Huafreed Nasarwanji – Chief Commercial Officer, Gati KWE, shares his insights
Major target segments
Being a prominent player in the express distribution and supply chain solutions segment, we cater to diversified industries and market segments such as white goods, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer durables, automotive and retail, to name a few. We have recently launched an advanced air freight solution for the pharmaceutical, electronics and auto ancillaries. All our service offerings aim to serve our customers’ evolving needs.
Changes that have transformed Indian logistics / road transport sector over the last decade
Apart from introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and e-way bill which have positively impacted the time and cost efficiency of the logistics operations, the government’s concerted efforts and continued focus to boost highway infrastructure have been contributing to raising the operational efficiency. Another significant development is the aggressive digitisation and growth of technology adoption. In this era of time-sensitive and responsive delivery demands fuelled by the growth of e-commerce, adoption of data-driven technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), etc. has become prevalent to boost agility, flexibility and accuracy.
Top two challenges and ways to address them
If we set the infrastructure bottleneck aside as the authorities have been working relentlessly to improve the logistics infrastructure and build multimodal efficiency, one of the key challenges the industry is currently facing is the lack of supply chain visibility due to the fragmented nature of the industry and inherent complexities. Adoption of digitisation and data-driven technologies will go a long way to boost visibility and resilience. The other key challenge that the industry is grappling with is scarcity of skilled human resources. The industry is at an inflection point and we require collaborative efforts to build sector attractiveness and bridge the skill gap.
Company’s success secrets
The first one is our customised logistics solutions for SMEs. Our service delivery points located in close proximity of the key MSME clusters offer services such as late pick-ups, next day deliveries, etc. so that the small businesses – the engines of economic growth – are able to grow their markets sustainably. Our aim is to steadily grow the revenue share from the SME segment in the next few years. Gati Enterprise Management System – GEMS, our indigenously developed custom-developed ERP, has had a transformational impact on our express logistics operations. GEMS 2.0 is set to take our operational efficiency to the next level.
Above all, our robust network which covers 735 of the country’s 739 districts and more than 19,800 PIN codes offers massive reach to our clients. Out network includes 65 warehouses across India, three e-fulfilment centres and transhipment centre in Farukhnagar in Gurugram, Haryana. We have plans to set up seven more transhipment facilities in Mumbai, Nagpur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Indore. We also offer global market access to our clients through our international supply chain arm, ECU Worldwide.
Thoughts on India’s 75th year of independence
Being acknowledged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world is a significant achievement for us. It shows that the country has the resilience to become truly self-sufficient and progress rapidly in the next phase of growth. The logistics industry will continue to play the role of a facilitator of inclusive economic growth, going forward.