TVS Supply Chain Solutions is one of the market leaders in automotive, industrial and consumer products segments with many blue chip companies being its customers. In this interaction with N. Balasubramanian, R Shankar, Executive Director, TVS Supply Chain Solutions elaborates on the company’s strengths, strategies and outlook for the future
Fleet Size and other Key Stats
TVS Supply Chain Solutions (TVS SCS) is among India’s largest and fastest growing integrated supply chain solutions provider. It has presence in 25 countries including India, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Australia and Singapore with more than 18,000 employees. TVS SCS India operates over 3,000 trips every day across India through a unique asset-light model, with relationships across 950+ ground transportation service providers and a regular contracted fleet in excess of 1,000 trucks. The organisation manages over 19 million sq. feet of warehouse space through a model of own leased, multi-user facility and customer-leased infrastructure.
Major Target Segments
TVS SCS is one of the market leaders in automotive, industrial and consumer products segments with many blue chip companies being its customers. The company offers comprehensive service portfolio across all facets of transportation including inbound milk run and delivery, primary and secondary transportation, last mile deliveries and in-city distribution.
Transformation of Indian Logistics
The logistics industry in India is continuously evolving with customers requiring faster speed-to-market (through traditional and new go-to-market approaches) and end-to-end visibility across supply chains. The e-commerce sector has also dramatically increased the expectations and price sensitivity of end-customers, thus leading to more automation and use of technology. India is well-positioned to become a global supply chain hub and with government initiatives such as Make in India, focus on self-reliance and Production Linked Incentives Scheme, the domestic demand will be significantly increased. The two significant changes across the last decade that have helped Indian logistics grow exponentially are the introduction of GST and the focus on infrastructure development.
The implementation of GST, e-way bill and Fastag has helped to significantly improve the pan-India movement of transport systems with easing up of documentation formalities and quicker turnaround time. The changes in the regulatory environment have helped dramatic reduction in transportation transit times by as much as 15-20% with resultant improvement in customer satisfaction and access to markets. The second significant change in the last decade is the development of infrastructure, including roads and highways. The government’s initiative of Gati Shakti and stress on multi-modal transportation and logistics parks is expected to ease this further.
Top Two Challenges
While India is a high growth market for logistics and supply chain space, the supply chain-related outsourcing by manufacturers should increase considerably. This would be a win-win scenario for both manufacturers and for the supply chain service providers as it would bring in efficiency along with cost savings to the manufacturers besides providing greater supply chain visibility, precision and closed loop services. Another area that is work in progress is the digitisation and doing away with paper documents across multimodal logistics. The pandemic has made it clear that agility and technological refinement should be the prime focus of the logistics industry. The government through its PM Gati Shakti – National Master Plan for Multi-Modal Connectivity aims to provide integrated and seamless connectivity for movement of goods and services from one mode of transport to another.
Company’s Success Secrets
TVS Supply Chain Solutions, being one of the largest supply chain solutions providers in the country, has deep domain knowledge in the areas of end-to-end solutions, plug-and-play modules and value-added solutions. These domains of expertise have helped reiterate the organisation’s position as a differentiated player in the organised supply chain market. The other strength is its ability to successfully integrate more than 20 companies that it has acquired over the years and the ability to cross deploy its global capabilities across geographies to provide best-in-class service to its customers. Finally, TVS SCS has a highly efficient in-house technology team that provides significant competitive advantage to customers. Its flexible software solutions that could be integrated with customers’ systems, data driven insights and automation are some of the key value propositions that the organisation brings to the table.
FY22 Turnover
TVS SCS closed the books of accounts for FY22 with revenue of approximately Rs 9,300 crore.
75 Years of Indian Independence
India is in a sweet spot as it is set to exponentially grow its economy through substantial increase in its manufacturing activities. The government through its favourable policies like Make in India and PLI Scheme is encouraging players to considerably increase the manufacturing base in India. Further, many MNCs are looking to reduce over-dependence on China, which will also offer significant opportunities for India to thrive and get attractive foreign investments. If one were to connect the dots, India is uniquely positioned to make a strong mark for itself in the global map for the next couple of decades. To summarise, India has made steady progress over the years, consolidated its position in the last few years and is all set to take off for a long and successful journey.