Category Archives: Warehousing

At the FFFAI convention, Stanley Lim, Chairman, FIATA Congress Committee & Past President FIATA, expressed the need of logistics cost to be cut down. He said, “No matter in which industry you are, you need logistics and in logistics we are talking about from farm to fork and the number of steps and the cost involved. Moreover, for globalisation one needs to involve all government agencies in one platform to facilitate trade. Hence, logistics cost needs to be cut down to make country’s import and export competitive. Once the number of steps will get cut down, security will be enhanced and there will be less human error.”

The Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India (FFFAI) convention showcased the role and efforts undertaken by the government to elevate the industry. Ashish Pednekar, Chairman Elect, FFFAI & Convenor Kochi Convention, highlighted how the government has been taking initiative optimally. “The government is bringing lot of changes in the Exim trade and FFFAI is the important link. Change is eminent and we have to be with the change to take the industry to the next level. Moreover, with initiatives like ‘Make in India’ logistics has a very important role to play. Most importantly, now government has realised the significance of logistics industry and started taking the fraternity suggestions seriously,” he said.

While enumerating the necessity of skill required in the field of logistics, Shankar Shinde, Vice Chairman, FFFAI, opined at the 23rd convention of the Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India (FFFAI): “We always try to convert challenges into opportunities. One of the most important challenge is skill. We are trying to focus onto skill development through this convention. Hence, we are looking for training and adapting international practices for better upliftment.  Our idea is to make logistics as a choice of first profession. For the next generation, the decision to become a logistician should not come by default, but, by choice.”

The FFFAI convention held in Kochi, saw eminent industry persons come and deliberate on crucial elements of the logistics sector. Highlighting the same, Samir J Shah, Chairman, FFFAI, said, “We are working on three important issues. One of the most important issues we are targeting is skill; we understand with technology, domain knowledge of the broker is going to become important. Secondly, our focus is on gender equalisation and thirdly, we are creating a platform where FFFAI member can adopt the changes that are coming in the future. The Indian custom broker is capable of doing everything. Hence, any importer or exporter does not need to go to anybody else; the entire supply chain will be looked after by them.”

DHL Express has expanded its Gujarat operations with the launch of a new service centre in Vadodara. The 8,500 sq ft facility caters to Vadodara city and the surrounding areas of Savli, Halol, Waghodia, Por and Padra covering a radius of approximately 45 km. RS Subramanian, Senior Vice President & Country Manager, DHL Express India, said, “For DHL, the state of Gujarat represents a huge growth opportunity. Our continuing investments in Ahmedabad, the recent facility in Surat and now this new service facility at Vadodara – are testimonies to its potential. Vadodara is also strategically located to take advantage of the developing golden quadrilateral highway network that will connect Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi.”

DHL invested in the industrial hub of Madhya Pradesh with the opening of its first facility in Indore. This service centre will cater to Indore and its nearby towns such as Dewas and Pithampur – a major Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and one of the largest hubs for the manufacturing industry in the country. Covering an approximate radius of 15km, this will reduce the transit time for the import and export of shipments. Additionally, the service center’s proximity to the airport will warrant early deliveries and accommodate to later cut offs times.

Gati Kausar initiated its first temperature controlled warehousing facility in India near Delhi, on National Highway 8. It is a state-of-the-art facility developed with superior technology and high quality design elements, in line with ISO 22000 standards. The new facility is spread over 4 acres, and currently has a capacity of more than 5000 pallets. It has multiple chambers that cater to temperature requirements ranging from -25 to +25 degrees C. K L Chugh, Chairman, Gati said “The launch of our first Refrigerated Express Distribution Center opens up an entire new world of business opportunities for Gati. This facility is the first in a network of cold stores planned across the country. As this network takes shape in future, Gati-Kausar will evolve into a formidable end-to-end Cold Chain Solutions company.”

To ensure more satisfying delivery experiences for the customers and effective order management, Flipkart launched its new warehouse in Lucknow. This latest addition will take the company’s warehouse count in the country to 18 with a total storage space of 6.2 million cubic feet. The warehouse will stock products across electronics, household and lifestyle categories and will ensure better fulfilment of same day delivery and next day delivery shipments within the Uttar Pradesh. The new warehouse has a 50,000 cubic feet storage space and a ground space of 55,000 square feet that houses the fulfilment centre and mother hub and it can store up to three lakh products.

Gati Kausar announced the launch of its first temperature controlled warehousing facility in the outskirts of Gurgaon on NH 8. Spread over four acres with capacity of more than 5,000 pallets, it has multiple chambers that cater to temperature requirements ranging from -25 to +25 degrees C. This facility will serve the needs of varied industry sectors including dairy, pharmaceutical, frozen foods, quick service restaurants, ice creams, confectioneries and fruits and vegetables.