A

PROJECT REPORT ON

“WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION IN SUPPY CHAIN MANAGEMENT”

AT

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for award of

“Post Graduate Diploma in Materials &Logistics management”

SUBMITTED TO:

UNIVERSITY OF PUNE

SUBMITTED BY:

GANESH M. MOHITE

PGDMLM

(2010-2011)

SINHGAD BUSINESS SCHOOL, PUNE.

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thanking is formality and sometimes a necessity, nevertheless an

essential part of any project report. The list of expression of thanks no matter how

extrusive is always incomplete and inadequate. This acknowledgement is no exception.

One of the best parts of writing a project report is the opportunity to thank those who

have contributed to it. This project report has been made possible through direct and

indirect

Co-operation of various people. I specially with to acknowledge the following people

who reviewed the project. Thank for the most perspective and helpful comments.

I sincerely thank to Prof. Santosh Singh for his support and valuable guidance in reviewing

the project form time. I also express my gratitude to my friends who helps me throughout the

project.

GANESH M. MOHITE.
 PERFACE

Summer training is an integral part of our academic curriculum. During the training, a

student gets an opportunity to understand the practical aspect of theory. Training makes the

concept clearer.

This project report is the outcome of the training that I have undergone at

SAFXPRESS PVT. LTD. for the partial fulfillment of Post graduate

Diploma in Foreign Trade.

The topic allotted to me by the company is “WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION IN

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT”.

The project emphasizes on the warehousing and distribution in supply chain management

done by the company.

I have tried to my best to make a good report. However; no one can claim perfection in its

entirety .So I apologize for the discrepancy, if any, crept in. Preparation of project requires

perseverance, initiatives, proper guidance and direction. So it is mandatory to take the aid of

various departments.
 TABELS OF CONTENTS

Sr. No. Contents Page No.

1 Introduction 1-14

1.1 Company profile

1.2 Type of business

1.3 Safexpress services

1.4 Future expansion

2 Supply Chain Management

15-20
2.1 Meaning

2.2 SCM by Robert Handfield

2.3 Components of SCM

3 Case Study
21-27
Dabbewalas of Mumbai

4 Warehousing 28-31

5 FQA’s
32-38
6 Conclusion
39
7 Bibliography
40

1
 Chapter - 1

INTRODUCTION

➢Company Profile

➢Types of Business

➢Safexpress Services

➢Future Expansion

 Company’s Turnover & Achievements

Company Profile

Founded in 1916, J. M. Baxi & Co. is the largest, most efficient

and professionally managed Shipping Agency House in India.

The Company has a strong presence in most of its business lines and
leadership in several of the shipping support services.

The future plans are focussed on consolidating the existing activities

and developing other shipping related areas as well.

J. M. Baxi & Co. is transforming its business strategies and new

initiatives into opportunities for future growth by focusing on three key
aspects –

• Innovation
• is more than just a buzz word for us. It is our way to translate lateral thinking into actionable
processes that will contribute to how we improve on existing techniques and provide value-added
services to our customers.

• The process of innovation is all encompassing and no area of activity in J. M. Baxi & Co. is out of its
purview. The steps could be simple and progressively incremental. The endeavour to constantly
better the best is a continuous driver to achieving improvements in the way we think and act.

• Commitment
• Commitment is striving to meet the current as well as future needs and expectations of our
customers. It means a complete dedication to our areas of functional responsibility and beyond.

• At J. M. Baxi & Co., every employee stands committed to deliver with diligence a result oriented
performance that contributes synergistically to the overall growth of the organization through
customer satisfaction. In being committed to goals and achieving them, our employees enhance their
self-esteem vis-a vis our business partners and associates.
 • Performance
Performance emerges out of commitment. Corporate Performance Management takes into consideration
the integration of performances of various measurable attributes that are responsible for the growth and
sustainability of an organization. Performance means measured steps to profitable growth.

At J. M. Baxi & Co. we measure performance on a continuous basis and set benchmarks on par with the best in
the industry. We encourage our employees to set stretchable yet achievable goals and provide them with all
the means to meet and even exceed expectations.

Through Innovation, Commitment and Performance, we ensure mutually beneficial growth through customer
satisfaction.

Competitive Advantage

• Strong brand image in the maritime domain.

• A professionally managed Company offering specialized maritime services to Ship owners, Principals,
Exporters and Importers.
• High level of confidence among Clients and Principals
• About 2000 experienced professionals and specialists nationwide.
• Wide range of maritime logistics services, unmatched in the industry.
• Consistency in quality of services offered and total commitment to our clients.
• ISO 9001 - 2008 Certification by DNV.
• Award winning performances in most business activities.
• Nationwide network of own offices at 56 port & inland locations, equipped with round-the-clock
Communication Network.
• Modern infrastructure facilities provide comprehensive logistics support.

HISTORY

MISSION

TYPE OF BUSINESS

.
SERVICES OFFERED BY J.M. BAXI & CO.

➢ SERVICES / SHIPPING AGENCY

We handle over 6000 vessels per annum at various Indian ports. These include: Tankers
(VLCC/Crude/Products), LPG, LNG & Ammonia carriers, Bulk Cargo vessels, Container vessels, Break Bulk Liner
vessels, Car carrier vessels, Cruise vessels, Naval vessels, Dredgers, Lash vessels, Offshore & onshore rigs,
heavy lift cum submersible vessels, Supply vessels and helicopters.

The scope of our services comprehensively covers all requirements of the vessel. We offer services to vessels
at all major and minor ports on the east and west coasts of India.
We offer value-added services as Owners Protective Agents and also Ship Lay-up Services at various port

locations.

Currently, over 200 national and international Principals avail of our Agency services - a measure of their
confidence in our abilities.

➢ AGENCY SERVICES FOR CRUISE & VISITING NAVAL SHIPS

Armed with years of experience and expertise, our professionals and Master Mariners are fully geared to
handle all types of cruise and visiting Naval ships at any port in India. Special arrangements include handling
of passengers, crew, naval personnel both for embarking and disembarking operations. We maintain close
liaison with port authorities, related government agencies, tourist bureaus, passenger handling companies, as
well as, the Indian Navy.

➢ CONTAINER TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT

With most of the liner cargo moving by containers, a separate cell has been established to handle containers
at all major ports. Container Freight Stations and Inland Container Depots are equipped with our own
sophisticated equipment such as Top Lifters and Trailers.

We offer turnkey offshore and shore based support facilities for major international & national clients in the
oil and gas business sectors, notably at Bhavnagar & Mumbai.

We are also active in the bidding process of developing new ports, terminals & jetties at other locations as
well.
➢ PORT DEVELOPMENT & TERMINAL MANAGEMENT

J. M. Baxi & Co. is India's first privately owned company to run its own terminal in the port sector in India. It
was developed a Bulk terminal at Rozi, Jamnagar since 1998.

In 2003, the first container terminal at Visakhapatnam port was set up and is now fully operational. J. M. Baxi
& Co. is India's first privately owned company to run its own terminal in the port sector in India. It was
developed a Bulk terminal at Rozi, Jamnagar since 1998.

➢ PROJECT LOGISTICS DIVISION

The Project Logistics Division of J. M. Baxi & Co. specializes in professional logistics services for a wide range
of project equipment including Heavy Lifts and Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC) on a turnkey and door-to-door
basis which includes sea freight and inland transportation from the manufacturing facility to the project site.

The Division is the single source of a range of comprehensive value-added services necessary for the efficient
and safe transport of project cargo - an advantage for our clients. The Division is SAP enabled for all its
operations and extensively uses AUTOCAD for detailed planning of logistics for movement of Heavy Lifts &
ODCs.

The project logistics involves detailed planning and scheduling to contend with the exigencies of terrain,
distances and environment, thereby involving multi-modal transport operations - sea, road, rail and river.

➢ ENGINEERING, EQUIPMENT & TRAINING DIVISION

The Division provides services to clients by undertaking engineering, erection and fabrication assignments. The
state-of-the-art own equipment, sourced from reputed foreign and Indian manufacturers, includes a range of
telescopic cranes, all terrain cranes, hydro-excavators, forklifts and other specialized equipment that are
available on contract. The Division has an added strength in providing Simulator based training and on-site
training to hone the operational skills of its personnel to perform challenging tasks with efficiency and total
safety.

The Division also offers simulator training and “hands-on” training to experienced crane operators of other
organizations to hone their skills.These facilities are also available to fresh crane operators as well.
The training comprehensively covers all aspects of crane operation.

➢ TANKER OPERATIONS
A separate tanker cell with experienced personnel handles a large number of tankers at various ports such as

Mumbai, Dabhol, Mormugoa, Kandla, Cochin, Mangalore, Chennai, Ennore, Dahej, Visakhapatnam, Paradip,

Hazira, Haldia & Vadinar. This cell is fully geared to handle all types of tankers carrying crude, clean

petroleum, chemical products, LPG and LNG. Tanker operations from large mother vessels to smaller tankers

are carried out under expert supervision. Presently we handle the 1st and 2nd LNG ships operating in India,

including MV Disha and MV Raahi.

➢ WAREHOUSING & FRIEGHT STATION

With modern infrastructure at our disposal, we offer freight forwarding as a specialised service to both
importers/exporters with full responsibility of handling the import/export function. These services include
warehousing, transport, customs clearance and other related activities. We are geared to provide
comprehensive multimodal service on a point-to-point basis using various modes of transport.

➢ INTERNATIONAL FREIGHT FORWARDING

With our excellent all India network and links to overseas forwarding partners, we offer quality services and a
seamless network of international logistics that delivers goods as desired by the clients. We have the
advantage of being licenced Custom House Agents, Freight Brokers and Chartering Agents and are hence in a
position to offer our services to Indian and foreign clients.

FUTURE EXPANSION
 Logistics services provider Safexpress plans to invest Rs 800-1,000 crore (Rs 8-10

billion) in five years to expand its operations on the back of the boom in manufacturing

and retail activities in the country. As a result of the expansion, the company's turnover is

likely to touch Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) by 2010.

The company expects to fund its expansion through internal accruals and debt as it claims

to have strong bottom-line and cash reserves. The privately-held Safexpress has been

growing at 35 per cent and posted a turnover of Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) in 2006-07.

The company expects similar growth this year as well, Pawan Jain, chairman and managing

director, told reporters at the CII Logistics 2007 summit in Chennai. Safexpress intends to set

up logistics parks comprising warehouses, vendor management services, raw material

management and finished products storages at 32 locations across the country.

Each park will come up on an area of 25-30 acres. A group company, which is into the

realty business, has already completed around 70 per cent of the land acquisition. The

company is also establishing a 3 lakh sq ft logistics park near Chennai at an

investment of Rs 35 crore (Rs 350 million). It already operates a 80,000 sq ft warehouse

in Chennai.

Through the expansion programme, the warehousing capacity of the company will grow to 10

million sq ft in the next three years from the current 3 million sq ft. The company was

planning to strengthen its presence in the air cargo segment by taking three Boeing-737 cargo

aircraft on lease. These would cover five cities in the country by the next financial year,

according to Jain. Safexpress has also placed an order for 380 trucks to add to its current fleet

of 3,000 vehicles. The company doesn't own the vehicles, but hires them through its network

of 59 vendors.
HEALTHCARE SEGMENT

It is one of Safexpress's special focus area which contributes 16 percent of the revenue. With

more than than 100 percent customer retention rate Safexpress has always given due

importance to the demands of their customers. Aiming at expansion, they are investing

heavily in infrastructure development and will soon be coming up with 32 logistics parks and

will be adding seven million square feet of warehousing capacity. The investment is planned

for a total of Rs 1000 crore in infrastructural development in the next three years. Pawan Jain,

Chairman and Managing Director, Safexpress, says, "We have plans for expanding our

specialized logistics product range. This range would be specifically designed for the

healthcare industry after thoroughly analysing its needs. Apart from offering our multi-modal

services, we will be providing single window solutions and, along with managing the

logistics channel end-to-end from distribution channels to pharmacy or patient level. We

would be offering specialised logistics solutions to the rural healthcare, customised

pharma and cold warehouses pan-India, packaging solutions, implementing bar-coding to

prevent spurious drugs and offering solutions as per regulatory norms like GDP, US

FDA, MHRA and GCCDP."

With a view to provide customised logistics services for booming retail industry

Safexpress also sponsored the ninth Marketing and Retail Conclave. The conference saw

the presence of leading retail players from all across the world. Vineet Kanujia, General

Manager Marketing, Safexpress said, "The idea behind sponsoring this conclave was to

bring the retail and logistics industries closer. Safexpress has been at the helm in

harnessing and synergising the needs of the retail industry for the growth of the economy.

We have successfully managed to gather the required inputs and the coming period will

see us roll out these plans."

TURNOVER
The company hopes to double its turnover to Rs 1,000 crore by 2010, he told reporters on the

sidelines of CII Logistics 2007. The privately-held company has been growing at 35 per cent

and posted a turnover of Rs 600 crore in 2007-08. It expects a similar growth this year, Mr

Jain said.

In three years, Safexpress will add 7 million sq ft of space to its existing 3 million sq ft. It

will set up logistics parks comprising warehouses, vendor management, raw material

management, finished products storages, and also distribute consignments. These parks

will come up in 32 locations across the country, he said.

EMPLOYEES TURNOVER

At present there are 2500 employees in safexpress but they are planning to expand there

number of employees in future.

ACHIVEMENTS

Safexpress wins ‘International Business Excellence Award 2008

Safexpress CMD, Mr. Pawan Jain conferred with the ‘Bharat Gaurav Puraskar’

by the Institute of Economic Studies Mumbai, September 4, 2008: ‘Logistics Guru’ and

CMD, Safexpress, Mr. Pawan Jain was conferred with the ‘Bharat Gaurav Puraskar’ for the

‘Best Business Leader’ by the Institute of Economic Studies (IES) this week. His

entrepreneurship venture, Safexpress Pvt. Ltd. which has grown into one of the leading

logistics and supply chain management companies in India was also awarded the

‘International Business Excellence Award’ for the ‘Best Business Enterprise’ at the same

platform organised at Hotel Grand Sukhumvit.

By Sofitel at Bangkok, Thailand. The prestigious award was presented in a ceremony

proceeded by a seminar on ‘The Global Indians’. The award was given in recognition of the
achievements of Mr. Pawan Jain with respect to bringing innovation, excellence and quality

in the field of Logistics.The award was presented to Mr. Jain by the former Deputy Prime

Minister of Thailand, Dr. Korn Dabbaransi.

On this grand occasion, ‘Logistics Guru’, Mr. Pawan Jain, CMD, Safexpress said “Both

these prestigious awards mean a lot to us. It is indeed a proud moment for everyone

associated with Brand Safexpress. We are happy that our relentless efforts have been

recognized in the industry. We have always ensured quality, security and timely services

and promise to continue in delivering the best. We are humbled by this adulation.”

This award ceremony was a platform for honoring Indian entrepreneurs and enterprises,

who have been consistently demonstrating Business Excellence as per International

standards.

IES is the most esteemed economic institution of the country. It seeks to provide expert

advice on the various facets of Indian economy by way of in-depth study and research.

IES has been actively involved in providing information to its members on the critical

developments taking place on the various economic fronts. In present day, it has come to

epitomize excellence in economic sphere. About Safexpress- Safexpress is India’s No. 1

Supply Chain and Logistics Company. The company offers the best and the most innovative

solutions for all SCM and Logistics requirements. Their services are totally customized as per

the demand of different segments of the business industry. Courtesy their wide range of

quality services, Safexpress has set a benchmark in SCM standards and redefined the

functioning of Indian Logistics Industry. Growing at a phenomenal rate of over 30 % in the

last couple of years, Safexpress achieved an annual turnover of Rs. 500 crores in the FY

2006-07.

The company is targeting a turnover of Rs. 1000 crores by the year 2010.
 CHAPTER-2

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

➢ Meaning

➢ Components of Supply Chain Management

➢ Supply Chain Management: Robert B. Handfield

➢ System of Supply Chain Management

➢ Processes of Supply Chain management

 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Since, the beginning of the 1990s, there has been a paradigm change in the business

scenario, mainly due to the liberalization policy of various economies all over the world, and

revolutionary innovation in the field of science and technology.

Particularly, information technology and communication infrastructure has resulted into a

continuous acceleration in the magnitude competition. To sustain themselves in such an

erratic environment, firms need to have door competency and productivity. That is why firms

are perceived to have more systemized activities related to movement and storage of goods so

as to make them available at a short noticed with the lower inventory level. For instance,

Godrej locks – a division of Godrej & Boyce Company – has to reduce its order to delivery

cycle from there weeks to only three days. Computers giant Hewett Packard has cut the

duration of its cycle to deliver to customers in India from the us by one third, from 37 days, to

10 days. All this happened because of higher and systematic. Supply Chain Management the

new and more Indian companies are jumping onto supply chain management bandwagons for

the completive edge.

Supply Chain Management is business system of enterprise strategies, business processes and

information technologies for improving the planning, execution and collaboration of material

flows, information flows, financial flows and workforce flows in the supply chain. SCM is

supported by modular software applications that integrate.

Activities across organizations, from demand forecasting, product planning, parts purchasing,

inventory control, manufacturing, product assembly to product distribution. Association put

forward is that Supply Chain Management encompasses the planning and management of all

activities involved in sourcing, procurement, conversion, and logistics management activities.

Importantly, it also includes co-ordination and collaboration with channel partners,which can

be suppliers, intermediaries,third-party service providers andcustomers.

In essence, Supply Chain Management integrates supply and demand management within and

across companies.

➢ Customers:

Customers are the sole purpose of existence of any business. customers interact

with retailers or supermarket. Website or telemarketing

firm can also act as an interface for the customer. Retailer works towards fulfilling

the demand, either through inventory or through placing fresh orders with

preceding link in the supply chain. In some case the customers bypass the

traditional supply chain and interact directly with the manufacturers for example

in case of online purchase of computer from Dell Computers, customers directly

place an order with a manufacturer i.e. Dell.

➢ Retailers/Distributors:

Retailers interact with distributors or manufacturers directly to fulfill the demand created

by their respective customers. Retailer places

an order with preceding link in the supply chain to replenish its depleting

inventories. Typically the orders are initiated by the retailers but, in some case the

manufacturers monitors supermarket’ stocks and automatically initiates reorders,

Wal-Mart and P&G using continuous replenishment program is one example.

➢ Manufacturers:

Retailers or distributors often place their orders with manufactures after gauging the

demand. Based on the demand from

retailers/distributors manufactures decide their production targets and schedules.

Manufacturers usually follow either push based strategy or pull based strategy. In
push based strategy production decisions are based on long-term forecasts thus

making it more difficult for the manufacturers to adjust their production

schedules.

In a pull-based strategy production is driven by customer demand rather than

forecast thus allowing for greater flexibility in the production. Information flow

and technologies like Point-of-Sales ( POS ) data play a significant role in this

strategy.

➢ Suppliers:

Manufactures interact with suppliers to make sure that they have all the available materials

for manufacturing. Raw material orders placed with

suppliers are more precisely determined as they are based on production schedule.

But the question arises is the production schedule reflective of the correct demand?

Manufacturers works in close coordination with suppliers in order to reduce high

inventories. Just in time is one such technique, which manufacturers use to achieve

this objective.

REVERSE SUPPLY CHAIN

➢ Reverse Logistics is the process of planning, implementing and controlling the

efficient, effective inbound flow and storage of secondary goods and related

information opposite to the traditional supply chain direction for the purpose of

recovering value or proper disposal. Reverse Logistics is also referred to as

“Aftermarket Customer Services”. In other words, anytime money is taken from a

company’s Warranty Reserve or Service Logistics budget, that is a Reverse

Logistics Operation.
COMPONENTS OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Our Global Supply Chain Management practice focuses on four key solution areas:-

➢ Adaptive Execution.

We transition your supply chain into a high-speed, low-cost, rapid-response engine

to increase visibility and response from procurement to

fulfillment and replenishment.

➢ Supply Management.

Our technologies and collaborative business processes improve sourcing, procurement,

contracting, purchasing, invoicing and analysis.

➢ Customer-Supply Synchronization.

Integrate SCM with marketing, sales and customer

management and you’ll see high availability and low costs

that can increase sales and eliminate rush shipments and

back-orders.

➢ Securing Supply Chains.

Comply with security requirements and speed container inspections with

solutions that offer tracking, analysis, alert capabilities,

and process and policy documentation

A SYSTEM OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Supply Chain Management is a social or soft system which has goals, components,

processes and boundary.

Goals of SCM.

 To reduce inventory cost.

 To increase sales

 To improve the coordination and the collaboration with suppliers, manufactures an

distributor.

Components of SCM System –

The components of a supply Chain System consist of

1. Supply Chain Software and Hardware,

2. Supply Chain Business processes and Users of SCM System.

SCM Software and Hardware –

The core of an SCM System is SCM software. Supply Chain Software is module based

application. Each software module automates business activities of a functional area in the

Supply Chain.

UNIX is the most common operating system for running SCM software.

Business Processes –

Business processes of supply chain includes supply chain planning, execution and

collaboration and operational control.

Users –
The users of SCM systems are workers of supply chain participants at all levels.

PROCESSES OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

➢ Demand Planning and Forecasting –

A critical success factor to supply chain management is accurate demand forecasting.

Supply chain software systems utilize sophisticated mathematical models for predicating

future demand from historical data.

➢ Procurement –

This is the process of choosing the suppliers that will deliver the goods and services you

need to manufacture or assembly your products or create

your services. It involves price negotiation, receiving, and verifying the

shipments.

➢ Manufacturing and Assembly –

Raw components are assembled into final products or raw materials are manufactured into

finished goods.

➢ Distribution –

This is the process of delivering your products or services consumers. Distribution involves

warehousing, delivering, invoicing and payment collection.

➢ Return –

Return and refund are important parts and also the problem pats of supply chain

management.

➢ Boundary of the SCM systems-

The boundary of a SCM system is he boundary of extended enterprise which includes the

company, suppliers, partner, distributors and customers.

 CHAPTER-3

CASE STUDY

DABBAWALAS OF MUMBAI

CASE STUDY: DABBAWALAS OF MUMBAI

6 Sigma Dabbawalas of Mumbai, And their Operations Management-

An Analysis :

The ubiquitous Dabbawalas also known as tiffinwalas who provide a lunch delivery

service in Mumbai have been in the business over 115 years. Their mode of operations

have been studied by global management gurus and business schools. In 1988, Forbes

magazine conducted a study and rated them a Sigma 6 organization i.e. a 99,9999 per

cent correctness – which means if the organization delivers six million tiffins, it will not

misplace more than one or just one tiffin in six million transactions.

Considering the unique achievement of Dabbawalas in the field their operations, this

study has been undertaken to access their group efforts and managerial efficiency. The

main objectives of this subject are :

1) To examine how the Dabbawalas operate;

2) To study how Dabbawalas of Mumbai perform an amazing role in procurement

and distribution of tiffins to their clients from which one can learn many critical

issues of supply chain, distribution and logistics management. This subject mainly

dwells on the examination of their operations and achievement of almost zero-

fault performance including their problems and prospects in this changing

environment of their business, they work as a team to achieve a common goal

with a cent percent accuracy, and

3) To explore the problems and prospects of the Dabbawalas’s services in the light of

changing environment.

Their Glorious Past Performances:

The origin of the Dabbawala’s lunch delivery services dates back to the year 1890.

Mahadeo Havaji Bacche, a migrant from Pune district ( North Maharastra ) started this

lunch delivery service. At that time, eople came from different states and form different

communities migrated to Mumbai for work. At working place there were no canteens or

fast food centres and they did not bring their lunch from home. Besides, different

communities had different food habits, tastes and preferences which could only be

satisfied by a home made meal. Recognizing the need, Mahadeo started this lunch

delivery service.

In this business, Mahadeo recruited young men from the villages neighbouring Mumbai

(generally Pune district and adjoining areas ), who had no formal education or technical

efficiency to get work in the city. There were 100 Dabbawalas increased. In 1950,

Dabbawalas were delivering 1,00,000 lunches per day. After the death of Mahadeo they

became organized in 1954 and formed Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Trust.

The trust had branch offices in different parts of the Mumbai sucha s Chembur, Dadar,

Ghatkopar etc. In 2005, 5000 Dabbawalas are delivering around 2,00,000 lunches per day.

Levels of Management:
 The trust is a co-operative body having three levels of management, viz.

1) The Governing Council, its President, Secretary – Top level,

2) Mukabams ( Team leaders or supervision ) – Middle level,

3) Dubbawalas – Lower level.

The Governing Council ( also called as Panch Committee ) holds meetings on the

15th day of every month. Mukadams and Dabbawalas are entitled to attend the

meetings. At these meetings, Dabbawalas discussed their problems and business

policies. The trust collected Rs. 15 p.m. for each member to maintain a welfare

fund. The trust provides various services to its members, including loan facilities

for emergencies, educations expenses for children, health care etc. from this

welfare fund. The Dabbawalas are organized in supervise to sorting Dabbas ( tiffin

box ), to keep records of payment, to settle disputes, to seach new customers and

train new Daddawalas. Each goup is financially independent but work together in

the delivery process. Each gouup serves its own customers without hampering the

interests of other. Now the Dabbawalas are charging cutomers Rs. 250 to Rs. 300

p.m. for their services. Total monthly collection is shared equally among the

members of the goup. Each Dabbawala receives Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 6,000 after

meeting all expenses like railway monthly ticket, rent for handcarts, crates etc.

Newcomers who want to become Dabbawala are initially hired on a salary, after

evaluating their performance they are offered membership (shareholders) of the

trust and assigned to one of the groups. Each Dabbawala is guaranteed to receive a

monthly income and employment for life. As there is no retirement age, he may

work as long as he is physically fit. To become profit sharing member of the trust,

new Dabbawalas needs to pay a certain amount to the trust. This was Rs. 30,000 in

2003.
How they operate and work as team:

This service is available in every working day and whenever the local trains run in

Mumbai & Suburban because it is their primary mode of transportation. The

Dabbawalas deliver home-cooked meals to individuals (irrespective of their caste,

creed or religion) at their working places (offices/factories) and return empty

boxes to customer’s houses or caterers. Every customer who avails himself the

service is given a aluminum container (called Dabba-contains 2 or 3 containers,

often carrying rice, chapattis, curry and salad) with appropriate code painted on

the lid. The Dabbas are changed hands at least four or five timers before they

reach their destinations during the delivery process. The process runs as follows:

A Dabbawala picks up the tiffin box with cooked food from a house or caterer

early morning (generally between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.), then transports it by

cycle or handcart to the nearest railway station. Then he hands it over to a

Mukadam who sorts it and arranges them in crates or trays, according to the

destination. Another Dabbawala then transports it in the suburban train vendor

compartment to the railway station nearest to its destination where another picks it

up and delivers it to the ultimate recipient by 12:30 p.m. After lunch, the Dabbas

are picked up and return to the customer’s house or caterer in a reverse operation.

The food and the Dabba both belong to the customer. Even housewives

occasionally send messages to their husbands in these Dabbas. This delivery

system has been compared to a relay race.

The Dabbawalas have developed their unique coding system. The codes help each

Dabbawala to identify and fulfill his responsibility. These codes are understood by

the Dabbawalas and no one else. The code is painted on the lid of the Dabba,
which indicates the originating address & station and the destination station &

address. Their coding system is very interesting. They use colours and code

markings to ensure faultless delivery. They use both alphabets and numbers to

identify Dabbawala, station, building and floor. For example, if the code on a

Dabba is “P-BO-10 15/A/11”, then P identifies the name of the Dabbawala,

BO indicates Borivili (area) where the Dabba has to be collected from,

10 represents the area, Nariman point, where the Dabba has to be delivered and

15/A/11 stands for 15th building, 11th floor.

Dabbawala’s ability to successfully run the service in a crowded city like

Mumbai could be attributed to its geography and local train service. The trains run

every day in a year and there is very rarely any interruption in the service. At

monsoon, due to heavy rain, when the rail tracks would get flooded then the

service is disturbed. Raghunath Medge, President of the trust said, “Mumbai’s

geography makes it unique, it is a longish city where residences are in the north

and offices in the south, so it makes our work simple.

According to their version, they use the cheap public transport system which is

advantageous to them. Several groups are involved in this service, but their team

work is unique and delivery almost flawless due to their effective co-ordination.

Even there is no mixing of vegetarian and non vegetarian Baddas on the same bicycle.

Raghunath Medge claimed “ We generally make one mistake in two

months. We can’t afford to make mistakes to often or else we will be out of business.

Problems & Prospects :

The trust faces the cut-throat competition from the growth of fast food centers like

Pizza Hut, Mac Donald’s etc. while there are thousands of die-hard customers,
rapid urbanization, increasing personal transportation and availability of different

kinds of fast food have drawn a good chunk of the younger generation away from

the home made food. But there is an increasing number of people who are health

conscious and feel that home cooked food suits their stomach and health. Even

some customers now send water along with their tiffins. Knowing this very issue

the trust do not bother about the competition. Today, the Dabbawala delivers them

to offices. But Medge said that food from caterers is still a small segment of the

total operation. Most people want to eat homemade food in the offices without the

bother of having to carry a cumbersome tiffin box. Six Sigma quality rating helps

the organization streamline their delivery systems, eliminate errors and achieve a

cent percent accuracy. Around 8000 Dabbawalas deliver about 5,00,000 tiffing

boxes to factories and offices acroos Mumbai with high labour intensive and with

almost zero technology inputs. But they receive international recognition after 115

years of glorious service. Every year their business grows by 25,000 to 30,000

tiffin boxes. They lose a few customer too each year but are more than

compensated with the addition. Actually they grow annually by about 10%. Till

the time people will feel hungry their business will keep growing.

They have started advertising on Dabbas by putting stickers on them. This brings in extra

income. Mumbai Dabbawalas deliver mainly during day time. They are not night bird. But

India shifts to a 24 Hours X 7 Days work culture, the tiffin boxes’s network would also work

under the moon and stars.

Conclusion of Case Study :-

The concept of ‘Dabbawala’ comes into picture in one of India’s big and busiest cities –

where people can enjoy the fresh homemade lunch every day. What a wonderful service they
provide. It is not just a service but a vocation. Their main

aim is customer satisfaction the trust shows how these illiterate or semiliterate

Dabbawalas have mastered the art of logistics management, supply chain

management, customer service, just-in-time management, team work and problem

solving. People cannot believe that uneducated people can provide such and

efficient service. Even people of foreign countries (like U.K., Italy etc.) are

amazed that uneducated Dabbawalas can carry out such type of business so

accurately. Actually the uneducated have an ability to memorize and retain more

as opposed to educated who are used to writing down everything. So they claim

that “our head is our computer and Gandhi cap in the computer cover to protect it

from the sun or rain.” The white-capped, white-shirted Dabbawalas shot the

limelight when they were awarded the six sigma rating, but it was Prince Charles’

meeting with them in Mumbai in November,2003 that really helped them. He was

the first celebrity who visited them. R. Megde said “ Many people talk about us,

but Prince Charles was the first famous person who met us. He encouraged us. He

is our friend.

Hard work and sincerity of Dabbawalas are the two main factors to reach such

levels of efficiency with such an untrained work force. They got six sigma rating

of highest operational efficiency without using any paper work or computer.

Thanks to their personal as well as group efficiency and dedication to their

vocation.

CHAPTER-4

WARWHOUSING
WAREHOUSING

A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by

manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They

are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They come

equipped with loading docks to load and unload trucks; or sometimes are loaded directly

from railways, airports, or seaports. They also often have cranes and forklifts for moving

goods, which are usually placed on ISO standard pallets loaded into pallet racks.

Some warehouses are completely automated, with no workers working inside. The pallets

and product are moved with a system of automated conveyors and automated storage and

retrieval machines coordinated by programmable logic controllers and computers running

logistics automation software. These systems are often installed in refrigerated

warehouses where temperatures are kept very cold to keep the product from spoiling, and

also where land is expensive, as automated storage systems can use vertical space

efficiently. These high-bay storage areas are often more than 10 meters high, with some

over 20 meters high.

The direction and tracking of materials in the warehouse is coordinated by the WMS,

or warehouse management system, a database driven computer program. The WMS is used

by logistics personnel to improve the efficiency of the warehouse by directing putaways and

to maintain accurate in inventory by recording warehouse transactions.

For a warehouse to function efficiently, the facility must be properly slotted. Effective

slotting addresses which storage medium a product will be picked from (pallet rack or

carton flow), and how they will be picked (pick-to-light, pick-to-voice or pick-to-paper).
With a proper slotting plan, a warehouse can improve its inventory rotation

requirements-- such as FIFO (First In First Out) and LIFO (Last In First Out) -- control

labor costs and increase productivity.

Traditional warehousing has been declining since the last decades of the 20th century

with the gradual introduction of Just In Time (JIT) techniques designed to improve the

return on investment of a business by reducing in-process inventory. The JIT system

promotes the delivery of product directly from the factory to the retail merchant or from

parts manufacturers directly to a large scale factory such as an automobile assembly

plant, without the use of warehouses. However, with the gradual implementation of

offshore outsourcing and offshoring in about the same time period, the distance between

the manufacturer and the retailer (or the parts manufacturer and the industrial plant) grew

considerably in many domains, necessitating at least one warehouse per country or per

region in any typical supply chain for a given range of products

Recent developments in marketing have also led to the development of warehouse-style

retail stores with extremely high ceilings where decorative shelving is replaced by tall

heavy duty industrial racks, with the items ready for sale being placed in the bottom parts

of the racks and the crated or palletized and wrapped inventory items being usually

placed in the top parts. In this way the same building is used both as a retail store and a

warehouse.

Modern warehouses are also used at large by exporters/manufacturers as a point of

developing retail outlets in a particular region or country. This concept reduces the end

cost of the product to the consumer and thus enhance the production sale ratio.

Warehousing is an age old concept which can be used as sharp tool by original

manufacturers to reach out directly to consumers leaving aside or bypassing importers or

any other middle agencies or person.

Internet impact

The internet has had an influence on warehouses too. Internet based stores do not require

physical points of selling. However, warehouses are still required to store the goods.

Since direct contact with customers means many small orders, this is a different situation

where stores would be ordering large numbers of goods. Simply said, warehouses change

from shipping large quantities of goods to shipping large numbers of small quantities of

goods.

Having a large and complex supply chain containing many warehouses may be costly.

Sometimes, it is beneficial to have one large warehouse per continent. This warehouse

should be located at a central point, where transport is available to all other destinations.

At these continental hubs, goods have to be customized for different countries. For

example, goods get a price ticket in the language of the country where it will go. Making

small adjustments to goods at a warehouse is called value added services.

Types of Warehouse Storage Systems

Some of the most common types of warehouse storage systems are:

• Pallet rack:

Including selective, drive-in, drive-thru, double-deep, pushback, and gravityflow.

•Mezzanine:

Including structural rolls formed, rack supported, and shelf supported.

•Cantilever Rack:

Including structural and roll formed.

•Industrial Shelving:

Including metal, steel, wire, and catwalk.

•Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS):

Including vertical carousels, vertical lift modules, horizontal carousels, robotics,

mini loads, and compact 3D.

Chapter 5

FQA’s
FQA s

➢ Why Safexpress?

Safexpress –India’s Leading Logistics Company is renowned for its domain expertise

and experienced manpower in the LSCM sector. Safexpress can best understand your

Logistics and distribution requirements and can offer the most suitable Logistics model and

solution to you. Safexpress has the largest network coverage across India traversing over

3,50,000 km. every day covering over 550 locations through more than 750 routes operating

24 hours a day 365 days a year .

➢ What is the Network Strength of Safexpress?

Safexpress-India’s leading Logistics Company, has more than 550 Locations across

India in its network. Safexpress reaches these locations through its fleet of 3000 vehicles

operating on more than 1000 routes, 24 hours a day 365 days a year. All Safexpress vehicles

have all-weather proof containers for safe transit. Safexpress also operates through Air to

locations directly covered by flights and to all other locations on a multi modal basis.

➢ Will Safexpress cater to my destination?

Safexpress-India’s Leading Logistics Company, has network of more than 550

Locations across India. To check whether Safexpress caters to your destination, please check

our 'Contact Us' page and click on Network.

➢ How do I Contact Safexpress for Pick-up?

Safexpress-India’s Leading Logistics Company, has offices across all industrial and

commercial towns and cities of India. To contact any one of them, please check our 'Contact
Us' page and click on your State to identify your city of origin, or click on the first alphabet of

your destination to see a list of destinations starting with the alphabet. Across India you could

also contact our Toll Free phone 1800 113 113 & you can also mail Corporate Customer

Services Desk at safexpress@safexpress.com

➢ Does Safexpress handle both Domestic and International Consignments?

Safexpress, India’s Leading Logistics Company today handles only Domestic cargo.

➢ What are Safexpress Services?

To view our entire bouquet of services in Logistics and Supply Chain, please go to our

'Services' page. Here, you will find all our Services listed with complete explanations. For further

queries or more customised solution, Please mail us atsafexpress @saf express.com or call us toll

free 1800 113 113.

➢ What is ILM?

Integrated Logistics Management is our 3PL Product that optimises your company’s

supply chain. First, we examine the linkages between your suppliers, producers, buyers,

intermediaries and end users in order to identify time and cost inefficiencies. Next, we deploy

our unique mix of local know-how, global practices and cutting-edge technology to provide

integrated supply chain solutions. These range from specific services such as warehouse

management, statutory compliance and invoicing - to an entire gamut of third party logistics

services.

➢ Does Safexpress operate in Containers only?

 All the fleet of Safexpress is all-weather proof containers meeting global quality

standards. Unless specifically required for a customised project Safexpress does not carry in

open body vehicles.

➢ What does Safexpress Carry?

Almost every product manufactured, imported or sold in India can fall under our

purview which requires to reach its destination in time, safely and conveniently. Barring

goods contraband in nature, explosives, Cash, jewellery, and inflammable material...

Broadly major areas of business for Safexpress include IT hardware, Ready Made Garments,

Pharmaceuticals, Electrical and Electronic goods, Automobile Components & Spares, Fabric

and Cloth, FMCG, and Non-Perishable Food Products among many other products belonging

to diverse market segments.

➢ What about Packaging?

Safexpress principally does not handle packaging themselves. We can consult and

provide needful help and assistance but directly might not pack. We have SAFEBOX for our

clients that comes in two convenient sizes: the 17”x17”x12" Safebox carries up to 20kgs of

cargo; the 16"x12”x 9" Safebox carries up to 10kgs of air cargo. The robust design of the

Safebox is further reinforced with internal insulation, which eliminates packaging costs.

There’s another outstanding feature built-in to the Safe box that covers an auto insurance for

up to Rs. 5,000, absolutely free of cost.

➢ What about Transit Risks?

 Safexpress works and carries on the philosophy of 'Custodians First Carriers Later’.

We sincerely abide by our corporate philosophy on the subject. Safexpress has an all risks

cover - Carrier’s Risk offer, which unburdens the customer of his worries of losses in transit.

On minimal extra charge of Risk Charges, we cover your valuable shipment against all sorts

of transit losses including fire, flood, damage, accident, shortage, etc.

For more details please call our toll free phone 1800 113 113 or mail us at

safexpress@safexpress.com

➢ Does Safexpress offer CFA Services?

Yes, Safexpress –India’s leading logistics company has a special product to offer.

Corporate CFA services under- ILM. Our corporate CFA is a very customised and scalable

solution for Clients who require variety of CFA services at one/many locations. Services

range from sourcing, Warehousing ,Inventory Management, Despatch, Delivery and many

other modules from which a customer can pick his requirements. Most importantly our

Turnaround Time (TAT) to set-up the infrastructure is very low and also it is cost effective to

the entire Supply Chain.

➢ What about Warehousing Risks?

As mentioned in the previous answer, Safexpress Solution–ILM takes care of

everything, including warehousing insurance. If the customer requires it, the customer gets it.

➢ What kind of Material Handling Equipment are used at \ Safexpress' Hubs?

 The Latest of the material handling equipment are used at Safexpress' hubs to ensure

safety and remove Laxity from material handling. Equipment including hydraulic hand pallet

trucks, dock levelers, trolleys, fork lifts’ multilevel pallet stackers are used by Safexpress.

Chain Pulleys and Cranes handle consignments which are not possible by smaller equipments

to manoeuvre. It might not be out of place to mention here all the hubs of Safexpress are on

platform level height. Any Logistician will understand and appreciate the essentiality and

importance platform level warehouses have for material handling.

➢ How do I locate my material?

Safexpress.com offers you online tracking of your consignment. Simply punch in your

way bill number and the site informs you the status of your Consignments immediately. You

may download a copy of epod (Electronic Proof of Delivery) for your reference.

➢ What are the statutory obligations required for shipments?

Statutory obligations in India vary from state to state. For a check on obligations like

documents, form/permits, octroi /entry tax applicability - please visit our online logistics

planning tool- Virtual Cargo. By simply selecting your booking origin and destination along

with the planned date of despatch, it tells you all the obligations involved. For further clarity,

please call us toll free 1800 113 113 and customer services desk will help you. You can also

mail us at safexpress@safexpress.com

➢ What is virtual cargo?

Virtual Cargo is a Safexpress' gift to Logisticians. It’s an online logistics distribution

planning tool for clients. By Simply selecting your origin and destination along with planned

date of despatch, It tells you all the obligations involved like number of copies of
documents /invoice required, forms or permits required, octroi or entry tax applicability. It

confirms you the expected day/date of arrival at destination by various modes, so as to plan a

pre/postponement of your despatch to realign with your supply chain. It also confirms you the

distance your cargo will travel and the check posts it’ll pass through in its transit.

➢ How can I become a Privileged Member?

Safexpress offers special attention and offers value added services to its large volume

customers. For these customers our online lounge has been named as Priviledged Members.

Through a login/password access a Priviledged Member gets access to a host of services

including Multiple Waybill Tracking, Tracking by Invoice, various MIS reports on Despatch

and Receipt of consignments, Service Performance Analysis of Safexpress month on month.

We provide direct access for our Priviledged Member to his account manager from safexpress

to respond to direct issues. A host of other add-on and special offers are being added for our

Priviledged Members.

➢ What about Reverse Logistics?

Safexpress has special arrangements to offer project based Reverse Logistics

assignments. For detailed discussions, please call us toll free 1800 113 113 or send us mail on

safexpress@safexpress.com

➢ Does Safexpress carry Liquid Cargo?

Safexpress principally does not carry liquid cargo on consolidation basis. However,

items like pharmaceuticals, adhesives are handled by Safexpress. For special project please

speak with our Customer Service Officers on toll free number 1800 113 113.
➢ What is Safexpress' cut off time for pick-ups?

Cut off time for pick-ups vary from origin to origin depending on connections. Please

check with our customer services officer at the origin station for exact cut off time for pick up

and he/she will confirm it to you. Our toll free number is 1800 113 113.

➢ Does Safexpress deliver on a Sunday? If yes, are there any extra charges?

Safexpress operates its operations function 24 hrs a day 365 days a year. Safexpress

not only offers delivery services on Sunday but also does not charge anything extra for

Sunday delivery. For all other queries / questions, please mail us

atsafexpress@safexpress.com

Chapter 6
 CONCLUSION

Today we are essentially operating in a global market. In this era of crumbling

economic barriers, the customer reigns supreme. The successful enterprises in this

fiercely competitive economy are those which are able to ensure a high level of

customer satisfaction and at a considerably low cost. The focus today is not on meeting

the customer’s expectations, but on exceeding them. The strategic role of logistics and

supply chain management in this regard becomes vital.

To achieve the objectives of logistic and supply chain management, it is essential to have

a well-defined organizational structure that supports the corporate mission and improves

and influence logistics system performance. With the growing nature and scope of

logistics and supply chain management in the overall performance of the enterprise over

the years, there have been changes in the logistics organizational structure from being a

part of various functions like manufacturing, finance, and marketing to a core function.

While designing a logistics organizational structure, firms need to follow certain principles of

organization, like unity of command, span of control, authority and responsibility, line and

staff relationships, centralization and decentralization of power etc.

At the same time, it is essential to take into consideration the various factors like the size

of organization, corporate structure and strategy, the role of logistics and supply chain

management in the overall value-addition activities, availability of IT infrastructural

resources, and environmental uncertainty.

Chapter 7
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT : L.C. JHAMB

INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS : PIERRE DAVID

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT : SUNIL CHOPRA

BROCHURE OF SAFEXPRESS

WEBSITES

www.logisticworld.com

www.safexpress.com

www.google.com