In just four years since inception, RAVI Integrated Logistics Pvt. Ltd. (Mr. KOOL) has already emerged as a national player in cold chain trucking services across the country. Determined to establish itself as India’s first choice for integrated cold chain services, the company is stepping up its secondary distribution and storage services. In conversation with its MD and CEO, Mr. Bhupender Singh.
Is cargo transportation a ‘chill-work’ kinda business activity? By that, I mean a possibility of infusing an easy-going approach into the operational processes and related aspects of the activity, without worrying too much about the future outcomes and not being to mindful of any sort of pressure by being clever. Well, I’m not sure either, but a specific segment within transportation that would totally decimate this inquiry is cold chain transportation.
Because, here the transportation priorities are distinctive and too many, and the entire ‘chain’ has to remain uninterrupted. If it is broken, then the entire gamut of production, transportation, storage and distribution of a product – all in a temperature-controlled and time ticking environment – would get disrupted and the product would end fouled up. For instance, if milk and mushrooms does not reach your kitchen intact on time, no more coffee or salad for your breakfast at home!
Mr. Bhupender Singh of Mr. KOOL refrigerated logistics couldn’t agree more. He totally acknowledges this tough spot in running cold chain logistics. “Refrigerated cargo trucking is one of the most delicate and complicated operations to take up, which touches upon the lives of people on an everyday basis, may it be food supplies or pharmaceutical”, he says. In addition to generic priorities of transporters like just-in-time delivery and optimum TCO, refrigerated trucking has to be pro-active in ensuring right temperature condition for the cargo at the right time as necessitated, careful handling of perishable and brittle products, safer distribution and perfect last-mile delivery to the end consumers, he added.
“In addition, certain product loads like eggs demand a constant speed to be maintained throughout the journey, neither sluggish nor too speedy with no heavy acceleration or harsh acceleration, while certain other products require unique containers and haulage-safety parameters… So, it’s not just ‘chilled’ transportation, and definitely not a ‘chilled-out’ business”, he noted. Cold chain transportation requires strong organisational capacity and effective management of a multitude of variables, according to him.
End-to-end solutions
With immense experience in the trucking logistics for more than a decade, Mr. Singh ventured into cold chain logistics in 2015, with the establishment of his very own company Mr. KOOL (Ravi Integrated Logistics) right from square one. Starting with a fleet of just 8 refrigerated vehicles, he claims to have realised a revenue of about Rs. 85 crores in FY2018-19, with a fleet of around 250 refrigerated haulage and distribution trucks, coordinated by a network of 23 branches across all regions of the country. His Gurgaon-headquartered company has just won the latest Mahindra Transport Excellence Award 2018 in the category ‘Outperformers in Business- up to 50 CVs’ for “accepting no limits and alternative thinking”.
Although the initial focus was towards primary inter-city haulage of perishable goods with customer-centric branding and service, the company has greatly expanded its operations into secondary (intra-city) and distribution at local level, complimented by dry logistics and warehousing solutions for its existing clients. Mr. KOOL’s esteemed list of clients includes companies like Mother Dairy, Adani, Reliance, Aditya Birla, Amul, Havmor Ice creams, ITC, and so on.
Mr. Singh says, “Our endeavour is to offer a range of integrated services to our customers in cold chain logistics, which warrants three types of services including collection, storage, and distribution. We are already into collection and distribution, now we are coming up with cold storages to augment our efforts to provide complete solutions”. Two of those cold storages are coming up at Ghaziabad and Gurugram immediately, the company said. He has also drafted a vision plan for the year 2024 for Mr. KOOL that includes an aim of surpassing Rs. 600 crores revenue, with an aspired fleet size of about 700 vehicles and 40 cold storages under the company’s moniker.
Fleet and future
“We are growing at about 106 per cent every year. Investments on fleet expansion and cold storages are happening right on time… ten more cold storages will be established in next three years. In this pace, we are sure to achieve the targets of our vision 2024”, he opined. With the strident evolution of food processing industry in the country, he added, the cold chain transportation is embarking on a new pace of development and consolidation. “Although the government is keen on promoting food processing sector, the policies should not be limited to the food makers alone. This industry cannot grow without essential allied services like cold chain transportation and storage”, he observed.
As far as Mr. KOOL’s reefer fleet is concerned, the trucks range from 2.5 to 22 tonnes, with the vehicles sourced from Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, and VECV (distribution trucks) and reefer units from Thermo King and Carrier. Both the vehicles and refrigeration units are maintained under comprehensive AMC contracts with their suppliers, which helps a lot in maintaining optimum uptime where ever they ply across the country, Mr. Singh said. They also impart essential training to the company’s drivers and staffs on preventive maintenance, which also determines vehicles’ uptime, he added. On an average, the company’s fleet is covering 50,000 km per day on an average.
With the predicted price hike of commercial vehicles next year due to BS-VI, Mr. Bhupender Singh revealed that his company is adding about 100 new trucks this year, which is a huge investment. “We have planned in such a way that the next financial year will see very limited fleet expansion than our yearly average, so as to offset the investments we are making this year”, he said.
The company has already invested enough in building a robust organisation in terms of technological efficacy like real-time vehicle tracking and temperature monitoring for its entire fleet, technical and monetary data analytics, connectivity platforms to link drivers and customers with the company, and so on. “Depending on the emerging standards of the industry and unique requirements of our customers, we will continue to rejuvenate our fleet and processes with global technologies, best practices, and innovation, may it be adding refrigerated container trailers or customer-specific cold storages”, he assured.
“Our vision is to make Mr. KOOL surpass Rs. 600-crore revenue mark by 2024, with an aspired fleet size of about 700 vehicles and 40 cold storages across different regions of the country under the company’s moniker.
– Mr. Bhupender Singh, MD and CEO, RAVI Integrated Logistics Pvt. Ltd. (Mr. KOOL)