From the pages of CargoTalk: Capturing data at every point is the need of the hour: Nihar Parida

Calling digitalising the complete supply chain a need of the hour, Nihar Parida, Industry Expert & Supply Chain Consultant, says, “Data at every point should be captured as much as possible. Also, data analysis should happen at a single point and not in silos.” He continues, “During the change in tax from local sales tax to VAT, most organisations opened warehouses in every state. The moment GST was declared; the finance and logistics fraternity started exploring how they could consolidate their stocks in few warehouses as the state borders became obsolete from the tax point of view. For the first time, the logistics people started thinking of inventory from a logistics cost saving perspective rather than a tax saving perspective. But again most were guided by the common thought of consolidation. The LSPs also started selling the idea to ensure they could save cost in their multi-user facilities. The distribution factor was side-lined. The transporters and the courier companies were in the limelight.”