Multi-client Fulfillment And Distribution

THE FLAGSHIP WAREHOUSE OF MAHINDRA LOGISTICS AT LUHARI IS A GRADE-A FACILITY. ASHISH BHATIA WITH SUMESH SOMAN LOOKS AT ITS ROLE IN MULTI-CLIENT FULFILMENT AND DISTRIBUTION

- ASHISH BHATIA AND SUMESH SOMAN

Third-Party Logistics (3PL) is not the same anymore. Just-In-Time- has given way to 'Just-In-Case' with supply-side shocks accounting for half of the price rises. The cost of logistics in India is at 13-14 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and must come down. In the hub and spoke model, warehouses have assumed a renewed significance for various segments including e-commerce and consumer goods movement. Faced with its own set of challenges during the pandemic and supply-side bottlenecks, first with migration and then with reverse migration resulting in labour shortage. According to Rampraveen Swaminathan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mahindra Logistics Ltd. (MLL) Notably, companies are acting out of fear and stocking up in the case of any contingency with disruptive events continuing to plague the industry. Be it the Russian war in Ukraine, alternative procurement strategies, container shortages or the semiconductor shortage. "People are stocking up with the apprehension of not just Covid-19 but the China+1 strategy and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The market is more volatile than ever and this leads to new patterns where contingencies have taken priority. No company wants to be caught in a situation where they are at a standstill and since 2020, multiple factors have stalled the market and movement," he opined.