Cargo Connect July 2020

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contents

Volume XI Issue VIII

JULY 2020

Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Smiti Suri

COVER STORY

Special Correspondent / Sub-editor Upamanyu Borah

Industry think tanks and sector leaders share collective wisdom, weaving together a fresh understanding, creating a forward momentum.

Principal Correspondent Ritika Arora Bhola Correspondent Saurabh Sharma Event Coordinator Pallavi Jain Director Ajeet Kumar

10

Marketing Manager Rahul Arora Gagan Duggal

leaders leading logistics Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, CSC................... 14 Manoj Singh, Senior Vice President and

Head- Cargo, MIAL........................................... 16

Halit Tuncer, Cargo Director - South Asia,

Turkish Airlines............................................... 18

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, DIAL................. 20 Ibrahim Burak Kurt, CEO, Çelebi Delhi

Rajiv Bhattacharya, COO, V-Xpress................ 46 Manojit Acharya, Managing Director,

Jungheinrich Lift Truck India............................. 48 Ramanathan Rajamani, Director and CEO, AISATS........................................................... 50 Sanjeev Gadhia, Vice Chairman, TIACA.............. 52 Dr Renu Singh Parmar, Former Senior Economic Advisor, MoCA.................................... 56

Cargo Terminal Management.............................. 22

shipper speaks

Sanjiv Gupta, CEO, SpiceXpress....................... 26 Sundeep Reddy Gummadi, Founder & Director,

Supply Chain and Logistics, Ruchi Soya................ 62

Zeromile Warehousing...................................... 28

Abhijit Malkani, Co-CEO & Country Head,

ESR India........................................................ 32

Yashpal Sharma, MD, Skyways Group.............. 34 C V Kumar, CEO, CCI Logistics........................... 36 Madhav Thapar, Vice President - South Asia,

and Managing Director - India, C H Robinson........ 38

Akash Bansal, Country Head- Logistics,

Om Logistics................................................... 40

Steven Polmans, Director- Cargo & Logistics, Brussels Airport Company................................. 42 Mohan S A, CEO & Director, Armes Maini

Storage Systems.............................................. 44

30,341

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July 2020

Marketing Executive Akash Gupta Rahul Jain Accounts & Administration Lavish Thakur Designer & Visualiser Ashok Saxena

Vikash Khatri, Co-founder, Aviral Consulting..... 68

All materials printed in this publication is the sole property of CargoConnect. The printed matter contained in the magazine is based on research and analysis and information provided by the spokespersons featured.

The views, ideas, comments and opinions expressed are solely of those featured and the Editor and Publisher do not necessarily reflect the same.

People connect

CargoConnect is owned by Smiti Suri,

Deependra Khandelwal, Sr Manager-

guest column

Rahul Rai, Head- Business Development -

Project Logistics Division, Allcargo Logistics........ 70

Regulars Frontline............................ 6 Buzz...................................... 8 Fact Check......................... 58 Technology....................... 60 News............................. 64-66 appointments.................. 69

and is printed at Compudata Services, 42, DSIDC Shed, Scheme–1, Okhla Industrial Area Complex, Phase–II, New Delhi-110020, and published at 6/31-B, Jangpura–B, New Delhi-110014

6/31-B, Jangpura-B, New Delhi-110014 Tel: +91-11-40159394, 24373465 Mob: 97113 83365, 98109 62016 Email: cargoconnect@gmail.com sales@surecommedia.com Website: www.surecommedia.com

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frontline

Easing on limits on foreign direct investment in defence manufacturing, privatisation of six more airports and allowing private sector in commercial coal mining, will open up investment in these sectors. Similarly amendments have been brought to Essential Commodities Act and APMC Act which will benefit the farmers.

Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance

Over the past five years, the passenger traffic at Vizag airport has grown at 21% CAGR, while the airport ranks 5th amongst the Customs-operated airports in India in terms of cargo traffic.  Almost two-fifths of the total logistics costs are associated with the last-mile and this means that the leading players will have to come up with newer innovative solutions.  Despite the federal structure, with policies that varies across states, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana are generally considered investor-friendly.

The dozen major ports in India handle approximately 60% of the country’s total cargo traffic.

In 2019-20 that was close to 705 million tonnes of cargo and 20,837 vessels.  Snapdeal reached 50% of prelockdown volumes within 5 days of expanded operations. The order volumes for the first 9 days of May 2020 was 52% as compared to the same period last year.  Blue Star, TVS Motor Company, JK Tyre & Industries and Asian Paints are some of the companies already using AI-

based solutions and analytics platforms

in their manufacturing units in India.

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July 2020

We are in the process of identifying industries and businesses looking for alternative manufacturing locations. The idea is to provide such industries with a compatible business environment and a robust domestic demand which will aid investments into the country and generate local employment.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Foreign Secretary

The reboot in vehicle manufacturing, supply chain and retail triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic is a golden opportunity to create local supply chain for electric vehicles in India. It is the time where we can move from manufacturing to R&D and product development and leverage the benefit of using common parts across several cars.

Rajan Wadhera, President, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM)

In order to overcome the pain points, many manufacturing companies are turning to Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to attain improved agility and more streamlined operations across the value chain, resulting in cost savings across various touch points. With the onslaught of COVID-19, these companies have found a greater push to turn to RPA. Manish Bharti, President- India and SAARC, UiPath

Western countries were trying to consolidate small suppliers and make them into larger entities. That’s a playbook India can ape since there’s still time. The demand for automobiles or any other product is yet to pick up. OEMs can prepare. They have to ensure that the supply chain ramp-up is synced to the demand ramp-up they will experience.

Rahul Gangal, Partner, Roland Berger

buzz

M

ultinational companies (MNCs) are exploring the option of ‘making’ in India as they look to diversify and shift manufacturing ecosystems partially out of China amid a massive disruption in supply chains due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Many corporations suffered widespread disruptions due to the stringent lockdown enforced in China’s auto sector hub Hubei province, of which Wuhan—which was the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak, is the capital.

According to consultants and analysts, several MNCs are reaching out to government agencies, their own respective embassies in India and consultants as they look to conduct feasibility studies to shift some of their operations into India.

A UBS report last month said initial signs showed that India is the top destination for companies moving out of China.

“Given India’s competitive advantage in terms of land and labour availability, exports have always been a big hope historically but it is now seeing a turn as global manufacturers long settled in China are looking to diversify their manufacturing base. India has scale advantage and key success factors locally are also improving,” UBA said in a report specially examining the factory relocation theme.

India has become an attractive option for these firms after a cut in corporate tax rates last year to as low as 15 per cent for new manufacturing firms. Further, the large domestic market in India and the relatively low labour costs are another advantage, the consultants and analysts agreed.

“Not only can India boast of having highly skilled labour, impressive entrepreneurial talent, a large internal consumer market and thriving private enterprises, but India’s analytic, financial, technical, and management services are also world-class”, says Ankit Pradhan, Founder and CEO, Realty Assistant.

“India is among the top FDI destinations in the world; it is evident from the fact that last year India received half of the total of previous twenty years of FDI investment,” Pradhan added.

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It is noteworthy to mention that the Swiss bank estimates India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) pipeline has doubled to $175 billion versus $87 billion last year from sectors like construction, electronics, infrastructure, textiles, food processing and pharma.

India did receive a sum of $64.37 billion of FDI in 2018-19, which is a 6% jump over the 2017-18, at a time when global FDI flow was declining. UNCTAD, India compiled the Global Investment Trend Monitor report which shows India among the top 10 recipients of FDI in the year 2019, resulting in attracting $49 billion in inflows, a 16 per cent increase from the previous year.

Apple’s manufacturing partner Winst ron Corporat ion has reportedly evinced interest in moving to India. iPhone assembler Pegatron is also considering India as one of the options.

South Korean firms like Posco and Hyundai Steel are also looking to set up operations in India, according to the South Korean consulate.

In March, India’s cabinet announced a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the electronics sector with an outlay of over Rs 40,000 crore. “There is a clear negative sentiment against Chi-

na, especially in the US, Japan and South Korea. If we play our cards right, we could double our exports (of electronic products) in three years’ time,” Amrit Manwani, President of Electronic Industries Association of India said.

Manwani named US-based Johnson & Johnson, Amphenol and Teledyne among those who have expressed interest for medical electronic products and equipment.

India exports electronic products worth $9 billion each year, while its domestic market is estimated at $120 billion.

Companies with operations in China want to de-risk their supply chains and have approached Hero Motors, the company’s CMD Pankaj Munjal said. “Some of them will migrate to India, Vietnam and others. I believe, that will be a growth opportunity and we will see a migratory growth in the supply chain,” Munjal added.

Indian vehicle makers also reportedly plan to localise the manufacturing of auto parts or source from another foreign partner over the next few months.

Consultants and analysts, however said, the constantly changing policies and the uncertainties are proving a source of concern and hesitation for the investors.

Why India?

U

BS surveyed 450 senior executives between December and January and found that, 76% of the respondents have either shifted their supply chain or are planning to shift in response to protectionist policies.

Overall, a high number of respondents are looking to diversify, suggesting a manufacturing shift from China is more structural and longer term in nature. “India continues to be among the top destinations in Asia for manufacturing shift. Trade data confirms market share gains for India in exports to the US, for tariff-imposed products,” UBS said. Researchers analysed earnings tran-

“If India can make like-for-like replacement possibilities make land and electricity available and all clearances are in place to (help companies) de-risk on a permanent basis (it is an opportunity). If we now get to the administrative side to offer a plug and play model with our advantages it is an opportunity for us. But we have to be faster and better than other competing countries,” said Hitendra Dave, Head Global Banking and Markets at HSBC India.

While India is emerging as a reliable alternative to China for foreign companies invested in manufacturing and sourcing, the country has to work on positioning itself as a global service hub in sectors like Pharmaceuticals, and the integration of India in the worldwide supply chain is to be seen.

India will also have to address issues such as low productivity of our industries due to outdated technologies, lack of an ecosystem of efficient suppliers who could manufacture quality goods at the required speed in large volumes, and logistical and infrastructural constraints, besides membership of important trade groupings to emerge as a serious destination for supply chains relocating from China.

Government‘s evaluation Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry had said that the government had

scripts of 44 global companies to spot nuances in language that signify a potential relocation of manufacturing to India. There are increased references to ‘India’ and ‘trade war’.

Sudhir Kapadia, National Leader- Tax at EY said there have been queries from many MNCs across jurisdictions like the US, Europe, South Korea and Japan who are keen to explore the Indian option.

According to Kapadia, “Most MNCs would not like to put everything under a single geography given this kind of disruption. The focus while creating new supply chains and reorganising existing supply chains must be on de-risking and diversification.”

Kapadia added that some factors give India an edge. “India now has a very attractive direct tax regime with tax rates as low

as 15 per cent for new manufacturing companies. Coupled with the state level incentives, removal of the dividend distribution tax and the huge domestic market, India has become an attractive option,” Kapadia explained.

Another tax consultant with one of the consulting firms, who didn’t wish to be identified, said the interest has been evinced from firms in the electronics space – white goods, smartphones and computer accessories, and the health sector including pharmaceuticals.

However, Kapadia said, the complex tax and regulatory regime is a hurdle.

“There is no single window clearance for practical purposes. You have to reach out to multiple agencies to get compliances done,” Kapadia noted.

Propelling ‘Make in India’

S

andeep Jhunjhunwala, Director, Nangia Andersen LLP said India is steadily emerging as a powerful alternative manufacturing destination for businesses planning to de-risk and diversify their supply chain operations.

“Recent production linked incentive schemes for large scale electronics manufacturing, including the modified electronics manufacturing clusters (EMC 2.0) scheme would also put an upward thrust on the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Assemble in India’ campaigns of the government,” Jhunjhunwala said.

“In addition to the policy initiatives of the central government targeting manufacturing companies exiting China, several state governments are also working towards creating windows in respective state industrial policies to woo investors,” Jhunjhunwala added.

India has allocated about US$6 billion to boost domestic manufacturing and to attract investment and incentivise electronics and components manufacturing and exports in the country. This

begun the process of reaching out to big firms to encourage them to shift their operations to India.

“After COVID-19, multinational enterprises will look at diversifying their global supply chains (away from China) and India will be an option,” Subramanian said when speaking to the media.

India has been in talks with the socalled nodal companies to shift their

move was announced as a part of India’s ambition to become a US$1 trillion economy by 2025.

The official trade and investment regulator of the country, the Department of Promotion for Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) notified changes to India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policy.

The above step was taken in turn to restrict any wrong buying of Indian businesses by the Chinese companies or state-run institutions. These changes now make government clearance mandatory – for all FDI inflows from countries that share land borders with India.

Lately, UP Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath has also promised tailor-made facilities to giants like FedEx, Cisco and Adobe for moving facilities to Uttar Pradesh.

The FDI policy is already tightened to prevent any opportunistic takeovers or acquisition of Indian companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, India has an opportunity to become a sustainable, resilient and diverse economy.

base to India. “Typically, for instance, if a mobile manufacturer shifts its base to India, then the suppliers and other companies also shift as they are part of the value chain just like distributors, Subramanian explained.

Additionally, the process of reaching out to the firms had started prior to the pandemic in the aftermath of the USChina trade war, Subramanian added.

JUly 2020 | 9

coverstory

Industry think tanks and sector leaders share collective wisdom, weaving together a fresh understanding, creating a forward momentum.

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July 2020

As we can see, big changes are about to take on the logistics industry in the post-COVID-19 world. As always, when an economic crisis occurs, only the stronger ones will swim out on the surface. Nevertheless, that does not mean that others will lose their plays on the market.

Informing yourself in advance will help you prepare for the upcoming changes, and maybe even save your business. With that in mind, reaches out to the top leaders to know about the ground realities, and perceive how despite the crisis, the industry can build strong foundations for the future.

oreword

The reality of life post-COVID-19 seems to slowly sink in, and it can bewell anticipated that the consequences for our businesses, organisations, economy, and society will play out over the rest of 2020 and beyond.

Whether we talk about international or national policies, we’re looking at a massive overhaul in our way of living and conducting business. Governments, institutions and businesses alike are scrambling to cope with the highly uncertain and rapidly evolving landscape. Approaches have varied, as have the results.

The most effective leaders are either instinctively or intentionally tapping into the principles of crisis management that they have learned over the years of working with organisations in transition.

As leaders around the world deal with the COVID-19 crisis, they should keep in mind that, in times of heightened anxiety and stress, they must change the way they lead. When worn social, economic and political narratives are falling apart, the race for new narratives is greater than ever. However, for narratives to scale, a strategy must come into play.

Especially during crises, people’s expectation of the future turns bleak, reducing their sense of control and their ability

to process information. This kind of response can have a severe impact on job performance in times of crisis, compromising safety, quality and productivity.

The key is to engage with your people in the right way, at the right time, with the right information.

In the end, the power of clear communication is really a game of leverage.

A CEO who communicates precisely to ten direct reports, each of whom communicates with equal precision to 40 other talented employees, effectively

During these difficult times, logistics and supply chain leaders will be tasked to keep level heads, stay agile and innovate amid changing conditions of the market.

aligns the organisation’s commitment and energy around a clear, well-understood, shared vision of the company’s real goals, priorities, and opportunities.

he logistics and supply chain sector

Logistics professionals have always understood the vital role of the supply chain. Now the importance of what they do is at the forefront

for everyday citizens, as the world contends with the uncertainty and insecurity of a global pandemic. During these difficult times, logistics and supply chain leaders will be tasked to keep level heads, stay agile and innovate amid changing conditions of the market.

Leaders of the industry have already excelled by creating response centers to monitor, plan and react to every challenge. Organisations are keeping vital freight moving despite huge challenges such as the loss of belly cargo capacity on passenger flights, new regulations and border restrictions.

In the coming months, supply chains could be facing a high degree of variability in personnel—be it drivers, warehouse workers, yard staff and so on.

Across the supply chain, many organisations will need to be prepared to staff up and fill in teams with new faces, as experienced personnel drop in and out of the roster to recuperate or care for sick family members.

Persistence is always a big goal in logistics, and the current climate is going to require leaders to get creative about how they achieve it within their organisations. With these rapid changes in personnel, it’ll be up to leadership to automate and maintain consistency in how goods are moving and how all staff and partners ensure they know when cargo is leaving, when it is arriving, where they can find it, where specific loads are on the road, and so on.

JUly 2020 | 11

hat the industry needs to do right now?

McK i n sey e s t i m at e s that India’s GDP in the first quarter of the 2020–21 fiscal year could shrink by 20 per cent, compared with the same quarter last year. The World Bank projects that full-year GDP will contract by more than 3 per cent. India’s unemployment rate, which stood at 8.4 per cent before the lockdown, rose to 27.1 per cent in April.

A crisis like this has unveiled our shortcomings on which India needs to work on in the near future by making necessary reforms. These challenging times are an opportunity for us to strategically transform ourselves, our nation and the world we live in. This is a time when we can explore new economic models. For this to happen, we may need to bring in policy changes at various levels.

The two sources of certainty or practicality that mean the most to industry are its stakeholders and the government leaders. But how can the two provide what the industry need right now?

There is a real need for industry and gover nment leadership to interac t more often and remove any factors that might slow down or impact on freight moved ac ross t he count r y. Visible and vocal support from government leaders has so far been boosting the motivation of the frontline workers in all corners of the world keeping transport networks and supply chains running in difficult conditions.

The biggest need is that the industry should now focus more on overall productivity which earlier was considered a different case.

In the domestic market, there should be a strong need to change the business model which is currently based on excessive credit and excessive inventory.

Regarding skills and training, it is high time to move beyond entry-level training which is the focus of government schemes so far. There is a need to reboot the skilling system.

Most importantly, logistics and supply chain leaders would need to reassess the consumer demand based on the

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outbreak-driven market adjustments (i.e., the new demand is driven by supply constrictions, reduced demand from regions closing off from market), review supply constraints (i.e., suppliers, transport, warehousing and other active capacities), create a prioritisation framework and establish a dynamic scenario planning capability.

That is the silver lining in this macabre black mirror real-life episode.

Logistics and supply chain leaders would need to reassess the consumer demand based on the outbreak-driven market adjustments, review supply constraints, create a prioritisation framework and dynamic scenario planning capability. hat in Leaders Leading Logistics?

We all know that cargo movements around the world are suffering, especially so with service providers’ customer service, sales and pricing teams separated geographically and being forced to work remotely. Teams are siloed and over-reliant on emails and phone calls leading to poorer customer satisfaction and lack of visibility and accountability to the management. This is making an already difficult situation worse.

Besides, maintaining customer connections virtually amid shifting behaviors has its own challenges. , we are more than resoAt lute to support the industry’s communication efforts during these times of uncertainty. Due to the rapidly shifting news cycle and growing concerns about COVID-19, we’ve put together a series to share best practices and tips for the industry players.

It’s a difficult time for fluent and insightful communications and we want to

be a trusted bridge of information for the industry.

Commercial operations globally are coming back to business as usual, and the industry at this moment of time has a need to hear out the leaders for setting the tone to move forward from here on.

We reached out to leaders driving the supply chain, logistics and allied industry and spoke to them on the current most frequently discussed topics andrelevant aspects the industry seeks information or looks forward to discussing in detail, along with exploring predictions for the future. We pivoted back to our original format of reachingout to the decisionmakers and visionaries from across the industry to share their expertise with our audience, including answering the questions they might have on their mind during this difficult time.

A sober, pragmatic outlook emerges from our discussions with dozens of CEOs and senior-level executives in recent weeks. Executives are planning for a prolonged economic downturn—and for an uncertain ‘next normal’ that could follow an eventual recovery. They also observed that the COVID-19 crisis has brought new urgency to some of corporate India’s longstanding challenges and that companies that act now to address these priorities could emerge stronger from the crisis.

New technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), the Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced analytics, when applied to the supply chain, enhances the ability of the decision-makers to make more informed decisions and at the same time save vital costs. These initiatives as pointed out by the executives will need to be fasttracked now to not only address the immediate aftermath but to make supply chains more resilient.

As CEOs and executives talked to us about India’s experience to date with COVID-19, they observed that their companies have become tightly connected with institutions around the world and with global flows of goods, information, and capital.

In t his series t itled ‘LEADERS LEADING LOGISTICS’, we offer a closer look at all of these priorities and also try to understand how the institutions the leaders are part of have maintained the right output in their respective spheres.

tushar jani

Cargo Service Center (CSC) never stopped functioning during the lockdown. In fact, CSC was commissioned for the movement of COVID-19 materials; we had been in the forefront to support countries in need for health relief material. Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, Cargo Service Center (CSC) informs Ajeet Kumar, how CSC's pharma facilities kept operating 24x7, providing lifeline support for pharma export which in turn helped import material for COVID-19. He also informs about the country's logistic sector which is undergoing rapid innovations, and how logistics service providers have to be agile, flexible and conceptualise strategies that gel with the sector's future orientation.

The '3 Vs' important for logistics: Velocity, Visibility and Variability

P

ost-lockdown, how long would you estimate it would take for our industry to get back to business as usual?

What will be the growth drivers?

The normalcy of flights will take a longer time than expected to come to the pre-COVID-19 levels. As far as cargo is concerned, India is operating at 50 per cent capacity of the demand for cargo.

Carriers have converted their passenger aircrafts for freighter operations, but as the time passes, probably, we will still have 30 to 35 per cent lesser cargo vol14 |

July 2020

Can we expect more automation coming into the entire supply chain for the handling of cargo in a multimodal network?

Automation in supply chain and handling of cargo, as I stated before, is a long way forward for India. The reason being it is a highly capital intensive programme, while the logistic yield in India is one of the lowest in the world. In my personal opinion, the sector has not yet matured to bear that cost.

umes flown compare to the previous year. This will result in firmed up strong freight rates.

For passenger flights to start, it will take much longer time. And to come to pre-COVID-19 levels, the movement of passengers flights will take a minimum of two years.

How has Cargo Service Center (CSC) been providing customer experience during the lockdown?

Being in the air cargo handling services sector which has been declared part of essential services, we never stopped functioning during the lockdown. In fact, we were commissioned for the movement of COVID-19 materials. I’m happy to see that the air cargo handling industry has been at the forefront and supporting countries in need for health relief materials, more than ever before.

Cargo Service Center (CSC) in particular has pharma facilities in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi. We had been operating 24x7 and successfully providing lifeline support for pharma export which in turn helps import material for COVID-19 into the country. It also helps balance air cargo movement.

The consumer sentiment being low now and considering economic downturn across the globe, what will be the scenario of logistics services required in the next couple of years?

The logistics services sector is undergoing rapid innovations. This is required when you have growth and also when

there is a recession. The logistics service providers therefore need to be agile, flexible and conceptualise strategies that gel with the sector's future orientation.

If I were to describe, the current phase is of survival and the next phase will be a revival.

The '3 Vs' important for logistics are velocity, visibility and variability.

I see huge cooperation and more coordination within the industry which will help multimodal logistics to grow effectively.

These three will continue to play an important role.

Experts say the industry will also see a lot of automation across industries with fewer staff and more machines doing the job. Is this a curious case of commercial consideration or a business continuity necessity?

Automation for the logistics industry in India, in my personal opinion, is a long way forward. However as we move from digitisation to digitalisation, we will see the exchange of data between the players becoming more efficient. We will see more new innovations taking over the industry. The government has already stepped up with the right policies and procedures; it’s time for the industry to respond and leverage the opportunities.

The logistics industry in India today is able to take up challenges of manufacturing of any scale, within domestic and for export.

Do you see some modal shifts in the way the industry had been working earlier?

I see huge cooperation and more coordination in the industry which will help multimodal logistics to grow effectively.

What are the areas logistics professionals globally need to keep an eye on and put up a unified front?

The logistics professionals must be agile, have to be innovative and more collaborative in their approach.

How can the logistics ecosystem players gear up to support India’s dream of becoming a manufacturing hub?

For India to become a manufacturing hub, we already have the right infrastructure and processes in place; support industries like logistics are gearing up. The logistics industry in India today is able to take up challenges of manufacturing of any scale, within domestic and for export.

In the later phase of the lockdown, what is the ground reality? Has seamless transport systems been restored?

During this lockdown, some changes in processes have happened for the better.

T he processes have become more smooth and simpler, and a lot of credit goes to the government. This is one of the reasons that during the lockdown, we as a county, have not felt the shortage of material or any essential supplies.

JUly 2020 | 15

There is a huge scope for both local and foreign companies to enhance their manufacturing setup and increase the production of goods in India that will further boost international exports and domestic consumption, avows Manoj Singh, Senior Vice President and Head of Cargo at Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).

In an exclusive chat with Ritika Arora Bhola, the veteran leader emphasises on how they enabled cargo movement to and from the airport, and the growing need for safety in operations.

manoj singh

D

ue to the COVID-19 outbreak, a ban was imposed on national and international movement of cargo. Kindly share the challenges that MIAL faced during lockdown and how did you cope up with it?

The COVID-19 outbreak created an unprecedented situation that impacted the entire globe. The travel and aviation industry felt the brunt almost immediately after the outbreak was announced in January 2020 as this serious threat impacted all the businesses and economies worldwide. As governments across the world swung into action and implemented measures to curb the spread of the virus as best as they could, India suspended all commercial passenger flight operations and imposed a strict lockdown. However, cargo operations remained active, and GVK Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) managed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) relentlessly carried out its cargo handling activities to cater to the greater need of mobilising and supplying essential commodities across India and the world.

Despite the mandatory lockdown, MIAL continued to transport essential goods across continents and reportedly handled 3500 tonnes of COVID-19 related cargo with increased cargo handling capacity.

Kindly elaborate on the types of cargo transported to and from MIAL

Having handled approximately 4464, 16500 and 27391 tonnes in the months of March, April and May respectively, CSMIA registered a month-on-month growth of 19 per cent and 66 per cent in April and May respectively.

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July 2020

We foresee cargo volumes of FY19 level to restore by the end of FY22 and other initiatives taken to increase capacity in the last three months?

CSMIA aggressively functioned to connect India and the global supply chain and successfully processed a total of 48,000 tonnes of cargo which included 28,000 tonnes of exports and over 20,000 tonnes of imports. The airport has also transported 3500 tonnes of medical supplies such as PPE, masks, gloves, and COVID-19 diagnostic kits, which have been airlifted by over 900 flights including scheduled freighters and non-scheduled charters. The essentials were distributed to the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chennai, Hyderabad as well as the remote areas of the country where these are scarce.

Having handled approximately 4464, 16500 and 27391 tonnes in the

months of March, April and May respectively, CSMIA registered a month-onmonth growth of 19 per cent and 66 per cent in April and May respectively. This includes the transportation of a total of approximately 16000 tonnes of EXIM pharma, 4000 tonnes of agro exports and 400 tonnes of live animal export between March to May.

Kindly elaborate on the cargo flights scheduled from the airport and the incoming and outgoing traffic at the airport (domestic/ international). How was the demand and supply graph for cargo in the last few months.

Overall, CSMIA has handled over 2700 cargo ATMs from March 25 to May 31.

Furthermore, CSMIA has witnessed ap-

proximately 460 ATMs of all-cargo passenger aircrafts, i.e., passenger aircrafts that were modified to use for the transportation of cargo, which contributed 14 per cent to the overall freight processed during the lockdown. The airport has also registered considerable movement of cargo charters transporting the essential commodities and COVID supplies. CSMIA also set a record for the highest number of cargo movements witnessed at the airport during these difficult times of the pandemic and lockdown conditions. It registered admittance exports of 725 tonnes and received 518 tonnes of import as well as additionally made import delivery of 486 tonnes approximately, marking the highest number of imports and exports of cargo managed in a single day despite limited resources amongst other challenges.

The Mumbai air cargo has an earmarked space of approximately 4500 sq mt for processing the vast flow of imports and exports.

Now that the operations have resumed, could you throw some light on the efficient plans and strategies you have adopted to ensure smooth cargo operations at the airport and hundred per cent safety of cargo as well as staff.

Safety is of the highest priority for GVK MIAL and the organisation has adopted all necessary safety precautions to provide the utmost care to its employees as well as its stakeholders. Sensor-based auto-dispensing sanitisers have been installed strategically and social distancing floor markers have been placed right from the entrance to the terminal. GVK MIAL is also ensuring frequent sanitisation and fumigation of the terminal, storage facilities, offices, and common areas within the premises of CSMIA. Optimising the use of physical resources and digital communications, all personnel at the cargo terminal are made aware of the safety measures, and periodic announcements and daily briefings on personal sanitation, social distancing and other safety measures are being disseminated.

GVK MIAL has ensured mandatory use of face masks, PPE, hand sanitisers and gloves for staff on duty and daily temperature screening of all airport personnel. GVK MIAL also implemented a staggered roster system to ensure sufficient staff strength for op-

erations while also complying with the social distancing norms as directed by the government.

Further, GVK MIAL has undertaken various healthcare initiatives and alert programmes. These programmes ensure good health and precaution of all its employees, business partners and internal and external stakeholders. MIAL has placed display boards of do’s and don’ts at all operational areas, and all instructions and guidelines issued by local and central regulatory authorities are circulated amongst the staff and stakeholders. A temporary isolation area has been created on the city-side near the entrance gate to immediately separate staff or stakeholders showing COVID symptoms, for further medical aid. Thus, GVK MIAL consistently endeavours to create a safe working environment for employees and its stakeholders at the cargo terminal.

The airport will scale up its resources and optimise its existing infrastructure including the newly commissioned Export Cold Zone for pharma and agro exports, indigenously designed and developed Cooltainer facility for the transport of temperature-sensitive pharma products from terminal to tarmac.

How do you foresee India’s trade relations with foreign nations in the coming months? Does India have the potential to be a manufacturing hub?

In the current scenario where the entire world is hit by a devastating crisis, an emerging country like India needs to restart its manufacturing activities on a fast-track mode and further enhance its manufacturing capabilities to transform into a global manufacturing hub. The Government of India aims to transform the current crisis into an opportunity and make the country one of the world’s largest domestic manufacturing base that is globally competitive, and driven by various initiatives like Make in India, Startup India and FDI. Being a large country with a sizeable population, India is a large consumer of smartphones, automobiles, medicines and garments. India is strongly positioned in terms of pharma manufacturing, while the rest of the above segments has been gradually picking up over the years. There is a huge scope for both local and foreign companies to enhance their manufacturing setup and increase the production of goods that will further boost international exports and domestic consumption.

With the rising e-commerce trade expanding its footprint into all the business segments, the low-cost production capabilities of our country due to cost advantage and robust air/ocean connectivity will complement India’s manufacturing potential; distribution with affordability and last-mile supply chain to the country’s remote areas and global destinations.

How long do you think the impact of coronavirus will last? By when will Mumbai air cargo achieve the same cargo volumes, load factors, etc. as it was in 2018-2019?

With the increase in charter queries, opening of domestic airline operations, and the growing demand for pharma, agro exports and e-commerce, we anticipate that the growth trend witnessed at CSMIA during April to May will continue in the coming months, with the re-start of manufacturing activities globally. We foresee the cargo volumes of FY19 level to restore by the end of FY22.

Any projects in the pipeline?

As the primary cargo hub of the country, CSMIA will continue to provide its best towards the movement of essential goods across destinations while ensuring the safety of its personnel. For this purpose, the airport will scale up its resources and optimise its existing infrastructure including the newly commissioned Export Cold Zone for pharma and agro exports, indigenously designed and developed Cooltainer facility for the transport of temperaturesensitive pharma products from termina l to ta r mac, a nd t he Impor t Cold Zone, Export Heavy Terminal, amongst others.

JUly 2020 | 17

halit tuncer

Turkish Airlines will continue to grow aggressively

T

urkish Airlines had reportedly been moving thousands of tonnes of medical supply. Kindly elaborate on how you maintain efficient cargo operations amid the coronavirus outbreak?

As coronavirus spread throughout the world, our most important agenda became supplying medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.

There was a sudden imbalance in demand to supply ratio due to a shortage of capacity. Therefore, Turkish Airlines deployed more than 30 widebody passenger aircrafts on top of 24 freighters to meet the demand. Now we have more than 200 flights per week operated by cargo dedicated widebody passenger aircrafts.

As a result of the ongoing crisis, cargo has become an indispensable part of airlines and airports, globally. Halit Tuncer, Cargo Director South Asia, Turkish Airlines in an exclusive interview with Ritika Arora Bhola, talks extensively about the carrier's efficient operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, their risk management policies, and how they ensure compliance to the highest standards with seeking continuous improvement.

What kind of precautions the airline is taking to ensure hundred per cent safety and security of products as well as staff?

We switched our staff to work from home and reduced the number of personnel in operations. Temperature checks are being done daily and PPEs are supplied to our ground staff. Hand sanitisers are already installed while office and warehouse areas are being disinfected regularly. Social distancing measures are being followed strictly within the facility as well as in-company staff transportation vehicles. We also have a medical team on duty 24x7 to ensure the well-being of our staff.

Does Turkish Cargo follow an effective risk management policy in times like these?

As this is a new global risk, we keep close coordination with local and global authorities daily to implement necessary steps on time. We maintained our operations intact by adapting to the guidelines.

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How do you think COVID-19 will redefine the air cargo sector?

It is clearly understood that logistics in general, and specifically air cargo, with the ability to reach anywhere in the world within a day plays a crucial role during a global crisis. Air cargo will dominate the skies until passenger demand comes back to normal. This means more aircraft to be modified to carry cargo, and new cargo companies emerging to find themselves a place in the market. When we see the low oil prices and ever-growing e-commerce, we can easily assume the sector will continue to grow in the coming years.

Digitisation has been a hot topic for the sector since a long time and it is our focal point to achieve success in this.

The crisis has proved the importance of digitisation, and only the airlines with heavily digitised processes were able to cope up with the home-office setup, reduced operational staff requirement and minute-by-minute changing dynamics.

Turkish Airlines also had to halt its passenger and cargo flights due the ban imposed on national and international movement. Kindly share with us the challenges that you faced during this period and how did you cope up with it?

We had to halt passenger flights, but cargo flights continued operating during this period. We took all precautionary measure to maintain our operations and created a new weekly changing schedule model to cope up with the demand.

How long do you think, the impact of the coronavirus would last? By when would Turkish Cargo achieve the same capacity, load factor levels and demand as it was in 2018-2019?

We are one of the few airlines that were impacted minimally in terms of capacity and load factor levels during the pandemic.

Medical supply and pharma demand started to reduce; unit revenues are also declining now. Returning to 2019 levels depends mostly on the recovery of world trade and passenger demand, which is expected to take 2-3 years.

According to you, how is the air cargo industry reacting and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic?

The air cargo industry has a major role

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Logistics in general, and specifically air cargo, with the ability to reach anywhere in the world within a day plays a crucial role during a global crisis.  Digitisation has been a hot topic for the sector since a long time and it is our focal point to achieve success in this.  When we see the low oil prices and ever-growing e-commerce, we can easily assume the sector will continue to grow in the coming years.  We climbed to fifth position from eighth in the IATA FTK rating in February.  To support our growth, we are planning to move all our operations to our mega cargo hub namely `SmartIst` that is being built in the new Istanbul Airport.

in fighting the pandemic. The way the industry reacted and the efforts put in place has been remarkable. From airports to handling agents, forwarders to airlines, there is significant coordination and collaboration.

I can confidently say that the industry performed extremely well while responding to the pandemic.

How has cargo operations changed as a result of coronavirus?

Due to social distancing, cargo operations had be maintained with lesser manpower. This put a lot of stress on maintaining smooth operations.

Airlines started loading cargo in passenger aircraft cabins which solely depends on manpower. As a result, loading and unloading of cargo became much more difficult and complicated.

What can governments do to facilitate the smoother flow of cargo amid such crisis?

There should be clear guidelines for the type of cargo that is allowed to be imported and exported, to ease the pressure on the industry.

Will the future of the air cargo industry be different because of this pandemic?

Until very recently, cargo divisions of many legacy airlines were a sidekick for extra revenue. Now, this has become an indispensable part of those airlines.

Air cargo will draw a lot of investment and re-organisation. Airlines are trying to change passenger aircraft orders with freighters, modifying their old passenger aircrafts to freighters to gain a stronger position in the air cargo industry.

Turkish Cargo achieved the highest growth rate among the best 25 air cargo carriers in February, according to IATA. Will you be able to maintain the same growth in the coming months?

We climbed to fifth position from eighth in the IATA FTK rating in February.

We maintained the same growth rate in March, April and May. We surely will continue to grow aggressively. To support our growth, we are planning to move all our operations to our mega cargo hub namely `SmartIst` that is being built in the new Istanbul Airport.

JUly 2020 | 19

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar

COVID-19 accelerating innovation opportunities in the air cargo business

D

elhi airport resumed operations recently after remaining suspended for about two months following the nationwide lockdown imposed to constrain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please elaborate on the safety arrangements made to ‘Move Cargo’ in times of this crisis.

Post-announcement of the nationwide lockdown effective midnight of March 20 |

July 2020

24, 2020, the airport’s passenger services remained suspended. However, the cargo services at the airport were operational as per the guidelines issued by the Government of India.

To remained committed and ensure uninterrupted air cargo operations at the airport during these testing times, the airport has implemented several measures to keep the cargo facilities safe and secured. Some of the major initia-

From becoming a major hub supporting ‘Lifeline Udan’ flights and handling the supply of medical cargo and essential commodities even to the remotest locations, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) remained committed to its services during this difficult hour.

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, DIAL in an exclusive interview with Ritika Arora Bhola, talks about safety arrangements and other strategies adopted to keep cargo moving through the airport in times of this pandemic disaster, and rising need for the air cargo industry to adopt digital technologies to alleviate current pain points.

tives undertaken include:  Compulsory thermal checks of all persons entering the cargo complex.  Provision of hand sanitisers for all the employees and visitors.  Compulsory use of face masks while entering the cargo terminals.  Social distancing measures across the cargo handling area/warehouse – export, import and domestic by making sign boxes and ensuring compliances.  Fumigation/disinfecting of entire cargo complex, gates, warehouses, offices at intervals.  Regular disinfection of all vehicles/ machinery at cargo terminals.  Strict instruction to employees to download ‘Arogya Setu’ application in their mobiles.

Amid lockdown, the Ministry of Civil Aviation launched 'Lifeline Udan' flights to ensure a steady supply of medical cargo even at the remotest locations. Kindly elaborate on the strategies taken to ensure safety and speedy transportation.

During the COVID-19-led lockdown period, Delhi Airport has been actively managing domestic and international cargo operations and handled all types of cargo, primarily essential medical commodities, pharmaceuticals and other critical goods.

The Airport recorded 1449 freighter movements in the month of May 2020, which is the highest ever witnessed. This was possible only with the collaborative efforts of all the stakeholders working together. The corona warriors at Delhi

Airport are tirelessly working round the clock 24x7 ensuring continuous efficient passenger and cargo operations.

Delhi Airport has been designated as a ‘major hub’ by the Ministry of Civil Aviation under the ‘Lifeline Udan’ initiative for handling and facilitating the distribution of medical essentials cargo in several cities and far off regions. A dedicated warehouse facility of 3,800 sq mt was created within a record 7 days to handle these imported medical supplies such as personal protective equipment (PPE) kits extending full support and commitment to the nation. So far, over 1200 metric tonnes cargo comprising more than 2.5 million medical PPE kits have been handled from this facility.

The airport is currently handling approximately 30 cargo freighter flights a day which includes non-scheduled operations. These freighters also bring in essential commodities and medical cargo from places such as Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Incheon, etc.

Will the future of the air cargo industry be different as a result of this pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions imposed at both the national and global level has undoubtedly impacted the overall air cargo business and supply chain. These restrictions and challenges have flagged the need to re-evaluate risk management strategies of the overall air cargo supply chain. It has also been observed that beyond commercial shipments, globally, airfreight carriers including the private and group charters have expanded to offer relief shipments and time-sensitive freighter services during this crisis. More and more airlines are now relying on cargo freighters to ferry import/export cargo.

Customers across the global consumer market, now seeking to limit their exposure to the coronavirus, have decreased their in-store visits and hands-on shopping experiences, and are moving to online and e-commerce shopping and delivery services to supply their essential needs - of pharmacy, food, and other basic or urgent supplies. Other industries, such as agriculture, manufacturing, and healthcare will also look to leverage alternate modes of transportation and logistics supply chain arrangements.

Further, organisations looking to procure cargo freight services will have

Delhi Airport has been designated as a ‘major hub’ by the Ministry of Civil Aviation under the ‘Lifeline Udan’ initiative for handling and facilitating the distribution of medical essentials cargo in several cities and far off regions. more choice for 24/7 logistics solutions to increase their reach and number of delivery destinations.

What significant initiatives did you adopt to support air cargo operations at the airport during this crisis?

The difficult times have brought in opportunities for innovation and new ways of working worldwide. In order to carry out cargo handling operations seamlessly and efficiently during the period of restrictions, Delhi Airport adopted several innovative measures.

Initiatives like the use of export ULD storage in the warehouse for temporary holding of import cargo with support from Customs and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), a dedicated facility for handling and processing of essential medical supplies and also for transhipment have been implemented at Delhi Airport Cargo to ensure the least impact to air cargo operations. More initiatives are being undertaken to further reduce manual interventions.

Now that certain relaxations have been given, what can the Indian government do to facilitate the smoother flow of cargo amid this crisis? Any suggestions?

Given the significance of the air cargo industry for movement of time-sensitive cargo during the ongoing crisis, it remained a key focus of the government. Cargo aircrafts remained in operations throughout, so were the airport cargo terminals.

During this period, the government has been very proactive and supportive to ensure seamless cargo movement for the smooth functioning of the air cargo supply chain. As the relaxations are further enhanced in the coming period especially with respect to passenger aircraft movements, opening up of manufacturing industries, cross-border movements, etc. the air cargo volumes are also slated to move up towards normalcy in a phased manner.

100 per cent digitalisation of cargo operations is the need of the hour.

Do you agree?

Delhi airport has remained focussed towards digitalisation and implemented several technology initiatives for cargo operations such as cargo community system for exchange of information, eAWB 360 programme, 100 per cent paperless compliant operations, RFIDbased truck slot management system, etc. These measures have proved to be extremely beneficial to the entire trade and it has significantly improved the overall efficiency of cargo operations at the airport.

The ongoing pandemic has made the stakeholders of the air cargo supply chain more receptive to digitalisation needs and it is observed that more and more interventions are being taken up by various stakeholders in the air cargo supply chain to adapt to the changing mode of logistics.

With the essential need for social distancing measures, workplace safety and contactless transactions, etc. it has become very crucial to adapt greater digitalisation for continuous, smooth and efficient business operations. Not to question, 100 per cent digitalisation in cargo operations is the need of the hour.

JUly 2020 | 21

Ibrahim Burak Kurt

Ibrahim Burak Kurt began his career at Çelebi Aviation in 2001 as an operations agent and later got promoted to Regional Director at Çelebi Hava Servisi, Istanbul. In 2016, he was appointed as CEO of Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management. In a tête-à-tête with Ritika Arora Bhola, the leader talks about his journey in the industry, the company’s strategies for growth, and continuous investments in infrastructure and technology, and future expansion plans.

Multimodal logistics has a bright future in India

W

ith 18 years of experience in the cargo and ground handling industry, how has the journey been? What major transformations have you observed in the ground handling industry in the last few years globally?

My journey in the industry has been an exciting one. I have started from scratch and learned various aspects of the industry starting from operations (both cargo and ground handling),

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project development, IT systems and various aspects of management including financial matters and team management. After spending so much time in the industry, aviation is now in my blood, and I feel I still have a lot more to contribute to the industry with my experience.

During the last few years, the industry has transformed towards the adaptation of more scientific approaches. The industry has adapted digitalisation at var ious steps. New tec h nolog ies,

streamlined operational processes, state-of-the-art infrastructure and enhanced usage of IT are today visible.

Governments across the world have started to realise the rising importance of ground handling, and strategic investments have started to pour in thereby benefitting the industry.

Kindly elaborate on the global techniques and strategies you are planning to bring in for efficient operations at Çelebi India by using

your own experience and expertise of many years.

We at Çelebi, aim to device a new and innovative cargo handling system in the country by capitalising on our expertise in technology and providing fast, reliable, on-demand and technologically integrated cargo and warehouse serv ic e s. T he compa ny h a s a l r eady achieved full automation and a paperless warehouse tag. Our vision is to lead the cargo handling space in India by being recognised for high-quality delivery, real-time communications, and efficient customer engagement.

Furthermore, employee engagement and development is at the core of our operations. With an enthusiastic team, inspired by the collective 'Çelebi spirit', we have gained the trust of all our customers in all the countries we operate in.

We are planning to replicate the same model in India, to bring about a noticeable change in the cargo handling sector and create value for all stakeholders.

Hence, we constantly strive to engage, encourage and empower our employees by providing a positive working environment within the company.

Tell us about the current scenario of the Indian ground handling industry, considering COVID-19 impact. Where does India stand globally?

The aviation sector is one of the worsthit sectors during the ongoing pandemic crisis. COVID-19 has impacted the cargo handling industry significantly across the world. There has been a significant reduction of cargo volumes and revenue for Çelebi Aviation across the airports that it operates. If we talk about Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal, our volumes are down significantly as compared to our last year’s volumes, which

have a significant impact on our business. We do not foresee the business volumes to come back to its 2019 levels anytime soon; it may take a couple of years at least.

India is recovering fast from the crisis and so is the cargo sector. During the lockdown period, we realised that cargo being an essential commodity continued to be flown in and out of the country. We may see cargo restored to 2019 levels sooner than predicted above.

We have started Road Feeder Services from Ludhiana, Kanpur, Indore SEZ1 & SEZ2, Noida SEZ, and Ahmedabad to the Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal.

Kindly comment on the investment and planning that has been put in infrastructure and technology in the last few years. Çelebi as an organisation has always been focussed on bringing more automation to its brownfield terminal. We have made huge investment of more than INR 400 crores towards the improvement of cargo handling facilities at the terminal.

Key investments areas are:  Facility Development  Equipment and Machinery  Process Improvements through Technology Upgradation  Upgradation of IT infrastructure.

These investments have resulted in significant improvement in customer experience and an increase in operational efficiency at the cargo terminal.

Below are some of the initiatives which highlight the kind of investments that we have done in our cargo terminal:  Installation of TLX machines with automated weight and volume scanners which are first and one-of-itskind in the country and have reduced discrepancies arising due to manual intervention and streamlined the cargo acceptance process.  Installation of TSA compliant Single and Dual-view X-ray machines to ensure the highest level of security in the terminal.  Installation of TSA Compliant desktop Explosive Trace Detector (ETD) for enhanced security measures.  Installation of Elevated Transfer Vehicles (ETV) with 276 cargo ULD storage locations for efficient Storage and Retrieval of ULDs.  H H T d r i v e n b a r c o d e - b a s e d environment for better traceability of shipments.  Introduction of battery-operated equipment such as stackers, forklifts, reach truck to ensure an environmentfriendly working environment.  Installation of elevated ULD builtup work stations for efficient ULD build-up.  As an extension of the Centre for Perishable Cargo (CPC), we have created a state-of-the-art Pharmaceutical Logistics Centre with different temperature-controlled chambers for healthcare shipments of all possible temperature ranges.  To extend cool chain from warehouse to aircraft, we have brought in Cool Dollies which are refrigerated dolly on wheels and can carry one complete aircraft pallet/container upon aircraft arrival at a pre-defined temperature, adjustable to the requirements of the perishable products.

Cargo handling companies are expected to have ‘creative’ ideas to gain business. With regard to that, what will be Çelebi’s ideal strategies for consolidation in the coming years? Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal as an organisation has always been focussed on new initiatives in terms of facility development, equipment and machinery and process improvements.

Being matured as a conventional cargo handler, Çelebi also has been focussed on developing various non-conventional products and services to facilitate the trade and gain business, such as the introduction of Cool Dollies to extend the cool chain till aircraft, the establishment of Envirotainer Stocking Station within our terminal premises, dedicated Pharma Logistics Centre for handling of pharmaceutical shipments with different temperature ranges suited to different products, establishment of a 'Gems & Jewellery' facility within our terminal premises for processing, examination and appraisement of export of such type of consignments, Transshipment Centre, the introduction of IATA standard barcode labels in export PTL, and Road Feeder Services (RFS) facilities to connect our terminal better with several hinterland locations and manufacturing regions. Çelebi has always been innovative and continues to innovate further to benefit the trade-in the long run. Going forward, we intend to create a ULD repair facility within the cargo terminal as well as introduce drones, which indicates that we are always looking forward to value-added solutions.

India is investing in large-scale infrastructure projects which could transform the country’s modal-mix from one that is now dominated by road, to one that is more balanced and flexible. Looking ahead, what trends you believe will aid to the transportation of cargo especially perishables and pharmaceutical products?

Multimodal logistics has a bright future in India. There has been significant progress in India in terms of development in logistics capacity due to the growth in trade. The key element in logistics is transportation infrastructure which connects the various activi24 |

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ties in a supply chain. The multimodal connectivity plays an important role in moving goods seamlessly and costefficiently, supporting the continuous flow of operations optimally. It helps in minimising t he paperwork, un necessary movements, pilferage and damage of cargo. Goods can be timely delivered maintaining the efficiency and service quality.

We have also contributed to the same by starting RFS facilities to connect the terminal better with several hinterland locations and manufacturing regions. Currently, we have started RFS from Ludhiana, Kanpur, Indore SEZ1 & SEZ2, Noida SEZ, and Ahmedabad. In future, we are planning to connect other locations as well.

Multimodal connectivity supports the timely delivery of highly sensitive products ensuring its safety and efficacy.

We intend to create a ULD repair facility within the cargo terminal as well as introduce drones, which indicates that we are always looking forward to value-added solutions.

The transportation of perishable and pharmaceutical products also needs to be aligned with the new and emerging advanced technological processes and capabilities available in the market to strengthen the entire supply chain. To make transport management more effective and to build intelligence into the existing transportation system, it is important to implement innovative tools such as enhanced usage of radiofrequency identification (RFID), global position systems (GPS), data loggers, etc. Advanced intelligent transportation system tools will help in real-time monitoring and establishing an efficient multimodal transportation system.

Therefore, adopting global standards will help in faster processing of shipments and improving the overall supply chain integrity of temperature-sensitive products.

Kindly elaborate on the variety of cargo handled at Çelebi. How do you ensure the smooth handling of cargo

especially pharmaceuticals and perishables amidst COVID-19?

We have a wide range of services ranging from general cargo handling, special cargo handling (DGR, PER, VAL, AVI, VUN, HEA, AOG, LAR, etc.), express cargo handling, and domestic cargo handling. Our terminal handles all sorts of commodities that are exported/imported via Delhi which includes all kinds of valuable/vulnerable/DG/AVI cargo, textiles, machine spares, electronic equipment, automobiles, perishable, pharmaceutical, courier, etc.

The sensitive nature of pharmaceutical and perishable products demands trained and specialised cargo handlers.

We have a state-of-the-art CPC with different temperature-controlled chambers for temperature-sensitive export shipments. The CPC has a pre-cool facility, dedicated ETV, three temperature-controlled chambers from +2 to +8⁰C, +9 to +15⁰C, and +15 to +25⁰C. As an extension of the CPC, our Pharma Logistics Centre with temperature-controlled chambers for pharmaceutical shipments has a precool facility and four chambers from +15 to +25⁰C, +2 to +8⁰C, and -4 to -20⁰C. Further, to protect temperature integrity in the tarmac, the two Cool Dollies extend the cool chain to the airside. Additionally, we at Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal are always focussed on educating our staff with various training and development programmes and have sufficient staff adequately trained for handling temperature-sensitive products and shipments.

Any future expansion plans?

We are aggressively following up on all the tenders that have been or are yet to be floated by the government. India is one of our key focus areas and we will continue expanding our footprint in the country both in terms of ground handling business wherein we are already present at seven airports i.e.

Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Kannur, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and in cargo handling business, wherein we intend to expand our operations to multiple airports.

Also as a cargo terminal operator in Delhi, we have started looking at various non-conventional streams of business and as a result, we have rolled out various value-added products and solutions.

We keep things fresh...

Infrastructure & Advantages Storage of 7000 pallets, 15 identical chambers of 432 pallets each Temperature range of +25 degrees C to -25 degrees C 24X7 operational

Services

VAS facility of processing, repacking, labeling & sorting Customs bonded area Operational reach trucks, forklifts & hand pallet movers IT infrastructure with WMS, FIFO, control & Barcoding systems Inflatable dock shelters with dock levelers

Temperature Control Handling Area

100% power back up with multi generators Fire fighting & fire prevention systems LED eco-friendly lighting ISO 22000:2005 & HACCP certified Rr Vans to support distribution Freezer\Chiller Chamber

15-23, National Highway 4B, Panvel-JNPT Highway Village Padeghar, Panvel-410206, Maharashtra Tel: +91 22 66280700-98, +91 22 66280781 | Email: raaj@jwllogic.com, vaman@jwllogic.com, cs@jwllogic.com

sanjiv gupta

H

ow may we best summarise the current state of the air cargo market? Does it continue to strengthen, or has it plateaued?

IATA projects that the global airline industry will lose $314bn in 2020, representing a 55 per cent reduction from 2019 revenue.

The current air cargo industry witnessed a correction over the last three months. Needless to say, this is a phenomenon that was observed across industries and countries. We must not forget that business cycles always take a correction before the next wave of growth.

The market will continue to grow as far as air cargo is concerned. We view this as an opportunity to re-create our organisation in-line with our customers’ re-engineering efforts.

What are the biggest macroeconomic drivers for the industry and how are they re-shaping India’s air cargo market?

The emphasis for ‘Make in India’ is a shot in the arm for local industry, with

SpiceJet has scripted one of the most remarkable stories in Indian aviation, especially during the ongoing crisis, transporting over 17,535 tonnes of essential cargo on more than 2478 flights, of which 920 were international cargo flights. The carrier also continues on its mission to help Indian farmers maintain continuity of their supply chains by transporting fresh produce across India and abroad, with an ever-growing ambitious fleet and route expansion underway.

Sanjiv Gupta, CEO, Spicexpress (the dedicated cargo arm of SpiceJet) informs Upamanyu Borah, on the most critical aspects that has helped the carrier to offer efficient and viable solutions, ultimately driving the growth that lies ahead.

We have the unique advantage of being a successful airline for the last 15 years the Vocal-For-Local initiative to drive up economic growth and bring a positive impact across sectors.

Additionally, the Indian agriculture, fruit farming, aquaculture and animal husbandry communities have now started to embrace the change and make the best of opportunities to market their produce internationally.

Then there is the newly evolved medical supplies sector, which forms a large part of the cargo movement– including PPE Kits, face masks and ventilators.

In June, the first market segments to see re-start of transportation by air again are technology products and mobile phones.

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Each country has slightly different interpretations of certain regulations and compliance, given their unique regulatory development path. Coming from a slightly domestic perspective what you see as some of the differences, the unique interpretations of compliance?

There is an open skies approach as far as cargo is concerned. As we operate in various countries, we have learnt about the required regulations and compliance and have been adhering to it.

Can you give us an overview of the emerging cargo gateways in the developing world?

There are a few developing cargo hubs in Asia and Middle East region. We feel that these could be upcoming cargo gateways to cater to the local needs.

The ones that we have explored to cater to Central Asia in the last few months are:  Almaty International Airport, Kazakhsthan  Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport, Tashkent, Uzbekistan  Manas International Airport, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Apart from these, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Yangon in Myanmar could be the upcoming hubs in South Asia owing to the growing local consumption.

How should companies use technology to leverage emerging patterns during disruption?

During such disruptions, supply chain technology and data play a role which is paramount. Organisations across the globe are trying to stabilise or alter their supply chains, or completely re-engineer it. At this point, it is the data gathered that will help decision-making. Additionally, newer technology could be used for first and last-mile transportation as well as intra-warehouse pick and pack operations. One such technology that we are seriously considering are drones. You will hear more about this from us in the days to come.

With SpiceXpress extending its international cargo operations more than ever, how well are you positioned in terms of fleet and overall infrastructure?

As far as SpiceXpress is concerned, we are now poised to take off. We have the unique advantage of being a successful airline for the last 15 years.

We have the best combination of passenger and cargo fleet and well positioned to cater to the regional requirements including Asia Pacific, Central and Southeast Asia, and Arabian countries. We are using Boeing 737 freighters for cargo purpose. We have also started using our smaller aircraft (Bombardier Q400) as cargo freighters. Most recently, we pioneered the usage of ‘Cargo on Seat’ flights in the country. We have gained immense learning and developed an international market in the last three months.

This experience and infrastructure is invaluable, and helping us to be flexible in our international cargo operations.

In addition, we are using UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah International Airport (RKT) as a hub and have been able to connect to Africa.

Any best-in-class solution that you have implemented recently as part of the ongoing venture into cargoonly operations?

Our proprietary enterprise resource planning (ERP) system ‘SpiceTag’ has helped a lot in offering visibility to our customers. Therefore, we have decided to extend the service to our airport-toairport business as well.

Today, we use SpiceTag with a combination of ultra high-frequency radio-

frequency identification (RFID) tags, smart apps, global information system (GIS), and for EDI and API integration into customers’ cloud ERP systems.

Other than that, our new customers initiate engagement with us through our website and are managed on Salesforce CRM software.

Then there are simple solutions that take us back-to-the-basics. We employ bikers for last-mile delivery in areas that are hard to reach through conventional use of vehicles. This also supports our social commitment on employment generation.

Going forward, we plan to use electric vehicles for first and last-mile operations in accordance with our commitment to sustainability.

We must not forget that business cycles always take a correction before the next wave of growth. The market will continue to grow as far as air cargo is concerned.

We view this as an opportunity to re-create our organisation in-line with our customers’ reengineering efforts.

How flexible is SpiceXpress when it comes to last-minute calls for any urgent transport of mission-critical shipment?

We have been able to demonstrate to our customers that we are the most flexible cargo carrier. Domestically, we have been able to place flights within a few hours of being notified. Internationally, we have been able to do this within 24 to 72 hours. This has turned a key differentiator for us.

Could you explain on how human resources have been important to the bottom line of your business during the crisis?

In the air cargo business, the variables are too many – including weather, geopolitical disruptions, and so on. We are always prepared for eventuality and exception even during usual business times. A crisis like this one can almost never be completely planned for.

This single most important factor helping us successfully sail through choppy waters are our people. Since the beginning, we always ensured that building up a resilient team is an important part of our ethos. This resilience was tested and proven during this time of crisis. Like I mentioned earlier, we managed to keep our operations running with minimal downtime. Our corona warriors really stood up and delivered when it meant the most.

What is your growth strategy for the medium to long-term?

As Spicejet, we are in a unique position where we ca n leverage our f leetstrength, and our strong dominance in the Indian cargo market.

We have grown by 72 per cent for the period of March to June against the same period last year. Based on the demand from the market, we will assess our growth strategies from time to time.

As an organisation, what is the biggest threat you face living in a fragile global economic system and disrupted times?

The biggest threat is the inability to plan beyond a few days, in the current fragile economic system. As it is, 65 per cent of air cargo dispatches are always planned on the day of dispatch, or a day before. However, with every threat comes opportunity.

Due to the fragility, we have been able to demonstrate to our customers that we are the most flexible cargo carrier.

What the industry needs to do right now to get the services back and strong to those who need it?

While global passenger traffic has almost completely evaporated, global air cargo volumes declined by only 47 per cent by the end of March 2020 compared to March 2019, and there has been a rebound with volumes down only 32 per cent by the end of April 2020. The rebound clearly indicates that the global economy is trying to get back to normalcy.

The air cargo industry needs to be available and flexible to the market because consumption demand will grow back to early-2020 levels, if not more. Air cargo management should be challenged to provide air cargo products that meet the new realities of consumer and industrial demand- for quality, speed and transparency throughout.

JUly 2020 | 27

Sundeep Reddy Gummadi

We look forward to delivering more high quality spaces

W

hat are your top 3 concerns for the industry with respect to COVID-19?

The first concern I believe, is a huge fall in demand. Secondly, there is a threat of subsequent fallout of demand over a prolonged period, in case the COVID-19 situation doesn’t improve or a vaccine takes longer time to materialise.

Apart from that, I see pressure 28 |

July 2020

building on retail businesses; their growth trajectory would not be the similar to what they experienced pre-COVID times. Remember, when it comes to warehouse space, retail is a far bigger consumer than the e-commerce segment, although the latter is growing rapidly. However, I see the demand from traditional retail companies for new warehouse space mellowing down in the coming years.

The Zeromile Warehousing Park, Hyderabad’s biggest pure warehousing facility with a capacity of 1.3 million sq ft of Grade A warehousing space spread over 50 acres, will be one-of-a-kind and most sought after destinations by e-commerce, traditional retail and cold chain businesses. Sundeep Reddy Gummadi, Founder & Director, Zeromile Warehousing speaks to Upamanyu Borah, more on their pioneering efforts towards making Hyderabad a warehousing hub in the central Indian region, while also elaborating on the country’s warehousing sector which is seemingly prepared and ready with risk management and customer retention strategies, infrastructure initiatives and rapid digitisation to embrace the wave of a pre-COVID market.

There has been a rapid increase in the number of large organised players in the market. They are investing and building warehouses faster and with higher quality (moving from Grade B to A and A-plus), as their customer’s demand upgrades. What is the sudden surge behind this?

Indian supply chain environment has seen two major events in the last 4-5 years. One is consolidation of warehousing space that happened, the precursor to which was the GST implementation.

Pre-GST, due to taxation and regulation issues, companies had to establish warehouses across all states where they operated and this needlessly increased the capital expenditure of businesses.

These things changed as soon as the GST came into force, it removed state boundaries and abolished check posts.

Companies were then able to consolidate their warehousing and supply chain operations across industrial clusters outside central locations which are able to cater to a 360 degree market.

This also offered many companies

the prospect to adopt IT automation benefits and move towards sophistication by adopting Grade A and A-plus facilities which allowed them to utilise the vertical spaces and also bigger box sizes (as warehouses are commonly referred). For instance, pre-GST the average box sizes in South India were 30,000 – 50,000 sq ft. Post-GST, it has doubled to 100,000 – 150,000 sq ft.

Zeromile itself is building about 400,000 sq ft of single box. Developments like this were unheard of previously.

It is essentially about bringing down the cost of supply chain and warehousing operations drastically, increasing efficiency, and most importantly betting on the assurance of product reach or delivery on time which most of the companies, especially e-commerce rely on.

With uncertainty rife, and COVID-19 holding the potential to impact every part of a business for months, scenario planning is a critical tool to test preparedness. What are the best- and worst-case scenarios, and is the business equipped to cope?

The problem with COVID-19, unlike other unfortunate and unforeseen situation is the absolute lack of visibility.

It’s a big challenge to foresee even a short term. Scenario planning seems close to impossible during the ongoing situation. The next 24 months are going to be quite difficult.

My suggestion to sustain is giving highest priority to retention of existing customers. Remember, everybody is

struggling in this period and we are all in this together. Handholding your customers during this difficult time will go a long way.

I have always believed that the best companies come out of the worst possible times as they show their efficiency. Good companies chase quality, and quality is something that I personally rely to get me bailed out of any difficult situation. When we give high quality warehousing space and services, we attract high quality customers who are looking at long-term relationships and the future. Quality is therefore a great investment.

I agree that this is easier said than

Zeromile itself is building about 400,000 sq ft of single box. Developments like this were unheard of previously. done. But, trust me, I can vouch that it pays when you make quality a default part of product and service offering.

What are your firm’s crucial milestones contributing to the stabilisation of expectations and potentially modernising your framework in the Indian Industrial and Warehousing market?

Critically, the warehousing industry in Hyderabad like any other city grew up on Grade B and C developments. Several factors are responsible for driving the shift in demand from Grade B and C

warehouses to Grade A spaces over the last 10-15 years. The drastic increase in demand can be attributed to the burgeoning cost of storage per square feet, implementation of stringent health and safety regulations, the need for highoperational efficiency, and better provisions of infrastructure and amenities for the people working in warehouses.

Subsequently, when companies started investing into Grade A facilities, we were the first ones to take that opportunity and come up with such facilities. Today, companies associate with us for development of high quality warehousing space. We believe we have taken the leap and look forward to delivering more high quality spaces such as Grade A and A-plus in the near future.

Further, our strategy to establish one cold chain facility of about 4,000-5,000 pallets positions within any warehousing development project would help us to meet the rising need for cold chain infrastructure, helping elevate India’s position in the global cold chain market.

How many sq mts of industrial/ logistics parks space have you developed/leased out so far?

Zeromile have successfully developed around one million sq ft and leased it out already. Under construction is about two million sq ft of which first phase will see the accomplishment of one million. By December 2020, we are expecting to accomplish developing six and a half lakh additional sq ft spaces.

As such, we will have a total of 1.6 milJUly 2020 | 29

lion sq ft for delivery by the end of this year, and around 2 million sq ft by March 2021.

What is the total count of your warehousing assets?

To build and develop the Zeromile Warehousing Park in Medchal, the hotspot for all the warehousing activities in Hyderabad, we initially acquired over and about 25 acres. Currently, we have crossed above 60 acres and by the end of this year; we should be crossing about 75 acres easily. It will be one of the landmarks in terms of Hyderabad’s warehousing destination.

Cold chain infrastructure being a capital-intensive business with longer gestation period sometimes acts as a deterrent for the investors.

But, it surely makes economic sense with bigger and better warehouses.

Do you also agree to the fact cold storage yields are big inducement for investors? What do you think the Indian government should be doing about helping cold chain businesses?

Hyderabad houses some of the biggest cold chain facilities in the country due to its unique advantage in cold chain business. Hyderabad is the seed capital of the country. Essentially, a lot of seed/ agri storage in cold chain happens. Also, there is an increasing demand for storage of processed foods.

Zeromile Warehousing runs Hyderabad’s most premier and advanced cold chain facility. We have leased it out to cold chain company Snowman Logistics.

Our association with Snowman has been really good in the cold storage segment. We hope to develop and add more space for them in the coming years.

Also worth mentioning is, at our 40acre Zeromile Warehousing Park near Medchal, we have dedicatedly preserved a slot of space for purely cold chain operations. Any customer within the park who would seek any cold chain 30 |

July 2020

facility, we are ready to serve and meet the customer’s requirements.

During the post-pandemic period, increased enquiries from e-commerce and third party logistics players are expected with preference for Grade A properties due to adherence to additional safety norms. How can warehouse developers get the most out of their responses?

I would suggest smaller developers to build high quality structures. Build lesser space than planned, but don’t compromise on quality and grade.

Safety is a non-negotiable factor - human, property or otherwise. Grade A facilities give the comfort of safety to e-commerce and third party logistics (3PL) companies. What Grade A warehousing also does is, it gives value for money to these companies with increased cubic feet storage capacity vertically. We at Zeromile strive to design spaces that not are just Grade A by specifications but also worker-friendly.

I would suggest smaller developers to build high quality structures. Build lesser space than planned if budget is a constraint, but don’t compromise on quality and grade. You could always build any remaining space at a later period but can't change an already built sub-grade structure. Your warehouse should not be a temporary fixture, but something that serves at least for next 20 years.

How should companies use technology to leverage emerging patterns during disruption?

COVID or no COVID, technology is and going to be a more constant disruptor to every business. The use of technology use will only increase as we move for-

ward, as the economy is getting digitised at a breakneck pace. The product and services we offer have all moved into a digital sphere. The next wave of e-commerce will hit tier II and III towns which is going to be massive.

Companies would need to develop tremendous amount of back-end supply chains to cater to customers in far flung areas, and this naturally requires relying heavily on technology. COVID has only accelerated this pace.

Companies can also create a decent online presence for their offering and keep a tab on changes in the industry all the time. On demand warehousing, an Airbnb sort of warehousing where retailers get to know and find warehouses that have excess capacity, is going to be significant in the next decade; this is completely driven by technology. I am sure lot of startups would want to target that space. There is definitely a huge scope for doing wonders there.

How can the industry best plan for future events like COVID-19? Where should the focus be?

COVID will leave behind a changed world. Companies from now on will need to factor in an exigency like COVID-19 and be prepared. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb says, this is not a black swan event but was just a matter of time - of when it would hit us. Growth cycles have to factor in disruptions like this.

The personal, social habits of humans will undergo a massive change; societies will realise that simple things like wearing masks and social distancing is way cheaper than lockdowns. The society as a whole can't afford more lockdowns.

Industry will have to find a way to work through pandemics by maintaining high safety and health standards. The focus of the industry should be towards making these changes a part of our normal lives and deliver goods to customers as efficiently as possible, making lives easier and unaffected. Technology will invade warehouses with a greater force to reduce the dependency of manpower, which in turn would create a need for warehouses which are capable and designed to accommodate automation.

I am personally very particular about compliance and documentation. My two cents to anyone looking to establish a mark: get all your paperwork in place before you start. It pays you well and in time.

Setting the New benchmark

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Abhijit Malkani

Real estate as an industry has been doing a lot of catching up on technology, and this crisis is making things develop even more quickly. After this situation is over, technologies which enable more efficient operation and communication will be an essential element of a good organisation.

Abhijit Malkani, Co-CEO & Country Head, ESR India informs Upamanyu Borah, how data and analytics have proven to be a saviour for stakeholder interests and purposes and aided in retaining business continuity, and innovations that are set to change the way they transact business post-crisis.

ESR India has already digitised its parks to adapt to the 'new normal'

H

ow hard has the corona crisis hit the real estate industry?

COVID-19 has hugely impacted the real estate sector, however industrial and logistics segment are perceived to be more resilient and is expected to recover faster post the pandemic.

Construction has resumed in most of our sites across the country, although deliveries will be delayed. There has been an inflow in demand and this creates a positive impact on recovery in the near future.

The real estate industry was in an over-supply state even before the lockdown. Have things gone worse now?

We had noticed a steady demand for Grade A spaces even before the lock32 |

July 2020

down, and the pandemic has pushed the demand for Grade A spaces even further. Companies seem to be more eager to adopt automation to further increase their efficiency, consolidate their businesses and increase safety initiatives, along with supplementing contactless business processes. Additionally, Grade A spaces are more adaptive for such implementations.

How concerned are you over the continuing deceleration in the economy?

Deceleration in economy has been a major concern across sectors. However, the pandemic has boosted e-commerce, cold storage, FMCG, and pharmaceutical businesses. This is poised to lead to an increase in warehouse absorption in the next three to four quarters.

Any sort of new liabilities or challenges you have developeddue to adopting a decentralised work model? Has it affected your real estate portfolio?

Being smart has always been a key positioning for ESR India. We launched the ‘ESR app’ during the pandemic to help us manage our parks digitally and follow contactless business processes. It has enhanced our portfolio and will help us deliver smart parks with increased safety and security measures, going forward.

Could you elaborate on the ESR India’s quality focus that permeates all its activities and functional areas?

ESR India is here to deliver next-gen industrial and logistics spaces. Our spaces are smart, sustainable and human-centric, designed to enhance our park experience and productivity of the users. ESR parks are managed through the ESR app, the app is enabled with contactless visitor management, wayfinding to direct trucks to assigned docks, amenity bookings for clients to book common facilities, live

feed to view buildings from any location and digital service requests for repair and maintenance of any common amenities. The app is also connected with our AI based cameras to detect any anomalies in the premises.

Sustainability is also at the core of our business. We believe sustainable spaces are not only good for the environment but also lead to bottom line savings for our clients. ESR India parks are Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) Silver rated. Sustainable elements such as solar, daylight integration, STP, extensive green areas with draught resistant plants and responsible waste management are key features to enhance productivity and reduce costs.

Faced with the disruption owing to COVID-19, developers might have to recalibrate their business models.

Labour will be an issue for the next two quarters and construction timelines will be delayed. However, incity warehousing spaces will be in demand as there has been a marked increase in grocery formats, demand from e-commerce and FMCG, and for cold storage, which will remain robust. Besides, as remote working continues, increase in demand for spaces for data centers is predicted.

We will also see an increase in joint ventures and outright sale by local developers to institutional developers as

How are you extending stakeholder communication to embrace ecosystem partners that have become critical components of the business model?

ESR India is an integrated business platform; our stakeholders are onboarded onto the ESR app to inform them about business progress. The live feed helps clients view real-time status. The app feed features updates from our sites, construction progresses, and other important information.

Forward thinking approach sets up apart as a business. For instance, the ESR app which took months to develop, helped us promptly launch a work safe module to manage our parks digitally with enhanced safety measures.

How can we lean on the ecosystem to improve the resilience of individual organisations during periods of disruption?

This ecosystem has enabled a wide scale digital adoption across our parks and has provided contactless and safer park management and reduced human contact.

This has created a safer environment for business continuity post the pandemic.

availability of debt will be scarce. COVID-19 has been a wake up call for digitally managed and contactless spaces and more developers would offer smart features. Facility Management will ensure the functionality, comfort, safety and efficiency of a built environment — buildings and grounds, infrastructure and real estate in real-time.

Do you anticipate a reconfiguration of the business model by real estate developers in the wake of COVIDinduced changes in the general mindset of individuals?

Does the crisis seem to offer some opportunities for new developments especially with regards to sustainability and digitalisation?

Contactless and digitally managed spac-

es will be in demand post the pandemic.

Sustainability has been a key feature in modern developments, it reduces environmental impact and helps increase productivity and cost efficiency.

There are a lot of problems to solve around growth, but what do you think needs to happen to overcome the general growth challenges in the space against the background of post-COVID market uncertainties?

Real estate sector will face a growth challenge in the coming months; however warehousing and industrial spaces can offer a silver lining. We believe there would be an increase in demand for spaces in tier II and III cities as e-commerce penetration has increased during the pandemic. There has also been a spike in global interest to invest in India and we should see an increase in demand for industrial spaces in the long term as companies plan supply chain diversification.

As a CEO, what are the roadblocks you see to navigate the ship in critical times like this one?

It is important to create a positive environment and empower your workforce during a crisis. Forward thinking approach sets up apart as a business. For instance, the ESR app which took months to develop, helped us promptly launch a work safe module to manage our parks digitally with enhanced safety measures.

Finally, as new business models emerge from the crisis, can your organisation become the nexus of a new, emerging ecosystem that’s built for the ‘next normal’?

There will be renewed interest in digitisation and automation, and ESR India has already digitised its parks to adapt to the 'new normal'. The rest will soon fall into its own rightful place in its own time.

JUly 2020 | 33

YASHPAL SHARMA

Pre-COVID levels of business expected by the end of Q4 2021

For India, to be a favoured factory to the world, critical functions like product quality, raw material, fully geared up infrastructure, compliances, connectivity, strategic viability, ROE to investors, etc. will need to be in sync, stresses Yashpal Sharma, Managing Director, Skyways Group. In an in-depth conversation, the young and dynamic leader speaks to Ritika Arora Bhola, the need for efficient strategies, policies and plans that will help India become a bigger production house of the world.

A

ccording to you, how is the Indian air cargo industry reacting and responding to the COVID-19?

The Indian air cargo industry has been at the forefront in terms of responding to the crisis, starting from day zero. Although the news about the virus spread was in circulation since Jan’20, the devastation it could cause was never anticipated by anyone across the globe. It is remarkable to note and appreciate the resilience shown by logistics companies to work tirelessly in the most challenging and life-threatening atmosphere.

The air cargo industry was very quick to adapt to the new ‘COVID world’ and was able to bring remarkable solutions to customers in these extremely tough times to keep the supply chains active, especially healthcare.

How did air cargo operations change as a result of coronavirus?

The use of technology to reduce the manual touchpoints has been the biggest positive change in this situation. While the government and regulators have been trying to digitalise the industry, for a while, this COVID situation removed various mental bottlenecks. This change will surely have a very positive impact on the industry, going forward.

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The Indian logistics industry and air cargo sector were the worst hit. Now that the operations have resumed, tell us about the strategies that you have adopted to ensure smooth operations and a hundred per cent safety of cargo as well as staff.

As a responsible trade member and empathetic employer, Skyways have put in place several measures to mitigate the dual risks posed in the safe handling of goods, as well as employee health and well-being matters. The guidelines issued by the government are implemented at our workplaces from time to time, in true letter and spirit. Besides, we have added a couple of extra layers of measures to keep our teams and workplaces safe and secure.

Does Skyways follow a risk management policy to cope up with crisis like this?

Skyways has had a robust risk analysis and mitigation policy for a very long time now. We have a business continuity plan in place for each aspect of our business. Whether infrastructure, team, finance, each aspect has been carefully planned for any contingency.

This helped us hugely to mitigate the

Skyways has had a robust risk analysis and mitigation policy for a very long time now. We have a business continuity plan in place for each aspect of our business.

This helped us hugely to mitigate the challenges thrown at us due to the COVID situation. challenges thrown at us due to the COVID situation. From creating a work from mome ecosystem to keeping our customers’ operations well-attended, and all our financial commitments being cleared immaculately, our risk management capability has truly been a boon for us.

What can governments do to facilitate the smoother flow of cargo amid the COVID-19 outbreak?

I would like to compliment the government of India for being on top of the situation through their teams at all times. Ministry of Civil Aviation has played more than an active role in this period. They have been active 20 hours a day to ensure the movement of air cargo does not even pause. The government has come out with a fiscal package for the country, but I feel not

The pandemic slowdown has given a subtle yet timely alert to the air cargo industry to realign its product basket and network route planning.

This COVID period will ensure they now give a much better position to air cargo in their business plans. much is there in it for the aviation and logistics industry.

Most governments across the world have stepped in to help the airlines that have been hugely impacted due to the crisis. Air cargo can come to a grinding halt without the airlines, and they for sure, need government’s financial assistance to survive through these tough times. Other players in the air cargo chain should also be supported by the governments to tide over these tough times.

Tell us about the challenges that you are facing as a freight forwarder, especially in the last few months.

There are three major challenges that any freight forwarder is facing in this period – huge drop in revenues, recovery of dues from customers, and engagement of teams. Having a very strong risk management plan in place, Skyways was able to meet these challenges pretty well. Our group has a big spread of product offerings - freight forwarding, trucking, learning, etc. We were able to dig deep into our customer base to minimise the revenue dip. We operated a few charters to control capacity and create a new revenue-generating stream. We also have a big employee engagement programme and the same was given a multiplier in this period to keep each of our team members

engaged and motivated. Our customers were constantly communicated, and most of them came forward to clear off their dues to help our cash flows.

How long do you think the impact of coronavirus will last and by when the Indian air cargo/logistics industry will achieve the same supply/demand graph as it was in 2018-2019?

Recovery from this situation is a real long-haul. I am expecting the business to be at 50 per cent level of the pre-COVID times by the end of September 2020.

Thereon, recovery will be no more than five per cent a month. We may see preCOVID levels of business activity by the end of Q4 2021.

What do you think of India as an manufacturing destination, as for foreign investors reportedly start boycotting China?

India needs to become a bigger production house for the world. Investment alone cannot drive any economy upwards. A lot of other critical functions like product quality, raw material, fully geared up infrastructure, compliances, connectivity, strategic viability, ROE to investors, etc. will need to be in sync for India to be a favoured factory of the world. Therefore, we will have to upgrade manufacturing, policies and infrastructure in a cohesive manner to attract the big buyers of the world, to come and invest in procuring their products from India.

China is in the hot-spot currently.

But the shifting of supply chains from China to India will be fiercely competed by many other countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, etc.

Will the future of the air cargo industry be different as a result of this pandemic?

The pandemic slowdown has given a subtle yet timely alert to the air cargo industry to realign its product basket and network route planning. Air cargo was always the lesser important product for airlines, as they put all their energy into the passenger business. This COVID period will ensure they now give a much better position to air cargo in their business plans. Digitalisation will get a big shot in the arm from selling to execution. A lot of consolidation can also be expected, and some acquisitions are surely around the corner.

JUly 2020 | 35

While shippers have been facing a ‘triple shock’ from the coronavirus outbreak that looks set to continue for some time yet, logistics service providers have been equally impacted by the ‘dangerous combination’ of transport capacity shortages, disruptions to supply chains and an inability to plan. As the government starts to lift the lockdown in phases, the number of trucks plying on the road is increasing but fleet owners say the big challenge is convincing drivers to return to work.

C V Kumar, CEO, CCI Logistics Limited informs Upamanyu Borah, more on the ground reality which is continually in flux, and how the company is trying to adapt to the changing environment.

c v kumar

We have another two to three months of uncertainty to forecast and manage

I

n the fifth phase of lockdown or phase-I of unlock 1.0, what is the ground reality? Has the transport been restored to any extent?

Transportation is the one thing that connects all stages of the supply chain, from farm to food processing to warehouse to grocery store. A shortage of truck drivers, is posing a serious threat to the entire supply chain as the high demand for essential services continue unabated.

At present, only 25-35 per cent of the trucks are on road due to driver unavail36 |

July 2020

ability. Additionally, there’s enormous pressure on logistics service providers (LSPs), and non-placement of vehicles has become a bane. Export-Import (EXIM) cargo movement is also hit due to low trailer availability.

In container freight stations (CFSs), due to low number of Kalmar operators, loading and unloading of both stuffed and empty containers are running slow.

Also, other stakeholders and service providers in the export-import (EXIM) containerised trade are either not func-

tioning or functioning marginally because of uncertainties related to the current environment.

However, things are turning to change now. Importers and agencies involved in import clearance/transportation are starting to take delivery of import loaded containers. Besides, essential labour is being deployed by CFSs to handle the export-related work.

Please inform us about the ongoing situation with shippers.

There is a growing frustration among the shippers because the coronavirusled lockdown has pushed things backward. They are facing potential threats to their business with less manpower in production/packaging/loading and unloading operations. They are also having a hard time finding drivers and truck capacity.

More than 60 per cent of India’s (organised long haul) trucking fleet is now without drivers, the logistics sector may not see an immediate uptick since most drivers have gone back to their native places. When the volume rebound happens, it will get harder for shippers without capacity guarantees to get enough truck space.

I believe, in the current unpredictable situation, shippers need to react fast to market and industry changes and consider short-term arrangements rather than long-term commitments. Like us, they will need a lot of energy, good data…and some luck to tackle the ongoing challenges of the coronavirus, however long the crisis lasts.

There was an appeal made by logistics service providers for clearing dues and making 100 per cent advance payment, recently.

How has shippers reacted to it?

An appeal has been made. But, we also have to understand that anything beyond the limit, be it request for making advance payments; will be just impossible for everyone at the moment. Most of the shippers have agreed to clear pending payments while some have assured for partial advance.

Nonetheless, to make a change in the modus operandi in a highly fragmented industry is a difficult task besides being time-consuming.

Is this the right time for modal shift from road to rail?

Road and rail are like chalk and cheese, entirely different and catering to different product segments.

We do not see a large shift from road to rail at this stage. In fact, large scale multimodal shift has not taken place as anticipated earlier. Probably, there are better chances for RORO operations, which will be a win-win for all.

The consumer sentiment being low now and considering economic downturn across the globe, what will be the scenario of warehousing requirement in the country in the next couple of years?

Sentiments might be weak globally, but Indian domestic market would remain robust. However, for the next six months, it will see a dip due to the pandemic.

Warehousing demand would continue to boom and the long-term prospects for warehousing is still very bright in India considering an expected increase in domestic demand and possibility of global firms shifting manufacturing to India to de-risk supply chains.

The segment is also expected to attract a large pool of capital with fund managers

looking at warehousing and industrial real estate as a safer, resilient and scalable asset class for their investors.

S t r o n g c o mp a n i e s with good processes and financial resources will emerge stronger. It will take another 5-6 years for the Indian industry to shift to modern warehousing from their traditional stocking points and till then the demand scenario is rosy.

We do not see a large shift from road to rail at this stage. Large scale multimodal shift has not taken place as anticipated earlier.

Probably, there are better chances for RORO operations, which will be a win-win for all.

Experts say the industry will also see lot of automation into warehouses with less staff and more of machines doing the job. Is this a curious case of commercial consideration or a business continuity necessity?

Automation in warehousing is inevitable and COVID-19 has only accelerated the need for automation. Post-lockdown, for warehouse operators and logistics companies, distribution, manufacturing and supply chain processes are about to change very quickly.

As warehouses have become large in size, automation in picking has become a necessity than a luxury. These days, warehouses have a very large throughput, and only automation makes it possible to run efficiently. It’s seen as a combination of both commercial requirement and business continuity.

While it’s certainly true that things like automation and robotics can save a company sizable amounts of cash, one has got to be willing to heavily invest first. The downside is that much of the technology on the hardware side is still fairly expensive to install and integrate.

How is CCI Logistics operating in the work-from-home scenario? Are you able to provide a good shipping experience during the lockdown?

CCI Logistics has successfully managed and still assisting and meeting client’s needs under the work-fromhome scenario.

Our esteemed customers have been very understanding and have accepted electronic submission of documents such as eDockets as well as paperless invoicing and crediting options like eBilling and ePODs. Hence, by and large, our operations are running smooth.

However, as I mentioned earlier, due to unavailability of drivers, we are not able to fully deploy or operate vehicles for our customers as they had asked. Well, this has become a challenge for almost all LSPs and not just in our case.

Post-lockdown how long would you estimate it would take for our industry to get back to business as usual? Are the drivers coming back anytime soon and normalcy be restored?

All kinds of working hands have left the cities. Though few many drivers have started trickling back to work, our estimate is that majority of them would return to work only after the monsoon season. Now, that will be around the end of August or beginning of September.

Till then, vehicle shortage will be a reality. We have another two to three months of uncertaint y to forecast and manage.

Initial estimates were that sectors like transportation, storage, warehousing would come back quickly as restrictions relax but since most drivers and the ground workforce have gone back to where they belong; it will take a little longer for the sector to bounce back.

JUly 2020 | 37

Madhav Thapar Logistics is one of the most adaptable and agile industries and surely it will continue to play a critical role through the global recovery, believes Madhav Thapar, Vice President- South Asia and Managing Director- India, C H Robinson. In a riveting conversation, the logistics sector expert informs Ajeet Kumar, India’s scale and geographic positioning which offers tremendous opportunity to the country to become an international hub for air, sea and multimodal movement of goods.

And, if appropriately harnessed, India can achieve the goals sooner.

India must be careful not to overregulate the logistics sector, especially in terms of pricing

P

ost-lockdown, how long would you estimate it would take for our industry to get back to business as usual?

What will be the growth drivers?

As lockdowns start to ease, China and rest of Asia show an immediate surge in cargo movements. This surge is mostly witnessed in case of air freight, as reopened businesses quickly fulfil stock inventory and non-essential freight orders, which were previously put on hold due to the lockdown. However, as the initial rush eases, it’s likely that consumption and demand will significantly 38 |

July 2020

reduce due to recessionary trends.

Therefore, we will likely see an overall decrease in volume and a modal shift to ocean freight. Businesses can take advantage of cost savings until the pandemic eases and world economies revert to normal growth.

How has your organisation been providing customer experience during the lockdown?

Our scale, technology, and single multimodal global transportation management system - Navisphere has enabled us to continue support our network of

nearly 200,000 customers a nd c o nt r ac t c a r r i e r s worldwide. Backed by contingency plans, our global team of experts is working closely with customers on production planning and forecasting to ensure they are prepared with strategy and execution support and, if necessary, appropriate mitigation plans.

We will likely see an overall decrease in volume and a modal shift to ocean freight.

Businesses can take advantage of cost savings until the pandemic eases and world economies revert to normal growth.

As we continue to invest in technology, our people remain a top priority. Our local expertise combined with smarter solutions drive our customers’ supply chains.

Demand and tight capacity escalate prices in the air market. As such at a time, we have been able to leverage the fast boat – expedited ocean services – option for customers. Our expedited FCL and LCL service offers customers a quick shipping method with significant cost savings compared to air freight.

The consumer sentiment being low now and considering economic downturn across the globe, what will be the scenario of logistics services required in the next couple of years?

As consumer sentiments and shopping patterns change, we’ll likely see a shift in the types of commodities shipped in higher volumes. For example, as businesses and states plan to re-open, importing personal protective equipment (PPE) remains vital. Logistics is one of the most adaptable and agile industries, and I am sure it will continue to play a critical role through the global recovery.

Experts say the industry will also see a lot of automation with less staff and more of machines doing the job.

Is this a curious case of commercial consideration or a business continuity necessity?

Automation is an inevitable part of the future and not necessarily just linked to COVID-19, though the pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated some initiatives. However, automation, in the long run, means more efficiencies, more volumes and more job opportunities due to faster economic development.

Do you see some modal shifts in the way the industry had been working earlier?

Modal shifts are usually situational, and demand related. It will depend on how long the pandemic lasts and the pace of recovery.

As the need for importing PPEs rose, we worked with many of our customers

to introduce metered freight options. For instance, as capacity was tight and prices skyrocketed in the air market, we leveraged our scale and expedited ocean service to shift PPEs, which provided cost savings for our customers.

India’s logistics ecosystem has long been impacted by archaic regulations. Privatising the logistics infrastructure could support India’s dream of becoming a manufacturing hub.

Can we expect more automation coming into the entire supply chain for the handling of cargo in a multimodal network?

Multimodal visibility and automation are important parts of managing a supply chain. Our multimodal transportation management system, Navisphere, offers comprehensive visibility and tailored, market-leading solutions across modes.

However, as we continue to invest in technology, our people remain a top priority. Our local expertise combined with smarter solutions drive our customers’ supply chains.

What are the areas logistics professionals globally need to keep an eye

on and put up a unified front?

The countries who have recovered fastest, and even to some extent grown postcrisis, are the ones where the logisticssectors are agile, automated and open to free-market competition.

India must be careful not to overregulate the sector, especially in terms of pricing. The competition will find its optimum levels and bring pricing efficiencies in due time.

As India is trying to be a manufacturing hub, how can the logistics ecosystem players gear up in supporting India’s dream?

India’s logistics ecosystem has long been impacted by archaic regulations. However, India’s scale and geographic positioning offers tremendous opportunity for the country to become an international hub for air, sea and multimodal movement of goods. Privatising the logistics infrastructure could support India’s dream of becoming a manufacturing hub.

In the later phase of the lockdown, what is the ground reality? Has seamless transport systems been restored?

Recovery is slow due to the fragmented policies and interpretations between the Centre and states. Our team at C H Robinson is working hard to continue to provide uninterrupted services, although quick changes arise and uncertainty remains in the market.

JUly 2020 | 39

akash bansal

An astute professional with diversified experience in managing supply chains and logistics across various industry verticals, Akash Bansal, Country HeadLogistics, Om Logistics has successfully delivered multifunctional tactical and strategic assignments.

In an extensive interview with Ritika Arora Bhola, the expert talks about India's enormous potential to become a manufacturing hub, if methodical and instictive approaches for growth are nurtured.

K

indly share with us the challenges that you faced during this crisis and how did you cope up with it?

There had been challenges, and being a logistics service provider, closure of state borders for a long period of time posed a major challenge for us. During the lockdown, different states followed different rules. While few states allowed cargo movement by trucks, few restricted. As the enormity of the pandemic was huge and the situation was critical, despite the necessary permissions from respective state aut hor it ie s, mov i ng cargo to the destination was not possible at times. We understand the challenges of the authorities, and looking at the current

Safe, seamless and timely cargo delivery is our unwavering focus situation, supports the decision of closer of the borders.

The government on their part had been supportive in understanding the problems faced by logistics service providers and had continuously been providing solutions for overcoming the same. The responsiveness from the administrating authorities had been great.

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July 2020

Capacity utilisation was another challenge. In the initial period of lockdown, the vehicle capacity utilisation was only 10 per cent which is now gradually improving to an average of 35 to 40 per cent, againt pre-lockdown utilisation. This was typical for all organisations, and we can proudly say that we have overcome the challenges.

The only existing challenge which

we still see is availability of trained manpower/truck drivers. Millions of immigrants have moved back to their hometowns during the lockdown. We are currently working with lesser manpower. I think it will take another two to three months for the situation to normalise. Wee will then be in a position to say that we have gained back the adequate manpower.

Now that the operations have been resumed, kindly throw light on the efficient plans and strategies your company has adopted to ensure smooth and safe supply chain operations.

We at Om Logistics have been working throughout the lockdown. In the initial two to three months, the only business available was of pharmaceuticals and essential commodities, which as usual we executed with dexterity. Now at this stage, if the government extend us some kind of support or leverage to execute both imports and exports, we can achieve 60 to 70 per cent of the business that we were doing before the lockdown.

Safe, seamless and timely cargo delivery is our unwavering focus. At every point of time, we have plans and strategies in place for efficient delivery of cargo. During this period, we always ensured that all our vehicles are sanitised at the time of moving in and out from the warehouses. We optimised and improvised the workflow so that the workforce at our warehouses were able to operate seamlessly, and also load and unload the cargo. There had been learnings during these hard times, which will be incorporated in our work processes as we move forward.

Kindly share your company's mantra/ strategies to grow and sail through this difficult hour.

The strategy which we started at Om Logistics for survival and growth in this difficult hour is more dependent on customer interface, as well as traffic within the region. Even if we decide a strategy, it will not work if there is no business, no traffic and no cargo. As such, none of the strategies will work.

But looking at the current market scenario, the need of the hour is government's intervention.

We kept working throughout the lockdown stage, but at about 30-35 per cent of our volumes. Besides, the increase in fuel prices is another pain factor that is reducing volumes. If we increase cost, when fuel prices go up, it becomes far more difficult for our customers to operate.

We are focussing more on sectors that are running in volumes, viz. pharmaceuticals and electronics. Digitalisation is paving its way. Electronic prod-

ucts will be our driving force, while agricultural equipment will see more demand in the coming months. These are some of the verticals we are focussing on, as we devise strategies. We can create synergy and talk about value.

Everybody has gone through this tough time. Practically, we can think about what best we can do in this situation, with adjusting the volumes available.

We can create a model where we can communicate the best price for customer, and that would be one of our strategies for the coming months.

If the government extend us some kind of support or leverage to execute both imports and exports, we can achieve 60 to 70 per cent of the business that we were doing before the lockdown.

Digitalisation is need of the hour, do you agree? How do you think technology can transform the future of the Indian logistics industry?

I would say, digitalisation has always been of utmost importance, in a country like India. Technology was there, it was just that we were not adopting digitalisation the way we should have, the speed was very slow.

At Om Logistics, considering the current situation, we are constantly pur-

suing our customers to move towards digital models even for billing purposes.

We are trying to reduce manual work and aggressively requesting our customers to adopt e-billing options. We are all geared up to provide our customers the electronic flow so as to reduce human intervention. Today, customers also understand the urgent need for technology adoption and how to cooperate with new work models.

According to reports, considering the current market situation, foreign nations are boycotting China and looking towards India as a potential manufacturing hub and investment destination? What are your views?

Yes, definitely, we have got enormous potential in terms of creating synergies for multinationals to come to India, do manufacturing and add value to it.

India has an advantage of skilled workforce availability at globally competitive costs, along with large land parcels wel l con nec ted by ra i l a nd road net works, making the countr y an ideal choice for setting up a manufacturing bases.

As a nation, we understand businesses and processes, and this places us in a pivotal position in attracting multinational organisations to set up their manufacturing bases in India. The Indian government and private companies are working hard in this regard. We are moving in the right direction in becoming a manufacturing hub for the world at large. This opportunity, in turn, will generate tremendous employment within the country.

JUly 2020 | 41

Steven Polmans

Air cargo continued operating in full capacity and was more important than ever to ensure the supply of essential products in this pandemic.

Steven Polmans, Director Cargo Logistics, Brussels Airport Company in an extensive interview with Ritika Arora Bhola, discusses the airport’s strategies to survive in these difficult hours, India’s potential of becoming a manufacturing hub, investment options and plans for future trade with India, and other upcoming projects.

T Air cargo has reacted quickly and adequately to the crisis

ell us about the categories of cargo that are being moved more than ever from the airport after COVID-19 has hit the industry globally.

We have seen personal protective equipment (PPE) shipments moving in large numbers which took over a large share of the capacity. Through Brussels Airport, as was the case at many airports, for example, large amounts mouth masks and swaps for tests were imported. Time-critical and more expensive commodities like pharmaceuticals held their ground and were quite important during this pandemic as well, so we saw little change there. In commodities with lower price elasticity like perishables, there was a decrease.

As passenger airplanes were not operating, there was much less capacity available on certain markets such as Africa, which of course influenced certain flows to those regions. Though there was a big increase in full cargo flights, they did not necessarily operate on the same routes serving the same markets.

Tell us about the best-in-class facilities at the airport to support efficient supply chain operations – cargo handling and storage.

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As an airport, we want to create a competitive and attractive ecosystem in which various actors can operate. We have worked hard to make sure that there is sufficient infrastructure to ensure fluid operations and thus we have invested in specialised infrastructure for certain key niche markets like pharma and live animals.

We recently opened our Animal Care and Inspection Center with multiple state-of-the-art inspection rooms and housing areas for live animals. We are also building a whole new handling facility of 50,000 m² called ‘BRUcargo West’ to enlarge our supply of handling space, especially refrigerated storage space which is particularly important for the pharma industry. This way, fullyfledged logistics service providers are on the first line, to offer even faster and better service to their customers.

What kind of strategies Brussels Airport adopted for the smooth and safe movement of cargo at the airport, in the last few months.

In general, during this pandemic, the impact on air cargo was completely different from the impact on aviation. Air cargo continued operating in full capacity and was more important than ever to ensure the supply. Together with our community organisation Air Cargo Belgium, we as Brussels Airport took the necessary measures to keep operating.

The logistics sector has been declared an essential sector in Belgium, which is why many measures have been taken at the national level to remain operational.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, a ban was imposed on the national and international movement of cargo.

Kindly share with us the challenges that Brussels Airport faced during this crisis and how did you cope up with it?

The biggest challenge was that there was no more belly capacity available as passenger flights came to standstill. We had to discuss and implement new routes with our carriers in the very short term, while with our governments; we had to discuss the legal framework for these operations, for instance, to operate flights in fifth or seventh freedom.

Of course, we paid a lot of care to the health and safety of all crews operating

at the airport. The necessary information on preventative measures was provided, as well as sanitary gels.

In this essential sector, crews need to be able to continue working. Wherever necessary, we facilitated to make sure that crews did not have to go in quarantine. We organised daily meetings with the cargo community to be able to discuss and resolve operational issues immediately.

transported to and from India?

India is an important trade partner for us with very important freight flows.

Unfortunately, we have lost a lot of direct capacity in the past few years with Jet Airways and Brussels Airlines axing their direct routes bet ween Brussels and India. But for items such as spare parts, and especially pharmaceuticals, our countries remain important partners.

Does Brussels Airport follow an effective risk management policy in times of crisis like these?

We have a contingency team, and a health and safety team that has worked hard with all the other operational

How do you look at India as a manufacturing hub and an investment destination? Any plans to boost future trade with India?

We certainly hope to be able to expand our connectivity with India again in the next few years. We do see that there is a demand in our market for that, especially in the pharma sector where both Belgium and India are major global actors. As such, we are happy to be able to work closely together with Mumbai Airport within pharma.aero.

The logistics sector has been declared an essential sector in Belgium, which is why many measures have been taken at the national level to remain operational.

We have a contingency team, and a health and safety team that has worked hard with all the other operational teams and our partners during this crisis to manage the situation and make safe operations possible. teams and our partners during this crisis to manage the situation and make safe operations possible. As an essential sector, the airport could continue operating and all necessary measures were taken to ensure health and safety. This is not the first crisis we have seen, though the impact and scope is much larger than ever before. Here, the impact was mainly on passenger flights, which almost came to a standstill, and less drastic on air cargo.

Tell us about the trade activities with India. What are the major items

According to you, how is the air cargo industry reacting and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic?

It is important to acknowledge that air cargo has reacted quickly and adequately. Of course, there are some takeaways for the future, but the speed and flexibility that our industry has shown is impressive. Airfreight is one of the main drivers for our economy in this difficult period and the main driver to make the supply of medical equipment possible, despite the limitations and restraints we are facing.

Any infrastructure related development in the pipeline?

We are working on a big investment plan with lot of new infrastructure in the cargo zone. This project had started in 2018 and will continue for the next few years. We have already established a new building for valuables and a new facility for live animals.

Very soon, the first-line building of 50,000 m² for the handling of goods as well as specialised infrastructure for perishables and pharmaceuticals will be ready for use.

Besides, we continue to work on expanding and renewing our real estate in the second line with newer and additional warehouses.

JUly 2020 | 43

While most supply chain leaders are still in the reactive phase of how to deal with this pandemic, many are already at a conclusion that the balance between the levels of risk an enterprise can tolerate and the amount of operational flexibility it wants to achieve is purely dependent on scenario planning, which is starting to emerge amongst organisations as they continue to move towards intelligent, self-correcting supply chains. Mohan S A, CEO & Director, Armes Maini Storage Systems in a one-to-one interaction with Upamanyu Borah, explains how decisive actions - particularly in escalating situations - and rapid scenario planning can unlock hidden insights that augment the supply chain planner’s abilities to quickly determine options and take action.

Mohan S a

The ‘one size fits all’ theory is not going to work anymore

H

ow may we best summarise the current state? What is the short to medium-term outlook for the material handling and storage solutions market?

Current state is unprecedented and uncertain. No one has clarity on how the future will pan out. There is a lot of speculation, intelligent assessments; inferences being discussed in every company, industry associations, and through subject-based webinars, etc.

The material handling and storage solutions market is no exception to the current scenario. The business outlook, at this point of time, looks extremely 44 |

July 2020

gloomy. There is no clue of how the postCOVID-19 scenario will look like. Earlier, the influencers of the sector were different, such as GST and the consolidation that it brought along, which helped meet the demand for new warehouses or storage racking systems. Now it seems the demand drivers would be very different.

We don’t know when and where new warehouses would come up since many construction works are still on halt. We don’t know whether the companies who have signed contracts will continue or renegotiate those.

In June as well as in some parts of July, we are looking at a high demand, but that might be because of the pent up

demand. The industry has to sustain for three to six more months and then we probably might see the businesses coming back to normal. However, one thing is pretty much well understood that in the calendar year 2020, nothing much is likely to happen. For the investment cycle to begin in any company, it will take time. And even after that, companies will still critically decide on whether they should consolidate or just keep utilising whatever they have at their end, or if not, cost-efficient alternatives.

With uncertainty rife, and COVID-19 holding the potential to impact

In the post-COVID-19 period, the global supply chain is expected to be redefined. This will create a new and different set of opportunities.

every part of a business for months, scenario planning is a critical tool to test preparedness. What are the best- and worst-case scenarios, and is the business equipped to cope?

The uncertainty would continue for at least the next 12-24 months in one form or another.

We have already done the scenario planning. Though we don’t know what is going to happen in the immediate next few months, we have gone ahead and tried to evaluate and prepare on what we can do in our own case to tackle the current situation.

In the post-COVID-19 period, the global supply chain is expected to be redefined. This will create a new and different set of opportunities. Therefore, companies have to align their products and services to address such opportunities. While this happens, companies should also explore other business avenues which are more certain and can help in business continuity.

As the CEO of an organisation, what is the biggest threat you face living in a fragile global economic system and disrupted times?

I consider the inability to forecast or lack thereof as the single biggest challenge in the present scenario.

Though being a CEO, I am lost in means and methods to be able to see some part of the future, at least three to four months ahead, if not until the end of the year. The economy has been disrupted; new normal is yet to evolve, but nobody knows what the new normal would seem like. As such, for me as a CEO, the biggest issue is how to cope up with the uncertainties and mitigate the unseen risks. It will certainly take some time for the industry to understand and adapt to the evolving situation.

Either way does it suggest that CEOs feel vulnerable because of an out of date business continuity plan or inadequate data flow?

Data accuracy during normal times was witnessed to be around 70-80 per cent depending on the nature of the business.

Lately, the usage of data in certain segments for business planning has significantly increased leading to exploration/ deployment of newer technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), etc.

The data set pre-COVID-19 is still relevant to companies as long as consumption remains. However, in the post-COVID world, the way data is viewed or interpreted may be different.

Business continuity plans will undergo changes as COVID-19 like situation will get factored into the same.

Can you describe your company’s own business contingency plans? Do you have a crisis tool kit? Crisis processes, resources and technologies are in place and understood?

The state of business is already known, as it depends on the order book, but looking at profitability and other aspects, what everybody is doing is to cope up with the crisis and run their organisations amid the escalating tensions.

We are well aware and already developing mitigation plans. We have been communicating with all our employees on a daily basis and adequately about the uncertainties that prevail and the new ones we might have to counter.

Now, the factor of lastmile delivery will come in, which means getting warehouses closest to the customer or consumption point. The network may change to meet the new requirements arising due to the crisis.

We have looked at few alternate products and business opportunities which are more certain. Our teams are working very hard to develop new products or shape the business towards meeting the demands of the new emerging areas as quickly as possible. We have been ready a month with the business plan.

We are in talks with a new set of customers and understand their products and priorities. We have clear plans and stand strong to mitigate the crisis and ensure business continuity, which is a must. We are doing our best and all our employees have actively contributed their knowledge and efforts to get these things going.

Is there a fairly cautious outlook regarding adoption of robotics and

automation when the need is to be able to address pressures like tighter cycle times and a scarce labour pool?

In my opinion, companies will certainly explore automation in a far more accelerated manner than ever, but with a different set of conditions. The return on investment (ROI) considerations will be slightly different due to the addition of the crisis factors, such as labour availability, as well as keeping in mind another COVID-19 type situation.

At a macro level, labour arbitrage will still continue to prevail and will influence final investment decisions.

From a practical perspective, how will a warehouse, DC or fulfilment center emerge in terms of meeting the common challenges?

Well, in the post-COVID-19 scenario, the mix of DC and fulfilment centers will change. Earlier, the consideration was GST and the consequent consolidation.

Now, the factor of last-mile delivery will come in, which means getting warehouses closest to the customer or consumption point. The network may change to meet the new requirements arising due to the crisis.

Is there a way to roll up the biggest external challenges facing warehouse/DC operations considering this new environment?

From an external point of view, demandsupply uncertainties will be the biggest challenge for warehouse/DC managers.

They will have a hard time figuring out if the existing infrastructure is enough for them or should they invest in new infrastructure.

How can the sector best plan for future events like COVID-19? Where should the focus be?

Although it is going to be quite different for each and every business, I think the best plan for the future will be to find flexible ways and means to operate in a pandemic. The focus should be on faster recovery. The ‘one size fits all theory is not going to work anymore.

From now on, most businesses are going to consider pandemic or lockdown like situation in their business continuity plans along with a set of effective risk mitigation plans. This, I think, will be the biggest learning for all.

JUly 2020 | 45

Rajiv Bhattacharya

Dedicated Freight Corridors: A thing to watch out for

This period has taught us many things. We have learned the benefit of staying leaner. I am sure newer technologies and services will emerge across various activities to make functions more efficient and agile. There will also be a huge shift to online and e-commerce platforms which will change the logistics landscape, explains Rajiv Bhattacharya, COO, V-Xpress (a division of V-Trans India), in an exclusive conversation with Ajeet Kumar. The sector expert also talks about how to envision and create successful outcomes in a complex environment, which needs significant changes and introduction of efficient policies.

P

ost-lockdown, how long would you estimate it would take for the industry to get back to business as usual?

What will be the growth drivers?

As of June, we are almost 70 per cent back to normal. We expect that by July, we should be back to pre-COVID levels provided no further lockdown happens in large pockets and the situation of COVID doesn't go out of control with rising cases.

How has your organisation been providing customer experience during the lockdown?

Providing service quality in these times is challenging due to the shortage of labourers and drivers. Most of the longhaul routes are still being operated by a single driver. This adds to longer transit time. Many customers are still non-operational due to which our hubs and delivery branches are getting clogged. Also, the alternate-day opening in many parts of the country adds to the challenge. However, we have been able to continue to support our customers to ensure the best possible services in these hard times.

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The consumer sentiment being low now and considering economic downturn across the globe, what will be the scenario of logistics services required in the next couple of years?

There will be a huge shift to online and e-commerce platforms, and this will change the logistics landscape. Due to the liquidity crunch and lower demand, there will be smaller lot sizes and low inventory holding which will enable faster delivery.

More digitisation and contactless documentation will be in high demand.

While increased automation in material handling will be used to mitigate issues of labour shortage.

In the later phase of the lockdown, what is the ground reality? Has seamless transport systems been restored?

The ground reality remains very challenging. Lesser availability of labour coupled with shortage of drivers is the biggest bottleneck. Clogging of hubs and service centres pose another challenge for sorting; not all our customers are functioning, and we have to choose from the heap and then deliver. Loading and unloading has doubled, leading to poor turnaround time. In some places, we are still not allowed to operate 24x7.

Therefore, overall transit times remain a challenge.

The risk of infection amongst the field staff is also high, they have to take extra precautions which add to the time and cost. Besides, the current hike in diesel cost has put us under tremendous pressure. We have been absorbing till

now, but going forward, will have to share the burden with our customers.

This will finally affect business cycles.

Experts say the industry will also see lot of automation across sectors with fewer staff and more machines doing the job. Is this a curious case of commercial consideration or a business continuity necessity?

Certainly, there will be increased automation and use of robotics. This period

Lesser availability of labour coupled with shortage of drivers is the biggest bottleneck. Clogging of hubs and service centres pose another challenge for sorting; not all our customers are functioning, and we have to choose from the heap and then deliver. has taught us many things. We have learned the benefit of staying leaner. I am sure newer technologies and services will emerge across various activities to make functions more efficient and agile. I think there will be a few areas particularly where the backend processes might see more automation, but on the ground, it will still be human-intensive and continue to create employment for the economy.

Do you see some modal shifts in the way the industry had been working earlier?

Freight trains will be an option which will further evolve as an alternative to trucking. The dedicated freight corridors will be a thing to be watch for.

However, there is a good amount of scope for both road and rail model to collaborate with each other before they start competing.

Can we expect more automation coming into the entire supply chain for the handling of cargo in a multimodal network?

There will be huge scope for automation in this space. Further, with the adoption of material handling and sortation systems by more players, the price point will also come down making it more viable and economical.

How can the logistics ecosystem players gear up in supporting India’s dream of becoming a manufacturing hub?

Capacity augmentation by the major players will have to be ramped up, which means inclusion of a more skilled workforce and development of efficient infrastructure. More warehousing complexes will have to come up and further improvement in road and rail connectivity should be augmented.

Further, end-to-end digitisation of the entire chain is the need of the hour.

Port infrastructure and ease of operation has to be facilitated. Inland waterways will be another game-changer, if developed logically.

JUly 2020 | 47

Manojit Acharya

D

on’t you think the pandemic has reminded us how critical supply chain and logistics are at the foundational level?

Absolutely!

Not only this, what this pandemic further brought into the limelight is how digital and physical assets have to work together and coexist. Specifically talking about the logistics industry, there is always going to be a coexistence of both, and how well that is managed would ultimately define success for both service and customer organisations.

You are a thought leader in materials handling. What was the single biggest perceptible need you have found in the mindset of the customers amid these volatile times?

Talking about operation-level aspects, in the last few months, what has come out quite noticeably is the importance of service levels. How well an organisation is geared up to service its customers was the biggest determinant to come across.

Our long and short-term rental solutions play a major role It’s not only about having the best of equipment but going the extra mile in terms of serving your customer and keeping their equipment in the best of operating conditions.

Can you describe your company’s own business continuity plans and how have you helped your clients in times like these?

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A crisis of this scale has forced companies to reimagine business models, not just for short-term survival, but for long-term resilience.

Reliable estimates cannot currently be made about the business development over the remainder of the year, but offerings like Jungheinrich’s rental solutions can help organisations respond to the challenges of a 24x7 marketplace as well as face economic uncertainty and rising customer expectations.

Manojit Acharya, Managing Director, Jungheinrich Lift Truck India informs Upamanyu Borah, how the idea of using a flexible hire service goes a long way to effectively manage market volatility and complement traditional contracts, while also giving an overview of the sector.

At Jungheinrich, our operations were always running. Even when the lockdown started, we had a special approval from the government for serving essential services sector for which our warehouses were open, serving the aftermarket requirements with continuous spare parts supply across regions. On the other hand, supply of our rental trucks also kept running to support business covering essential operations with short and long-term rental solutions.

Initially, our business continuity plan was completely dependent on our essential service customers as our objective was to keep their businesses running. Our service engineers used to be in constant touch with our customers, and our customers responded very well by providing necessary approvals for our team as well as providing logistics (pick up and drop) support.

Post-lockdown, we have started fullfledged offerings to customers. Our sales and after-sales teams are working and keeping the agreed deadlines with customers.

Do you have a crisis toolkit?

Crisis processes, resources and technologies are in place and understood?

At Jungheinrich, we took note of this situation very seriously. All necessary measures were put in place very early. A central crisis team has been formed globally working in close coordination with the board of directors. A local crisis team has been set-up in all our sales units and plants to develop and initiate all necessary steps, including preventive measures. In addition, regular information is provided on necessary hygiene measures, customer communication, standard operating procedures (SOPs) on operating offices/warehouses, etc.

As part of the crisis team in India, we looked at each parameter, the entire processes and their functioning. We have guidelines and checklist for everything like SOPs for safety measures, visiting customers, maintaining and sanitising our equipments and so on. We have provided masks and sanitisers to all our employees. We frequently connect with employees to keep a check on their health status as well as their families.

For instance, in the case of our head office, we already had the permission to operate with around 10 per cent staff.

Our checklist regarding the immediate priorities before and after opening the office was ready almost about a month before. Additionally, we had been sanitising and fumigating the office and warehouses premises.

At present, we can say that we have everything in place and well communicated to every employee of the organisation.

Today, when people are talking of industry 4.0 and IoT, what is the impact of technology invasion on storage and materials handling considering the Indian market?

Jungheinrich has not only been talking about industry 4.0 but also prepared for it. With a comprehensive portfolio of material handling equipment, logistics systems and services, we are able to offer customer tailored solutions for the challenges posed by Industry 4.0.

The concept of 4.0 is widely used in Europe, as market there is much more advanced and matured. In India, the market is unique and has requirements of all equipment, from basic handling

machines to high-end automated machines. The revolution is happening at a fast pace but intra-logistics has still a long way to go. Automation and its related influence, although being felt, have to catch up.

Therefore, we tend to look at both the ends of the spectrum. At the higher end, there are customers who are hopeful about automation and their requirements have to be met, while on the other end, there are businesses who are satisfied with simple basic solutions.

At Jungheinrich, our operations were always running. Even when the lockdown started, we had a special approval from the government for serving essential services sector for which our warehouses were open, serving the aftermarket requirements with continuous spare parts supply across regions.

Junghneinrich Rental solution can help warehouse managers in managing productivity and demand planning without high demand on CAPEX investment.

Apart from pioneering solutions in the sector, is there a way you have tried to roll up the biggest challenges warehouse/DC managers face considering this new environment?

One of the biggest challenges the operations and warehouse managers are facing today is managing demand fluctuations.

Lot of efforts are needed for capacity planning, manage throughput and ensure productivity within limited cash flow.

Junghneinrich Rental solution can help warehouse managers in managing productivity and demand planning without high demand on CAPEX investment. Our long-term rental delivers productivity by optimising truck performance; these are maintained by us

directly. Short-term rental caters to high demand for few months, e.g. we top up existing fleet with trucks for seasonal demands.

Going forward, we anticipate that short terms rental will become more popular in the coming years.

Are there opportunities for costefficient maintenance during this period?

Downtime can be expensive. That is why we recommend our customers to carry out regular maintenance of our truck fleet. Especially, during this time when trucks were in non-operative conditions and our service engineers cannot visit them, it is important for the customers to take the necessary steps and precautions to ensure their trucks run smoothly.

We rolled-out a complete guide and conducted virtual trainings for our customers on how to maintain our trucks post-lockdown, covering precautions and measures to ensure life of trucks and batteries.

We offer different preventive maintenance options to the customer as per their needs like annual maintenance contract, full service contract where we work closely with customers to plan the maintenance of trucks, repairs, training to operators, etc. This helps our customers to focus and efficiently carry out their core business operations.

How can stakeholders inform and exchange insights with each other looking at such a global pandemic disaster?

We are actively associated and participating in events organised by associations and industrial bodies through virtual meets, webinars or knowledge and information sharing platforms.

The sessions are excellent and have been able to address many of the augmenting concerns.

Additionally, there has to be a lot of exchange of information between the leadership and organisational level.

Right from financial matters to managing human resources, every aspect needs to be evaluated and discussed in detail.

Also, while we keep trying to think of new ways to adapt to the current environment, we should also look at and understand how other companies are handling and overcoming the crisis.

JUly 2020 | 49

ramanAthan rajamani

Air Cargo revenues will contribute much more to the airline revenue mix

H

ow is the Indian air cargo industry reacting and responding to the global pandemic?

The world is going through one of the most challenging times since the great recession, with over 90 per cent of industries suffering losses of some kind. In the aviation industry, we have seen a substantial drop in revenues. The cargo business has been the only activity that has helped airlines and the downline cargo chain globally. The pandemic has in many ways emphasised the importance of the air cargo industry and all the linked logistics networks that play a critical role in the global aviation value chain. This was made abundantly clear with the movement of essential supplies of food items, face masks, and other medical supplies that needed to be distributed worldwide to/from India during this period. A shortage in workforce availability, a liquidity crunch and capacity shrinkage resulting in a sharp increase in airfreight rates have been some of the many challenges faced by the Indian air cargo industry. Most of the service providers were forced to suspend credit and seek temporary exemptions from their contractual commitments with customers to overcome cash flow and service-related issues.

Throw light on the measures adopted by AISATS to ensure undisrupted cargo movements during COVID-19 outbreak.

AISATS immediately understood the importance of ensuring seamless service in these unprecedented times where the movement of essentials and medical 50 |

July 2020

equipment was critical to the nation and to other countries. COVID-19 affected aviation like never before and while regular commercial passenger operations were suspended, we continued to support our airline customers for a number of approved repatriation flights, MoCA's Lifeline Udan, and general cargo movement, so as to ensure timely, effective and streamlined services to our customers.

Our teams were at the forefront ensuring support for the continuous air transport of critical medical equipment and supplies at five of our business units Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mangaluru, and Thir uvant hapuram.

While focussing on the efficient transportation of cargo, we also implemented stringent safety measures for our workforce through the rationalised use and distribution of safety and sanitised equipment, especially critical for the handling of cargo to/from countries affected and issuance of the necessary PPE depending on the area of operation. Our on-ground teams continue to diligently follow protective measures in line with guidelines issued by IATA, MoH F W, lo c a l s t at e authorities, airline and airport operators.

The pandemic has in many ways emphasised the importance of the air cargo industry and linked logistics networks that play a critical role in the global aviation value chain. In an exclusive interview, Ramanathan Rajamani, Director and CEO, AISATS informs Ritika Arora Bhola, how the Indian air cargo industry had been reacting and responding to the current market situation, with highlighting the strong measures adopted by the ground handling company to ensure undisrupted cargo movement.

Tell us about the cargo quantities and types of essential cargo being transported.

AISATS has been instrumental in contributing to easing the impact of the virus by maintaining global supply chains, thereby supporting companies that depend on imports and exports. We uplifted over 16,000 MT of cargo between March and May in total. Through our ground handling services in the different business units pan-India, we have helped move over 6,299 MT of cargo, includeing both imports and exports.

We supported the upliftment of COVID-19 kits, pharmaceutical medicinal drugs, and perishable food supplies.

Our dedicated Air Freight Terminal (AFT) and Coolport in Bengaluru saw the movement of over 10,000 MT cargo, handling of 204 freighters and 117 bonded trucks during the same period. The major export commodities from our AFT were pharmaceuticals, perishables (baby corn, mixed vegetables & hatching eggs), electronic and engineering goods and other essential commodities.

How is AISATS managing maximum work productivity with minimum workforce?

During the lockdown period, we deployed about five per cent of our workforce for essential service operations. The initial phase saw a lot of information on the public platform and media. As this was a first for just about every country, the lack of a comprehensive approach to the pandemic resulted in a sense of fear that permeated the industry and the general public. During this period, the leadership team at each unit ensured there was engagement and ongoing dialogue with our staff at all levels while continuing to stress the importance of creating a safe workplace for everyone. The focus was to primarily safeguard the physical health and mental well-being of our people. At this time, job security was also key and as an organisation that puts staff first, we continued to ensure our people were paid on time. Operations were skeletal and the staff were deployed carefully to ensure safe handling of operations that was clocked within the stipulated timeframe. The lack of financial support by the government has compelled the industry to re-evaluate priorities across the board. AISATS continues to assess the short-mid-long-term effect

of the downturn and being a manpowerintensive industry, we will take the necessary steps to ensure we remain sustainable as a business well past the impact of the pandemic.

Is there any risk management policy that AISATS follows to cope up with a crisis like this?

At AISATS, we have a robust risk management policy that has been developed keeping the dynamic nature of our operations. This spans across multiple situations and scenarios. Talking specifically about our cargo terminal in Bengaluru, we implemented a COVID-19 spe-

Our teams were at the forefront ensuring support for the continuous air transport of critical medical equipment and supplies at five of our business units - Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mangaluru, and Thiruvanthapuram. cific SOP to handle operational risks at the workplace specifically towards managing employee and visitor entry into the terminal and the monitoring of people moving within the terminal while ensuring physical distance. The reporting of any related incident with follow up actions to be taken in the event of any suspicious cases of COVID-19 related symptoms was a key process implemented and a mandatory checklist was developed for the AISATS terminals specific to the needs on the ground. With the introduction of touchless sanitising units and measuring guns to carefully executed fumigation and sanitisation at regular intervals, our cargo terminals were secure for operations.

What can governments do to facilitate the smoother flow of cargo amidst the COVID-19 outbreak? Any suggestions you would like to share?

Careful planning and input from key stakeholders are critical at this time.

India is at the cusp of change and the aviation industry and cargo sector has a chance of contributing significantly to

this change. Each step by the government has been strategic, keeping in mind the human and economic factors, vis-Ă -vis phased opening of various industries. Many local governments and authorities have also developed protocols and implemented plans that have now required the logistics supply chain to raise efficiencies and be far more effective during the pandemic.

However, the path to recovery is much more complicated. The socioeconomic impact as a result of the growth potential in the cargo business requires the government to provide the necessary stimulus for the industry – airlines, ground and cargo handling agents, and others that can help keep business, and just as importantly, employment sustainable. IATA has declared that the pandemic is expected to potentially impact 2,932,900 jobs in the country’s aviation and its dependent industries. According to CAPA, the airline sector losses are expected to be around USD 1.75 billion, while that of the airports and concessionaires at around USD 1.50-1.75 billion, and another USD 80-90 million losses for the ground handling companies.

The ground handling companies in India (handling both passenger and cargo flights) employ anything between 50,000-65,000 highly skilled people, and collectively these companies have lost close to 90 per cent of their core business but have continued to retain over 70 per cent of their respective workforce. This cannot continue, and if we and others in the industry are to remain sustainable in the long run while maintaining the highest levels of efficiency and capabilities in a fiercely competitive global arena, the government must step in and provide the necessary stimulus package in a proactive manner.

Going forward, we believe air cargo revenues will contribute much more to the airline revenue mix and this in turn will attract high-value cargo which can result in higher margins.

Technology will play an important role in streamlining operations. AISATS will stay focussed on the technological front with advanced infrastructure and facilities, automation in all areas, and the development of skilled handling capabilities with end-to-end tracking of cargo, condition monitoring, and other innovative capabilities.

JUly 2020 | 51

sanjeev gadhia

A

ccording to you, how is the air cargo industry reacting and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic?

This crisis is profoundly affecting our industry but also demonstrates the vital importance of air cargo. Firstly, I would like to pay tribute to the commitment of every single stakeholder in the chain, who have all proven they are up to the task and have helped to provide countries around the world with essential goods. The medium- and long-term consequences remain uncertain, especially the economic consequences, but like the most visible aspect of our industry (airlines), the air cargo industry has reacted positively in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Freighter airlines have increased the number of flights especially for the airfreight of PPEs and ventilators from China to E u r o p e , U SA , S o u t h America and Africa. Most of the freighter airlines have mobilised ext ra crews to avoid crew quar-

Digitalisation is a priority now more than before for air cargo stakeholders antine restrictions. In some cases, freighter operators have re-commissioned freighters from storage to meet the demand for charters, while some operators have restarted freighter operations after having suspended their operations.

Low fuel prices have 52 |

July 2020

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide, industry airline associations and governing bodies are leaving no stone unturned to support the global economy and ensuring the air cargo industry emerges as a winner in this global pandemic.

Sanjeev Gadhia, Vice Chairman, The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) in a tête-àtête with Ritika Arora Bhola, talks about the urgent need to re-evaluate risk management policies, the importance of digitalisation, and TIACA’s strategies for ensuring expedited global cargo operations.

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enabled older generation freighters to be mobilised which offers a unique opportunity for such freighters to resume commercial operations.

B747F remains very popular for freighter operators due to its high payload and volume while having a lower operating cost due to low fuel prices.

Passenger airlines have adopted a strategy to convert a part of their fleet into passenger freighters to meet the growing demand for charters from China.

Currently, t here are over 1000 passenger freighters that have entered for service of cargo and the B777-300ER is the most popular aircraft for in the segment.

Do you feel it’s high time that the air cargo industry globally should re-evaluate its risk management policies and come up with effective strategies to deal with crisis like COVID-19 and be future-ready?

We need to learn lessons from what we are currently experiencing and need to implement new procedures within our industry to prepare ourselves for potential crises in the future. So yes, the air cargo industry has to re-evaluate its risk management strategies as the pandemic has disrupted the entire aviation sector on a global scale and has jolted every sector of the economy and global trade.

The pandemic was never factored in any risk-management strategies and will now feature prominently in every stakeholder board-room with different models on how to remain operational during the pandemic and the need to resume preCOVID schedules after the pandemic.

It is also important that procedures regarding the health and safety of employees are made a permanent feature.

Emergency plans must be created and modeled ahead of time before a crisis occurs in order to respond as quickly as possible, limiting the risk of being overwhelmed by the need for urgent action.

Lots of companies have learned this the hard way during this crisis, and from this viewpoint, things have continued – and will continue – to develop. This will involve the implementation of clear processes and training in particular.

Talking about TIACA, this must also be fully incorporated into our agenda, and our role will of course be at the very least to share the best practices that emerge from this.

54 |

July 2020

How have cargo operations changed as a result of COVID-19?

All the air cargo stakeholders have learned to be agile and to adapt to a new culture of corporate communications by working remotely while maintaining effectiveness and efficiency similar to pre-COVID levels. In terms of operations in strict sense in the field,

Cargo operations should continue to function during the pandemic by adapting a resilient strategy that will enable continuity despite challenges, which will be similar to a military-style of management as it will give a new meaning to ‘Survival of the Quickest’ in addition to the Fittest.

Investment in new technologies is important to carry out successful business operations. This will also be a key in order to anticipate future crises so as to be fully prepared, but above all to increase the speed of recovery. the biggest priority has been to focus on essentials – vital freight shipments – rather than returning to 100 per cent operational.

I firmly believe there will be changes in the way people work after this crisis.

Meanwhile, cargo operations should continue to function during the pandemic by adapting a resilient strategy that will enable continuity despite challenges, which will be similar to a military-style of management as it will give a new meaning to ‘Survival of the Quickest’ in addition to the Fittest.

Hundred per cent digitalisation of cargo operations is the need of the hour. Do you agree? Do you think the industry is ready to adopt and invest in new technologies to carry out successful business operations?

This crisis has been extremely revealing in terms of the need to digitalise air cargo operations even further. In some roles, typically handling, being physically present is unavoidable and this cannot be replaced by digital solutions. But in many other roles, we have all seen that digital technology allows people to work in teams from anywhere in the world, as long as we have the right tools. So, I agree with the importance of full digitalisation of cargo operations as it’s a priority now more than before for most air cargo stakeholders to invest in new technologies to carry out successful business operations. This will also be a key in order to anticipate future crises so as to be fully prepared, but above all, to increase the speed of recovery.

As an autonomous body working for the development of the air cargo industry globally, can you suggest some measures to support the global economy and air cargo sector in terms of capacity building, freight movement and other developments?

Coming up with a list of suggested measures to support the global economy and the air cargo sector in terms of strengthening capacity, the flow of goods and other developments isn’t easy, especially because regulations are so different from country to country. However, at the international and local levels, we are fulfiling our role as a representative of air cargo as a whole and rolling out all possible measures to ensure air cargo industry’s voice is heard. That’s what we did at the height of the crisis, including acting as a representative of our members to international bodies and governments (for example, the work conducted with the ICAO and IATA) in order to report the concrete problems experienced in the field.

What we are hammering home and what official bodies, governments and even the general public have broadly understood that air cargo is fundamentally important – in our everyday lives and even more so in times of a crisis. It is a crucial part of the world economy and we speak out to ensure that air cargo and efforts to facilitate its work are recognised as a priority by ‘hybrid’ aviation stakeholders (those on the passenger side, e.g. airlines, airports, etc.), as well as by the governments.

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Dr Renu singh parmar

H

ow is the Indian air cargo industry reacting and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic?

The industry has risen to the occasion by proactively ensuring the movement of essential medical supplies and relief items not only within the country but to other nations as well, despite the severe constraints on belly capacity (due to grounding of passenger aircraft). However, freight rates have risen astronomically due to this shortage. Till May 28, 2020, MoCA facilitated the operation of 584 Lifeline Udan flights, transporting a total of 935 tonnes of medical/relief cargo. With the recent opening up of the economy, one can expect that the prospects of the industry will improve.

Now that the ban has been lifted from the transportation of cargo via air, what can the Indian government do in terms of investments and policy implementations to facilitate a smoother flow of cargo amidst COVID-19?  More slots for cargo aircrafts at airports should be identified immediately by the airport authorities.  Freight rates will have to be moderated so as to not impact demand.  Greater utilisation of passenger aircraft for cargo operations need to be encouraged.  Relaxation of bilateral and multilateral regulations that restrict emergency supplies.  Rationalising and integrating the vast number of new SOPs issued for cargo operations.

How long do you think the impact of the coronavirus would last and by when Indian air cargo industry/ airlines would achieve the same capacity, load factor levels and demand as it was in 2018-2019?

It’s going to take some time for manufacturing to revive, especially considering the disruption in labour/worker supply witnessed recently. At the same time, it will not be easy to switch to automated processes where a major part of the work 56 |

July 2020

After months of mandatory lockdown, now, with the opening of the economy, one can expect that the prospects of the air cargo industry will improve, says Dr Renu Singh Parmar, former Senior Economic Advisor, MoCA. In an exclusive interview with Ritika Arora Bhola, the industry expert informs more about the global economy that will take time to recover, but, air cargo might pick up around this time. time to attain the volumes witnessed in 2018-19. Apart from that, lesser passenger aircrafts will fly, consideri ng t he c r ippl i ng losses faced during the lockdown, and lower PAX demand.

This will mean, lower availability of belly capacity. Like Spicejet who recently converted 3 of its Q400 Bombardier aircraft to freighters,

Overdependence on China have created havoc is done manually. Brick and mortar companies cannot follow a 'work from home' format but will have to make changes to bring in robotics and AI into their manufacturing processes. All this would take time and investment. The recent ‘stimulus’ measures announced by the government will also take time for the results to kick in. Further, the demand in the economy for goods and services has taken an unprecedented beating, as millions lost their jobs/took steep haircuts.

The global economy too will take time to recover, and one can expect poor export prospects. Overall, one would not expect the economy to revive until the Q1 FY22. I would, therefore, expect air cargo to pick up around that time. However, it will take much more

other airlines may also have to consider a similar move to meet the shortfall of belly capacity.

Is it high time that India should re-evaluate its risk management policies and be future-ready of crisis like these?

Absolutely! Everybody was caught offguard by the arrival of the coronavirus.

Sudden supply chain disruptions sent the entire global economy into a tailspin.

India like others countries have realised that an overdependence on China for critical supplies in sectors like pharma, electronics, electrical machinery, etc. has created havoc in its manufacturing sector, making it vulnerable to even shortterm supply shocks.

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KOLKATA LUDHIANA MUMBAI MUNDRA NAGPUR RENUKOOT VIZAG

fact check

Modi’s ambitious infra projects have hit a snag

I

nfrastructure spending has been a key priority of the Union government, which has been keen to use it as a lever to prop up economic growth. The first half of 2019 saw a marked acceleration in public spending on infrastructure projects.

Budget 2020 followed it up by earmarking `1,70,000 crore in 2020-21 to build new infrastructure assets, which is about 15% of the government’s budget for capital allocations.

However, if history is anything to go by, finishing these projects will be a big challenge. Time and cost overruns have become routine features and these problems are most acute in four sectors that account for a bulk of infrastructure projects in the country: road transport and highways, power, railways, and petroleum.

These findings draw from an analysis of six years of data, covering two political dispensations, from a quarterly report released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) titled ‘Project Implementation Status Report of Central Sector Projects Costing `150 crore and Above’.

The latest release of this report was for the quarter ended September 2019.

This shows 1,676 Central infrastructure projects under implementation. The headline number of this report is the amount of spending on these projects till date. The latest report shows that Rs 10,07,176 crore had been spent on these 1,676 projects so far.

From quarter to quarter, completed projects go out of this set and new projects enter it. Hence, the difference in this headline number from quarter to quarter can be seen as a proxy for new

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July 2020

and ongoing investments in infrastructure projects connected with the Central government.

Of the 24 quarters between December 2013 and September 2019, the quarterly difference was negative in seven quarters. In other words, even as this amount fell on account of completed projects going out of this set, investments in new and ongoing projects did not keep pace. This indicates issues in both planning and implementation.

There were also three quarters when new spending was brisk. Two of these quarters came in the first half of 2019, a period intersecting with the national elections in April-May 2019.

This was a big spending effort by the ruling dispensation to claw back the gains it made in execution of infrastructure projects post 2014, and which it subsequently squandered.

The period before demonetisation (quarter ending December 2016) saw the share of central infrastructure projects facing time and cost overruns decline sizeably over 2013-14 levels. Time overruns fell from 46% of projects in the March 2015 quarter to 29% in the December 2016 quarter. Likewise, the per centage of projects facing cost overruns declined from 20% to 11.5%. But, in the latest quarter for which data is available (September 2019), cost overruns were back at 20% and time overruns at 35%.

The magnitude of these issues is greater in pockets of the infrastructure sector that matter more. The MoSPI report has a two-fold categorisation of projects by size: ‘mega’ projects (costing above `1,000 crore) and ‘major’ projects (costing `150-1,000 crore). Of the 1,676

Central infrastructure projects on the monitor, 28% are mega projects, but they account for 78% of the total spend.

The strain on account of cost overruns is greater in mega projects. While the cumulative cost overrun in major projects is 4.5%, it is 26.5% in mega projects. As a result, a greater share of mega projects requires a cost review and other special approvals compared to major projects.

The problem of finishing projects— in time and within budget—is also more endemic to sectors that drive infrastructure spending. Of the 18 sectors categorised as infrastructure, just four—road transport and highways, power, railways, and petroleum—account for about three-fourths of the total spending.

And these are precisely the sectors which struggle to finish projects.

Take road transport and highways.

In the five-year period from 2013-14 to 2018-19, only 55% of the total awarded length of roads was constructed. It’s only in 2018-19 that the focus shifted from awarding road projects to completing them.

The railways which has the largest anticipated cost in the 1,676 open central infrastructure projects in the database maintained by MoSPI is also struggling with finishing projects in time and within budget.

And it becomes a vicious cycle: such incomplete projects need more money to finish; unable to find it, they stay pending.

Behind the increase in time and costs are issues like the lack of central and state regulatory clearances, land acquisition, fund constraints, rehabilitation and resettlement problems of project affected persons all add to delays, and increase the time and costs involved in projects. Unless these issues are tackled expeditiously, it will be hard for the government to translate its big infra plans into reality.

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technology

Leveraging the digital revolution in the healthcare supply chain

W

hat is clear is that disjointed supply chains, managed with multiple siloed systems, w it h point-to-point connections to select trading partners, and even hub-andspoke portals, are just not working. The healthcare supply chain is one of the most vital and complicated supply chains, carrying life preserving and enhancing products, from complicated manufacturing processes, across tiers of suppliers, layers of distributors, and warehouses, to clinics, hospitals, and consumers. Yet, it is one of the least connected and coordinated industries, creating hurdles, cracks, and friction at every junction. Adding to the complexity, healthcare is one of the most highly regulated industries.

For instance, spikes in demand are not communicated across the healthcare chain quickly. Instead they’re batch processed serially down the line, link-by-link over time, until it’s too late to do anything about them. Supply quickly becomes out of sync with demand, resulting in shortages of critical products at some locations and overstocking at other locations. Without this visibility and coordination, there’s no 60 |

July 2020

way to rectify the imbalance. Shortages occur, and patients and care providers pay the price.

To overcome this fundamental flaw, the first step is to connect all participants on a single network. Equipped with a multi-enterprise master data management system, the network helps normalise and harmonise the data across partners and systems and can auto-translate master data to enable the seamless communicat ion of vital changes to all parties. The network maintains a real-time single version of the truth, synchronised across parties on the network and their systems. Visibility to information (inventories, orders, forecasts, and plans) and the ability to manage data and execute transactions is under the control of each organisation, and only they have the power to grant a range of permissions to their relevant trading partners.

From discord to coordination and transparency

Implementing a single platform for all parties is revolutionary in healthcare. It transforms the serial, disconnected, and confused conglomerate of systems, into a single real-time ecosystem work-

ing in harmony to serve patients. Instead of passing data down the line manually or by batch processes, everyone sees consumption and changes in demand, supply levels, and constraints as they occur. They can even see the logistics links in between. So, when a problem arises anywhere in the network, the relevant parties can respond immediately. If a pharmaceutical plant goes down in Puerto Rico due to a hurricane, the downstream network is alerted immediately, and the affected parties can assess the impact and switch over to another location or find alternative sources.

In today’s environment of high uncertainty and variability, long-term planning must give way to more agile, responsive, and resilient supply chains.

A real-time network helps by dampening all major sources of variability: Reducing information and physical lead times: In almost every other industry, a single, real-time network has emerged to remove information lags and provide visibility to actual demand, supply, and logistics to all participants. It enables them to identify and resolve problems faster, in concert and decisively. With real-time data

driving decisions, there is no need to pad estimates and lead times and the same can be done in healthcare.

Reducing demand variability: With real-time information directly from hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinics, and home care facilities, and with demand and order forecasts, all parties have a much more accurate view of demand and what’s coming.

Manufacturers get early visibility to improve order forecasts, which can be adjusted in real-time as equipment and treatment needs change. Suppliers and manufacturers can also plan better to meet demand spikes in the event of an outbreak, and scale back down appropriately as demand drops off.

Reducing supply variability: With appropriate permissions, hospitals, clinics, and distributors can see inventory and planned deliveries at all nodes and can even be granted visibility to production capacity at manufacturers and comanufacturers. Suppliers can commit to meeting demand or alert their customers well in advance that they can’t fulfil, which allows customers to plan accordingly and develop alternatives.

Toward patient/clinician driven supply chains

Transparency across the global network, with data driven decision-making and patient/clinician driven demand, also enables supply to be rebalanced to meet demand so supplies can be shared among nearby hospitals and sites, or more remote locations. A network approach significantly enhances resilience, because all parties get early warnings to projected stockouts and issues, and they have visibility to many more alternative sources of supply.

For example, clinics and hospitals can collaborate with adjacent facilities, distributors, and suppliers to execute their plans and source supply from the nearest and quickest available supply points. Inventory transfers can be authorised, committed, and tendered to carriers, tracked in transit, and confirmed on delivery. Finally, artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent agents can be used to monitor supplies, inventory, and rates of consumption, shipment lead times, and so on to predict shortages and problems in advance.

This provides network-wide, alwayson, precision monitoring, and alerting

at a scale that is difficult, if not impossible, to match with manual processes.

These intelligent agents can also use machine learning to develop better arrival time estimates for shipments.

Like Uber, which offers those in need of a ride many more options and quicker more efficient service, a network connects those in need of a product or service (buyers), with the providers of that product or service. Think of it not as “ride sharing” but as “supply sharing,” and you will start to see the power of the network for healthcare.

Maximising resilience and securing the healthcare supply chain

Another advantage of using a network approach is that products can be tracked across all participants and their journey—from source to consumption.

Companies can use serialisation, product authentication, and chain of custody services, to provide a digital passport for products flowing through the network, documenting its journey from origin to destination. It also helps to protect the integrity of the supply chain, increase product safety, and secure patient care. This is especially important with sensitive products, such as biologics, which as mentioned earlier, require special packaging, handling, and conditions to maintain their efficacy. It also supports full traceability, which is particularly important in regions where counterfeit products are a problem.

Serialisation and chain of custody services are also supported and are in-

valuable in the event of a problem or a recall. They enable hospitals, suppliers, and distributors to identify affected product and remove it from the supply chain quickly, eliminating the possibility of using recalled products on patents.

Digital networks drive more efficient and resilient healthcare supply chains

A network-based approach to the healthcare supply chain not only improves resilience and supply chain performance, it also provides better patient care and lowers costs. Many time-consuming and tedious chores that occupy healthcare providers today, such as trying to calculate orders, can be optimised and automated. This brings more precision to processes and frees up hospital staff and care providers to focus on their patients. All this is enabled through the strengthened collaboration and greater information sharing between hospitals and their suppliers.

Healthcare providers, drug manufacturers, and medical device manufacturers do an incredible job of saving, enriching, and extending our lives. It’s time they had the support of modern technology to streamline supply chains, make their lives easier, and help ensure that life-saving products reach patients quickly, efficiently, and in optimal condition. A real-time digital network enables that and more and may be the lifesaver needed especially when time is of the essence.

By Dr Reddy Gottipolu, SVP Healthcare at One Network Enterprises JUly 2020 | 61

Our focus is on shorter lead times and increased customer satisfaction Company overview

Formed in the year 1986, Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd (RSIL), now a subsidiary of Patanjali Ayurved, is the largest edible oilseed extraction and refining company in India with combined capacity of 3.3 million metric tonnes per annum in its 13 facilities spread across the country.

RSIL is also the largest player in the cooking oil and soya foods category in the country. Its brand portfolio includes Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Gold and Ruchi Star.

Besides being a leading manufacturer of high quality edible oils, soya foods, vanaspati and bakery fats, RSIL is also the highest exporter of soya meal, lecithin and other food ingredients from India. It features among the top players based on market share in the overall Refined Oil in Consumer Packs (ROCP) in India.

An integrated player from farm to fork; RSIL is also the pioneer of oil palm plantations in the country.

As with other industries, technology and digitalisation are expected to play a big role in transforming the operations of FMCG companies. Realising this potential, organisations are Supply chain strategies not only leveraging digital At RSIL, supply chain is a critical technologies to change business process, and not just a their front-end (customer business function. interfaces) but also their Our focus is on shorter lead back-end (supply chain times and increased customer and distribution networks). satisfaction. We have integrated Deependra Khandelwal, SAP ERP software system for end-to-end supply chain operaSr Manager- Supply Chain and tions and ensuring the seamless Logistics at Ruchi Soya explains flow of materials right from Upamanyu Borah, on how they are forecast and demand planning to making use of technology to supplies. build on emerging opportunities RSIL works on the following in an evolving marketplace and principles: ensure that products are fresh,  Identifying areas where there is enough market reach and technology can help improve that working capital ratios are and streamline processes: SAP monitors real-time constantly improve. availability of stock at

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several locations. Demand planning is anticipated based on the sales trend and seasonality factor which help to derive the production planning. Aging report is monitored on a daily basis for all stock keeping units (SKUs) to keep a check on the expiry of products and implementing a First in First out (FIFO) approach. GPRS tracking system are used to monitor the stock in transit and arranging their delivery on time.  Optimising inventory for reduced cost: We focus on how to reduce costs and improve the bottom line.

This is especially needed considering the global economic downturn and after effect of COVID-19. In these efforts, we consistently look at optimising inventory quantities.

For the same, we use proper tools and technologies for forecasting and demand planning.  Cycle time/turnaround time (TAT) compression: We closely monitor the time from placement of trucks and rake, from its loading to the completion of the delivery in two stages, i.e.  Completion Time (CT): This is the time when the process completes its execution, i.e., material loading to invoicing.

We have integrated SAP ERP software system for end-toend supply chain operations and ensuring the seamless flow of materials right from forecast and demand planning to supplies.

 Arrival Time (AT): This is the time when the material has arrived/reached its destination.  Regular reviews to ensure efficiency and mitigate risk: We constantly review procedures and policies to ensure compliance, efficiency and cost. This helps avoid process bottlenecks and help streamline operations while mitigating the risk of theft, fraud, etc.  Establishing green initiatives: We focus more on rail freight logistics service solutions and try to move more than 30 to 35 per cent cargo through the country’s railway network.

We have adopted several forms of core procurement technologies which combine functionality such as spend analytics, e-Sourcing, contract management, e-Procurement, e-auctions, and e-Invoicing, etc.

Overcoming hurdles

Currently, we are dependent on imported edible oil since there is a huge gap in domestic production v/s consumption. Sometimes our import activities get affected due to a sudden change in import policies, import duty or congestion at port. To overcome this situation, we have to keep a buffer stock which involves lot of funds blocking. Moreover, at times we have to purchase from other importers and because of this our procurement cost increases.

On the other side, we also face problems in delivery of finished goods due to poor availability of trucks and delay in rake placement by the railways. We have to keep switching from one mode of transportation to another to continue the supply.

Production management

RSIL has a strong production, supply chain and logistic network along with a comprehensive pan-India presence to cater to our customers.

We have set up regional offices for monitoring the market demand and analysing the data for future demand

and supply.

RSIL sales team takes orders from the market and communicates it to the nearest regional office who in turn informs the concerning plant from where this demand will be met out by adjusting production.

Warehousing tactics

Additionally, demand for our products varies as per the climate and season. Thus we have to be very flexible in producing different goods.

A very fast setup and installation of a production line is necessary to achieve this and therefore, we align the activities accordingly.

When supply exceeds demand, our warehouses store products in anticipation of customer’s requirements. When demand exceeds supply, the warehouse can speed up the product movement to the customer by performing additional services like marking prices, packaging products.

Here, batch code wise stacking plays an important role.

Digitally-enabled procurement

We have adopted several forms of core procurement technologies which combine functionality such as spend analytics, e-Sourcing, contract management, e-Procurement, e-auctions, and e-Invoicing, etc.

Many of these are driven by the SAP/ERP in search for lower computing costs, data storage and mining, enhanced forecast accuracy, delivery of reliable data, and analysis of supplier performance, etc.

Significance of logistics

To achieve a leaner cost-effective distribution model, we have outsourced entire logistical functions to specialised third-party logistics (3PLs) providers who carry out warehousing activities such as receipts, shipments, inspections, packaging, reverse logistics, etc.

They assists us in maintaining the smooth flow of materials across the supply chain by enabling timely delivery of finished goods to our end customers, or storing and supplying

the raw materials to our manufacturing locations for just-in-time manufacturing.

Our LSPs are Indian Railways, Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), Transport Corporation of India (TCI), Gati, Darcl Logistics, Patanjali Parivahan, and Alps Logistics, to name a few.

Back-end SCM

At RSIL, back-end essentially involves production, assembly, and physical movement. Major decisions include:  Procurement (supplier selection, optimal procurement policies)  Manufacturing (plant location, product line selection, capacity planning, production scheduling)  Distribution (warehouse location, customer allocation, demand forecasting, inventory management)  Logistics (selection of logistics mode, selection of ports, direct delivery, vehicle scheduling)  Market decisions (product and process selection, planning under uncertainty, real-time monitoring and control, integrated scheduling).

Identifying megatrends

At RSIL, we have started feeling the disruption in the supply chains as the coronavirus continues to spread, affecting the availability of raw materials and logistics arrangements. Production disruptions largely affect the consistent supply which plays a core role in the supply chain and production planning.

This is the phase of a new transition.

Demand patterns are changing due to this. Key supplier locations are shifting. Technology is evolving more rapidly than ever before for hands free operations. We are working on this and trying to make a best blend of our knowledge and technological experience so as to meet the demand with speed and efficiency.

JUly 2020 | 63

n ews Centre sets up exclusive wing to remodel agri logistics and supply chains

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he agriculture ministry has created a cell to modernise farm logistics and supply value chains.

The move includes making amendments to the six-de-

cade-old Essential Commodities Act and pushing two ordinances — freeing up farm trade from all restrictions and guaranteeing a legal framework for pre-agreed prices to

farmers — an official said, requesting anonymity.

The reforms cell will help coordinate efforts to streamline supply and transportation of farm produce, and also aid projects to add value to primary farm goods for better prices to the farmers.

Additionally, the reforms cell will look after a national mission of ‘One District One Crop’ to boost crop diversity.

In the aftermath of changes such as amendments to The Essential Commodities Act (ECA) of 1955, the reforms cell will play a key role.

Kushinagar Airport in UP becomes India’s 29th international gateway

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he Union cabinet chaired

by Prime Minister Nare nd ra Mod i h a s ap proved declaration of Kushinagar airport in Uttar Pradesh as an international airport.

The aviation ministry said in a statement that Kushinagar airport is located in the vicinity of several Buddhist cultural sites like Sravasti, Kapilvastu, Lumbini (Kushinagar itself is a Buddhist cul-

tural site) and declaration as an ‘international airport’ will offer improved connectivity, wider choice of competitive

CII suggests steps to improve Ease of Doing Business

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ndustry body CII has identified measures in key areas for improving India's Ease of Doing Business scenario that can help the country achieve self-reliance. Micro, small and medium enterprises need a special helping hand, and should be exempted from approvals and inspec64 |

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tions for three years under state laws while following all rules, the Confederation of Indian Industry said in a report.

Self-certification route can be used for approvals for MSMEs with good track record, it has suggested. It also sought effective implementation of online single window

costs to the air-travellers.

“It will result in boosting of domest ic/inter nat ional tourism and economic development of the regions. It will be an important strategic location with the international border close by. Kushinagar is located in the north-eastern part of Uttar Pradesh about 50 km east of Gorakhpur and is one of the important Buddhist pilgrimage sites,” it added. system, simplifying property registration and acquisition of land, expediting compliances for labour regulations and synchronised joint inspections.

India's high logistics costs impact its competitiveness, CII said, noting this will require medium-term action such as increasing the share of railways and waterways in transport, improving first-mile and last-mile connectivity and reducing port dwell time.

Amazon Flex delivery programme expands to over 35 Indian cities

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mazon India announced the expansion of the Amazon Flex delivery programmeme to more than 35 cities in the country. The global delivery programmeme launched in June 2019 in India aims at creating part time work opportunities where individuals can create their own work schedule and earn `120 to `140 per hour by delivering packages to Amazon customers.

Amazon said in a statement that the expansion of the programmeme will help scale Amazon India’s delivery capability at a time when customers across the country continue to depend on Amazon India’s services to have their products delivered safely at their doorstep.

New feeder service to boost connectivity between India and UAE

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bu Dhabi Ports has established a new feeder services company, SAFEEN FEEDERS that aims to facilitate increased connectivity between Abu Dhabi and ports serving the UAE, the broader Gulf region and Indian subcontinent.

Executed in partnership with one of the world’s most renowned feeder service operator, Bengal Tiger Line (BTL), SAFEEN FEEDERS will introduce a new feeder service called the UAE-Indian subcontinent Gulf Service (UIG), allowing for a timely and efficient exchange of container cargo between mainliner vessels and the vessels within the rotation calling at nine regional ports located across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Pakistan, and Western India.

INDIA E

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WAREHOUSING SHOW 2020

Most important marketplace for logistics professionals in Asia 3-5 OCTOBER 2020

Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

www.IndiaWarehousingShow.com

For Bookings contact: Janish Jafri | M: +91 99996 86007 | E: janish.jafri@reedmanch.com

Freighter operations at Hong Kong Intl Airport surge 29% in May

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he growth of pharma shipments by air in the past 2-3 years, and the development of premium products by airlines for tem-

Investments in airport pharma facilities prove healthy business for WFS perature controlled healthcare and life science shipments, prompted WFS to make a multi-million euro investment in pharma centres at its airport stations in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Miami, New York and Paris CDG. In Johannesburg, import shipments rose by more than

72% year-on-year in the first five months of 2020 to 627 tonnes, driven by the handling of particularly high volumes for Kuehne + Nagel. Amsterdam has also seen strong growth as new airline customers, including Saudi Arabian Airlines, boosted WFS’ pharma business by 285% and 134% in April and May respectively, while volumes at the airport for Ja nuar y-May of 1,444

tonnes were up 92% over the same period in 2018.

The opening of WFS’ new €10 million Pharma Centre at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, and its subsequent IATA CEIV Pharma certification in February, has also encouraged rising pharma volumes from customers such as Qatar Airways, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Air Algérie, Allied Air, Emirates and Kuehne + Nagel.

Air cargo market still far from normal; just an 11% increase over April: WorldACD

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l o b a l l y, du r i n g May 2020, chargeable weight carried by air, decreased 29% compared to May 2019.

But, since the final yearover-year (YoY) figure for the month of April reported a decrease of 34%, the conclusion may be t hat May showed a slight improvement.

The improvement was also visible month-over-month

(MoM), as May showed an increase of 11% over April.

In terms of yields/rates, a completely uncommon 63% MoM increase in April was witnessed, when a good part

DHL Express to build new cargo gateway at Munich Airport

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HL Express Germany and the Munich Airport have concluded a contract to build a new freight building at Munich Airport; the only Skytrax Institute certified "5-Star-Airport" in Europe. The new building will be built on a gross floor area of more than 8,000 sqm. DHL 66 |

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Express will plan, construct and operate the new building on land leased from the airport. Currently, the company has access to the freight center as a tenant of warehouse space. The start of operations at its own location, which will be six times bigger, is scheduled for 2022.

of cargo capacity suddenly ‘disappeared’ as passenger aircraft remianed grounded. The MoM-increase in May was 5%. In ot her words, worldwide yields/ rates still went up, from US$ 3.74 to US$ 3.95, in spite of additional capacity coming to the market by an increasing number of passenger aircraft being (partly) converted into freighters.

The new building will have a direct airside access and two pick-up and delivery (PUD) fingers. This gives a time advantage, particularly to clients in the south of Germany. The new station will meet all safety requirements of the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA), and will obtain the globally recognised TAPA Class A certification, the highest security level in air transportation.

A

irport Authority Hong Kong (AA) has announced the traffic figures for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) for May 2020. During the month, freighter movements continued to surge, seeing a 29.3% year-on-year increase. Cargo throughput dropped 6.8% to 377,000 tonnes compared to the same month last year.

Cargo exports experienced an 11% year-on-year increase in May, with North America showing the strongest growth. The overall decline in cargo throughput was mainly attributed to the decrease in transshipments and imports due to the reduced belly capacity of passenger flights. Traffic to and from key trading regions in Southeast Asia and India experienced the most significant drops.

ONE and PSA forge partnership to expand global terminal operations

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ne Network Enterprises (ONE), leader in solutions for autonomous supply chain management, and PSA Cargo Solutions, a unit of leading global port group PSA International (PSA), has announced a strategic partnership to expand services for global terminal operations and logistics.

Through this partnership, the One Network platform would further expand the capabilities of PSA’s lead logistics provider (LLP) service for global 3PL customers, including ocean and land end-to-end (e2e) services for global logistics and portbased warehousing. The joint solution will provide full capability for track-and-trace visibility, alerts and notifications, and a comprehensive supply chain control tower, including mobile apps, handling thousands of bookings per month over nearly 100 global transportation lanes across Asia and Europe.

LEADERS LEADING LOGISTICS series Part II & III chapter will appear in CargoConnect August and September editions.

Watch out for the leaders charting the course to purposeful success.

To participate, reach out to ajeet@surecomemedia.com | +91 9810962016

guestcolumn Vikash Khatri

Co-founder, Aviral Consulting

Realigning distribution network post-COVID-19

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upply chain structure may vary from organisation to organisation or industry to industry. These designs take consideration of multiple factors like raw material source, supply and demand, geographical spread, warehouse management, inventory control and distribution, and customer service. Basically, supply chain structure design is the functioning of four key parameters: Cost, Control, Customer Service and Risk.

Cost is one of the most important criteria. Supply chain model of any organisation evolves with a specific cost structure and each organisation tries to optimise the cost to maximum. While end objective of efficient supply chain is to improve service levels at customer touch point, sometime this factor may be explicit or some time implicit within organisations such as control mechanism support in execution and minimising errors.

Besides, inclusion of risk factor in model is to ensure sustainability and minimise the impact of unforeseen or possible disruption.

COVID has significantly impacted supply chains of each industry. The impact has been witnessed on the upstream and downstream side of the value chain. On upstream side, there is a possibility of shift in the global procurement strategy. The current crisis started from China and resulted in stagnation of global supply chains.

This stagnation created need of redefining trade-off between risk and cost benefit, which means relooking vendor mix and realignment to multi-

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geography sourcing. While on the downstream side, we may see a change in distribution network and inventory holding pattern.

In Indian context, any change in downstream distribution model will be the second shift in a short span.

First major shift in downstream supply chain network was post-GST implementation. GST move created a path for network redesign with a clear focus on supply chain costs and efficiencies. The phenomenon led to con-

solidation of smaller warehouses instead of larger ones. Besides, the move to fewer locations made the standardisation of systems and processes through the business easier.

However, the current COVID crisis has shown a risk of centralisation in supply chain. Post-network optimisation, most of these larger warehouses got addresses in vicinity of major metro and mini metro cities. This had distinctive disadvantage in terms ofcost of manpower and high rentals on one side and higher benefit of scale and standardisation on the other. During the ongoing pandemic, all these

metro cities were most impacted resulting complete closure of supply chain activities. In many cases, a warehouse in lockdown area was unable to cater to other areas, where lockdown restrictions were not applicable.

Even supplies from alternative location were not possible due to distance constraints of centralised model. Such risks can be mitigated in case of decentralised network.

This phenomenon is going to lead a new wave in network design, where tradeoff between cost and risk will need a relook. In my view, centralised supply chain creates hinderances in the agility of supply chain, which is need of the hour to remain competitive. Decentralised network provides more flexibility and ease of fulfiling market demands quickly. Additionally, this sensitivity of fulfilment has increased with emergence of multiple channels of distribution like e-commerce and modern retail institutions.

Going forward, the existing constraints and parameters may lead to an omni-channel decentralised network. That means a greater number of warehouses/distribution centers would be near to demand clusters with capabilities to serve omni-channel. These changes will have a definitive impact on inventory holding. Increase in inventory holding is directly proportional to the number of warehouses. It means some of the inefficiencies are bound to increase in inventory holding, however those can be reduced with better use of technology and adoption of the omni-channel approach.

appointments

Anand Stanley promoted as President Asia-Pacific for Airbus

Airbus has named Anand Stanley as President Airbus Asia-Pacific, effective July 01, 2020.

Based at the company’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, Anand Stanley will report to Christian Scherer, Airbus CCO and Head of International, and will work closely with the Heads of Region for the Airbus Helicopters and Defence and Space divisions which are co-located in the region.

United Airlines names Brett J Hart as President United Airlines announced that effective May 20, 2020, Brett J Hart, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, has been appointed President of United Airlines Holdings.

As President of United, Hart will continue to lead the company’s public advocacy strategy including the government affairs, corporate communications, legal and community engagement teams as well as oversee business-critical functions.

Hyderabad Airport promotes Pradeep Panicker to Chief Executive Officer GMR-led Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), which operates Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Hyderabad, has promoted Pradeep Panicker to CEO from his previous position of Deputy CEO. Panicker joined GHIAL in January 2018. Previously, he served at the GMR Delhi International Airport Limited for 13 years in various leadership roles including VP and Deputy CCO.

DHL chooses Justin Baird to lead its Asia Pacific

Innovation Center

DHL has named Justin Baird as Head of its Asia Pacific Innovation Center, the first dedicated facility for logistics innovations, located in Singapore.

As head of the center, Justin is expected to drive the development and deployment of logistics solutions. He takes over from Pang Mei Yee, who has moved to the role of Head of DHL Consulting in Asia.

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JUly 2020 | 69

Rahul Rai, Head- Business Development Project Logistics Division, Allcargo Logistics

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ourney so far

I am an Engineer by qualification and started my career as a consultant with a noted IT major. Around a decade back, I was introduced to the mind-boggling and enriching sector of logistics. I joined India’s biggest multinational Allcargo Logistics in 2009 when the Indian logistics sector was in its most exciting phase. Straddling the varied facets of the logistics business has been an exciting and inspiring experience for me.

I moved to the Projects Forwarding Division of Allcargo in 2013 after honing my skills as a corporate resource by being part of various business acquisition teams. Since 2016, I am leading this division and have been actively involved in adding new product offering to our service portfolio and expanding our business outreach to new geographies.

Biggest challenge Port logistics is an inherently challenging sector in itself as we are required to curate bespoke solutions for clients with diverse needs. I believe that the greatest motivating force for me has always been to encourage my team to put their best effort forward, inculcate new skill-sets, drive their efficiencies

defined values of trust, integrity, team spirit, passion for excellence, respect for individuals, transparency and openness. I relate most to the values of ‘respect for individual’ and ‘passion for excellence’. As we continually endeavour to drive value creation for our stakeholders, these deep-rooted principles remain our guiding force to achieve benchmarks of excellence.

Interests and hobbies I love to read and travel. Both of these, in a way, allow to me explore and experience something new. I enjoy spending time with my family which really gives the desired distraction and at times, interesting perspectives.

Message for aspirants The flexibility of the logistics sector lies in its innate ability to adapt to change and enable its workforce to explore and learn new things regularly.

Conventional and outdated business models are being rendered obsolete as digitalisation and technological interventions place Indian logistics sector on a high growth trajectory.

As India aspires to become a global logistics powerhouse, the sector presents ample career advancement

towards building a customer-centric business model and ultimately create value for our stakeholders.

Definition of success Success for me is to create value for customers as well as for the organisation, while encouraging and helping my team to do the same. It is my firm belief that a well-defined vision lays the foundation of growth and encourages us to surmount our limits to achieve the impossible.

Values for success Our organisation is driven by the well-

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opportunities for aspirants.

The logistics industry follows the practice of training and promoting low-level employees to higher-level positions allowing them to rise from the bottom of the hierarchy to the top. For anyone wanting to pursue a career in logistics and supply chain, I can say that the current phase is exciting as the sector enters a new era of growth and expansion.

Interviewed by Upamanyu Borah

I relate most to the values of ‘respect for individual’ and ‘passion for excellence’

Hi-tech Logistics Infrastructure