Mobiles and laptops have dominated e-commerce sales. Fashion, lifestyle, home and consumer electronics are the marketplace’s top selling categories. The focus on sales of large appliances is comparatively less because it is particularly challenging to deliver these products quickly, consistently and in a viable manner. For instance, getting a washing machine or a television delivered to a customer is far tougher than delivering a smartphone or a pair of denims. However, in the coming years, the large appliances category is predicted to be the one that drives revenue growth. The Company (customer) began operating in the heavy and bulk segment in the year 2015 for the Indian market. The heavy and bulk category caters to all large items such as white goods, furniture, TV etc. With rising consumer expectations, logistics and an efficient supply chain act as an enabler to drive customer satisfaction and deliver exceptional customer experience. The Company realized the need to have a separate supply chain arm for the delivery of these units to the end consumer. Looking at the various complexities in the supply chain and keeping its promise of customer experience to the fore, the Company decided to work with a single partner for this segment across the nation. A partner who could be trained as per its processes and then deliver on agreed processes and SLA to achieve the targeted customer experience.
The Company selected Mahindra Logistics as its partner for this initiative after an intense scrutiny of our capabilities and our willingness to rise to the challenge. We realized that it was important to create a plan to overcome the challenge listed down by the Customer and increase efficiency in their Supply Chain Management. Sticking to the basics, we considered the 4 main aspects of an efficient supply chain to deliver excellence.
Key focus area for the Customer & Mahindra Logistics was to identify right locations for distribution across the shortlisted cities and towns, to optimize transportation costs and SLA.
At MLL, technology is an important driver to achieve success for all our customers. Through advanced technology, we ensure high visibility, efficiency and responsiveness.
Requisite IT infrastructure and software were set up to carry out the operations in a seamless manner.
MLL’s proprietary Control Tower was looped in to ensure full visibility of the shipments which was a critical aspect for operations. The Control Tower Operations (CTO) at MLL is the epicenter of everything we do. The tracking of all movements, goods or passengers is taken care of, round the clock, by the CTO. Control tower operations ensure high visibility, efficiency and responsiveness in operations facilitated by technologies and skilled representatives.
Vehicle selection and fleet management ensured optimum vehicle utilization, to ensure projected transaction volumes were fulfilled.
Various innovations with driver training and material management were undertaken, to ensure safety and compliance on the road.
Today Mahindra Logistics’ manages and works collaboratively with the entire heavy and bulk delivery category across various cities and towns. We demonstrated consistent improvements, flexibility, and stock accuracy matching the demand signals, thereby boosting the supply chain efficiency to ensure that the purchases are delivered to the customers in allocated time and within promised delivery SLA.