kms of canals can be used by mechanized vessels.

At present, the developing and governing body — Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has declared total five national waterways for inland waterway transport; these are being developed further for large-scale navigation by the IWAI.

Low Use Of Waterways Unfortunately, the coastal and inland waterways mode has been highly underutilized in India for cargo transportation, compared to other countries like the USA, China, and other developing economies like Brazil. Frost & Sullivan’s research found that only about three-four percent of total transporta-tion within India occurs through this mode. In comparison, the mode’s penetration is about 30 percent in the case of China and about 15 percent in the case of the USA.

The immense potential of India’s inland waterways has gone unnoticed by the government, in spite of being economical, safe and environmentally friendly. Srinath Manda reports.

< cOLUmn

Waters Of Wealth

Transport Mode-wise Emission Per Ton-Km, 2011

19INDIA| March 2012 | www.logisticsweek.com 19

Reasons For Restraining Use n Limited capacities and lower preference for domestic cargo transportation by existing shipping companies and seaportsn Lack of integration with other modes of transport, espe-cially rail, except in the case of few select major ports. This results in a partial usage of the coastal moden Also, there is an imbalance in coastal traffic movement, as traffic is not equally available in both directions. This makes it necessary for coastal ships to sail in ballast, at times, on the return journeyn Another major reason is the old vessels used in coastal shipping. The coastal fleet is ageing fast and over half the fleet is already overdue for replacement

Desired Improvementsa) Expanding major ports capacity to accommodate do-mestic cargo, which is partly initiated under the Indian Government’s Maritime Agenda 2010-2020.b) Developing more coastal routes for exclusive domestic cargo movement, if possible through development of mul-tiple minor ports into dedicated domestic cargo ports.c) Driving or encouraging an increasing number of domes-tic shipping service providers and facilitating expansion of their scale of operations, if required, through financial sup-port schemes.d) Providing incentives for both service providers and cus-tomers who chose this transport mode, for the mode to gain prominence.

Existing Inland Waterways of India, 2011

20

< cOLUmn


e) Focused development of integrated multi-modal trans-port networks connected with the terminals and transit points of coastal and inland waterways routes.

Adapting Successful StrategiesSuccessful initiatives, adopted by governments in neigh-boring or similar nations, can be adopted by the Indian Government, too, for enhancing the share of coastal and inland waterways.

The Chinese inland waterway sector has been consist-ently witnessing above ten percent increase in volumes on main rivers such as the Yangzte and Pearl. This was achieved through focused policies and initiatives, promi-nent among which are:n Privatization of inland shipping, port construction and operations.n Barge standardization programme–ncluding setting up a scrapping system with subsidies for innovating the fleetn Local government incentives in the form of fees deduc-tion for pre-haul and end-haul transport to/from the inland terminalsn Subsidies offered to set up new shipping routes (during the start-up phase)n Development of an IT platform for terminal operating

systems to increase efficiencyn Develop connecting infrastructures to inland portsn A preferential tax for inland vessels changed from fixed tax to a fuel fee-system, which is considered to be a fair sys-tem by the operatorsn Taking cooperation from foreign partners, such as the Netherlands and the European Commissionn Gaining support of international financing institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank

Further focus of China’s policy programs for the sector includes a long-term waterway development plan till 2020, a vessel standardization program, and a framework con-cept for an integrated river information system. The coun-try is aiming to achieve a 36,000 kms integrated transport network of coastal and inland waterways.

Vietnam, too, achieved similar success through focused programs supported by the World Bank and developed countries like Canada. Brazil, another prominent develop-ing economy, is pursuing similar policies for developing its coastal and inland waterways sector.

Gravely UnderutilizedCoastal and inland waterways in India are gravely underu-tilized for domestic cargo transportation and multiple rea-sons including lack of capabilities at ports, as well as serv-ice providers, apart from lack of connectivity with alternate transport networks are causing this. Considering the sever-al advantages offered by this mode, including a significant-ly low environmental impact compared to other modes, it is desirable to develop this as a mainstream transport mode and reduce reliance on road and rail modes. While basic initiatives to improve the situation have been announced in the Indian Government’s ‘Maritime Agenda 2010-2020’, a comprehensive and extremely-focused approach and policies are required to achieve significant success in this effort. It is recommended that successful policies imple-mented by neighboring and similar nations such as China, Vietnam, and Brazil be adopted by Indian Government to enhance the prominence of this mode here.

Srinath Manda, Program Manager, Transportation and Logistics Practice, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Frost & Sullivan. Frost & Sullivan writes columns for LOG.India every quarter.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Coastal and Inland WaterwaysAdvantages of coastal and inland waterways-based transportation of cargo

1. Low cost

2. High reliability

3. Low risk percent of damage and loss of cargo

4. Lowest pollution, hence environment-friendly

5. Most suitable mode for bulk commodity cargo like metals,

minerals, engineering, oil, and chemicals

Disadvantages of coastal and inland waterways-based transportation of cargo

1. Long transportation time

2. Dependence on weather conditions

3. Not very suitable for perishable goods

Share of Coastal and Inland Waterways Mode in Domestic Transportation of Key Indian Industries, 2011

< cover story


Photos: Ramlath Kavil

In July 1991, the then Finance Minister, Mr. Manmohan Singh, set the ball rolling by freeing the economy of the country from the shackles of Licence Raj and socialism. This watershed decision

changed the business landscape of the country and opened the doors to liberalization of the economy.

In another sector, in October of the same year, an-other landmark decision would change the way Indian consumers shopped and viewed shopping. The K. Ra-heja Group, one of India’s largest players in the hospi-tality and real estate sector, established Shoppers Stop. Today Shoppers Stop has come a long way, from the time it opened its first store selling only menswear, to the current 51 stores across 22 cities selling hundreds of brands. Its products range from apparel, shoes, bags, ac-cessories, cosmetics, home and travel wear, among other things. Over the years, the retailer has tied up with hun-dreds of brand owners, some exclusive to Shoppers Stop, with meticulous planning and precision. The precision

Devadas Nair, Customer Care Associate and Head Supply Chain and Mission Control, Shoppers Stop Limited, has been overseeing the supply chain functions of the company for almost two decades now, ensuring growth in ways more than one, find out Jayashree Mendes and Pritha Dey.


DevaDas Nair, CUsTOMer Care assOCiaTe & HeaD sUPPLY CHaiN & MissiON CONTrOL

Shop Talk


< cover story

factor is important, considering that after introduction of the brand, the supply chain team of Shoppers Stop has to correspond with hundreds of suppliers across the country and even globally maintain the smooth flow of numerous brands and products.

Considering that it is only a team of ten people in the supply chain who ensure smooth coordination with 1,000 suppliers, numerous trans-porters, not to forget the 51 stores, for its hundreds of brands, one could understand the worries the head of department would carry. But when Devadas Nair, Customer Care Associ-ate and Head Supply Chain and Mis-sion Control, Shoppers Stop Limited, walked into the meeting, he was not only affable, but very often broke into chuckles and was unfazed when in-terrupted by team personnel at regu-lar intervals. After all, he has been handling the supply-chain function for 16 years at Shoppers Stop.

Mr. Nair begins with saying, “Re-tailing is detailing. When you have stores running into 60-70,000 sq. ft and hundreds of brands, you need a wide range, besides a kind of width and depth.” And with quiet pride lets us know that of the thousands of footfalls, 73 percent are loyal cus-tomers, who purchase products all through the year, irrespective of sea-sons or sales.

of the team, Mr. Nair is responsible for overseeing the purchases made by the merchandising team and de-cides what they are eligible to buy and whether they are meeting the permis-sible limit or not. Giving a brief over-view, Mr. Nair says, “Every store will have a fixed fill, plus the DC stocks. The fill rate at Shoppers Stop is be-tween 90 and 95 percent. That is the total capacity we have. So when we sell goods worth Rs 1 lakh, we buy goods equivalent to that and not more.”

Another retail concept that Shop-pers Stop adopts is Open To Buy (OTB). Used effectively on a weekly basis, the idea is to ensure that the Buying and Merchandising Team limits overbuying and under buying, prevents loss of sales due to unavail-ability of required stocks, maintains purchases within budgeted limits and reduces markdowns which nor-mally arise due to overbuying. Based

Inside Shoppers StopNo. of stores in India 51

No. of LSPs Three for DC operations and approx. 10 LSPs for transportation and Imports

No. of warehouses / storage houses 4

No. of brands 100 plus

No. of SKUs Three lakh plus

Technology Providers JDA AS/400

No. of local suppliers Approx. 1000 Suppliers

No. of global suppliers Very few

No. of supply chain employees 10

No. of Distribution Centers 4

No. of Core suppliers Approx. 200

Buying PrudentlyThe Mission Control department, headed by Mr. Nair, is unique to Shop-pers Stop. Some of the controlling aspects like the number of goods of a particular brand to be ordered and purchased lie with the team. As head


on the previous week’s sales and closing stock, the supply chain team prepares a department-wise fill-plan and based on OTB, releases Deliv-ery Authorization to the respective vendors. Distribution Centre (DC) accepts stocks only if both purchase order and delivery authorization is valid. The Delivery authorization process keeps the track on inventory and thus facilitates its control which in turn helps to maintain the Net Week’s Cover of the company to the required number of weeks.

Demand ForecastingDemand forecasting is predomi-nantly budget-driven. About four months before a financial year, the supply chain team prepares budgets in terms of growth, purchase, and expansion. This reveals the extent of growth expected in the next fis-cal. The budget also allows the team

Shoppers Stop has a fill rate between 90 and 95 percent, which is its total capacity.

The Pentagon Model

Copyright: D

r.Douglas J.Tigert


< cover story

for its suppliers: Outright model, Consignment model, and Conces-sionaire model.

Under the Outright model, Shop-pers Stop makes payments to suppli-ers as per the terms agreed upon by both parties. In this case, the inven-tory liability lies with the retailer. The Consignment model makes the supplier liable for the inventory. The retailer makes the payment to sup-pliers as per the value of the quanti-ties sold at the retail outlets. As per the Concessionaire model, both the inventory and sales are the responsi-bility of the suppliers.

To enable collaboration with sup-pliers, Shoppers Stop has deployed a B2B portal, Spandhan B2B, to help its suppliers understand about stocks in hand with the retailer, while at the same time extending its own processes to its partners. All the suppliers of Shoppers Stop are connected to the Spandhan modem. “At the SKU level, the software al-

lows the suppliers to see the stocks sold on the previous day, irrespec-tive of where they are located,” says Mr. Nair. The suppliers get notifica-tions about the SKUs, the color, style and brand of the products as well as sales information and also, stock in-formation across the stores and the DCs. Payment information is also available on Spandhan. It also offers access on a daily basis to account credits, outstanding payments, deb-it notes and credit notes raised and returned stock information along with the reasons thereof. “Every supplier has been provided with a password. After they log onto shop-persstopb2b.com with their individ-ual passwords, they can avail of de-tailed information about the brands they supply. This helps our suppliers work productively,” he adds.

The B2B platform is indeed help-ful as Colin Pereira, Head-Sourcing and Supply Chain, VF Brands In-dia Pvt Ltd, a supplier for Shoppers Stop, points out, “Our dispatches are regulated by how the brands per-form in terms of sales at Shoppers Stop stores. Their B2B portal helps keep us updated on the sales figures which in turn help us manage the brands at our end.” Mr. Pereira add-ed that Shoppers Stop is also plan-ning to implement a system called ASN, wherein the suppliers will come to know of mismatches, if any, before the shipping is done. “That will certainly benefit us and all the other suppliers delivering to Shop-pers Stop,” he adds.

receiving stocksAs a multi-brand retailer, Shoppers Stop has roughly three lakh active SKUs in the system. Stocks that ar-rive are stacked on a two-tier racking system. Under the outright model, the arrival of the stocks is checked by the DC which physically matches the stocks mentioned on the pur-chase order against the invoice. In case of any mismatch, the stocks are

to plan inventory for the next year. Mr. Nair says, “There are two things that drive a supplier—firstly, Like to Like Stores, and secondly, upcoming stores. It also determines the volume Shoppers Stop can buy.”

Managing suppliesShoppers Stop has roughly 1,000 Indian suppliers who supply stocks to the four regional Distribution Centers (DCs) at Faridabad (sup-plies goods to stores in the northern region), Bhiwandi (western region), Bangalore (southern region) and Kolkata (eastern region). Mr. Nair says, “Our suppliers send out goods to the DCs. Stocks at the store are replenished from the DC stocks. We keep a minimum of two weeks cover at the DCs.”

The suppliers dispatch stocks based on the four purchase orders received from the four DCs and send out the merchandise accordingly. The retailer employs three models

Warehouse

personnel

physically match

the stocks

mentioned on

the purchase

order against

the invoice for

accuracy.


mere movement of cartons. The tough part is to pick that exact me-dium size which a customer is look-ing for in a particular store.”

reduced shrinkage rateAt a time when retailers caterwaul about the high shrink percentage at warehouses or stores, Shoppers Stop has brought down its shrink rate to less than 0.5 percent, thanks to a robust process implemented across its warehouses and stores. Mr. Nair says, “Our high shrink rate was the lack of proper accounting on our part, and not due to theft. The stocks were earlier scattered and were left unaccounted for. We needed to rec-tify this problem.”

Swiftly, Mr. Nair and his team took the matter in hand. Taking

rejected, which then go back to the vendor.

The received stocks are entered in Receiver Confirmation. “The system also points out the details of stack-ing–the isle, the rack, and the slot. All that is recorded in the system. Stock, after being lodged on the re-spective slot, is approved into the system,” explains Mr. Nair.

The allocation of stock is done in two ways. One way is informing auto replenishment that a particu-lar stock has to be auto-replenished to the stores. While this does not require manual intervention, the parameters have to be set at the SKU level. The system will automatically allocate SKUs as the supply chain team maintains stringency about supplying fixed quantities. For ex-

ample, each store can stock not more than 1,000 pieces of Levis (various colors notwithstanding) and this number will be maintained.

The other way of replenishing is through manual transfer. Mr. Nair says, “I raise a transfer from the cor-porate office. The buying and mer-chandising team will generate a Stock Transfer, from say, the Bhiwandi DC to the Malad store. So the DC will pick from the generated pick list which will direct the warehouse personnel to the exact isle, rack and slot.” While local stores are replenished on a daily basis, the outstation stores are replenished two or three times every week.

Mr. Nair adds, “Retail supply chain is not an easy task because one has to pick the correct SKU. Re-tail supply chain does not comprise

The Logistics Of Shoppers Stop


< cover story

recourse to technology, the retail company installed the Perpetual In-ventory Count System (PICS). Now when stocks arrive at the stores from the DC, every piece is scanned be-fore being accepted. The store also ensures that it hands out bills to the customer for every purchase made.

Although Mr. Nair concedes that some theft and pilferage cannot be avoided, it can be minimized by a dai-ly cycle count. For better results, the supply chain team began stock tak-ing using an assortment of person-nel from diverse departments. Now, every day, before closing, stocks are

counted, checked and tallied by the respective team and inventory count-ing is done. In a quarter, the chain’s entire stock taking is completed.

Best PracticesRunning such massive operations requires a lynchpin. For Shoppers Stop it is the deployment of numer-ous technology packages that help it run operations smoothly. Way back in 1999, the retail company adopted the then highly popular retail ERP package, JDA AS 400. “The ERP suite is the merchandise management system (MMS). Close on the heels of that, we implemented the warehouse management system (WMS), then auto replenishment, and later PICS. Our finance team employs Oracle Finance and Arthur Planning for the budgeting,” elucidates Mr. Nair.

At the warehouse, the retail com-pany uses a scanning tool, Distribu-tion Center Management System (DCMS). Using DCMS helps the work-er download each picking request on a

wireless handheld scanner, which is then used to scan merchandise direct-ly from the storing slot. In the case of a picker reading the wrong merchan-dise, the scanning device throws up an error beep. This has helped person-nel who are picking at the warehouses process requests faster.

Implementation of WMS was a turning point for Shoppers Stop. Mr. Nair says, “Today when I speak of our supply chain, I will speak of two eras – one before JDA AS/400

For shoppers stop, it is the deployment of numerous technology packages that help it run operations smoothly.

The retail company has installed Perpetual Inventory Count System that

helps it scan every piece before being accepted.


and one after that.” Before the im-plementation of JDA AS/400, the company was highly dependent on people. “Previously, if the person re-sponsible for overseeing a particular brand was absent from work, there would be no replenishment of that particular stock. This was because only he knew where the stocks were stored. At that time, we believed in the concept of cartons rather than the slotted angle racks that are used today,” says Mr. Nair.

The WMS maintains a record of every rack and slot in the system. It knows the number of pieces that can be stacked on a rack and within the slot. Different racks are allocated for different brands. “WMS is the key to our supply chain,” says Mr. Nair, add-ing that the primary aim is to con-trol movement and storage of SKUs, while processing associated transac-tions such as shipping, receiving and picking. “It provides computerized instruction to handle receipt of stock

and returns, manage the logical rep-resentation of the racking and stock within the facility and enables seam-less links to order processing and logistics management to pick, pack and ship SKUs out,” he adds.

WMS has helped Shoppers Stop reduce the merchandise turnaround time from DC to stores to 24 hours. The Auto Replenishment System minimizes the reaction time and raises a replenishment trigger, while WMS minimizes processing of the

The stores work

on the Pentagon

model which

comprises

Place, Product,

Value, People,

and Communi-

cation.


< cover story

Landmarks1991 Opened first store at Andheri, a Mumbai suburb, selling menswear

1992 Introduced women’s wear

1993 Added children’s non-apparel sections

1994 Introduced Loyalty programme, First Citizen

1995 Opened second store in Bangalore

Shoppers Stop incorporated as a body corporate

1999 Implemented JDA Retail ERP Opened fifth store in Delhi

2000 Acquired Crossword

Awarded Most Admired Apparel Retailer of the Year at Images Fashion Awards

2002 Opened tenth store

‘CEO of the Year’ and ‘Retailer of the Year’ at CMAI Awards

2003 IT User Award for the best IT practices

2004 Opened 15th store in Kolkata

Images Retail Award for the ‘Most favoured retail destination for the year’

2005 Opened 20th store in Ghaziabad

2006 Launched Mothercare in India and F&B outlets BRIO and Desi Café

Bought 45 percent of Timezone India

‘Retailer of the Year’ at Images India Retail Forum

2007 Joined 50:50 joint venture with Nuance Group for Airport Retailing

Signed MoU with the Home Retail Group of UK to enter into a franchise ar-rangement for the Argos formats of catalogue and internet retailing

‘Retail Destination of the Year’ at Images Fashion Forum

2008 Awarded ‘Emerging market retailer of the year’ at World Retail Congress in April

‘Department Store of the Year’ at Star Retail Awards

2009 Most Admired Fashion Retailer Destination of the Year at Images Fashion Forum

2010 Acquired 51 percent stake in Hypercity Retail (India) Limited

36 stores

Winner of Customer and Brand Loyalty in Retail sector at Loyalty Summit Award

2011 49 stores in 22 cities

Winner of Customer and Brand Loyalty in Retail sector at Loyalty Summit Award

2012 51 stores in 22 cities

replenishment trigger at the Distri-bution Center to provide 100 percent availability of merchandise. Today, the DCs operate round-the-clock, supplying stock to store much before the first customer has walked in.

The software offers another ad-vantage to the supply chain team. “Sitting in my office in Malad (Mum-bai), I have the privilege to view the exact stock (SKU, brand, style and color) at the four DCs. I also know the number of transfers allocated by

auto replenishment and those pend-ing. Every morning the team gets an update and the DC is required to of-fer an explanation for any default,” states Mr. Nair. For administrative purposes, the company has chosen to retain the central WMS server and a standby at the head office in Malad.

Back in 1998, with only three stores, Shoppers Stop had spent a considerable sum of money on WMS and “it was worth it” smiles Mr. Nair. “I think that was the game changer.”


Shoppers Stop follows the triangle model which consists of Supplier, IT and Logistics. The Triangular model is a lean design, with the supply chain network spread out evenly between the vendors who supply goods to vari-ous logistics players, who in turn us-ing various IT tools, fulfill customer demand. The other model used, the Pentagon model, is what the custom-ers see when they go to the stores. The model comprises Place, Product, Value, People, and Communication. The Pentagon model is dependent on the location of the Distribution Cen-tre, the product, its price and qual-ity, the service skills of staff in the stores, the ambience of the store and the deft positioning of the product and promotion campaigns. However, Mr. Nair emphasizes that, “if you are strong in the Triangular model, you will succeed in the Pentagon model.”

supply chain costsCommendably, the retail giant has also kept its supply chain costs low—to less than one percent, and one per-cent of the overall sales. Probably it is the lowest in the country. “Our DCs deliver commendable service levels comparable to the best of the world’s DC operations,” adds Mr. Nair.

Mr. Nair explains, “A reason for the low supply chain costs is because we have opted to outsource those proc-esses that could be outsourced since 1995. Moreover, we have a policy to work with the same partners for a long time. In fact, we have not changed our logistics partners in the last 15 years. This gives us a cutting edge.”

the Logistics service ProvidersThe overall logistics operations of Shoppers Stop are managed by three logistics partners—the Bhiwandi and Kolkata DCs are managed by Toll Logistics, while the Delhi and Banga-lore DCs are managed by local players with apparel handling experience.

The outsourcing process began in Back in 1998, when Shoppers Stop had only three stores, a considerable

sum of money was spent on WMS, which proved to be the game-changer.


< cover story

1995 when the retail company opened its second outlet at Bangalore. “That was the time when we thought of out-sourcing, as we realized our expertise lay in retail and not logistics,” says Mr. Nair. Even the 500 people work-ing in DCs are outsourced by the lo-gistics partners. “We renew the con-tract with the companies frequently,” explains Mr. Nair.

“Shoppers Stop is an excellent retail house to work with. They are fair, law-abiding, transparent, and always open to suggestions. We have spent about 12-13 years together and it has been a wonderful journey,” says Shashwat Raizada, Managing Director, Shashank Steel Industries Pvt Ltd., the LSP for the Delhi DC.

However, the logistics companies have to fulfil certain stipulations in terms of quick delivery. Mr. Nair opines, “From survival of the fittest, it is now survival of the fastest. The challenge for us is the pace at which we can turn around stocks at our DCs. Can we do it in 24 hours from the time

I receive the stocks? That is one bench-marking we have done.” Mr. Raizada agrees with Mr. Nair, “Delivering the right products at the right time and in the right quantities - that is the most important part of any agreement.”

Another benchmark which Shop-pers Stop has set for itself is sending across atleast 99.9 percent of the stock lying at the DCs to the stores. And, fi-nally, ensuring the lowest shrinkage.

supply chain WoesDealing with 1,000 suppliers on a regular basis cannot be idyllic. But Mr. Nair finds it manageable. It is the problems outside the ambit of the company that irk him. A prickly problem is the waybill, the road per-mit form used in several states. Mr. Nair says it is tiresome that to send goods to Kolkata requires filling of several forms. Although the forms can be filled online now, each form has two parts. “For us, supplying forms to 1,000 suppliers for each dispatch is an infliction,” he adds.

Many states in India follow the waybill format. For example, In the NCR region, without furnishing the forms, one cannot transport goods. Add to that poor road conditions and the time taken in transit, not to forget the damage to the goods en route. Disclosing an example of transporting goods of Home Stop that involves importing crockery and cutlery from Turkey, he says, “They come safely from Turkey to India. But it is in transit here that the goods received are found damaged.”

Albeit despite all the supply chain hurdles, Shoppers Stop has emerged as an exceedingly popular retail house in the country, indefatiga-bly beating its way to the top. With more than 20 lakh loyal customers, the backend supply chain works tire-lessly to meet buyer demands. With better logistics technologies being implemented, the company is look-ing forward to a better and brighter future. Not to forget the man head-ing it all–Mr. Devadas Nair.

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< EmploymEnt SpEcial

INDIA| March 2012 | www.logisticsweek.com34


METHODOLOGY

The research and information contained within this report has been compiled by Logistics Executive from research undertaken and intelligence gathered in the course of its everyday business activities. Logistics Executive was founded in 1999 and has offices in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India and Dubai. Specialising in Logistics & Supply Chain, the company has an active database in excess of 90,000 logistics and supply chain professionals.

Information contained within this report is compiled from data contained with our extensive database, business acquired intelligence and regular research surveys, which includes the Global Employment Market Report (now in its 6th year). The Global Employment Market Report is an online survey of approximately 10-15 minute duration and was emailed to more than 45,000 people within the Supply Chain & Logistics Industry in late 2011. About 3,550 respondents completed the survey. NB: The results are purely indicative in terms of overall trends within the industry.

Further to this, Logistics Executive undertook a series of interviews with HRD‘s and HR Personnel validating this data and this information has been incorporated into the final document produced. Sources for this particular research includes:n Human Resource Director Interviews n Business briefing provided by CEO’s of leading 3PL companiesn Logistics Executive’s Employment Market Report data from late 2011n Logistics Executive’s business intelligence databasen Candidate and Client interviews (conducted by Logistics Executive)

In an exclusive to LOG.India, Logistics Executive shares its compilation of Salary Survey Report 2012 that covers the entire spectrum of salary bands and geographical territories in India. The analysis has been drawn from the Logistics Executive Global Survey.

Salary Survey Report 2012


WhodunitLogistics Executive is a global Human Resources and Recruitment Consultancy which opened its India office in March 2010. In the two successful years since, the company has established its place in the Indian market with a professional reputation and commitment to providing a valued service and expertise in talent management and acquisition strategies for both local and international clients.

To mark this two-year milestone Logistics Executive, in conjunction with LOG In-dia have released the first salary guide report for the Indian Supply Chain and Logis-tics market. Moving forward this Salary Report will be compiled as an annual contri-bution. We thank our clients and the market place as this report has been compiled with their goodwill, covering a breadth of salary bands and geographical territories in India with a focus on Supply Chain and Logistics. The analysis in this report comes from the Logistics Executive Global Survey, released in December 2012, in-depth interviews with our clients and statistical reference to our candidate database.

Darryl JuDD, Chief Operating Officer, Global Operations, logistics Executive



As an emerging economy India has proudly met challenges. Whilst continued growth seems a given, growth at the same rate will persist only

if there is substantial focus on the roles played by the Logistics and Supply Chain sectors as critical support systems. Recent studies show that economic growth is increasingly supported by robust industrial growth and a strong logistics and supply chain.

To keep pace with this trend there has been an in-crease in demand for skilled talent in this sector. The Indian market generally is slated to grow in excess of $120 billion by 2014 (according to a Frost & Sullivan re-port). Manufacturing alone has grown at 8 percent an-nually over the past decade and since 2010 has started to contribute a substantial share to India’s GDP rather than agriculture, according to a Goldman Sachs Global Economic Paper 2011 report.

There have been countless articles written, describ-ing the critical nexus between the need for reform in the supply chain sectors and the success of the Indian economy.

the talent challenge There is nothing new in touting these three elements: attraction, development and retention when discussing talent. However, there has never been a more tangible connection between the supply of a talented supply chain workforce and the continuing rate of India’s success.

attracting professionals According to the Logistics Executive Salary Report for India, despite a mild slowdown in the rate of economic growth, there has been a rapid increase in salary inf lation. This is supported in a recent article published in The Economic Times (Feb.2,2012), which states that “Employees in India have been getting dou-ble digit (sic salary) increments past two years, which will continue in 2012 as well”. The huge demand for talented and skilled professionals has manifested in an unsustainable salary war. Outside of basic salary, organizations are increasingly moving towards Pay for Performance compensation structures and linking huge percentage of variable pay component directly with performance. In several cases, organizations are increasingly taking company performance as one of the qualif iers to decide on the variable compensation payout to employees.

This manifests in companies battling for skilled can-didates to keep up with the rapid expansion of local com-panies and multinationals.

There are a number of factors that lie behind the tal-ent shortage in India. In real terms, the Indian market has had to deal with an unprecedented growth in infla-

tion and emerging industries, replacing the demand for traditional skill-sets. Staff turnover continues to rise as employees try to keep up with these pressures and move jobs to improve their remuneration.

Most of the respondents at the executive level ap-proached by Logistics Executive indicated that the ongo-ing salary war will have a negative impact on business. Due to talent shortage, employers are forced to take in young graduates with little experience and offer them much higher salaries and promises of rapid promotion. Employees who are lured by higher salaries are not de-veloping the skills and experience that comes with rea-sonable tenure in a given role and may not be as capable as their overseas counterparts. This will perpetuate the need to import executive level talent from overseas to fill these shortages. At some point salaries will level out due to market forces. The fallout will be an inadequately skilled workforce.

This artificial salary war can be detrimental for In-dia’s long-term growth, as overinflated salaries will price the country out of the global market. This is be-ing faced in China where salaries are no longer as mod-est or competitive as they used to be. Multinationals are turning to other less developed countries such as Viet-nam and the Philippines to establish their industries with lower workforce costs and other attractive incen-tives. According to an EBN Online article (Differences & Similarities in Asian Supply Chain Wages - 27 Dec 2010), salaries for supply chain professionals are no longer markedly different between Asia and the US. According to Marc Herman from EBN, “Though it is common to hear that manufacturing has moved to Asia to save la-bor costs, getting components and finished goods back from across the Pacific is costly and complicated”. As a result, there is a trend for the US, in particular, to move their manufacturing closer to home.

Geographic Break UpAn interesting finding in the Logistics Executive Salary Report is that the salary structure across the four met-ros, for similar roles and responsibility, varies. Mum-bai commands the highest salaries (mid-to senior-tier). The biggest factor contributing to the salary inflation is the high cost of living in Mumbai as compared to other key cities. Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata also see this trend. From a corporate perspective, this high-lights the need to appreciate local disparities and have a certain amount of decision-making in local markets, backed by a uniform top-down approach. Moving job roles or industries geographically may also be anoth-er strategy to address the issue of rising salaries and workforce expectations. In this respect, companies with a wider footprint have an advantage as they have

| March 2012


more capacity to move their employees around with the incentive of offering them opportunities.

the leadership GapThe salary gap narrows as we move up the ladder. Mum-bai and Delhi lead the pack in C-Suite compensation, followed closely by Bangalore and Chennai. The connec-tivity of these cities to the rest of the country and ease of carrying out business, are some factors that make them favorable as corporate centers. This is due to a gap in the market for people with broad management abili-ties. This is particularly true of the supply chain industry where, since the global financial crisis, there have been ever-increasing skill demands placed on these profes-sions to take on a higher degree of leadership within organizations. About 86 percent of respondents believe that leadership skills and the ability to think strategi-cally will be critical to their organizations’ ongoing suc-cess. The high salaries for executives across the different Indian provinces demonstrates how much in demand this leadership expertise is and how universally difficult it is to source.

Tackling employment satisfaction from the angle of salary alone is not the answer. According to our survey, counter offers don’t work in more than 68 percent of cases and those who accept it, tend to leave the company in next 12 months in most cases. This figure could vary depending on the level of role, responsibilities and ge-ography. For those with skills that are high in demand, employers try to retain them although it may not be very successful in the long-term. The common method of retaining talent is by paying extra dollars, but in most cases the core issues are not completely addressed and that leads to resignations.

Widening the netAnother way of countering the skill shortage would be for companies to expand their talent pool to non-tra-ditional sources. This may involve setting up schemes that offer more roles to women and education programs for unskilled workers. Collaboration, with universities and other community organizations, will facilitate this training to ensure that the correct skill gaps are being addressed and companies are getting the skills they need out of their new graduates. Otherwise, they may need to continue to source their key skill-gaps from overseas in areas such as leadership and technical disciplines.

Beyond the Salary WarIt is no surprise that salary is a key issue. Overwhelming-ly, more than 88 percent of respondents indicated that they were seeking a salary increase way beyond India’s present annual inflation rate of 8 percent. Furthermore,

employee expectations are some of the highest in the world, with the vast majority of respondents seeking sal-ary increases that exceed global averages for emerging countries – 51 percent are seeking an increase greater than 20 percent.

Remuneration is a necessary ingredient not only to keep up with market conditions but also to acknowledge market parity and the increased responsibilities being placed on supply chain professionals. It is, however, only part of the solution.

talent Development It was noted in the Logistics Executive 2011-2012 Global Employment Market Report that career development topped the career satisfaction list. About 23 percent of the respondents indicated that career development is a key reason for them to change. This is only topped by salary as a main motivator by a short number at 27 percent.

In terms of development opportunities, the Logis-tics Executive 2011-12 Global Employment Market Re-port found that 76 percent of business leaders in India perceived they offered a satisfactory level of training. However, on the employee side there was an increase in workplace movement to other organizations, stating their main reason was lack of development opportunity.

Perhaps there is a need for the Human Resources function to shift their focus from traditional means of engagement towards a broader approach? According to Kim Winter, Logistics Executive’s Global CEO, the an-swer lies somewhere in the middle. With Executives and HR focusing on retention and attraction, they are miss-ing the middle piece here – developing existing talent. “It could be argued that if companies developed their own people, they would end up with more talent than they could handle,” adds Mr. Winter.

The common method of retaining talent is by paying extra dollars but in most cases the core issues are not completely addressed.



Supply Chain & Logistics 2011/2012 India Salary Survey Report 2

Industry / Supply Chain Management

Position Mumbai Chennai Delhi Bangalore Pune Hyderabad

MD / GM Logistics 75 - 1.5(Cr) 75 Ð 1.0(Cr) 75 Ð 2.0(Cr) 75 Ð 1.0(Cr) 75 - 1.5(Cr) 50 Ð 1.0(Cr)

Supply Chain VP / Director 45 - 75 30 - 50 40 - 75 25 - 39 36 - 40 24 - 45

Logistics Director 35 - 75 25 - 45 25 - 75 25 - 45 25 - 50 25 - 35

Operation / Warehousing

Regional Logistics Manager 15 - 20 7 - 15 15 - 20 10 - 15 7 - 20 7 - 16

Warehouse / DC Manager 6 - 9 5 - 8 5 - 7 5 - 7 3 - 8 6 - 8

Warehouse/Operations Executive 2 - 6 2 - 5 2 - 5 2 - 5 2 - 5 1 - 4

Lean / Quality / Six Sigma Manager 8 - 20 8 - 15 9 - 15 8 - 15 9 - 12 8 - 12

Logistics Specialist 5 - 7 2 - 6 4 - 7 2 - 6 3 - 6 2 - 7

Procurement / Purchasing

Procurement VP / Director 35 - 75 30 - 45 30 - 70 25 - 50 25 - 50 25 - 35

Senior Procurement Manager 12 - 20 7 - 15 10 - 15 9 - 12 10 - 14 6 - 12

Senior Quality Manager 8 - 15 8 -11 8 - 15 7 - 14 7 - 13 8 - 13

Sourcing Manager 8 - 15 4 - 7 8 - 15 7 - 11 5 - 9 5 - 9

Purchasing Manager 4 - 7 5 - 7 5 - 9 5 - 9 5 - 7 5 - 7

Purchasing Officer 2 - 5 2 - 4 2 - 5 2 - 5 1 - 4 2 - 4

Inventory, Planning & Demand

Supply Chain Manager 12 - 18 12 -16 12 -16 8 - 17 8 - 15 7 - 11

Planning / Forecast Manager 7 - 10 5 - 6 5 - 9 6 - 9 5 - 7 7 - 9

Planner 5 - 7 3 - 4 3 - 5 2 - 4 2 - 5 4 - 9

Commodity Manager 8 - 12 6 - 9 3 - 6 8 - 17 9 - 10 4 - 7

Inventory Manager 5 - 7 3 - 5 2 - 5 3 - 5 5 - 7 4 - 7

Inventory Controller 3 - 7 1 - 5 2 - 3 2 - 6 2 - 5 3 - 7

Consulting & Project Management

Supply Chain Consultant 12 - 35 8 - 15 15 - 35 15 - 25 8 - 11 10 - 12

Project Implementation Manager 9 - 17 11 - 16 10 - 14 13 - 15 9 - 11 10 - 12

Project Manager 9 - 20 10 - 12 13 - 19 12 - 15 10 - 12 9 - 13

Transport

General Manager Transport 20 - 30 18 - 20 20 - 30 20 - 30 15 - 20 15 - 20

National Distribution Head 25 - 50 22 -24 23 - 30 18 - 26 15 - 20 25 - 34

Zonal Distribution Manager 12 - 16 6 - 11 10 - 14 9 - 13 7 - 14 11 - 14

Transport Controller 5 - 7 5 - 7 5 - 7 4 - 6 2 - 4 2 - 4

Sales & Marketing

Sales Director 30 - 75 30 - 45 30 - 75 30 - 45 25 - 40 25 - 40

Area Sales Manager 12 - 15 9 - 12 12 - 16 12 - 16 9 - 11 7 - 10

Regional Brand Director 15 - 35 15 - 20 15 - 30 15 - 22 13 - 22 13 - 22

Regional Brand Manager 15 - 25 7 - 12 8 - 15 10 - 16 13 - 15 7 - 11

Territory Sales Manager 7 - 12 6 -10 5 -10 5 - 9 6 - 9 3 - 8

Salary data is shown as a range from low Ð high and is displayed as an Annual Base Salary in Lakhs Per Annum. Additional benefits such as annual bonus, company vehicles or travel allowances may apply. (Cr) = Crores.


Logistics Service Providers (LSP/3PLÕs)


CEO / MD / Country Manager 75 - 4.0 (Cr) 50 - 2.0 (Cr) 75 - 4.0 (Cr) 50 - 2.5 (Cr) 50 - 1.5 (Cr) 50 - 1.5 (Cr)

General Manager 24 - 35 22 - 30 20 - 35 24 - 30 20 - 30 20 - 30

Regional Manager 20 - 25 14 - 20 14 - 20 9 - 14 8 - 16 7 - 10

Branch Manager 6 - 10 4 - 7 4 - 8 6 - 8 6 - 8 5 - 7

Sales & BD

VP / GM / Sales Director 41 - 50 30 - 40 30 - 45 35 - 45 18 - 23 25 - 28

National Sales Manager 25 - 35 17 - 24 25 - 35 17 - 35 18 - 23 25 - 28

Regional Sales Manager / Territory Manager 12 - 17 12 - 15 15 -24 11 - 15 13 - 15 9 - 13

BD Manager (3PL) 8 - 15 8 - 15 12 - 15 8 - 12 8 - 12 8 - 10

BD Manager (Freight) 7 - 15 6 - 15 8 - 15 8 - 12 7 -12 6 - 11

Key Account Manager 10 - 16 8 - 16 9 - 12 8 - 12 9 -11 3 - 7

Sales Executive 3 - 7 3 - 7 3 - 5 4 - 5 2 - 5 3 - 5

Marketing Manager 4 - 7 4 - 7 3 - 5 4 - 7 2 - 5 3 - 5

Operations

3PL Contract Manager 30 - 45 28 - 35 30 - 40 28 - 35 20 - 30 20 - 30

Warehouse/Operations/DC Site Manager

13 - 15 8 - 10 8 - 12 8 - 10 8 - 10 5 - 8


Import/Export Manager 2 - 5 3 - 5 2 - 5 2 - 4 2 - 4 2 - 4

Air Freight / Sea Freight Manager 10 - 17 5 - 8 9 - 12 6 - 10 6 - 9 5 - 8

Shipping Clerk 3 - 5 2 - 4 3 - 5 2 - 4 2 - 4 2 - 4

Project Manager


Project Manager Ð WMS/TMS 10 - 22 14 - 22 11 - 14 12 - 17 10 - 12 12 - 14

Transport


National Transport Manager 20 - 45 20 - 30 20 - 40 20 - 30 20 - 30 20 - 30

Line-haul Manager 18 - 25 15 - 20 18 - 24 15 - 20 15 - 20 12 - 18

National Compliance Manager 6 - 12 6 - 10 5 - 10 5 - 8 5 - 8 5 - 8

Site Manager 9 - 15 8 - 1 2 10 - 15 8 - 1 2 8 - 1 2 8 - 1 2

Fleet Manager 5 - 10 6 - 8 5 - 8 5 - 10 5 - 7 5 - 8

Workshop Manager 4 - 6 3 - 5 3 - 6 3 - 5 3 - 5 2 - 5

Disclaimer: Logistics Executive is committed to the highest standard and quality of information and every attempt has been made to present up-‐to-‐date, accurate information. The information contained herein is general in nature and is not intended as, and should not be construed as professional advice provided by Logistics Executive to the reader. While every effort has been made to offer current and accurate information, errors can occur. Much of this information is obtained from records that for reasons of privacy are confidential. This information is provided as is, with no guaranty of completeness, accuracy, or timeliness, and without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including any warranty of performance, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. In addition, changes may be made in this information from time to time without notice to the user. The reader also is cautioned that this material may not be applicable to, or suitable for, the reader’s specific circumstances or needs, and may require consideration of additional factors if any action is to be contemplated. The reader should contact a professional prior to taking any action based upon this information. Logistics Executive assumes no obligation to inform the reader of any changes in law, business environment, or other factors that could affect the information contained herein.


Survey Findings

39





General Manager 24 - 35 22 - 30 20 - 35 24 - 30 20 - 30 20 - 30


Branch Manager 6 - 10 4 - 7 4 - 8 6 - 8 6 - 8 5 - 7

Sales & BD




BD Manager (3PL) 8 - 15 8 - 15 12 - 15 8 - 12 8 - 12 8 - 10



Sales Executive 3 - 7 3 - 7 3 - 5 4 - 5 2 - 5 3 - 5


Operations



13 - 15 8 - 10 8 - 12 8 - 10 8 - 10 5 - 8




Shipping Clerk 3 - 5 2 - 4 3 - 5 2 - 4 2 - 4 2 - 4

Project Manager



Transport





Site Manager 9 - 15 8 - 1 2 10 - 15 8 - 1 2 8 - 1 2 8 - 1 2

Fleet Manager 5 - 10 6 - 8 5 - 8 5 - 10 5 - 7 5 - 8








General Manager 24 - 35 22 - 30 20 - 35 24 - 30 20 - 30 20 - 30


Branch Manager 6 - 10 4 - 7 4 - 8 6 - 8 6 - 8 5 - 7

Sales & BD




BD Manager (3PL) 8 - 15 8 - 15 12 - 15 8 - 12 8 - 12 8 - 10



Sales Executive 3 - 7 3 - 7 3 - 5 4 - 5 2 - 5 3 - 5


Operations



13 - 15 8 - 10 8 - 12 8 - 10 8 - 10 5 - 8




Shipping Clerk 3 - 5 2 - 4 3 - 5 2 - 4 2 - 4 2 - 4

Project Manager



Transport





Site Manager 9 - 15 8 - 1 2 10 - 15 8 - 1 2 8 - 1 2 8 - 1 2

Fleet Manager 5 - 10 6 - 8 5 - 8 5 - 10 5 - 7 5 - 8








General Manager 24 - 35 22 - 30 20 - 35 24 - 30 20 - 30 20 - 30


Branch Manager 6 - 10 4 - 7 4 - 8 6 - 8 6 - 8 5 - 7

Sales & BD




BD Manager (3PL) 8 - 15 8 - 15 12 - 15 8 - 12 8 - 12 8 - 10



Sales Executive 3 - 7 3 - 7 3 - 5 4 - 5 2 - 5 3 - 5


Operations



13 - 15 8 - 10 8 - 12 8 - 10 8 - 10 5 - 8




Shipping Clerk 3 - 5 2 - 4 3 - 5 2 - 4 2 - 4 2 - 4

Project Manager



Transport





Site Manager 9 - 15 8 - 1 2 10 - 15 8 - 1 2 8 - 1 2 8 - 1 2

Fleet Manager 5 - 10 6 - 8 5 - 8 5 - 10 5 - 7 5 - 8







Here we are referring to structuring the whole em-ployee experience. This would start with the first im-pression of the company through employment brand-ing. This could be followed with attraction strategy. It could then be overlaid with a social element. A flexible training program and conditions of employment could be interwoven in this model. Mr. Winter explains that talent development could encompass a range of options, including “a real Talent Retention strategy to include structured career development, meaningful assess-ments, relevant KPI’s linked to bonus schemes, career choice options, job re-structuring, and an enjoyable but challenging environment”.

By training we aren’t talking about the traditional definition of the word, such as formal courses, but to on-the-job learning. This could be offered not just to a select group of “high performers,” but across all employees. It

is also treating everyone in the business collectively as “the talent”. It will expose them to new areas, which would allow personal growth on the job, but not neces-sarily directly related to their current roles. In this way it would be possible to retain a large pool of staff simply by offering them exposure to new on-the-job skills. Em-ployees, in turn, would take on responsibility for their own development. This would lead to a culture that is capable of dealing with the high amount of change as employees are constantly encouraged.

The approach of treating change as an opportunity and not a threat at the micro level is critical as the capac-ity to keep up with changing markets is paramount for a company’s survival and competitive edge. It is impera-tive that there is a workforce mentality that isn’t afraid of change, but sees this as an opportunity.

Work BalanceThe Logistics Executive Salary Guide discovered an-other trend. More employees are moving from 3PL to shipping or consumer sectors. This has been attributed to improved employment conditions. Companies are using initiatives such as flexible work arrangements, and working from home, which has proven popular in

companies like Proctor & Gamble and Google. Rotation policies, offered by companies such as Maersk Logistics ,offer employees opportunities to gain skills and experi-ence through overseas assignments.

The expansions of online companies such as Flip-kart.com, Snapdeal.com, Yebhi.com and, very recently ,Junglee.com have attracted talented employees with an entrepreneurial bent. They provide a sense of job satisfaction by a sense of creating something or setting something up.

A way of fostering this culture is to give people in the workplace opportunities to seek out new chal-lenges that will provide them with opportunities to test themselves to new levels of performance and ways to connect with others in the workplace. This will attract other likeminded individuals to your organization and enhance employer brand. Mr. Winter adds, “As organi-zations get flatter, offering career developments can be a challenge, but this can be tackled in many ways such as offering inter-office transfers, job rotation and greater delegation of decision-making down the line. Allowing employees to be involved in “continuous im-provement teams” offers both job satisfaction and bet-ter results –“a win-win”.

conclusionThe employment outlook for 2012 looks positive. The salary outlook remains positive, with an above-average incremental increase of 15-25 percent across all levels. On the flipside, this signifies an intense struggle in the war for talent. In the long term, a salary inflation war is unsustainable and poses a threat to this employment growth.

It will be interesting to observe if the year ahead sees the HR function take up the challenge of redefin-ing company culture as a way of improving the total employee experience. In partnering with their Human Resources teams, executives will recognize the broader role these teams can play in achieving commercial suc-cess. Through these measures the focus is all about changing the mindset, so that employees are forward thinking and aren’t just ready for change, but will em-brace it at all levels. A change-ready company will not only have the competitive edge, but will create a self-perpetuating cycle of achievement.

more employees are moving from 3pl to shipping or consumer sectors. this has been attributed to improved employment conditions.

Disclaimer:Logistics Executive has compiled this report using data from which, to the best knowledge of Logistics Executive, was accurate as at the date of the publication. Results published in this report are for the general interest of readers and the in-dustry. All material is published with due care and in good faith, but no respon-sibility will be accepted for omissions, typographical, or other printing errors or situations that may have taken place after publication. Logistics Executive dis-claims all responsibility for any harm or loss arising from use or otherwise of the information provided within the report. All rights reserved. No part of this pub-lication may be reproduced without the prior permission of Logistics Executive.


< Column

In the early days of my career, typical roles for women tended to gravitate towards more office or desk type positions—dispatch, expediting, data entry, and purchasing tended to have a higher

representation of women than material handling, driving and management. Over the years, I have noticed a cosmic change as more women are being granted opportunities for success. I have grown to understand deeply that to build, improve, grow strong and responsive supply chains, women often play an integral role, just as important as men.

not Suited To A Challenging Role?Men and women are different. There are clear biological differences in both the sexes, but there are also apparent similarities as we are all hu-man; hence the saying ‘same, same, but different’. Individuals are all unique, meaning one is unlike the other. There are many similarities in all of us and one has strengths and weaknesses just as others do. I believe that a common concern within the industry is that wom-en are not typically suited to a more physically challenging role. In my experience this can be as true for some women, as it can hold true for some men. ‘Same, same, but different’. This has established a glass ceiling for women, whereby they enter only certain links within the supply chain.

As with all successful recruitment and team building, it is quite an endeavor to match the right individual, with the right require-ments, within the right team. The best teams will have a perfect blend of individuals with their strengths and weaknesses to offset one an-other. The best leaders steer the work towards the teams as per the individuals’ strengths, so that the team as a whole outperforms what any one individual can produce collectively. This is the exponential power of diverse teams.

Cultural IssuesCultural norms have constantly played an impediment in limiting women’s access to certain jobs within the supply chain. Cultur-ally speaking, some men have had issues and concerns over taking directions from women. In other cultures, women may have lim-ited exposure to certain required skills (i.e. driving, education etc.). These barriers dissuade women from applying for the other key po-sitions within the sphere and can limit an organization’s ability to attract candidates from a wider pool of applicants and eventually, limits choice for the organization. In some cases, this can even lead an organization to select an unsuitable candidate.

However, over the years I have noticed a sea change as more women are breaking glass ceilings, while taking on increasingly significant roles at all levels and links of the supply chain. I believe this is partly due

to a gradual elimination of some of the cultural barriers. As govern-ing bodies impact historical, educational and cultural trends and more women gain access to such fields, the applicant pool is being enhanced by not being limited only to men. As women enter these areas, they are displaying their potential and strengths as well, with many moving rap-idly up the organization to the highest levels.

Changing Job RequirementsAnother factor could be changes and improvements in supply chain processes that create a shift in job requirements. For example, au-tomation and information systems tend to shift job requirements from a more physical to a more intellectual competence. This leads

to a more level playing field and makes less important some of the biological norms that may exist between men and women. This is not to say that some women are not strong enough and whenever speaking in general terms, there are always exceptions. But as au-tomation (AS/RS) and technology reduce the physical requirements for associates, organizations need to match the right individual to changing job requirements.

In the end, over the last few years I have worked with women in all areas of the supply chain. I have met husband and wife trucking teams who have been highly successful, both personally and in business. I have worked for highly capable women in Vice President roles that have enhanced my knowledge and career greatly. Not because they were women, but because they were highly capable and successful.

In the end it is about matching the individual to the job, based on the individual’s capabilities and the job’s requirements. I hope to continue to work with and for women, as more and more wom-en break through the glass ceilings within the supply chain. Not because they are women, but because they are highly capable and successful, with selection based not on subjective gender, but rath-er on objective merit.

Strength In Diversity

< Column

Dan Henderson, Supply Chain Manager, Global Medical Solutions, Abu Dhabi, UAE shares his personal experience of working with women in the logistics sector and believes women can prove their capability if provided sufficient opportunities.

The author can be reached at [email protected]

The best teams should have a perfect blend of individuals with their strengths and weaknesses to offset one another.

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Across industries, women are continually embracing traditionally accepted male

dominated roles. Women in financial services, media and FMCG have shattered the proverbial glass ceiling to take up top posts and have proven their capability time and again. The picture is changing in other industries as well. A recent Times of India article reported that women are beginning to undertake key responsibilities for many global beverage brands in the Indian market. However, it is still widely recognized that women are under-represented in most industries and this gap becomes even more evident as we move up the hierarchy.

The logistics industry has served as a tra-ditional bastion for males. This comes as a surprise since the industry is always in need of competencies that are usually associated with women—flexibility, in-tuition and service orientation. Considering the perfect match, the logistics sector offers a great opportunity to women not only to start a career, but also rise to the highest levels.

Breaking The Glass CeilingLet’s take the example of Shabana Khan, Director, Air Freight at DHL Lemuir Logistics, India, who is a member of the national management board. She joined the com-pany as a trainee learning day-to-day operations. There were relatively few women in the industry those days and very few who would venture to airports to manage cargo and carriers. Once she was provided with the platform, she strove to deliver her best and was soon promoted as Assistant Manager, Air Exports. After a series of promo-tions that exposed her to operations, sales and customer service, she took up the role of Regional Manager for Western India, followed by National Operations Man-ager and Director, Air Freight. In her current job, she heads the largest air freight function within India and is a known name in the industry.

The question is how we can create more Shabana

Khans in a male-dominated industry. The industry can play a huge role in attracting, nurturing and promoting female talent. Based on anecdotal evidence, most female university pass outs don’t see the logistics and supply chain fields as a career opportunity. Pradnya Bhandare and Aarti Mishra are currently part of a Logistics Train-ee Program within DHL Lemuir Logistics where the trainees are attached to various functions, including gateways and warehouses. “As part of my MBA, I stud-ied a module on supply chain management, but I never thought of the industry as a career opportunity until my friends encouraged me to apply based on a few DHL posters at my campus”, states Pradnya.

Trainees like Aarti and Pradnya are unaware of the huge role they play in shattering some of the pre-con-ceived notions that exist in our workplaces. “When we started our stint at the airport which is predominantly male, it was a two-way adjustment process for us as well as the existing staff”, notes Aarti. “In the beginning, the employees were concerned about our security and en-couraged us to leave early. Women at the airport usually don’t hand out documents to transporters etc. However, a little bit of initiative from our side helped us to allay our colleagues’ fears and get involved in work that was usually done by men,” adds Pradnya.

Planning For Future GrowthWhile companies can use existing trainee programs to recruit and develop female leaders, an intervention at an earlier stage may reap more long-term benefits. Most students in India start thinking about their ca-reers during secondary school. Workshops and site visits for such young students, especially girls, can open up the industry to them and help build a brand for companies.

Attracting women to the industry is just half the battle won. The key challenge for the supply chain industry is to address root causes that inhibit the growth of female talent within the industry. Unless the current rules of the game are altered, women’s participation in leadership roles within the industry will remain low.

Women play the central role in a family and invari-

A Balancing Act

< Column

Amit Singh Head-Talent Management, DHL Lemuir Logistics P. Ltd.

Sensitizing male colleagues, providing work flexibility and security will go a long way in creating a perfect work environment for women to unleash their full potential, says Amit Singh, Head-Talent Management, DHL Lemuir Logistics Pvt. Ltd.


ably spend more time running families as compared to men. This “double burden” is further exacerbated by the lack of social facilities like day care centres etc. in India. Assuming the above to be inherent to our social model, the question arises of how compatible are our corpo-rate models. Popular stories of supply chain leaders usually involve dedicated careers without any breaks, geographical mobility and unwavering availability. So powerful are such stories that we invariably expect our leaders to emulate the same. This expectation is incom-patible with the “double burden” carried by women and invariably creates the glass ceiling that prevents the rise of women leaders.

As long as our industry processes related to selec-tion, performance and promotion are linked to such expectations, women will find it difficult to take up

management roles. Shabana feels that “Balancing work and family is one of the biggest challenges for working women. The travel and mobility requirements of a mana-gerial role can clash with personal commitments. How-ever, the adoption of flexible work policies and the use of technology can reduce the burden. For example, virtual conferencing will not only save unnecessary travel, but also reduce costs for the company.”

Increasing ParticipationHaving spent a number of years in the industry, Shaba-na has seen an increase in the number of women at the middle management level and feels that its time to sup-port these women in order to replicate their numbers in the boardrooms across the logistics industry. “Women naturally hesitate to position themselves even though they may perform very well. This may lead to lesser vis-ibility for them in the eyes of key decision makers”, adds Shabana. Therefore, the industry can benefit from men-torship programs and forming women employee net-works. Not only do such initiatives bring out female role

models, but they also coach women employees to display their skills and perform more assertively, an area where men are generally more comfortable.

To support women employees in this area, DHL Le-muir Logistics has rolled out a specific workshop titled ‘Caste as Women’. Bosky Arora, Head Learning and De-velopment at DHL discloses that “the workshop supports women to connect with female awareness and its strug-gle against patriarchy within the Indian corporate sce-nario. The workshop helps to enhance self esteem and inculcates a go-getter attitude in our female employees.”

Career breaks for maternity or other reasons should not be seen as a burden, but as an opportunity to provide stretch assignments to other high potentials. Support before, during and after these breaks is critical to ensure smooth reintegration. The key is not to limit such initia-

tives to women alone as this helps to get overall accept-ance and distribution of benefits.

One of the biggest challenges that women face while entering a predominantly male workplace is adjustment to language, customs, dress and humor. Jokes and lan-guage appropriate in a typically male setting may be of-fensive to women. Training on sensitizing employees to these issues can help in opening up a subject that is not usually discussed. “Small initiatives like ensuring proper washrooms for women and company transport to far-out or secluded areas can go a long way in convincing women to see the industry as a viable career option,” add Aarti and Pradnya.

Making the industry more women-friendly is prob-ably the best talent management strategy as it will open it up to the hitherto untapped talent pool of over 50 per-cent of our population. Logistics and supply chain com-panies that achieve this will lead the rest in innovation, productivity and profitability.


This industry is in need of competencies that are usually associated with women—flexibility, intuition and service orientation.However, women are under-represented in most industries and this gap becomes even more evident as we move up the hierarchy.

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WW


Globalization has called for movement of products across boundaries in a quest to source

a better quality product at a competitive price and also focus on efficient logistic management of supply chains from source to destination. With globalization also comes competition, because of which one can already see a shift in the business scenario, wherein companies are increasingly focusing on their core competencies and outsourcing their logistics requirements in order to optimize costs and bring in efficiencies.

Growth OpportunitiesAs newer retail formats emerge in the country, the need for efficient and effective supply chain management is becoming more pronounced. With a buoyant economy, the emergence of India as a manufacturing hub and the boom in exports and imports, the logistics and supply chain management sector will witness strong growth opportunities. In addition, the evolving business land-scape and increasing competition across industries, is creating the need for more efficient and reliable supply chain management and logistics services.

A widespread perception also exists that the logistics industry is not a good paymaster when compared to other industries, especially the IT industry. However, this is not the case as the sector pays remuneration at par with in-dustry standards in order to attract and retain talent. The logistics sector also faces certain other constraints like lack of awareness about career opportunities in the indus-try and inadequate marketing of the sector. The sector, too, needs to package and market itself effectively. The advent of good business schools which focus on logistics as a core subject, and good management degrees with a technical bent augur well for this industry.

Job Profiles The scope of jobs in the field of logistics and supply chain management is wide and covers all levels, right from the manual to the specialist. Therefore, the academic back-ground requirements vary from graduation to a special-ized degree. Some of the profiles which are available at multifarious levels are basic truck drivers, pilots, ship captains to supervisors of material handling, logistics IT manager, controlling manager, warehouse manager,

distribution manager, operations manager, fleet/trans-port manager, inventory controller, materials handling engineer, planning manager and system analysts.

The sector currently employs about 40 million people, a number that will rise rapidly with exponential growth expectations in the sector. With the scope of outsourcing growing apart from normal transportation to inbound logistics management, outbound logistics management, material management, growing expectations of custom-ers to provide end-to-end solutions and strict require-ment of compliances, the sector is becoming increas-ingly complex and more service oriented. The skill sets required for jobs has also changed dramatically during the last few years.

Correspondingly, there has not been an increase in man-power to match these skills. To meet this greater-than-ever necessity, logistics majors such as TCI have begun training manpower in-house. Nowadays, logistics forms an impor-tant part in the supply chain management of a business organization. Therefore, a number of job opportunities are available in this field. Logistics, as a career option, brings with it challenges, responsibilities, travel opportunities and satisfactory remuneration too.

Necessary SkillsThe nature of the work in supply chain management is such that one must have the ability to handle complexities. Some other skills that an individual must possess are:n A person must develop a global mindset with a fo-

cus on meeting local requirements, as also a high aware-ness of the local market, business trends, policies and issues affecting the industry as a whole.n A high level of commitment and a customer centric

approach is a desired personality trait for a logistics or warehouse manager. It is critical because employees are expected to be on time, pick orders accurately and put in extra effort to beat schedules.n Warehouse and store supervisors require effective

communication skills and adherence to SOPs to provide excellent customer support. n The knowledge of basic computing skills in ware-

housing procedures is also desirable. Employees neces-sarily must have knowledge of the use of personal pro-tective equipment, fire safety, warehouse security, safety procedures and manual lifting techniques.

The Herculean Task

< COlumN

Chander AgarwalExecutive Director, TCI

As the logistics sector gains in importance, hiring and retaining talent has become the dire need of the hour, notes Chander Agarwal, Executive Director, TCI.



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In the last few years the placement industry has been doing a poor job in offering talented employees for the

logistics industry. Similarly, in order for the logistics sector to attract, develop and retain the talent it requires, it must compete for attention in an environment where other sectors and industries have already, or are about to, initiate awareness and recruitment campaigns to address their talent shortage.

Increasingly referred to as supply chain management, the level of employees re-quired in this sector includes the following seven sub-sectors:n Logistics Information Systems n Ware-

housing and Distribution n Transportation/Movement n Inventory/Material Control n

Purchasing/Procurement n Management n Marketing/Sales Let’s look at the key human resources challenges in sup-

ply chain management. The supply chain sector is highly fragmented which translates to implications for the human resources. There is a general lack of awareness and under-standing of the sector thus making it difficult for employ-ers to attract, develop and retain supply chain specialists. It is an emerging occupation that requires special skill-sets. In terms of talent management, this sector has limited scope as it offers further education and training only to a certain extent. But most important of all, is the limited tal-ent that engulfs this sector. A look at SWOT analysis of this sector will also tell us a few things. n Strengths of the sector are Workforce, Investment/s

in training & development, etcn Weaknesses of the sector are lack of strategic work-

force, training, general awareness of logistics, and pace with technology usages to name a few.n Opportunities are arising in emerging best practices,

growing profile of logistics, introduction of curriculum in school & colleges, best practice sharing forums & untapped labor.n Major threats are fragmentation, adaptation to tech-

nology, scarce resources & talent management strategies. The key human resources issues in the sector can be

clubbed as attraction and retention; education and train-ing; keeping pace with technology; and succession and ca-reer planning.

If we look solely at attraction and retention, there are a few points that matter here. For instance, attracting and

retaining younger and skilled employees, the growth of the aging workforce, managing senior level experienced spe-cialist roles (eg. purchasing – sourcing, quotation, valuing bids, etc.) that can be difficult to fill, and, finally, another set of difficult to fill processing positions such as skills of tran-sitioning product from raw form to end product quickly.

Given that attraction is a current and anticipated chal-lenge, retention strategies become even more important to maintaining the critical level of workforce required and manage the amount of recruitment activity required. The main recruitment and retention challenge is competition amongst organizations for resources, as the most com-mon retention and turnover issues are competitors actively recruiting employees in other organizations, and employ-ees favoring supply chain function of other organizations. Competitors actively recruiting supply chain employees from other companies are a concern for small organiza-tions, while losing employees to the supply chain func-tion of other organizations is the most common concern for medium sized organizations. This competition for re-sources is a significant issue given that employees within the function appear to be ready to explore new opportuni-ties both inside and outside of the logistics sector. In this regard, 70.6 percent of employees indicated that they plan to explore other logistics opportunities and 45.6 percent of employees plan to explore opportunities outside logistics. Operational and tactical employees were more likely to in-dicate plans to explore new opportunities (either within or external to logistics).

Some common reasons cited by employees for leaving the logistics function focused are promotion and career growth; better or new opportunities; new challenge or need for a change; compensation; job stress and pressure; and retirement.

Going by a survey conducted by Personal Benchmarks, employees’ attraction for current employer has the follow-ing percentage: Opportunity for career advancement – 40 percent; Growth potential of company – 32 percent; Chal-lenge of position – 37 percent; Reputation of company – 29 percent; Location – 23 percent; and Pay and benefits pack-age – 23 percent.

From a size perspective, a common activity for small organizations is providing a flexible work schedule, while medium and large organizations provide a career path.

It should be noted that few participating employers in-dicated implementation of initiatives targeted at attracting and/or retaining supply chain employees. Of those that

Hitting Some Limits

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Deepak Malhotra VP-HR: Corporate HR, Viraj Profiles

Attracting and retaining employees in the supply chain is not an easy task. But in a field with limited opportunities, what can companies do to keep a hold? Deepak malhotra explains.


did, the types of initiatives implemented included types of training, incentives, and student placements.

Applying the Timeless Principles of Sun Tzu’s Art of War to Achieving Excellence in 21st Century Supply Chains:

Several years ago, Dr. Eli Goldratt said, “In the future, competition will be among supply chains.” Over 2,500 years ago, Sun Tzu included mastering logistics as a cor-nerstone of successful operations. What can we learn from a military theorist of 500 BC that will strengthen our supply chains in the 21st century?

To apply this treatise on strategy and war to supply chains, we will look at some key passages in The Art of War and substitute supply chain management for war; the com-pany/corporation for the state; and leaders for generals. With these substitutions there is some great advice in Sun Tzu’s work that applies to today’s supply chains.

Using our substitution these words can be rewritten as: “Supply Chain Management is a great matter to a company; it is the road to prosperity; it important to the survival or ruin of the company, and therefore, supply chain manage-ment must be examined.” Sun Tzu lists five factors that must be mastered to be successful in any operation:

1. The Way or the Tao: In supply chains this is the link that brings the thinking of the workers in line with the vi-sion and strategy of the supply chain leaders. 2. Climate: In Sun Tzu’s day this concerned how to operate in the dif-ferent seasons and different climatic conditions. To be successful in today’s supply chains, leaders must be able to operate in all business climates, worldwide. 3. Terrain: In 21st Century supply chains, leaders must be able to mas-ter the global operating environment and the supply chain infrastructure in order to survive.4. Command: Sun Tzu equated command with “generalship.” Using our substitu-tion of terms, this means that to be successful, companies must have quality leaders in charge of their supply chains. We will look at this area in greater detail when we look at the major themes of The Art of War.5. Regulations: Sun Tzu included logistics as part of the regulations that must be mastered. Since the term supply chain had not been in-vented yet, the term logistics applied to all of the functions that we equate with supply chains. These key threads in-clude Matters of Vital Importance, Clear Communications, Leadership, and Employee Training.

This process, a simple to implement system, has eight steps: What was the plan? What actually happened? What went right? How do we sustain those areas? What went wrong? This could be major or minor but you still want to improve the performance. Why did it go wrong or not ac-cording to the plan? How do we fix that in the future? Who is responsible for fixing the problem? What is important here is not who made a mistake, but rather, what went wrong and who will be responsible for ensuring that the fix: a) fixed the problem and b) did not create a bigger problem.

The Road AheadThe Develop theme has two components. The first fo-cuses on building the capacity of supply chain logistics workforce to support a transition to a more value-added and knowledge-based economy.n Develop, promote and support programs that pre-

pare under-represented groups such as women, aborigi-nal people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and underemployed persons for employment in the supply chain logistics sector (e.g., pre-employment and pre-apprenticeship training).n Increase support for individuals employed in the

supply chain logistics sector to upgrade their knowledge and skills, including supervisory, management, appren-ticeship and skilled trades trainingn Support development, delivery and access to a va-

riety of learning systems through a range of innovative delivery models including the Internet.n Work with government to fund supply chain logis-

tics programs at the secondary and post-secondary level.n Work with educational institutions to ensure that

training programs align with industry needs and stand-ards and are, whenever possible, articulated along a ca-reer pathwayn Develop a retraining program to assist late-career,

mature workers to shift into a career within the supply chain logistics sector.n Support the development of regional industry clus-

ters or networks to address common problems such as training, labor shortages, productivity etc., facing com-panies in the supply chain logistics sector.n Proactively identify and plan to address emerging

workforce development needs. These may be issues such as the impact of new upgraders or other major indus-trial expansions on the logistics industry. It might also include the use of changing technology to address envi-ronmental concerns.n Identify and encourage the application of effective

practices to help employers improve the retention of a more diverse labor forcen Support employers in implementing human re-

source practices that encourage mature workers to maintain employment (i.e., offer part-time or flexible work arrangements, phased-in retirement plans, men-toring and training roles, etc.) to ensure retention of technical and corporate knowledge in supply chain lo-gistics sector.n Work collaboratively with community agencies

representing the interests of under-represented groups to identify and develop strategies to attract and retain workers from under-represented groups.



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Acquiring skilled workers in the industry is as tough as retaining them. Over the years, the role of logisticians has earned them respect in the industry, as well as their scope of work has improved dramatically. Anuja Abraham investigates.



< Feature

It is a well-established fact that supply chain managers have acquired a strategic role in the functioning of corporates. Earlier, what seemed like an unrewarding

job is now the brainchild of many cost-effective concepts and inventions in the back-end. “Logisticians, say 20-25 years back, did not have as an important job apart from making travel and material arrangements,” says Mr. Dharmendra Gangrade, Head-Logistics, Pidilite. “Now their scope of work has expanded to managing the supply chain, inventory management, storing of materials, and transportation management.”

Logisticians are responsible for organizing, schedul-ing, and managing the distribution of materials. This career grew rapidly in the mid-1980s as manufacturing firms shifted to Just-In-Time delivery.

Many shipping, distribution and user companies have noticed the importance of having skilled logistics pro-fessionals within their teams. Their remuneration is at par with industry standards. “In FMCG companies in India, sales and marketing are the highest paying jobs, with logistics coming a close second,” says Mr. Gan-grade. “It is a mistaken belief that a job in supply chain and logistics does not pay well.”

Cost-cutting measures are essential to any company in order to focus on profits. “Cost reduction in any of the processes of supply chain affects the bottom line of the company”, adds Mr. Gangrade. “Hence it is essential to retain such talent.”

The constant experimentation, innovation and cost-cut-ting measures have brought the logisticians to everyone’s notice. “Logistics is no longer a backroom activity, it has become a boardroom activity,” explains Mr. Gangrade.

A renowned company like Apple, where innovation is the core of its philosophy and the raison d’être of its suc-cess, is headed by Tim Cook, a logistician. Many big retail-ers like Tesco and Wal-Mart are run by supply chain pro-fessionals. It is the effective operation and deliverance of value at low cost that ensures the company creates brand value and maintains brand loyalty among its consumers. “Logisticians and supply chain professionals have made it to boardrooms in almost all companies in India. Their job and responsibilities count on operational as well as mana-gerial skills,” elaborates Mr. Gangrade.

Better With technologyIT has played a very important role in creating efficiency in the back-end of the supply chain. Tools like Transport Management Systems (TMS) and Warehouse Manage-ment Systems (WMS) have employed methods to man-age transportation and warehousing needs. Technology and software solutions like Oracle and SAP have created job opportunities for IT trainees.

As information is freely available all the time, logisti-

cians can benefit from making smarter choices and fast-er responses. Technology has replaced a lot of manual paperwork, and smart automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) have improved stacking, picking, load-ing, unloading and other processes in the warehouse.

Implementation of IT in supply chain has also opened up many job opportunities for IT aspirants. “We recruit engineering graduates and provide cross-functional training. They are then absorbed into key supply chain roles as per their capability,” says Mr. Sudhir Mehrotra, COO-Contract Logistics, Future Supply Chains Solu-tions Ltd. “We give them essential training, guide them and provide them with additional resources to equip them to deal with technology infusion in supply chain.”

training Gen YA Logistics Executive global survey 2011-12 states that 14.97 percent of the total respondents indicated that it is difficult to hire recruits in the spheres of Transport and Logistics. This was followed closely by 10.66 percent in the supply chain area. In the 2010-2011 report 13.35 per-cent of the total respondents indicated that Transport and Logistics was the most difficult area to recruit in. The sur-vey results for the last four years suggest that very little has changed in the areas that suffer with a skills deficit.

The 2011-12 report also states that whilst career devel-opment remains the highest driver of employment deci-sions at 26.89 percent, salary follows closely at second place at 20.84 percent. Job security and company values follow at 15.32 percent and 15.22 percent respectively. These four drivers outweigh all the other results and are the most im-portant reasons why people join organizations.

Education in supply chain management has largely in-fluenced young minds to overlook the obvious choice of managerial positions. Logistics and supply chain activi-ties provide immense scope for improvement at all levels.

Young trainees are recruited and exposed to all aspects of supply chain: to learn, understand and assess their ap-titude against the requirements on the job. They are often expected to travel extensively, to visit factory units, or look after shipping, customs or collaborate with service provid-ers. This continuous diversification in various activities prepares the apprentice to face the real rigours of the job.

“The training will give them exposure to end-to-end supply chain, make them aware of various IT tools, and give them a deeper understanding of the processes that culminates in delivery (the last mile). It also gives them hands-on training and opportunities to look at cost re-duction and prepares the trainees to the world of supply chain,” adds Mr. Gangrade.

The performance of employees is evaluated from time to time to ensure consistency and better productivity. “In contract logistics there are visible and measurable perform-

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ance parameters to assess the various parts of operations like fixed cost, variable costs, service levels, inventory accu-racy, customer orientation etc. and hence the evaluation is science-oriented and easily understood, thanks to technol-ogy which makes measurement easy,” notes Mr. Mehrotra.

Human resource concernsAnother survey by Logistics Executive shows that 27.29 percent of the total respondents indicated that the desire for a fatter pay packet was a key reason that enticed more professionals to leave their organizations. Interestingly, 21.77 percent of the total respondents indicated that ex-ecutives also left for career advancement reasons.

The all-encompassing role of a present-day logisti-cian is finding many takers in the market. As the num-bers of manual unskilled laborers is in abundance in India, attending to the paucity of skilled and intelligent supply chain professionals in India is the need of the hour. With the advent of technology, more profession-als are required to concentrate on production planning, inventory, storage, sales and after-service.

It is, thus, crucial that companies take note of concerns over remuneration and job satisfaction, to prevent the loss of skilled talent to competitors. Companies must also take initiatives to ensure the issue of skill gap is addressed.

While opportunities are enormous within the indus-try, it is difficult to retain employees. “Human resource management, too, plays a crucial role in ensuring proper communication, building interpersonal relationships, defining employees’ career path and providing compen-sations that are at par with the industry. These are some of the things that go a long way in addressing key em-ployee issues,” adds Mr. Gangrade.

The other common complaints pertaining to HR in-clude remote location of warehouses, difficult operating ambience, cost constraints, and lack of skilled manpow-er at all levels as the warehousing industry is still in the nascent stages of evolution.

“To control attrition, we continuously build up re-sources, there is no other choice. Contrary to common belief, since this is the fastest emerging service sector, the growth in career is fastest here as there is a real paucity of talent,” says Mr. Mehrotra of Future Supply Chains Solu-tions Ltd.

Women On the Field The uneven ratio of women and men in supply chain is due to the fact that career growth is highly skewed in favor of men. Women are not easily given responsibility in warehouses. “Women are good at administrative jobs. They have a keen, analytical bent of mind. Hence, they produce good results in inventory management and pro-duction planning,” adds Mr. Gangrade.

It is an unspoken belief within the industry that wom-en are better sorters since they pay more attention to de-tail. Women are also better at translating knowledge into action to ease the task at hand.

Padmini Pagadala, General Manager, TPG Consulting, shares her experiences when she taught best practices in warehousing to employees of an American warehouse. According to her, women are more attentive to detail and seemed to welcome ideas about how they could work smarter, instead of harder, to improve their efficiency. The men on the floor, however, had a more lukewarm attitude to the ‘working smarter’ best practices. The concept of having to work less on the floor so they could have more physical energy left, didn’t seem to interest them much.

“We work on both sides of the world. In the US we have found that women perform exceptionally well throughout the supply chain and some of the best per-forming DC’s I have ever visited or worked within have had very large (majority) female workforces. It seems like there is a great untapped opportunity waiting in In-

dia for the country to recruit more women into the supply chain arena,” says Steve Mulaik, Partner, The Progress Group and Director, TPG Consulting Pvt Ltd.

But the Indian warehousing industry is still to accept women on the floor. As noted by our guest authors in their columns, with improved work conditions and increased gender sensitivity among male counterparts, warehouses can become more conducive for women to work in.

Mr. Mehrotra maintains his organization does not follow the norm. “Women take up all kinds of roles in our organization – shop floor operations, systems de-sign, MIS, supervisory roles, stock management, project planning, SCM, management, HR and all support func-tions. They have extended themselves in almost all func-tions in the warehouse. This balances the working ambi-ence, less IR involvement & better output,” he clarifies.

The dire need of the hour is to recruit more skilled and efficient professionals in this field. The implemen-tation of IT in the back-end will eliminate the need to employ unskilled laborers to operate the warehouse. Ir-respective of the nature of work, women must be given equal opportunities as men, to perform at operational as well as managerial levels.

logistics is no longer a backroom activity; it has become a boardroom activity.


Imprint Feature


Can you please explain in nut shell the area in which Om group operates in logistics and sup-ply chain verticals?

In a nut shell we endeavour to execute any-thing which is possible to be executed within our scope of operation in logistics and supply chain verticals. To be specific we are currently providing 3PL support to all the verticals i.e. auto, pharma, elctronics, white goods, textiles etc. The primary SOB for Om Logistics present-ly is Automotives and we are working towards business enhancement in all other verticals to have an equilibrated market share in every vertical. We provide entire set of supply chain tailor made services to our customers within all verticals for total satisfaction through our value chain.

From making presence felt in logistics Industry, how does Om group uniquely position itself in the market?

The USP that Om Logistics emphasises upon is as a single window logistics provider to all our customer logistics requirements. We service our customer in all modes of transportation hence reducing follow-ups and providing a seamless logistics model to them. We also provide tailor made innovative, process engineered solution for cost optimisation for an econonomical logistics sup-port.

How Technology edge has helped the group to create an impact?Being a very tech savvy organisation we always have an edge over competitors for technology

driven solutions. With our state of art IT networks we offer our customers with on real time online data interface for their accurate planning of inventories and hence try to reduce substantial inven-tory carrying cost which Inturn support the bottom line for any organisation. Real time tracking of vehicles also enables us to provide accurate delivery time to avoid stock outs at the OEM’s loca-tions.

What sectors is the group targeting and what unique facilities are provided for these verticals?As already discussed we have significant presence on all the verticals that we cater to and are

presently focussing more on verticals like electronics/white goods and Pharma by providing some value added services i.e recyclable master cartons and time definite deliveries to ensure damage free and cost effective deliveries to the end customer. We are also focusing retails as an important vertical for B to C deliveries to position ourself in retail business through our express retails divi-sion OMX express.

Do explain in nut shell the future plan for the group and new product or services in pipe line?Future plans are definitely to grow in folds in years to come. We are looking into possibilities of

expanding into many allied services i.e Full Truck, Project cargo and bulk rail movements. But the nut shell is that we would try to explore all possibilities for expansion where we can create value for ourself and our customer for all their logistics requirements.

“We have an edge over competitors for technology driven solutions”

AkAsh BAnsAl, head logistics- Om logistics ltd.


< panorama

The fully revised and updated second edi-tion of the book provides a contempo-

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The authors offer practical ways of achieving these benefits through integrated project teams

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The book is directed at packaging tech-nologists, those involved in the design and development of packaging, users of packaging in food companies and those who specify or purchase packaging.

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Supply Chain Optimizationn Municipal Solid Waste Management and

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International Key accounts (IKa) Store to Shelf: Last 50 YardsDave Jordan

FMCG and Brewing producers amongst many others, carefully pack their products to meet exacting requirements for International Key Account (IKA) and Local Key Account (LKA) customers. Increasingly this includes specially collated and shrink-wrapped pallets which are cross-docked to specific stores via a retailer platform. Powerful retailers force producers to operate to strict standards of service whether this is case fill, OTIF, CCFOT, fill level or some other agreed measure designed to ensure products reach the shelf on time. Similarly, in quality terms any damages or close to expiry product is usually rejected even if it means empty shelf space.

If a platform is in use then this may be where the producer liability ends but that is unlikely and in any case an empty shelf directly hurts the brand owner more than the retailer. So let us assume that the carefully packed and stretched pallet of

assorted goods arrives at the rear of the store on time, in full and in good condition. The next piece of the chain is called the “last 50 yards/metres”; that relatively short distance from back of store warehouse to the shelf.

You will find that a majority of store warehouses will be badly organized and chaotic - perhaps chaos is inherent as you do need momentum and energy to keep the stocks moving. To be fair, some stores are staffed by skilled individuals but the organization has a sales mentality rather than a supply chain focus. Just because the stock is now in a “shop” there is no logical reason why the required skills should be any different.

Many producers have recognized this and have started coaching retailers in the “last 50 yards” to transfer basic supply chain skills and procedures. Some simple initiatives like pallet marking on floors, FIFO and easy access to fast movers will pay rapid dividends to both parties and stop some of the pointless conflict that seem to feature in producer-retailer relationships. http://supplychain.enchange.com/

BLogoSpHErE

— Compiled by Anuja Abraham

rESourCE CEnTEr Journals, Case studies, Research Reports


< ITLIST

LaunCHpaD

reverse Logistics 2.0Platform: Android

This app provides industry best practices, news, and the latest infor-mation on Consumer Product Re-

calls and FDA Recalls. In addition, you will get the latest on Sustainability News and much more from the world of reverse logistics.Developer: Curtis Greve (Greve-Davis)Language Supported: EnglishPrice: Free URL: http://bit.ly/h9Waj6

Drivers Daily Log Platform: iPhone, iPad

Drivers Daily Log is a replacement for the paper logbook used by commercial vehicle drivers. With it, you can create, sign, and maintain electronic copies of your logbook as required by US/Canada federal law. It is designed to meet the lat-est federal requirements as defined in FMVSC §395.8 and FMVSC §390.31.Developer: Kurt Clark Language Supported: EnglishPrice: Free (first 30 pages). $.99 For 30 Days And $9.99 For A Year URL: http://bit.ly/AkHjmH

Damco 2.0Platform: Android, iPhone, BlackBerry

Track all your Damco ocean ship-ments in a highly user friendly and fast application. You can search by all

relevant references such as HBL, CBL,Equipment or Con-tainer Stuffing Number or CBL reference. Developer: DamcoLanguage Supported: EnglishPrice: Free URL: http://www.damco.com/mobility

packetracerPlatform: Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile

Packtracer traces your parcel, express anywhere, and reports status anytime. It supports barcode scan, background update notification service, and includes DHL, DPD, Fedex, EMS, SwissPost, RoyalMail, ParcelForce, China Post, Hong Kong Post, Norway Post, and PNL among other Express companies. Developer: MobabelLanguage Supported: English, German, Chinese (Han) etcPrice: US$1.99 from BlackBerry App Store, €1.99 for Android, Windows, BlackBerry from Mobabel.net (Latest version with added services) Rs 81.85 on Android Market (Free Trial version also available) URL: http://mobabel.net/ http://bit.ly/yWaujI http://bit.ly/wqrae6

agility 1.1Platform: Android

The Agility app keeps you informed of world events affecting the movement of freight. You can personalize your news feed to track events in certain countries or monitor events affecting specific modes of transportation (air, sea, and road). App also has a Co2 calculator to estimate the emission by mode of transport, weight and distance travelled. Developer: Agility LogisticsLanguage Supported: EnglishPrice: Free URL: http://bit.ly/y3XMuM

FedEx mobile 3.1.0Platform: iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry

FedEx Mobile provides up-to-date shipment track-ing information. Personalize your view by nicknam-ing shipments, adding notes or monitor important shipments with the Watch List. The users will be notified if select delivery exceptions have occurred. Developer: FedExLanguage Supported: EnglishPrice: FreeURL: http://www.fedex.com/us/mobile/

mobile apps of The monthA peek at some of the latest mobile applications for logisticians.

INDIA

GOOD TO GO: GST Bill looks well on its way. The industry weighs in...10

STOPWATCH: Warehouses need to set labor standards. Here’s why...20How Atul Agarwal, Associate General Manager

(Supply-Chain), Dabur India Ltd., runs a lean

supply-chain for its over 300 products.

Page 24

LIFE SUPPLY

April 2011 Vol. 4 — No.8 `100INDIA

TElEcom

logisTics 20

Movement of telecom

network equipment opens

a window of opportunity

NEglEcTEd

waTErways 44

India is ignoring inland

waterways at its own

peril

low

adopTioN 24

Why WMS still does

not have enough

takers in India

amit mukherjee, Vice-

president (iT and supply chain)

and group cio at rpg, has

deployed exemplary supply-

chain strategies at spencer‘s

retail >> page 34

Method In Motion

October 2010 | Vol. 4 – No.2

IndIa’s LeadIng LOgIstIcs MagazIne

` 100

www.logisticswe

ek.com

RIGHT MOVES: What goes into choosing the right location for a warehouse...

TOWERING ABOVE 38

Unravelling India’s telecom

logistics, end to end.

IA

GST Bill looks well on its way. The industry weighs

GST Bill looks well on its way. The industry weighs

Warehouses need to set labor standards. Here’s why...

ng L

A

ng L INDIA

OLD ORDER: THE FOREIGN HAND:

COLOR OF INNOVATION

INDIA

TElEcom logisTics 20Movement of telecom network equipment opens a window of opportunity

NEglEcTEd waTErways 44India is ignoring inland waterways at its own peril

low adopTioN 24Why WMS still does not have enough takers in India

amit mukherjee, Vice-president (iT and supply chain) and group cio at rpg, has deployed exemplary supply-chain strategies at spencer‘s retail >> page 34

Method In Motion



` 100

www.logisticsweek.com

PRO-LIFE SCM:

GET SET, GO 38The true story of supply-chain education in India.

October 2011 Vol. 5 — No.2 `100

Education

Special

Pg.38

What goes into choosing the right location for a war

What goes into choosing the right location for a warGST Bill looks well on its way. The industry weighs

GST Bill looks well on its way. The industry weighs in...10

Warehouses need to set labor standards. Here’s why...20

What goes into choosing the right location for a war

What goes into choosing the right location for a warehouse...

OLD ORDER: THE FOREIGN HAND:

COLOR OFINNOVATION

PRO-LIFE SCM: The true story of supply-chain education in India.

Vol. 5 — No.2 `100

Education

Special

Pg.38

GST Bill looks well on its way. The industry weighs in...10

INDIA

ADVERSE REACTION: An inefficient cold-chain is killing children in India...10

GREEN LIGHT: How Ericsson India is reducing its supply-chain carbon footprint...18

Dr Ravi Prakash Mathur, Director, SCM -

Logistics, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., describes how the pharma giant manages

its supply-chain like no other Indian pharma company.

Page 36



The Right Prescription

July 2011 Vol. 4 — No.11 `100

INDIA





Method In Motion



` 100


VALUE OVER COST: An edited transcript of ASC Summit offers key learnings...26

THE FOOD CRISIS 54An ISB Prof. shows how to ensure food security.

Hamburg Media Pvt. Ltd., Building No.4/6, Sona Udyog, Parsi Panchayat Road (Old Nagardas Road), Andheri (East), Mumbai - 400 069 INDIA Ph: 022-61162345 Email: [email protected]

INDIA

As fl ooding in Thailand disrupts supply chains in many industries, the event—along with Japan’s March earthquake and tsunami—is prompting many to consider aspects of supply chain risk that might have been previously overlooked, says a recent report in Business Insurance.

While many expect global sourcing to become an even larger factor for businesses going for-ward, recent events are prompting companies to consider the geographic concentrations of suppliers, the need for backup suppliers and re-engineering processes to accommodate backup components should supply chains be disrupted.

With an estimated 45 percent of the world’s hard-drive production located in Thailand and fl ooded plants affecting production by major manufacturers such as Seagate Technology Inc. and Western Digital Inc., some analysts say the disruption could affect PC production through the fi rst half of 2012.

The fl ooding also has had a major impact on the auto industry, where disruptions at Thai auto manufacturing plants and parts producers re-portedly is expected to result in lost production of 250,000 vehicles worldwide.

Many Japanese companies relocated produc-tion to facilities in Thailand after the March earthquake and tsunami. London-based law fi rm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain L.L.P. said the move to Thai facilities helped many Japanese compa-nies mitigate their losses after the Japan disaster. But many now face further losses as a result of the fl oods in Thailand.

“The problem for insurers who provide busi-ness interruption cover to Japanese manufactur-ers is that they have to cover the losses stemming from the Thai fl ooding because so many business-es moved some or all of their supply chain there,” Daniel Saville, legal director in the reinsurance and corporate insurance department of Reynolds Porter, said in a statement. “Moving production from Japan to Thailand was “Plan B.’ The ques-tion now is whether those businesses have a “Plan C,’” he said.

Bad logistics is often the cause for unhappiness and displeasure. It could be due to numerous

reasons from traffi c snarls, to delays in paper work or some little-known regulation that could cause delays in delivery. But to the receiver, it is bad logistics.

Often, when you have asked for something to be delivered at a pre-decided destination and especially if you are eagerly awaiting the delivery, nine out of ten times it will never arrive on the scheduled date. This happens so often each time I order some books/CDs/appliances. The service provider will tell you that he has made more than one trip and there was no one home. And then you get into an argument.

Is ensuring prompt delivery so tough? Don’t responsible people sitting in offi ces take stock of goods that have arrived and those that need to be delivered? Is the infrastructure in such doldrums? Surely, they are not short-staffed. Nor do people live in such remote areas (In the movie Il Postino, a make-shift postman delivers a letter with prompt regularity to his only customer who lives on the top of a hill) where they need to search out more deliveries within the area to justify their trip.

And God help you if your parcel happens to be a passport.

Your’s truly,Jayashree Mendes

Editor, LogisticsWeek

Disasters in Japan, Thailand highlight need for continuity plan

Bangkok

Interview In For TheLong HaulMs. Shagun Kapur Gogia, Director/Founder of Tuscan Ventures, has grand plans for the cold chain industry in India. PAGE 11

Varun Dhawan, VP-Taxation, Blue Dart Express Ltd., simplifi es the issues with GST that have boggled many in the logistics industry.

Firms Rethink Supply Chain Risks

PAGE 4

Gerry Alonso, senior VP of claims at Fac-tory Mutual Insurance Co., noted that the “slow developing” nature of the Thai catas-trophe makes it diffi cult to get a handle on the extent of losses. And, the duration of the fl ooding could exacerbate the losses.

“We’ve had some clients that have been able to procure divers and go in there, but that gives you an idea of what you have.” Mr. Alonso said. “The frustrating part from a claims perspective, you can’t assess loss-es until the water’s gone.”

William J. Montanez, director of risk management at Ace Hardware Corp. and a member of the board of the Risk & In-surance Management Society Inc., said his company hasn’t been affected by either ca-tastrophe, though it relies on overseas sup-pliers. Mr. Montanez said, “At the back end, we have to look at safeguarding and how we can make it less risky to do it.”

With the Thai fl oods raising awareness of the risk of geographical concentrations of suppliers, Linda Conrad, director of stra-tegic business risk management at Zurich Financial Services Ltd. in New York, said her company has been working with clients to

identify where suppliers and industries are concentrated. “I think this illustrates the need for better continuity plans, including backup supplier arrangements, diversify-ing the locations of suppliers and using dif-ferent backup suppliers than competitors.”

Ms. Conrad also said companies are starting to ask existing suppliers about their own continuity plans. “People are also starting to do a lot more scenario anal-ysis, including calculating the potential impact of having to re-engineer processes if alternative components or parts don’t match the specifi cations.”

In general, the recent supply chain dis-ruptions are leading many companies to embrace “that resiliency mindset of: Let’s try to think through some hypotheticals and plan for this when it costs us less than when we are in a crisis,” Ms. Conrad said.

“At the end of the day I think the onus that’s going to be on risk management and management in general is how can we get a preview of what the future might look like and how will we respond to it,” Mr. Montanez said. “That’s what ERM is all about.”

Editor’s NoteEnfant Terrible

Jayashree Mendes

`25logisticsweek.com

November 16–30, 2011

Car manufacturers across the world suff er delays as factories lie submerged.

Sour

ce: c

leve

land

.com

INDIA

RETAIL LACUNAE: Retail logistics managers rue lack of standardization....30BIGGER PICTURE: How supply-chain hurdles dent company bottom-line...14

Britannia’s Replenishment Manager, Raviraj Rodrigues (right) and National Distribution Manager Sanjay Mukherjee (left), manage the supply-chain of the FMCG major while clearing the roadblocks and ensuring seamless logistics. A sharp look. Page 20

CRUNCH TIME

INDIA

OLD ORDER: How auto cos manage service logistics for phased-out models...08THE FOREIGN HAND: How FDI in Retail would change India’s logistics...25

Jayakumar Krishnaswamy, AkzoNobel’s SCM head, is managing a 24x7 supply-chain. Here’s how he plans to accomplish it.

Page 16

COLOR OF INNOVATION

INDIA





Method In Motion



` 100


PRO-LIFE SCM: Amid all the din around green logistics, some practical wisdom...30

GET SET, GO 38The true story of supply-chain education in India.

October 2011 Vol. 5 — No.2 `100

Education

Special

Pg.38

CII SUMMIT: Highlights from arguably the biggest congregation of SCM chiefs...36

WALK IN THE PARK 44A detailed analysis of India’s logistics parks

December 2011 Vol. 5 — No.4 `100

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< EVENTS

Mar ch 2012March 6 - 12, 2012autoMotive testing expo indiachennai trade centre, chennaiAutomotive Testing Expo India is a significant trade fair for automotive test, evaluation and quality engineering in Chennai.

Automotive Testing Expo India will attract senior test, evaluation and quality engineering executives from leading car manufacturers based in the region such as Ashok Leyland, Nissan, Daimler India, Ford India, Hyundai Motor Engineering, Hindustan Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, plus many more.

Exhibitors at Automotive Testing India 2012 will see participation by around 120 companies who will demonstrate, showcase, test, and evaluate quality engineering technology all under one roof.organizer: UKIP Media & Events (India)Tel: +91 99 10474717/40601514

March 12 - 14, 2012indexpo-nagpur Kasturchand park, nagpurIndexpo Nagpur has been organized by Indore Infoline Pvt. Ltd as an effort to promote plant and machinery industry in India. This three day event will be a comprehensive showcase of all the equip-ment and technologies implemented in the industry. Indexpo Nagpur will also provide the participants with access to latest trends in the industry.

Exhibitors expected are rice mill machinery suppli-ers, Industrial automation, Industrial Suppliers, Plant and equipment manufacturers and suppliers, Infra com-panies, Fabricators, Machine tools, Food Processing Companies, Industrial consultants, Industrial Finance, Insurance Companies and MSME companies. organizer: Indore Infoline Pvt. Ltd. Tel: +91 731 2703000

March 16 – 18, 2012indian Machine tool and autoMation expo new delhitalkatora indoor stadium, new delhiIndian Machine Tool and Automation Expo New Delhi is an event that provides an excellent platform to manufacturers or suppliers of machine tools and automation products to display their products before professional community dealing with machine tool, automation, cutting tool and commercial consumers.

Indian Machine Tool and Automation Expo will be a forum for discussion and demonstration of machine tool and automation.

The event will have exhibitors such as manu-facturers, producers, designers, wholesalers, solu-tion and service providers of machine tool and automation, belonging to various categories such as CNC machines and tools, boring machines, drill-

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ing machines, electro erosion machines, machines for the production of bolts, screws, nuts and rivets, shearing, nibbling and notching machines, tool grinding machines, wire forming machines, machine tool spindles and motors, electrical and electronic equipment for machine tools, assembling systems and industrial robots, chuck jaws, vices and tooling columns, CAD, CAM, CAE, 3D planning /3D Simulation Precision, Quality Control/ inspec-tion equipments and systems and material handling equipments.organizer: Paramount ExhibitorsTel: +91 172 2274801/2274802/2274803

March 19 – 21, 2012urBan inFra world expoBombay exhibition centre (Bec), MumbaiIndia’s plans envisage extensive investments in roads, railways, irrigation and power projects, integrated and planned townships, ports and airports, industrial clusters, agro-based industries, and defense-related construction. Urban Infra World Expo will put you directly in contact with key decision-makers in all these areas and will help to enhance your penetra-tion to the vast potential Indian Market. The Expo will have a special focus on Municipal Sourcing.

Exhibitors include: Infrastructure companies, construction companies, construction equipment, architectural products, roofing and cladding, steel manufacturers, pre- engineered buildings, HVAC, sanitaryware, green building products, fenestration and doors, educational institutions, and, safety and security.organizer: Chemtech FoundationTel: +91 22 22874758

March 21 and 22, 2012indian steel MarKetthe leela Kempinski gurgaon, delhi ncrIndian Steel Market is one of the prime business summits in India, dedicated exclusively to the steel industry. Participants have the exclusive opportunity to take part at the conferences that are held during the show and get acquainted with the latest tools, products and innovations. High quality raw materials, manufacturing tools, processing tools, auto compo-nents, ship building machinery and infrastructure accessories are put on exhibit at the show. The event looks forward to the probable growth scenario of the Indian steel industry over the next few years and the challenges that it is likely to face. Visitors can also learn more about the global markets of Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and South East Asia at the show.organizer: global business ConnectTel: +91 124 4048993

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