LogisticsWeek September 2011 by Frewin Francis

A Handicapped Goliath

Interface Complexity Is The Supply-Chain

Although Indian Railways has the largest transport network under single management, it is gross mis-management that is swallowing its potential.

TAKE Solutions’ MD S Sridharan explains how its global solutions for Life-Sciences and SCM help its customers.

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PAGE 3 `25 logisticsweek.com

September 01–15, 2011 Editor’s Note

Anna For Logistics Dear Readers, We in the Indian industry are told that the license and the inspector raj is over, but as paranoid as it sounds, I think it is far from over for people on the ground. The only transition we have seen is that the raj has moved from official into unofficial hands. Our transporters in Mumbai and elsewhere are justifiably incensed over the harassment meted out to them by the RTO officials, the toll naka staff and traffic cops for bribes. And it’s affecting even the end consumers. Prices of vegetables are going through the roof, and the bribes paid to these officials contribute a good measure to the inflated prices. By industry estimates, out of every `100 paid to the vegetable vendor, `2 to `3 go into the pockets of transport authorities as unofficial ‘tax’ money. Spurred by the Anna Hazare movement and disgusted by the age-old malaise of corruption that plagues our transportation industry, LogisticsWeek has started a campaign from this issue, named, naturally, LW Against Corruption. Unfortunately, while trying to get viewpoints from the industry on this issue, not a single person in the logistics industry, outside the transporters’ community was willing to talk. If the industry is not able to speak up against its harassment, who will? Are we expecting someone like Anna to put his or her life on the line for us?

Your’s truly, Aanand Pandey Editor, LogisticsWeek

Logistics Worst Hit By Corruption No other industry suffers like logistics that loses extortionate amounts of time and money in ‘unofficial’ payments to authorities. “Data from the Delhi-Chennai route show that unofficial payments were 19.4 percent of the total expenses on the road.”

procedural formalities. Sample data from the Delhi-Chennai route show that delays constituted 10.43 percent of tranCorruption has become endemic in India and is sit time and unofficial payments were now a cancer in the body politic. Seen in this per19.4 percent of the total expenses on spective, Anna Hazare’s movement for a powerthe road.” ful Jan Lokpal bill acquires totemic significance. Problems are further exacerbated by The logistics industry suffers equally from corpoor roads and innumerable check posts ruption and with Anna Hazare’s campaign havon highways which lead to an avoidable ing been transformed into a people’s movement, waste of time and spiraling costs. Sunil LW from this issue has embarked upon a camKale, Honarary General Secretary, Bomlection of highway toll and taxes by RTO bay Goods Transport Association, is vocifpaign to highlight issues of corruption that logisand the traffic police. Says Vineet Agar- erous in his condemnation of corruption tics operators face while serving our companies wal, Joint MD, Group TCI: “Very often in the industry. “Truckers face the brunt and consumers across the length and breadth of trucks run on tight the country. in every place. We have schedules and deAccording to a joint study report by TCI observed that there is spite the fact that and IIM-C, the Indian trucking sector contribno transparency when they have all the utes to about 4.5 percent of the GDP. But the contracts are given to documents, end up performance of this sector has been severely build highways. Conpaying bribes to ofconstrained by the filling in of various govtractors are allowed to ficials to minimize ernment forms, checking of vehicles and colrecover their money by levying tolls in perpetuity. What we want is transparency in contracts, investigate the BOT contracts and give us amenities on the highways like parking places, food courts and police patrolling.” Anshuman Basu, Regional Executive Director, Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), feels strongly “that we should not be concerned with anything other than providing services in the most ethical way.” For every section of society and industry to prosper, corruption must be rooted out and the Jan Lokpal bill could be the starting point for a long battle to safeguard our (L-R) Aanand, Snehal, Pritha, Jayashree, Shiva, and Dinesh of LOG.India at the campaign against corruption at Azad Maidan, Mumbai. future.

Pamela Cheema Mumbai

LW Against Corruption

September 1—15, 2011 www.logisticsweek.com

SeCtor Spotlight

A Handicapped Goliath

Although Indian Railways has the largest transport network under single management, it is mis-management that is swallowing the potential that Railways in India has. Pritha Dey Mumbai It is the largest transport network in the world under single management. It carries the maximum number of passengers in the world which is about four billion each year. It is one of the largest employers in the world with approximately 15.8 lakh employees. It is the Indian Railways. Irrespective of the fact that Indian Railways transports a large quantity of goods, the freight rates in India is higher when compared to other countries like USA or UK. It ranks alongside rail systems in the US and Canada as a cash generator though. According to Amit Dhawan, General Manager, Sales and Marketing, Container Railroad Services Pvt. Ltd., “The primary reason for railway freight rates being so high in India is that the passenger fares are highly subsidized and in order to pull up the overall costs, the freight rates are increased.” “The overall freight modal practices has taken a turn for the worse; from a point where rail was moving more than 60 per-

cent of the overall freight in India at the time of independence to the current freight share of 30 percent,” says Sajal Mittra, CEO, Arshiya Rail Infrastructure. A high-ranking official at one of the first private companies to offer container rail services in India, on condition of anonymity, opines, “High manpower costs and a monopolistic regime where there is no competition are other reasons for the high freight rates.”

High And Higher Mittra says, “Indian Railways is one of the biggest ministries in India and it has huge responsibilities towards various stakeholders of the country. Hence the rationale behind the commercial policies such as freight rates for transportation as well as passengers is primarily based on the general national interest.” The cross-subsidization results in India having one of the lowest ratios of average passenger fare to average freight tariff in the world.

Road Vs Rail Freight Rates According to Indian Infrastructure Logistics Directory and

Year Book 2010, the cost of coastal transporting is `0.35 per km per tonne; Rail is `1.25 per km per tonne; and Road is `3.50 per km per tonne. Over time, road has become the dominant mode of transportation in India. “This dominance arises from decades of poor supporting infrastructure development on the rail, coastal, pipeline and air transportation side.” opines Mittra. He adds, “Despite having one of the world’s largest rail networks, India’s share of cargo transported by rail has declined steadily.” The reasons he cites are poor quality of service (including last mile access solutions) driven largely by the historic monopoly of the government and the resultant overbearing focus on passenger services as well as massive investments in road highway projects over the past six decades that have helped position roads as the most significant, even if suboptimal, means of transportation.

Freight Frights High rail freight rates can be a deterrent. As Dhawan points out, “Only those businesses

Fluctuations in Railway FReight Rates In May 2010, the then Railway Ministry said that freight rates for foodgrains would be reduced by `100 per wagon while leaving other freight rates largely unchanged, primarily to keep the spiraling food costs under control. In December 2010, the then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee decided to increase freight rates of a large number of commodities including sugar, salt, iron ore, steel and other products while keeping the rates for foodgrains and fertilizers unchanged. India, the third biggest exporter of iron ore, had raised railway freight rates by `100 ($2.24) to `1,600 ($35.80) per ton from March 3, 2011. Indian Railways had levied a “busy season charge” of seven percent on iron ore freight rates from April 1 to June 30, 2011; and will levy it again from October 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012. Very recently, the proposal to align the freight and passenger fare with market prices was made by the Railway Minister to help in generation of resources needed for improving safety and quality of services.

cRoss-subsidization Ratios Country USA CANADA FRANCE Ratio 9.28 6.63 1.5 Source: Arshiya Rail Infrastructure

CHINA 1.2

RUSSIA 1

THAILAND 0.7

who can incur the high costs would use railways to transport goods.” Notwithstanding the fact, many customers choose railways to transport their goods. For example, iron and steel manufacturers, metals and alloys manufacturers, and freight forwarders generally tend to choose railways as their priorities are timely delivery, safe handling of cargo, complete end to end logistics activities, large scale evacuations; and not costs. Currently Indian Railways itself is the biggest impediment for customers who want to move their cargo by rail. Mittra explains, “Ideally the cost of moving cargo by IR owned wagons should be less expensive compared to road but then the movement is subject to various other inefficiencies.” About 15 private container train operators (PCTOs) and CONCOR entered the rail space in 2006 to provide proficient services at pocket-friendly rates which was either at par or lower than the road rates. There was a resultant shift in cargo from road to rail. But things are not the same. As Mittra elucidates, “Issues have cropped up and domestic PCTOs have taken a hit because of the highly restrictive and protectionist policies of IR.” He mentions that policies such as Rate Circulars RC 30 and RC 05 have notified 9 classifications of commodities and increased the existing rates by over 100 percent. The spokesperson says, “High freight rate is only one of the factors. Other factors are lesser frequency, non-availability of wagons, unreliable service, poor condition of wagons, damages in transit, delay in settlement of claim, and poor customer service.”

Role Of Bureaucracy Bureaucracy has become an inseparable part of most governments and ministries. The

GREECE 0.4

INDIA 0.3

Ministry of Railways is no different. However the reason for such large scale issues cannot be bureaucracy alone. “We believe the whole issue of increasing freight rates is fuelled by the multiple and conflicting roles and interests of the Railways. These are bound to have negative repercussions on the trade, as the operators and the customers’ interests inevitably take a back seat. The only solution to this would be to have an independent regulatory authority similar to the IRDA, SEBI etc. in place for the rail industry,” says Mittra.

Pros And Cons Dhawan says, “I would say there are many advantages. Rail transportation is safer, delivery is assured and the number of accidents is almost nil.” Rail transport is environment friendly also. But it has limitations. Rail is a infra heavy industry and requires immense investments to improve infrastructure. The urgent need to increase the network size, upgrade the existing infrastructure by doubling tracks, track renewals, and, tracks electrification cannot be overlooked. The issues of pilferage, spoilage and spillage are also not unheard of. “In fact `35,000 crore worth of food produce is wasted each year in India on account of poor logistics alone,” points out Mittra. A single rake needs to have at least 2,500 tons of cargo before it can move from a point of origin, which often serves as a hindrance. Moreover, presently the freight rates for light weight commodities are very high rendering it uneconomical to move lightweight cargo like automobiles, white goods and FMCG products.

Roadways Or Railways? Although roadways has become the predominant mode of transport in India, a shift to a more economical and environment friendly mode of transportation is the need of the hour. To meet the growing demands of the increasing freight CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

September 1—15, 2011 www.logisticsweek.com blogs, JouRnals, book Releases

Anti-Bribery, Collaboration To Buoy Supply-Chain Legal Teams Assess Risks As AntiBribery Legislation Hits Global Supply Chains Catherine Truel When I recently asked a logistics professional for what he sees as the biggest barrier to trade, he replied ‘corruption’. It’s true that he is operating in a challenging trading environment; but while he said he could deal with imperfect infrastructure, low transport integration, complex regulations; corruption was his biggest headache. It affects one of the most important elements in international trade: predictability. In his opinion, foreign corporations are as guilty as government officials. In his country, to get an authorisation faster, businesses turn too quickly to cash incentives. Could global traders be suffering from a problem they help to create? Perhaps, but not for long: a wave of anti-bribery legislation is rising on the horizon. In practice, there seems to be little awareness of anti-bribery legislation among global traders. That should quickly change as more countries implement and, more importantly, enforce anti-bribery laws. In the meantime, legal teams in large corporations are looking at their exposure to this risk. Glo-

bal supply chains are of particular interest with their large number of intermediaries: vendors, suppliers, carriers and agents, all potential risks. It is likely that within the next few months, businesses will initiate reviews of supply chain policies and procedures. As a result, some requirements relating to anti-bribery might be appearing as a clause in contracts or a line on purchase orders. Furthermore, these conventions are translated in domestic laws with substantial variations. This will create a challenge for companies with legal entities in different countries, as they will have to manage various requirements. Fortunately, adapting to multiple norms, documents and standards is nothing exceptional for global supply chains specialists. http://shrvl.com/g54pL

A New Form Of Supply Chain Collaboration Steve Banker Cross functional collaboration has always been a central idea in supply chain management. Today, I will highlight a form of supply chain collaboration that is new to me: supply chain facility design and construction. When it comes to product development, globaliza-

tion has led companies to engage in co-development projects with key suppliers. Boeing uses a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution from Dassault Systemes as its worldwide collaborative platform for product engineering across its core supply base. This allows for faster product development cycles because companies can work on their portion of the product at the same time instead of having to do sequential design and testing. When most people think of R&D, they think of product design. There are other industries, however, where designing the manufacturing facility is tantamount to designing the product. You don’t design oil, for example, you design the oil refinery to process the oil. Oil & Gas, Chemicals, and Utilities are all examples of industries where facility design trumps product design. The collaborative platform tools used in those industries are Process Engineering Tools. Cross-functional and cross-enterprise collaboration will remain at the core of supply chain management, and these concepts increasingly encompass a broader value network than what we have traditionally called “the supply chain.” And with the Internet, mobility, and advanced enterprise cloud applications continuing to march forward, we will continue to see new forms of collaboration. http://shrvl.com/8AS60

interfaCe

“The Challenge Is The Complexity In The Supply-Chain” TAKE Solutions focuses on two principal areas – Life Sciences and SCM. Riding on its global capabilities, TAKE offers solutions for customers that leverage existing data and enable faster decision-making. S Sridharan, MD, TAKE Solutions explains the company’s core functions. Pritha Dey Mumbai What are the different kinds of solutions that you provide? TAKE Solutions specializes in delivering high-impact products, solutions and services for effective supply chain execution, collaboration, and planning. Our Enterprise Mobility and Auto-ID solutions speed up the entire supply-chain by removing latency of information, and integrating product tracking and traceability into all manufacturing processes and distribution touch-points. Gemini enables end-to-end solutions for automated data capture and paperless execution of business transactions on the shop floor and in the warehouses, compliance labelling, and RFID. RoutePro provides mobile sales and route delivery solutions

that not only help integrate selling, marketing and delivery efforts across the organization, but also improve our customer’s ability to merchandise and sell products profitability. Our Trading Partner Collaboration solutions drive collaborative commerce and supply chain execution. They address demand collaboration, purchasing collaboration, contractmanufacturing execution, vendor managed inventory, quality collaboration, e-invoicing & AP automation, and returns management. OneSCM is a multienterprise B2B integration cloud providing a faster, simpler and cost effective way to connect to business partners and to automate business processes. It enables companies to connect to a public ecosystem of tradingpartners, and collaborate ‘in the cloud’ – using one platform

Give us an idea of TAKE’s global presence. TAKE serves customers through 14 offices spread across eight countries – USA, India, UK, Singapore, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Muscat, Kuwait.

S Sridharan Managing Director, TAKE Solutions to connect to all of them – irrespective of their IT expertise and technology environment. X.PC, on the other hand helps customers leverage the power of their ERP by providing an integrated platform for communication, collaboration and enforcement for all trading partners.

What are the most recent technology solutions that you have come up with and how have they helped your clients? The most recent addition to business technology solutions is our cloud based value chain collaboration platform OneSCM. OneSCM caters to the business needs of companies in a variety of verticals, including: oil & gas, industrial products, engineering and construction, aerospace and defence, and telecommunications. For buying organizations, it provides

eProcurement, Vendor Label Compliance, as well as shipment controls and package tracking solutions. Organizations supplying goods and services use its Order Acquisition and Acknowledgement, Delivery Confirmation, Invoice Submission, Payment Visibility, and Vendor Managed Inventory solutions to ensure compliance to mandates from all their customers. What competitive advantage does TAKE have over others? TAKE provides last mile functionality by optimizing supply chain activities, leveraging customer’s enterprise systems, instead of duplicating it. Realworld proven success, extensive experience and knowledge of industry-specific processes and issues allow TAKE to provide CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

September 1—15, 2011 www.logisticsweek.com

eVentS CalenDar

Auto, Food And Pharma Catch On Auto XPO Fabulous Management Services Private Limited is organizing for the fourth time one of the biggest automobile fair in South Bengal comprising both domestic and commercial vehicles along with two wheeler companies, accessories, and decor segment. It will be held at Gandhi Maidan, Durgapur, from September 9 to 12,

International Food Processing Summit

cOMING SOON!

International Food Processing Summit is dedicated to the Indian processed food, agro and dairy market. Latest innovations in technologies and products will be displayed over the course of the event. ASSOCHAM is organizing this event on September 14 at Le Meridien, New Delhi. Delegate Profile includes ingredients & additives supply, packaging design & consultancy, food & beverage manufacturing, trade associations, trading/ retailing, food service institutional & commercial, raw materials supply & packaging, supply chain, and supermarkets.

September 2011

Pharmac India The products displayed will range from herbal medicines to veterinary drug. Orbitz Exhibitions Private Limited has taken up space at Gujarat University Exhibition Hall, Ahmedabad, from September 17 to 19.

Advanced machinery used in hospitals and nursing homes will also be showcased at the exhibition.

Automation 2011 The focus of Automation 2011 lies on the exhibition of the new and upcoming solutions based on the automation technology. The organizer, I. E. D. Communications Limited, is dedicating this event to the promotion of automation techniques that can be used for the long term improvement in the efficiency and productivity of different industries. Exhibitor Profile includes: Automation in renewable energy, bus and wireless technology, building automation, pumps and valves, factory automation, process automation, instrumentation and controls, robotics, and hydraulic and pneumatics. It will be held at Bombay Exhibition Center from September 20 to 23.

Batteries Inverters Generators Expo - Assam May ww 200 9 w.l og-i n

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Ask Trade & Exhibitions Private Limited is coordinating an exhibition which will see participation from manufacturers and suppliers of batteries, inverters, generators and other applications. The focal point of exhibitors will be to promote their brand w Ha it n name and increase their sell. The manufacturers and supplier of h d ca l e products and services related to batteries, inverters, and generar e tors will be participating in this expo showcasing their innovative products and services. 24 30 Trade Centre, GuThe event will be held at Maniram Dewan 34 42 wahati, from September 23 to 25. 4 :10

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Jacob Joseph Puthenparambil jacob@logisticsweek.com

India And China Looking to Be On The Same Road India and China have agreed to work towards signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the areas of Road Transport and Highways, said an Indian government press release issued on September 16. Under the proposed MoU, both sides would seek to enhance cooperation in highway construction, exchange of technology and investments in the sector. According to the release, this was agreed to during the meeting between Kamal Nath, Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Li Shenglin, Minister of Transport, China at Beijing on September 15. Nath was quoted in the note as saying that India has embarked on a massive national highway development program under which it is proposed to construct 7,000 km of national highways every year over the next few years. The ambitious targets set in the program provided huge opportunities to the Chinese construction companies as also the Chinese financial institutions to enhance their engagement with India, said the note. Nath also said that the preferred mode of highway development in India is Public Private Partnership. 60 perceent of the national highways would be developed under the BOT (Built-Operate-Transfer) Toll mode, while another 25 percent would be taken up on BOT (Annuity) basis. Already, several Chinese companies are participating in the National Highway Development Project of India. China has over the past decade made rapid progress in the infrastructure sector, particularly highway development. Li Shenglin said that presently, around 35,000 km of national highways is under construction in China of which 10,000 km is likely to be completed this year. Earlier in the course of the interactions with China’s government representatives, Nath met Lou Jiwei, Chairman, China Investment Corporation (CIC) and Dai Xianglong, Chairman of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and apprised them

of the opportunities of investing in the highways sector of India and of the high returns that the sector promises to offer. Xianglong mooted the idea of the setting up of an India-China Highways Invest-

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The two emerging super-economies have agreed to explore areas of cooporation in the road transport and highways sector News Desk Mumbai

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ment Forum for investors, developers and construction companies which will provide a platform for the policy makers, financial experts and the business leaders to work closely towards enhancing project.

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Power To The People Harish Sharma, HOD (Material Management), North Delhi Power Ltd., has served with NDPL since the company set up its operations. He tells LOG.India about the rough roads he has trodden to streamline the then existing incompetent processes that existed. NewsDesk Mumbai Tell us about the processes you adopted at the time when Tata took a majority stake in NDPL? Earlier we had manual processes. Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) had its own designated stores and they were taken over by us. They had multiple stores. Their main concept was maintaining central stores and sub-stores, but they were scattered across the state. DVB also adopted another concept of maintaining centralized stores for a particular quantity of material, while it had other stores for some other equipment. Earlier, Delhi was divided into three distribution companies and in the areas that were under our control we had two central stories, one at Bhargarh and the second at Keshavpuram. There were all kinds of equipment when we took over – some central stores storing only cables while other stored street lighting materials and a third type contained only transformers.

CONTINUED frOm PAGE 2 traffic, greater stress on railway freight transport is essential. Mittra sums it up, “Ideally, rail and waterways should be prioritized for long distances, rail for medium distances and roads including expressways, for shorter stretches. Such a balanced modal approach would lower transportation costs, achieve greater efficiency and be more environmentfriendly.”

It was a challenging assignment at that stage because taking over the entire inventory and such costly material scattered across various stores meant taking stock and accounting for. I was put into the entire warehouses and stores. What were the challenges? The first challenge was to get the entire material located into other distribution companies (discoms) areas to our stores. That was our share of the material and it needed to safely reach our custody and our stores. The material was of all types. There were transformers, cables, consumer materials, hardware materials, street lighting among other things. The entire Delhi network was divided among three discoms. So we took one third of our share and the material which came under our custody was to be distributed to the other two discoms. The first challenge was finding a way to collect the material. The second challenge was bringing together all the materials and ways to sort them out as the

Round Up The originating freight loading on Indian Railways was 921.51 million tonnes in 2010-11 as compared to 887.99 million tonnes in 2009-10 registering a growth of 3.77 percent. The Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project comprising Dankuni-Ludhiana and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal to Tughlakabad/Dadri has been sanctioned by the Government.

FREIGHT DATA – TARGET SET AND ACHIEVED Year Targets Set Target Achieved (in (in million million tonnes) tonnes) 2007-08 785 794 2008-09 850 833 2009-10 882 888 2010-11 944 922 2011-12 993 313 (up to July’11) Source: PIB

Harish Sharma HOD (Material Management), North Delhi Power Ltd entire accounting was through manual ledgers. Most of the materials in our stores were ready-to-use into the systems. Equipment like transformers and cables can be directly used for installing or replacement. That is when we took a decision of having only one central store and so we, over a period of time, shut down all the substores. How many sub-stores did you

DFC Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), a Special Purpose Vehicle, has been formed as a Public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Railways to implement this project. Civil construction contracts for 105 kilometers in Eastern DFC and for 54 major and important bridges on Western DFC have been awarded. Funding for Phase-I (Rewari-Vadodara) of Western DFC has been tied up with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). On Eastern DFC a loan of US $ 975 million has been sanctioned by World Bank for construction of Eastern DFC between Bhaupur near Kanpur to Khurja. The project is targeted to be completed in 2016-17. It remains to be seen if these new projects and initiatives ease the pressure on freight rates and reduce the burden of subsidizing passenger fares.

have? There were seven sub-stores and two central stores. After shutting down the sub-stores, we began operating from the central store till the time equipment lay there. Then arose issues of managing inventory at one store, as there are thousands of large and small equipment. So we began modernizing the stores, and installed racks, material handling equipment, and other allied infrastructure. The central store was situated in a centralized location with respect to our area, Keshavpuram. As it was easily accessible from all working areas, we settled on this location. After ensuring centralization of our entire material, we needed to rid ourselves of keeping manual ledgers. So we moved to computerization in 2003. This took a year as we encountered plenty of challenges in between. Insufficient manpower was the main challenge. When we started out, we had the support of an entire staff from DVB. In those days, we often saw a huge hue and cry in the field as breakdowns were common. It was a transition period for us as maintenance was negligible. Ensuring material availability was a critical activity. One can only maintain network if there is material available in the stores. How did you handle all the stress and the people? My focus area was materials management activities, looking after stores material and warehouse management. The focus was to ensure there is no stockout. I took the help of my earlier employees because they had the know-how, and we received plenty of support. People from the earlier DVB structure had a sense of handling the stores. But the store is not only to receive and issue materials. They have a much bigger profile. I began digging into the consumption pattern for the previous years and took the data from DVB. On that basis we immedi-

ately began fixing up the reorder level. A problem here was that the consumption pattern was not accurate. But that was the only data we had to go on. So we thought let’s move ahead with this data and we began replenishing and reviewing our orders. The objective was to ensure that before the material goes out of stock, we should be made aware of it. That is where we fixed up the re-order level. Since we had no computerization, we put up the re-order levels on the ledgers and left instructions with the stores keeper. So the stores keeper knew that each time material reached a particular level he had to inform me or the person in charge of procurement. The procurement manager would also raise tenders and begin the process of procurement. Another method was our forecast basis that was based on past consumption pattern. Most of the vendors we source from are local companies. We have a separate procurement project engineering and contracts group who list out the technical aspects. Initially we observed a competitive process. We send the enquiry to the shortlisted vendors and they bid if they were interested. How do you maintain relationships with your business associates and vendors? Any good organization or supply chain cannot succeed unless it has a sound and reliable vendor base. We call them business associates. Some of our business associates worked hand-in-hand in all the joint replacements, which is a critical area for maintenance of the network. Some of them even offer free replacement if any product turns out defective. We have regular interactions with our business associates. So they get a chance to meet the CEO or at the joint interaction form (JIF) which we organize on a quarterly basis. We have some 90-odd business associates who regularly CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

September 1—15, 2011 www.logisticsweek.com

poliCy upDateS

Shipping, Labor Reforms In The Air In this section, LW provides a recap of policy decisions of the last fortnight that impact various areas of the supply-chain industry. ManuFactuRing A High-Level Committee on Manufacturing, consisting of top government ministers and headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has given its support to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s new draft of National Manufacturing Policy (NMP). The NMP recommendations are designed to simplify the regulatory environment for foreign and domestic manufacturing companies and create new market incentives to attract foreign investment. Draconian environmental clearance and land acquisition regulations, overly restrictive labor laws, and the expensive administrative burdens of compliance and reporting obligations would all be targeted under the current draft. The policy also recommends establishing new National Manufacturing Industrial Zones (NMIZs) where manufacturing companies would have scaled-

CONTINUED frOm PAGE 5 participate in the bidding process. They are our regular suppliers. As we usually go in for open bidding, it gives an opportunity to other vendors to send in their quotations. The most important point here is our stress on ethical conduct. At no time do we tolerate any mismanagement of procurement and that is key to us. We have put out certain stipulations for vendors so that they do not enter into malpractices once they begin supplying to us. As far as we are concerned, the standards are set. There’s a mindset change involved. Businessmen change with the environment that is given to them. What technology or software did you implement? Once we had formed our group company, we got TCS to implement a package for us. It was an ERP package and linked procurement, finance and the payment process. We worked on that

down regulatory requirements, preferential market access, priority land allotments, and better industrial infrastructure.

coastal shiPPing A new coastal shipping policy for India and the document for amending the Indian Ports Act are currently in their ﬁnal stages. The new policy for coastal shipping is almost ready and there is talk of amending the Indian Ports Act too. Both the documents of coastal shipping policy and amending the Indian Ports Act are in the final stages, National Shipping Board chairman P.V.K. Mohan said on the sidelines of a seminar on ‘East Coast Ports - Vision 2020’. No funds have been developed for coastal shipping, but initiatives have been earmarked - like what are the initiatives that the ports have to do, what the shipping industry

package for a couple of years. Once we were comfortable in a computerized environment, we moved to SAP. Till date, we operate completely on SAP. Recently we also moved commercial applications to SAP, and ISU. Our extensive use of SAP has been appreciated by the provider and they even gave us an award. If you talk about the materials management activity, we use a lot of the SAP features that are not commonly used by most other users. I think we are the first utility company to use material requirement planning (MRP) to plan the entire material management. It gives us the entire material that is available with us, the actual requirement and then schedules inventory so that there is no stock out. The advantages we have found are: no stock outs, inventories have come down, and third is the quick traceability of equipment. Today we can track material across the organization, even those lying in damaged condition. That helps us with the deci-

is expected to do. The amendment of the Indian Ports Act, was basically about ensuring level playing ﬁeld for the non-major and major ports, and a holistic approach towards development of ports. There is also a need to create awareness among steel and fertilizer industries that coastal shipping is the viable alternative to road and rail. It is also environment friendly.

ReFoRMs in laboR laws The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) has called for reforms in labor laws to allow layoffs of permanent employees during a slowdown or other related situations. “We would like to have all employees as permanent as we invest a lot on them. We are not allowed to layoff if there

sion making process. We don’t unnecessarily purchase material when we know it is lying at the vendors end and it is expected to be returned because it has not been used. Distribution companies like us have a huge capex requirement. Can you visualize the end-toend supply chain from procurement to installation to distribution? We purchase materials under two categories –the capex material for project work and the opex for operational activities for maintenance activities. Capex is procured on the basis of an annual capex plan generated through different departments to take care of the load. Capex activities are generated through material requirement planning. For opex, we have annual operational MRP, AO MRP. We collect requirements from zones and the kind of operational and maintenance activities they are proposing for the entire financial year.

are any ups and downs in the market. There should be some ﬂexibility in labor laws as per market requirements and so these should be reformed,” ACMA Vice-President Arvind Kapur said. Last month, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) had also asked for labor reforms to allow companies to terminate services of permanent employees during a slowdown, but with adequate unemployment benefits. Major vehicle manufacturers have already sought labor law reforms, while trade unions said existing rules must be implemented strictly to avoid confrontations.

Food Parks The central government of India is planning to set up 30 food parks in various states to help foster small and medium-sized businesses in the food processing

CONTINUED frOm PAGE 3 solutions that have an immediate impact on the customer’s top and bottom lines. In the supply chain domain, we have 400 resource-persons and 60 industry experts serving our customers worldwide – through strong product-lines, superior technology skills and proven global delivery processes. Who are your major clients? We serve customers world-over across several industries – our customer base includes Baker Hughes, TransOcean and Enteprise Products from the oil & gas industry, applied materials from hi-tech industry; Alcoa and Arvin Meritor from the industrial products vertical, petmate from Consumer Products vertical, Darigold, Almarai & Pepsi from the FMCG industry. What are the main drawbacks prevalent in the industry now? The biggest challenge the

sector. The parks will be set up under the aegis of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries and they will help approximately 20,000 small and medium industries engaged in the manufacture and processing of food products. The proposed parks would help overcome the problems of inadequate storage facilities and transportation issues, because the smaller manufacturers will now be able to consolidate their distribution networks. The consolidation and sharing of distribution networks would mean that there would be a more cost effective way for food products made by smaller manufacturers to reach their markets. This will, in turn result in reduction in food wastage because of storage and transportation issues, increase the shelf life of products, and consequently also help generate better revenues for their manufacturers.

industry is facing is the increased complexity in the supply chain due to globalisation, outsourcing, low cost country sourcing, incresed regulation due to security and hightened competition. What steps are you taking to overcome the drawbacks? The way to handle the increased complexity in the supply chain is make the supply chain short, simple and robust. Standardization – like ready compliance with multiple document interface formats like PIDX, EDI, DO2, and OILDEX – further makes it simple for trading partners to orchestrate collaborative business process over such platforms. Looking into the future, where do you place yourself in the industry? We will continue to help global customers succeed, by enabling business efficiencies that strengthen their competitive edge.

September 1—15, 2011 www.logisticsweek.com

lSp CaSe StuDy: Sun logiStiCS

Ballooning Growth Haresh S. Lalwani Joint MD, Sun Logistics Traditionally, liquid cargo has been carried in tank containers. The introduction of tank containers in the mid-1980s had helped the market move from transportation of liquids in bulk or in drums packed in dry containers. This helped in achieving unitization of liquid cargo and offered efficiency through an elimination of the need for drums as well as ease of multi-modal distribution. More recently, Sun Logistics, a specialist liquid logistics service provider, pioneered, together with a handful of firms, the introduction of ‘flexitanks’ in the market which represented a significant innovation over existing methods. Flexitank is a cost effective, single use, biodegradable packaging which is placed inside a normal container converting it to a tank for carriage of liquid cargo such as non hazardous chemicals, wine or juices.

Complication The complication was that in spite of the significant benefits offered by flexitanks, the industry was reluctant to accept it since it represented a step change from traditional carriage methods potentially depriving this innovative product of the time it takes to gain a foothold in a new market and worst still, possibly depriving the market of the innovation. The concerns of customers could be summed up under the following three heads. 1 General reluctance towards change 2 Flexible packaging, hence the fear of ‘losing’ the cargo 3 Whether flexitanks can survive the vagaries of a sea voyage or transportation by road or rail, especially in the context of the state of infrastructure in India.

Resolution Surprised by the reaction but convinced about the value and applicability of the innovation for its

customers in India, Sun Logistics took it upon itself to nudge the customers’ mindset into acceptance for the flexitanks using the following measures. 1 Sun Logistics initiated an educational program to educate the potential customers in the usage of flexitanks. Samples of bags were specially developed and handed over to the customers to check compatibility of their products with the construction materials. Meetings were held with customers explaining to them the savings they can expect by transportation in flexitanks. Trials were held in the plants of Indian exporters to demonstrate the capacity and strength of the product. The customers were educated on the pumps to be used, the correct filling temperatures and proper installation of the flexibags. 2 Insurance was made available to all customers for loss of cargo including on third party claims against any leakages due to manufacturing defects.

3 The continuous R & D carried out helped us develop a product that was compatible to the Indian climatic and infrastructural conditions. i) All leakages were investigated for cause and tests carried to double check ii) Compatibility of products with construction materials. iii) An understanding of the International requirements in manufacturing of flexitanks and adding the Indian requirements to attain the most optimum product. iv) Impact tests were conducted at TUV Germany twice to study the impact and force on flexitanks during their voyage at sea v) Impact test was performed at Transportation Technology Centre, Inc., Association of American Railroads (TTCI AAR) USA for testing withstanding force of 2G.

Outcome And Impact The impact of the measures undertaken by Sun Logistics re-

sulted in customer trials which, in turn, resulted in customer confidence. This, in turn, meant significant cost and operational advantages to these customers. For instance, in a standard 20 feet container, flexitanks increases the carriage capacity by over 50 percent as compared to the use of drums. Besides, the purchase price and disposal costs of a flexitank are 30-40 percent lower than those of drums for the same volume of freight. Also, flexitanks obviate the need for cleaning which is required in case of tank containers. In addition, balanced return loads, often crucial to the commercial viability of tank container movements, is not a factor for flexitanks. One of the softer outcomes of this case is the learning that it may often not be enough to introduce an innovation in the market place with the assumption that its advantages will automatically lead to its acceptance.

September 1—15, 2011 www.logisticsweek.com

portS upDateS

Lowdown On Major Ports In this section LW will provide the latest in ports and shipping news and a status on how the major ports have fared this fortnight. KoPT Expands On Orissa Shores  Kolkata Port Trust of India (KoPT) has started operations on the disputed Kanika Sands in Orissa last month by handling a ship carrying 15,000 tons of peas. KoPT extended its limits to more than 200 kilometer south of Haldia into the Bay of Bengal covering an area of 28,646 square kilometer. Although their intention to expand was known since the beginning of the decade, their decision drew f lak from Orissa port as they felt KoPT’s move will have a bad impact on the minor ports including the upcoming Dhamra port project.

India’s Plans For Ports  Ports in India are facing terrible congestion and yard delays, causing cargo handling at the major ports in India painfully slower than most ports in other parts of Asia. Hence there are plans for public and private investments of $7.6 billion to build seven new ports and increase merchandise exports of India by three times. According to official data, the 13 major ports of India handled 561 million tons of cargo in the fiscal year (March) 2010.

Sea Freight Rates Drop  Due to excessive Shipping Tonnage supplies i.e. new deliveries, the shipping market is in a depressed state. The Baltic

Dry Index (BDI) and Baltic Dirty Tanker Index (BDTI) track shipping rates for bulk dry and liquid commodities are the leading indicators of global economic activity. The BDTI has dwindled from 1,854 in August 2008 to 693 as on August 2011 and BDI has weakened from 8,280 in August 2008 to 1,602 at present. The drop in freight rate shows a declining trend of the bulk shipping freight market.

Harbor Depth  Major ports are required to increase the drafts at their harbor to at least 14 meter to maximum 17 meter. Currently there is a major problem that ports are facing while accommodat-

ing bigger vessels at a particular spot. According to the maritime agenda for the decade announced by the shipping industry, India’s major ports intend to shell out as much as `10,000 crore till 2020 to deepen and maintain shipping channels to accommodate bigger vessels.

KoPT Risks Losing Funds  The Centre currently provides an `350-crore annual dredging subsidy to Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) to enable it to finish their three projectstransloading at western Sandheads and two new ports at Haldia and Diamond Harbour. The Kolkata Port trust annually dredges 20 million cubic me-

ters to enable bigger vessels to dock. The Finance Ministry and Planning Commission raised serious objections to this subsidy considering them as drainage of government funds.

ETV On West Coast  The Shipping Ministry has deployed an Emergency Towing Vehicle (ETV), managed by Smit International, Singapore, on the West Coast of India during the southwest monsoon months for the first time this year. ETV’s are used to safeguard the coastline and to assist ships that break down due to technical snags or which are caught in bad weather. The cost of hiring of ETV is `16.25 crores for 105 days.

Port Trafﬁc This Fortnight Port of Chennai

Port of Kolkata:

The port handled an average of 4,448 TEU of container per day last fortnight. There was a drop in quantity of container handled by 26 percent this fortnight.

The port handled a total of 8,36,106 ton of cargo in the last fortnight, this time showing a rise by 6 percent.

PORT OF KOLKATA

PORT OF CHENNAI Avg container handled per day (TEU)

3251

The port handled a total of 4,68,582 ton of cargo. Comparing to this fortnight there is a rise in the percentage of cargo handled by 9 percent.

PORT OF COCHIN 51454

Port of Ennore: The port handled an average of 1,22,457 ton of cargo per day in the last fortnight recording a steep rise in the percentage of cargo handled by 29 percent, compared to this fortnight.

PORT OF ENNORE Avg cargo per handled per day (T)

157832

Port of JNPT The port handled an average of 10,732 TEU of container per day, last fortnight. The percentage of container handled dropped by nearly 3 percent in the last 15 days.

The port handled an average of 24,028 ton per day past fortnight. There is a surge in quantity of cargo handled by 77 percent. (The data for this fortnight was extrapolated from five days’ data because numbers were not available for rest of the days. The sharp skew shown in the table here could be because of the surge in port traffic on the recorded days).

PORT OF MUMBAI Avg cargo handled per day (T)

108455

Port of Paradip The port handled a total 21,84,271 ton of cargo this fortnight as compared to 14,69,105 ton last time, recording a steep rise by 32 percent.

PORT OF PARADIP Avg cargo handled per day (T)

156019

Port of Tuticorin The port handled on an average 74,500 ton of cargo per day in the last fortnight. The quantity of cargo handled this fortnight plummeted by 19 percent.

PORT OF TUTICORIN

PORT OF JNPT Avg container handled per day (TEU)

225830

Port of Mumbai

Port of Cochin

Avg cago handled per day (T)

Avg cargo handled per day (T)

10447

(Data is relevant to days when information was updated on port website)

Avg cargo handled per day (T)

60314

September 1—15, 2011 www.logisticsweek.com

global eye

At Apple, What’s On Cook’s Menu? Tim Cook, a logistics expert, has taken over as CEO of Apple in the wake of Steve Jobs’ resignation. So what does he need to do into fit his predecessor’s very large shoes? Will Tim Cook’s taking over from Steve Jobs keep Apple in the forefront? Well, that depends on what Cook brings to the table. Will he honor the traditions that the incredible Jobs set, or will he present something new? In a reassuring message to the Apple staff, Chief Executive Cook, a logistics expert, has admitted that Jobs, now a chairman has been his mentor and that he would be looking forward to his continued guidance to maintain Apple’s position. To Cook’s credit, it must be stressed that he has been instrumental in locking up contracts in advance for critical parts in

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple the company’s devices. It has had the effect of securing favorable prices, keeping Apple’s profit margins high, but it has also prevented rival companies from producing competent products at significantly lower prices. While Jobs has a reputation for innovation, his successor is a number-cruncher. When he joined Apple in 1998 Cook ruthlessly cut costs, closed factories, outsourced production and slashed stock levels. But at this juncture, the company has several products lined up for release, and the picture isn’t that rosy after Jobs’ stepping down. The stock market isn’t smiling. The reaction in electronics circles, including Apple, is a mixed bag. They say that the dynamics of the industry provides no company or product a guarantee that it will not be threatened or upstaged in a couple of months. Joy has proved to be short-lived. Michael Maccoby, a management consultant and author of the book The Productive Narcissist: The Promise and Peril of Visionary Leadership, says,

“Jobs is a hard act to follow, but not an impossible one. Apple has created a technology, patents, processes, and so on. It has created the Apple stores. It has created attitudes among customers.” Another line of thinking in Silicon Valley is that kids in a garage can build something that can topple the existing order. This has been Apple’s own story. But then, it is much harder to

take huge risks when you are running a $350-billion company. Parts of the mixed reaction, in both the market and at Apple, are that Cook and Jobs are different characters with different approaches, and Cook may try out his own agenda. Cook once told the 50,000-employee empire, “We take risks knowing that risk will sometimes result in failure, but without the

possibility of failure there is no possibility of success.” When he quit Compaq and joined Apple in 1996, Compaq was going great guns while the scene was dicey at Apple. Where is Compaq today and where is Apple? It is not only Cook, but experts, who feel that conventions may have to be reviewed as per the needs of the times. Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organiza-

tional behavior at Stanford, says, “The two will otherwise be compared, and Cook would inevitably be described as ‘Steve Light.’ It is better to be different than a second-rate version of what the last person was.” Cook has obviously seen it coming. He knows he must serve something special if he wants customers to ask for a second helping.

September 1—15, 2011 www.logisticsweek.com

SurfaCe tranSport upDateS

THE LW CrOSSWOrD

On The Road

RAILWAYS LAUNCH PROJECT UNIGAUGE

and 75 percent contribution from Ministry of Finance as addition and it will be utilized for funding of National Projects in the North East Region.

 Approx. 1,516 kilometres and 837 kilometres of Metre Gauge// Narrow Gauge lines were converted into Board Gauge lines during 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively across the country. A target of 1017 km of gauge conversion has been fixed for 2011-12 against which 47 kilometres of gauge conversion has been completed till July, 2011. The Railways have launched ‘Project Unigauge’ to convert the existing Metre Gauge/ Narrow Gauge lines into Broad Gauge except Heritage lines. As on 01.04.2011, 8555 kilometres of Metre Gauge/Narrow Gauge lines existing on Indian Railways, are yet to be converted to Broad Gauge line. Presently, works have been taken up for conversion of 5857 kilometres of Metre Gauge/Narrow Gauge lines to Broad Gauge.

arrangement, national permits can be granted by the home State on payment of `1,000/- as home State authorization fee and `15,000/- per annum per truck towards consolidated fee ,authorizing the permit holder to operate throughout the country. The government has also taken necessary steps to implement the new national permit system electronically with effect from 15.09.2010.

PLANTATION ON RAILWAY LAND  In pursuance of the Railways commitment towards environmental improvement through afforestation and also with a view to safeguard railway land against unauthorized occupation, Railways have undertaken tree plantation on a programmed basis. Vacant Railway land is generally in the form of a thin strip along the track. Railways undertake mass plantation on this vacant land, wherever feasible, in a manner so that it does not affect the visibility of track and ensuring safe operations of trains. About 94 lakh saplings were planted each during 2009-10 and 2010-11. Target of plantation of saplings during 2011-12 is 100 lakh.

ONGOING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN NORTH EAST

WRS’S ROAD ACCIDENT DATA  As per the latest issue of the “World Road Statistics” (WRS) 2010, brought out by the International Road Federation (IRF), Geneva, United States of America had reported the maximum number of injury accidents at 16,30,000 in the world followed by Japan at 7,66,147 and India at 4,84,704 for the year 2008.

EXPRESS HIGHWAYS FOR NE  There are 47 approved national highways having a total length of 8,480 km in the States of North East. As on date, there is no approved express highway in the states of North East. Twenty one proposals are under consideration with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways for proposed new National Highways for the States of North East.

NATIONAL PERMIT SYSTEM FOR TRUCKERS

 To step-up investment and implementation of railway projects in the North Eastern Region, a dedicated North East Region Rail Development Fund (NERRDF) has been created. NERRDF is a non-lapsable fund with 25 per cent contribution from Railway Gross Budgetary Support (GBS)

 In order to facilitate inter-state movement of goods carriages, a new national permit system had been implemented in all states/ union territories with effect from 08.05.2010. As per the new

TRUCK FREIGHT RATES* Following are the truck freight rates (in `per tonne) from metros to metros

oRigin

destinations New Delhi --

Kolkata

Mumbai

Chennai

Bangalore

3,065

3,000

4,600

4,500

Kolkata

2,350

2,200

3,600

Mumbai

3,050

3,000

2,400

Chennai

3,850

3,300

2,400

Bangalore

3,680

3,300

2,360

*Rates are indicative **Data collected during Aug 1-10, 2011. Group Publisher: Jacob Joseph Puthenparambil jacob@logisticsweek.com Publisher: Frewin Francis Vazhappilly frewin@logisticsweek.com Publishing Director: Jayaram Nair jayaram@logisticsweek.com Editor-Special Projects: Pamela Cheema pamela@logisticsweek.com Editor: Aanand Pandey aanand@logisticsweek.com

3 5

A low-down on developments in surface transport last fortnight.

New Delhi

Executive Editor: Jayashree Mendes jayashree@logisticsweek.com Editorial Executives: Anuja Abraham, Pritha Dey Chief Designer: Shivasankaran Pillai AD-SALES: Ashok Chand Thakur ashok@logisticsweek.com Dinesh Mishra dinesh@logisticsweek.com Snehal Phatnaik snehal@logisticsweek.com

800 800

Source: Logisticsweek Research Marketing Support: Sangeeta D, Suhasini S Printed and published by Frewin Francis Vazhappilly, on behalf of Industrial Sourcing Media Private Limited. Printed at Print House India P.Ltd., Rabale, Navi Mumbai - 400 705, India and published at Bldg.4/6, Sona Udyog, Parshi Panchayat Rd., Andheri (E), Mumbai - 400069. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means

14 16

15 17

21 22 23

29 30

31 32 EclipseCrossword.com

across: 1. Placing sensitive products in a fenced off area within a warehouse (5) 3. A railcar without sides, used for hauling machinery (7) 7. Name, term, symbol, or all of these, used to identify a product (8) 10. Material used to protect a product from damage during transit (7) 11. Group of products that are shipped together as an unassembled unit (6) 13. Storage device designed to hold small parts (3) 15. Distinctive characteristic of a goods or service (7) 17. Temporary storage area on a computer for cut or copied items (9) 18. Selling goods below costs (7) 22. Inland transport service offered under conditions of tariff and documents (7) 24. Prohibition on exports or imports (7) 25. Wedge placed under the wheel of a truck to stop it from rolling (5) 28. Time required for documents, payments, etc. to get to another partner (5) 30. Group of companies that agree to co-operate, than compete (6) 31. Individual or custom-made product or service (7) 32. Movement of products to another country (6) Down: 2. Return of an empty container to point of origin (8) 4. Party to whom goods are shipped (9) 5. Official residing in a foreign country, representing the interest of his/her country (6) 6. Physical plant, distribution centers, and related equipment (10) 8. Igloo shaped containers used in air transportation (6) 9. Agreement between companies to perform or not to perform specific acts (8) 12. Practice of selling goods to a competitor by a customer (9) 14. Term for goods in transit (7) 16. Materials handling device that moves freight in a warehouse (8) 19. Connection that permits messages to flow freely (7) 20. Firm that transports goods or people via land, sea or air (7) 21. Large retailer having many trading partners (3) 23. Quantity of material awaiting further processing (6) 25. Charge made against a carrier for loss, damage, delay, or overcharge (5) 26. Numeric representation of text to exchange common information (4) 27. Situation in which an equipment operator deposits a trailer or boxcar at a facility at which it is to be loaded or unloaded (4) 29. an alternative term used for certain types of specific purpose (4)

Answers Across 2. Accountability 4.Backhaul 7. Agglomeration 8. Inventory 9. Capex 11. Capital 14. Agility 15. Agent 16. Freight 17. Accuracy 21. Cage 22. Amtrak 23. Logistics 24. Algorithm 25. Acknowledgement 26. Accessory 27. Allocation 28. Abandonment Down 1. Authentication 2. Audit 3. Assembly 5. Accesibility 6. Backflush 10. Attributes 12. Accreditation 13. Cabotage 17. Attachment 18. Cargo 19. Backsourcing 20. Backorder Answers in the next issue. Win an annual subscription by mailing a clear picture of the completed crossword to aanand@logisticsweek.com. Only correct entries will win. including photocopying or scanning without the prior permission of the publishers. Such written permission must also be obtained from the publisher before any part of the publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature. No liabilities can be accepted for inaccuracies of any description, although the publishers would be pleased to receive amendments for possible inclusion in future editions. Opinions reflected in the publication are those of the writers. The publisher assumes no responsibilities for

return of unsolicited material or material lost or damaged in transit. All correspondence should be addressed to Industrial Sourcing Media Private Limited.. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Mumbai only.

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From the stables of LOG.INDIA, the country’s most respected logistics and supply-chain magazine, comes the LogisticsWeek Director 2012, a much-awaited reckoner that will list India’s 3PLs, 4PLs, transporters, solutions and service providers in the material handling and warehousing space, freight forwarders, shippers, cold chain service providers and all the stakeholders of the industry. Do not miss the chance to reach out to the decision-makers of the industry. Avail of huge early-bird discounts, NOW

September 1â&#x20AC;&#x201D;15, 2011 www.logisticsweek.com