India has initiated multi-modal program to reduce logistics costs and make the economy competitive. It has been the biggest and effective decision taken by the government towards transportation industry. This project covers all the aspects of improving logistics and transportation. After grave research on logistics Government has decided to transform the entire logistics business to reduce good’s price, speed up delivery and quality of life.

1. Significance of this strategy :

The strategy includes transformation of India’s logistics sector from “point-to-point” model to a “hub-and-spoke” model and can be implied in railways, highways, inland waterways and airports to put in place an effective transportation grid.

This model is called multi-modal transportation, this project is to simplify transportation operation between multiple region or across country.

Multi-modal transport plan includes 35 multi-modal logistics stations at an investment of Rs 50,000 crore. Multi-modal transport play to reduce logistics costs.

2. Implementation :

To implement this, the government is going to host summit show—India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit—in May.

35 logistics stations have been proposed and identified, they will be set up on railways, highways, inland waterways and airports transportation grid. Fifteen such logistics stations will be constructed in the next five years, and 20 more over the next 10 years. They will act as hubs for freight movement enabling freight aggregation and distribution with modern mechanized warehousing space.

This project will include pre-cooling plants, cold storage, storage facilities for agricultural produce, food grains, hardware, cement, steel, fertilizer. It will have fuel pumps and also truck maintenance shops. All of this will be at one place outside the city.

3. How it will work?

A joint venture will be set up between National Highways Authority of India (49% share) and the partner (51%) for the project which may be a state government or a private entity.

40% of acquired land will be developed and returned to the landowner. While 20% of the land will be sold to finance the project, the profit from the rest 40% of the land will go to National Highway Authority of India.

4. Benefits & Opportunities :

Its first impact will be that it will reduce pollution, traffic jam, create new employment opportunities and contribute towards increasing exports.

It is for the first time that gov has taken an integrated approach for the country’s transportation. This will increase India’s exports, provide employment opportunities, will be cost effective, and will make goods cheaper in the country.

Singapore has been placed as Asian’s logistic hub for the tenth consecutive year according to World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index report (LPI 2016 report) and seen ranking fall of Cambodia and Myanmar. It is to be believed that emerging economies that implement comprehensive initiatives continue to improve their performance.

Fall in global ranking of the south east Asia’s largest exporting and logistics business countries and economics – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – drop by between seven and 21 places.

At the mean time Cambodia and Myanmar, both countries seemed to be growing with respect to their foreign investment inflows and expansion of industrial experience.

1. In 2016 SEA Countries recorded their lowest logistics performance, Why?

According to the 2016 LPI report countries characterised by low logistics performance face: High costs not merely because of transportation charges, but also because unreliable supply chains hamstring integration and participation in global value chains.

Poor system to provide information for policy makers, traders, and other stakeholders on the role of logistics for growth, and the policies needed to support logistics in areas such as infrastructure planning, service provision, and cross-border trade and transport facilitation.

Other challenges facing the logistics industry, the report found, was a global shortage of qualified staff in all four industry occupational levels – operations, administration, supervisory, and managerial – in both developed and developing countries.

Efficient logistics connects people and firms to markets and opportunities, and helps achieve higher levels of productivity and welfare. Unfortunately, the logistics performance gap between rich and poor countries continues.

Some 24.5 per cent of responses came from companies with more than 250 employees, while more than 50 per cent of responses were provided by senior executives. A further 16 per cent were answered by department managers, and 15 per cent from country managers. Two-thirds (43 per cent) of respondents were at corporate or regional headquarters and 22 per cent at country branch offices.

2. How this performance can be improved?

Requirement of at least a semi-automated warehouse and order fulfilment system integrated with conventional storage systems, designed to optimize order picking process, increase productivity, and improve efficiency of overall material handling and information technology.

All picking areas are connected with intelligent conveyor system in order to avoid or minimize any manual transport operation and needs for order consolidation due to pick-to-order concept.

Intelligent picking technologies improve the picking performance and allow flexibility for future growth of business, by separating fast, medium and slow moving items into different picking areas, namely goods-to-man picking with the Schaefer carousel system, pick-by-light and RF terminal picking.

Handling systems improve handling efficiency, such as label jet, inline weighing scale etc.

Ergonomic design of workstation improves overall working environment and modular design of key system component to ensure sustainable long-term usability.

Automation plays a big part in the eCom Logistics Hub – fully automated parcel sorting system combined with the warehousing and order fulfilment system results the entire eCom Logistics Hub being integrated end-to-end from the eCommerce front-end platform to delivery.

Multitude of trucking companies around the globe are focusing on Eco-friendly logistics. As customers started raising demands about Eco-friendlier logistics and more sustainable environment. Today, many trucking companies are starting to implement a wide variety of sustainable practices to become less dependent on fuel and reduce cost.

(a) United Parcel Service : It is known worldwide. UPS has over 2,200 alternative fuel vehicles. UPS also provides the opportunity to allow customers to paperless billing and invoices.

(b) J.B. Hunt : They are committed to delivering the safe, sustainable, and cost-effective transportation solutions. J.B. Hunt has been able to improve overall fuel efficiency, lower transportation costs by approximately 50 percent because of adopting new technology.

(c) United Van Lines : It is the largest moving company in Canada, and has won a number of awards as Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. Some of the green initiatives include recycling tires, having regular scheduled trailer and truck maintenance and looking to become a paperless company.

(d) Swift Transportation : It is a top trucking company throughout the United States offering a variety of solutions. The company uses all the latest technologies to decrease their carbon footprint and cost to offer eco-friendly logistics.

(e) Penske Logistics : This company always looks for optimized routes that will increase fuel efficiency. The trucking company is also involved with a number of recycling and green lighting programs.

(f) Atlas Van Lines : This is one of the premier residential and commercial moving truck companies around the United States. all trucks are equipped with on-board information systems that help truck drivers become more efficient with their fuel.

(g) FedEx : It for many years has continued to look for ways to make their fleet operations even more efficient than they already are. FedEx has continually looked to encourage other trucking companies to develop and purchase clean-technology enabled trucks.

(h) DHL : It is one of the leading logistics companies around the globe. As customers worldwide are increasingly demanding greener, faster and cheaper logistics. DHL has transformed its operational activity as per that.

(i) YRC Worldwide : One of the largest trucking services throughout the world. It is a previous winner of the Smart Way Environmental Excellence Award. Their operation is completely paperless and minimum fuel consumption.

(j) C&K Trucking : This has maintained focus on efficiency and technologies that will aid in reducing their miles per gallon. The company has installed software on trucks to measure efficiency metrics, retrofitted trucks, and created new speed management policies.

1. FedEx’s Holiday Season Performance Improves Significantly :

FedEx estimated a slight increase in shipping packages due to out-scene marketing In order to handle the 290 million packages, FedEx had taken measures which included increasing seasonal workers, using six-sided cameras to read package labels, investing in improving its network and capping deliveries of retailers.

According to a logistics software firm, FedEx achieved a 91% on-time delivery rate during Thanksgiving week, compared to 83% last year.

2. Change In Pricing Mechanism To Drive Revenue, Margins :

FedEx had announced that it would be applying dimensional weight pricing for all FedEx Ground packages. Instead of charging for a package simply based on its weight, FedEx will be charging its FedEx Ground customers on the basis of dimensional weight, which can be calculated by multiplying the length, breadth and height of the package, and then dividing by 166. The change in pricing mechanism could result in a 30-50% increase in package shipping costs.

3. Revised Fuel Surcharge Rates To Counter Impact Of Falling Fuel Prices :

In addition to increasing fuel surcharge rates, FedEx has also widened the range over which rates remain static. Under the revised rates, if fuel prices remain at their current levels, FedEx Ground’s fuel surcharge rates will increase by 1.5% and those of FedEx Express will increase by 1%. The difference in fuel surcharge becomes wider at lower prices. The higher rates and broader price ranges will allow FedEx to capture higher fuel surcharge revenue if fuel prices continue to decline.

Without fear of oversimplifying, the biggest challenges that sales people face are :

• how to qualify and follow up on leads and
• how to prioritize sales activities.

(a) Enjoy a safe storage space : SFA tool helps sales people to safely and centrally store their contacts, sales opportunities, activities and scheduled plans in one place, and have uninterrupted access to the database from multiple locations. Rest assured that your data won’t just get lost.

(b) Plan and time-manage like a pro : SFA tool helps sales people to optimize their daily schedules and prioritize tasks to make sure customers are not ignored and the key prospects are contacted on time. In fact, SFA tool allows sales people to spend more time with customers, which leads to more deals closed and a stronger customer base.

(c) Activity reports? – No brainer : SFA tool helps sales people to easily prepare their weekly or monthly reports for management. The process is automated and transparent, and takes just a few clicks to inform others about what sales are currently in progress.

(d) Stop surfing, start targeting : SFA tool helps sales people to segment data and identify valuable opportunities via criteria based selections. This prevents you from hours of cutting and pasting from various documents, or surfing in the disorganized lists of data.

(e) Stay up-to-date on what’s happening : SFA tool offers shared calendars, document templates and e-mail integration, uniting all team members and keeping everyone up-to-date. Sharing selling patterns and processes allows sales people to see what works best. SFA TOOL also increases communication between the sales force and sales management.

(f) Show up in time for the new sale : By tracking all communication with the customers, SFA tool helps sales people to know exactly when customers need to be contacted; for example, for product replacement, contract renewal, or for an upsell to a new product or service. This all increases your chances of closing a sale.

(g) Rationalize your sales moves : SFA tool helps streamline the entire sales cycle, which results in closing deals in your sales pipeline and helping everyone in the team to reach targets faster. Since order processing and preparing quotes is automated in SFA tool, sales teams are able to reduce production costs and increase sales revenue.

(h) Know what your customers really want : Since all the customer-related data is stored in SFA tool, it helps sales people to analyse the needs of customers and even anticipate their problems – all at the right time. All this increases customer satisfaction and ensures loyalty, as well as higher profit margins.

(i) Cut down on admin tasks : SFA tool releases the sales teams from the majority of admin tasks by reducing and even removing some of the repetitive actions that take a lot of time, but yield little profitability. SFA tool stores product and price details, triggers reminders for activities, and takes sales people through the sales pipeline step by step.

(j) Save money : Even though SFA tool systems are not cheap, they actually help you save your money! With sales people, it is the reduction of errors (for example, in orders or quotes) that SFA tool can help with. Effort and cost related to correcting those errors may be much higher. Finally, it also boils down to such trivial things as saving money on those cluttering and often vanishing Post-it notes, since every new information can be safely stored in the system.

FMCG industry has taken a rapid pace among growing industries and transforming local markets. Weather it is eatable or housekeeping stuffs, customer demands are raising looking towards more comfort day by day and it is obvious in a swiftly developing country.

Especially metro cities and urban areas are turning outto be most welcoming new demands and satisfying them as a result small firms, SME can take place in the game promptly. New innovation bringing new opportunity, emerging manufacturing industries, workers are getting skilled on a huge market coverage, skilled are getting more skilled but unfortunately industrialist, distributors, wholesalers have not kept an eye towards distribution channel. When high demand is being focused distribution channels are just required to satisfy the needs but improve the process of distribution.

Current Challenges In Distribution :

There is the impossibility of offering a homogeneous level of services throughout the country. This problem is especially relevant in the case of customers belonging to the organized FMCG distributors, the elevated requirements from a logistics point of view of this type of distribution (urban last-mile, many small deliveries, perishable products, frequent problems in the billing process) and the great volume of resources that are involved, mean that few manufacturers can offer a uniform level of services in all geographical zones.

On the other hand, the other structural problem identified in this type of distribution is the elevated costs associated with the order-delivery-payment cycle. It is estimated that these costs in the distributors channel are four times greater than in large-scale retail. These high costs in comparison with other logistics systems are due to multiple factors (very small orders, very frequent deliveries).

Strategically oriented companies realize that the key element of long-term success is increasing interdependence. These proactive companies understand that strong long-term profitability can be achieved by creating and promoting positive relationships, mutual benefit between members of distribution channel.

1. Major trends that distributors must address :

Flourishing in augmented economy : Starting from e-trading and new retail business trend like multiple e-commerce websites, mobile applications, chatting applications, social media, customers want all of these in order to add the traditional- in – person, mobile and shipping services. E.G: A customer if wants to buy a product using internet in the evening, picks it up at the branch office next morning and can return it to the retail outlet. Distributors can introduce omni channel and van selling techniques, one that supports wide rage of supply channels and mobility devices to cater local areas and small enterprises.

Re-structuring the duty of the distributors : Highlighting themselves is an important strategy in such markets and distributors must have to implement some innovative and easy way to serve customers efficiently. Some distributors may diversify or expand their services like delivery at shop, online ordering , online pricing system, checking inventory in mobile phone to manage traditional break bulk system. For example, a food distributor might develop a mobile app that allows chefs to track inventory and automate the reordering of supplies to meet par levels.

Inspecting & Optimizing : Most distributors must have immediate access to more data than any other player in the value chain. With the right business intelligence, analytics, and reporting tools, distributors can quickly gain new insight into not only their operations but also the impact of customer interactions on business results. For example, distributors can use data to understand the true costs and profitability of each customer. With this insight, companies can adjust their processes to increase profitability.

Hold on to the new developed trends : Distributors must be prepared to quickly adopt effective new technologies. Some distributors want to use the technology to automate warehouse for instant out scan and delivery. Modern distributors are likely to implement augmented reality to have a knowledge of single inch information in the warehouse. Van selling- instant order taking, one hour delivery and instant invoicing is a great change in distribution industry.

2. Challenging factors :

Few visible challenging factors, customer relation system, awaking customers, being far from market, organizational culture, being more responsive for customers, achieving brand promise and also recognizing various life style, understanding customers needs, these information acquisition and local brands existing in the market also could be a good threat and wasting time.

3. Technology is driving the trends in the distribution market :

E-commerce is piling up : Distributors have growing interest in building a stronger e-commerce platform for their businesses. Almost 96 % of distributors have upgraded their website. E-commerce functionality is one of the top line up distributors want to step into. The interest is widespread among both small and large distributors.

Mobile is a game-changer : Mobile has changed how salespeople do their jobs and how they access information. Distributors are taking advantage of this trend not only to provide another channel for purchasing but also to grow mind share with customers. Mostly manufacturers are likely to deliver goods as early as possible and mobile has become revolutionary in this aspect.

Analytics is a step ahead : Advancing technology is allowing distributors to process data faster than ever before, resulting in the ability to track trends and be more strategic in applying sales resources. There’s a reality gap in what distributors want to do and what they are doing when it comes to the Big Data trend.

Logistics companies are always found to be un-organized and splintered slot of trading in the history of economy. Logistics industry require change in the services and operation like no other industries for which stability and growth of this industry become stagnant.

New age logistics technology enables inter-city as well as intra city freight and cargo management for which logistics connection and network become stronger and wide. Logistics network now seem easy to operate and stand on the line to offer better customer experience. Technology is successful to streamline the entire segment.

Logistics job require high security and responsibility to move shipment from one place to another and for its globalization it require highly robust technologically advanced platform.

Recently many logistics companies who run business using cloud technology have introduced commission based model in the market, online logistics management market place. This is a new revolution in logistics industry. Now whoever it is vendor or customer can enhance their service line and provide improved customer experience.

Again concept of out-door advertising has been successful to promote and explore the new ways of Logistics business like trading events, talks shows, inviting manufacturing industries to associate with.

New business model with an objective to address the issues like utilization, length turnaround time, driver shortage and pilferage.

Logistics start-ups have tremendously presented a light to today’s logistics industry. They are implementing innovative marketing strategies such as –

• Offering cashback and discounts deals.
• Offering gold and silver coins at festive season for business to business and business to consumer customers.
• Different discount for specific services like packers and movers as like certain amount of discounts, for courier or express certain percentage.
• Cash loyalty scheme – Increasing stickiness and high chance of earning customers.
• Offering bonus amount to drivers – Who complete more than certain hours of log-in in the particular month.

Choose the Best Cloud Logistics System and Mobility Solution to Boost Your Business.

Despite of being in uncertain economic positions and having lower oil prices than before government policies and investment to develop infrastructure and grow other sources are highly expected to economic breakthrough in UAE.

Logistics activities and GCC custom support together can lead to a good co-ordination and integrated regional logistics network across middle east Asia.

Airports and other coastal area of UAE have become one of the most important logistics hub in the world. Western and Eastern globe region connect through UAE ports mostly and resulting Euro- Asia trade take place in a greater scale across the region.

UAE government seem to be highly concerned about investing on EXPO 2020 and this should be worth investing which can be a key opportunity for the growth of logistics industry.

Since oil price has gone down relatively, government is reinforcing infrastructure and expecting revenue to be driven by expanding construction activities, modernizing the logistics system and other non-oil economic sectors.

Being a member of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), regional trade policy and transportation corridors in the region can benefit UAE. Apart from international logistics, domestic transportation is also expected to drive.

Few of the key drifts monitored across UAE logistics industry :

• Economic diversification
• Modern construction
• Increase export level
• Increased regional trading
• Multi model logistics
• Airport and railway network expansion
• Co-ordination of custom regulations
• Augmenting service sector

Other than oil UAE GDP has been composed by several sectors such as retails, logistics, tourism, real estate, and energy as 12%, 8%, 9%, 22%, 31% respectively.

As oil price has fallen down globally near around 60-70% at the end of 2014, oil companies across globe have felt the impact on trading and individual capita income, UAE remained one of these but UAE government enforced positive policies for country’s economic overview and helped to neutralize the impact of declined oil price thorough other sectors.

In recent few years, construction industry in UAE has rapidly grown to a certain state that small companies which started with tiles, marbles, building blocks now same companies have been engaged in manufacture and large construction operation. Gradually export level of construction materials has enhanced and all neighbouring countries are associated in the same regards for which tourism and corporate presence also tremendously climbed in the global vision.

Regional trade policy and government relations between UAE and KSA closely resulted an increasing economic rate and commercial bonding. Countries having membership of GCC are continuously showing interest to enhance domestic demands and strengthen bilateral trading policies.

UAE invested more than 25billion $ to build its railway infrastructure which has risen multiple sources of multiplies countries revenue and one among them is logistics. Logistics industry’s contribution is around 8% which is expected to grow around 23% by 2020.

Railways structure is designed in such a way that all the parts of emirates can be connected with each other and boost the internal communication. 11 billion $ already allocated to Etihad rail where as Abu Dhabi Department has sanctioned a budget of 8 billion $ for metro and DUBAI approved around 2billlion $ for its tram and metro communication project.

The planned regional trading position in DUBAI and increasing modern construction surely will capture a new picture of spontaneous growth of logistics business.

Growth of logistics carry out the growth of technology implementation, new formed logistics companies and government approach to modernize the technology in UAE towards multiple countries has been bringing a rapid successful growth.

In Shanghai 2010 international visitors were around 6% and in 2015 Italy it was projected to attract more than 30% and in 2020 it is clearly a challenge for UAE to meet at least 40%.

After government’s sincere contribution, greater range of preparation and huge multi billion investment by industries, it shows that UAE is an emerging spot for logistics in near future and for small to medium business it is like a golden opportunity to invest in logistics sector.

Cloud based platform integrated with augmented reality and world’s most advanced multi-model logistics system “LogixERP” and mobility platforms are highly requisite for upcoming UAE logistic industry.

Recommendation: LogixERP cloud logistics system for international logistics business.