Logistics

The Information Technology industry is, perhaps, typical of the changing and escalating logistic demands of various industries today, irrespective of their category as 'old' or 'new' economy. In the IT industry, the difference between success and failure is closely linked to the supply/value chain integration, of which there are two distinct processes:

1. The delivery of goods to the customer in the most reliable transit period (and preferably the shortest) possible. 'Reliable' alludes to a certain guaranteed transit time for packages to reach customers or the response that organisations need in the event of any exceptions.

2. The reverse flow of acknowledged, signed delivery records without which, in many cases, recovery of bills are virtually impossible. Especially so in the case of companies placing multi-location orders that could cover hundreds of cities. The task for the supplier is staggering - plan logistics for deliveries to all these locations, and hope for 100% of the delivery records to be returned before bills can be submitted to the customer. In most IT companies, the role of 'logistics' or 'fulfillment' is key.

With organizations moving towards close to perfect standards like Six Sigma, interaction with logistics suppliers has taken on a critical role moving up sometimes to the level of the CEO of the organisation.

Blue Dart Express Limited applied and found solutions to these critical demands much before other players could even recognise their need. Through its exceptional people processes, superior technology, and stress on quality systems over the last, almost two decades now, Blue Dart was quick to fulfill these needs:

• The country's most reliable air and surface network offers a pre-determined delivery schedule with close to 100% accuracy. The IT industry could plan its production with precision and avoid expensive inventory build-up.
• Blue Dart offers the country's most comprehensive communications technology and customer software to support critical supply-chain distribution demands.
• The country's only express service provider with a dedicated fleet of Six freighters (six Boeing 757s) ensures that packages are flown to their destinations overnight. These freighters offer capacity and volumes not available with any other carrier in the domestic air space.
• Retrieval of signed delivery records posed the industry's most intriguing problem. Blue Dart was quick to understand this requirement and put in place a 100% retrieval system.

Blue Dart not only handles large volumes and oversize packages overnight - it also provides the industry with status of their shipments and retrieves such records as are necessary for billing. The entire cycle has been considerably shortened, enabling the industry to achieve healthy bottomlines.

Click on case studies, read #4, #12 and #14 for logistics business solutions.