EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the present business environment speed to market is of crucial importance for most industry segments. Businesses need logistics services tuned to such requirements for reaching out to the customers within tight timelines, delivering products, spare parts, samples, contracts, letters etc. The speed of such deliveries is critical for garnering sales across regions, meeting customer expectations and maintaining the business competitiveness. The express industry, by creating an integrated door-to-door linkage across domestic and international regions along with shipment tracking facilities serves the need for time sensitive logistics services. The express industry caters to multiple industry segments as well as to individual customers by providing time bound logistics services. The customers use express delivery services for shipment of various products, including documents like letters, trade documents, applications, cheque books and bank statements, promotional materials and non-documents like equipment parts, electronic products, spare parts, trade samples and others. While multiple industry segments use express delivery services, certain industry segments like auto components, banking and financial services, IT components, readymade garments, pharmaceuticals, and telecom products are the largest customer segments for the express industry in India. The business from other industry segments like organised retail and e-commerce is expected to grow in the future as these industries grow in reach and size. The express industry serves the need of domestic as well as international business through their global networks. The project report studies the operations of the DTDC including the process of tracking and how the use of IT had helped achieve success in delivering services to its customers.

CHAPTER I

1.INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The express industry in India has come a long way from its origin in modern form in 1980s. The industry has grown in size and reach. A significant number of players have scaled up their operations and are large businesses in their own right. The industry has invested in information technology systems and set up good processes and proprietary systems capable for handling large volumes. The Indian express industry size is estimated at Rs. 10,870 crores (about USD 2.2 billion) in 2011-12. As a premium segment, the express industry is a small but significant segment of the logistics industry. It is one of the fastest growing segments of the industry. The industry is expected to grow at 17% per annum to Rs. 17,450 crores (about USD 3.5 billion) in the next three years. The economic growth in the country and the consequent trade growth will be primary growth driver for the express industry. The growth in current customer industry segments and expansion into new industry segments will be demand drivers for the express industry, In addition, increase in reach through expansion of network and new products like temperature-controlled logistics, services for importers and others will provide additional growth of the industry. Any slowdown in economic activity, both local and global, will dampen the growth for the Indian express industry. Further, the industry faces risk from implementation of a restrictive postal act and substitution of documents in physical mode with that in electronic form. Express Industry, significant contributor to employment and exchequer. The express industry serves as a key enabler for business by providing time-bound logistics services to customer industry segments. Besides providing critical services and aiding economic growth, the Indian express industry has significant contribution to the economy. As a labour intensive industry, the express industry is estimated to presently employ about 11.9 lakhs persons, directly and indirectly. Based on the growth estimates for the industry, the employee base of the industry, direct and indirect, is expected to grow to 17.2 lakhs by 2014-15. The express industry also makes significant contribution to the national exchequer with total tax contributions expected to be over Rs 1100 crores in form of service tax and corporate tax for 2011-12. Thus there is the need to study the operations of the courier company and the problems faced by it so as the guide the future decisions of the company.

1.2 COMPANY PROFILE

1.2.1CORPORATE PROFILE

DTDC is India's Largest Express Delivery Network, comprising of over 5800 Channel Partners spread across the country and a strength of 22,000 professionals enabling deliveries of 11 million consignments per month across over 10,000 pin-codes in India. Started in 1990 and headquartered in Bangalore, today DTDC also has a significant global footprint and services 240 international locations including USA, UK, Canada, UAE, Hong Kong, Australia, China and all ASEAN countries, through its own operations, joint ventures and business associates. It offers products that address all Logistics-related needs of its clients, ranging from Express Documents to Heavy Cargo, from Domestic Premium Products to International Delivery, and from Supply Chain Solutions to Warehousing. DTDC aspires to become India's most preferred end-to-end Logistics, Express and Retail Services conglomerate with comprehensive global reach, by the year 2020. The companys vision is propelled by values of focus on quality of service, power of network and encouragement to entrepreneurial thinking. Mr. Subhasish Chakraborty, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of DTDC, with these values as his guiding principles, pioneered DTDC's unique franchise-based business model that is not only the first of its kind in the Industry but also has been emulated overseas and studied as a business case by leading management institutes. This distinctive model has facilitated the creation of the organization's formidable reach in India, as well as cultivated entrepreneurship opportunities for its partners. DTDC is an ISO 9001:2008 company, as certified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) India. DTDC has strategic equity participation by Reliance Private Equity, a division of Reliance Capital, a group company of Reliance & Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). Reliance Capital, apart from its investment, also endorses DTDC's unique business model.

1.2.2 VISION AND MISSION Vision

DTDC aspires to become Indias most preferred end-to-end Logistics, Express & Retail Services conglomerate with comprehensive global reach.

Mission
DTDC is working to emerge as the leading Express & Cargo Distribution Company in India by 2014-15. To achieve this mission, the company has adopted the following key initiatives:

Promoting Premium Express Products for better customer satisfaction and higher profitability

Value-added services to cater to evolved demands of customers Continuous optimization of resources to lower costs scientifically Revenue protection at every step of the value chain Superior cash flow management

DTDC and its management are focusing on establishing the following foundational blocks:

Track record of strong quarterly results Strong brand image through phased re-branding of all company and franchise outlets Corporate governance Statutory disclosures Better public relationship An inclusive business philosophy Management integrity Future growth plans Past and current profits

1.2.3 QUALITY POLICY

DTDC is committed to:

Delighting internal and external customers and business associates through high quality service.

Continuous improvements in products, processes, services and quality management systems.

Creating an environment for nurturing satisfied, motivated and committed employees.

1.3.OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Until 20th century business as well as distribution channel used traditional delivery process. Then Information technology bought up the new dimension to the whole delivery process.It has given the connectivity to organisation. Marketing , finance, operation, logistics were working independently before industrial revolution. But now supply chain management can be viewed as a decision making process between strategic and operation. It is also seen as a mechanism which completely lie between vertically integrated firm where the whole operation takes place with the mix of coordination and effective management. Objective of the study:

To understand the operations at DTDC in order to identify the key issues that facilitated the adoption of new technology.

To understand the framework adopted by the company to integrate all entities involved in the logistics operations in order to increase accurate and real time flow of information.

CHAPTER-II

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is considered as the nerve of the project. Without a proper wellorganized research plan, it is impossible to complete the project and reach to any conclusion. The main objective of project was to collect appropriate data, which work as a base for drawing conclusion and getting result. The objective of the present study can be accomplished by conducting a systematic research. Research is the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings that are relevant to different situations facing the company.

2.1 RESEARCH PROCESS:

The research process that is adopted in the present study consists of the following stages: a) Defining the research objective: To understand the framework adopted by the company to integrate all entities involved in the logistics operations in order to increase accurate and real time flow of information. b) Developing the research plan: Once the ojectives are identified, the next step is to prepare a plan for getting the information needed for the research. The present study adopted the descriptive approach wherein there was a need to gather large amount of information before making a conclusion. c) Collection and Sources of data: Research requires two kinds of data, i.e., primary data and secondary data. Secondary data was collected from various books and web sites. Secondary data is use to complete this project report from various source like research articles, journals, magazines and internet. d) Analyze the collected information: This involves converting raw data into useful information. It involves tabulation of data, using statistical measures.

e) Report research findings: This phase marks the culmination of the marketing research effort. The report with the research findings is a formal written document.

2.2 RESEARCH DESIGN:

There are many ways to classify research designs, but sometimes the distinction is artificial and other times different designs are combined. Nonetheless, the list below offers a number of useful distinctions between possible research designs.

Descriptive (e.g., case-study, naturalistic observation, Survey) Correlational (e.g., case-control study, observational study) Semi-experimental (e.g., field experiment, quasi-experiment) Experimental (Experiment with random assignment) Review (Literature review, Systematic review) Meta-analytic (Meta-analysis)

For this research descriptive research design is adopted wherein case studies and articles from various books and newspapers are taken into consideration. A case study approach is particularly appropriate for individual researchers because it gives an opportunity for one aspect of a problem to be studied in some depth within a limited time scale.

3.OVERVIEW OF EXPRESS INDUSTRY Express Industry is a fast growth segment of the logistics industry. Growth in the present consumer industries coupled with increased penetration, extension to other industry segment, increase in network reach and introduction of new products are expected to drive growth in the express industry. Express industry in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of about 17% over the next three years to Rs 17,450 crores (USD 3.5 billion) in 2014-15 from Rs 10,870 crores (USD 2.2 billion) in 2011-12.

The growth of the industry will be driven by the current major customer segments, namely auto components, banking & finance, garments, pharmaceuticals, IT hardware and mobile phones. In addition, new segments like organized retail, e-commerce and others are expected to emerge as major customer segments in the medium term. The demand from the customer segments, increased reach of the express industry and new services will together drive the growth for the industry. The above estimation was done based on growth expectation in customer industry segments, current and new, and the penetration of express delivery services in these segments. As per the primary market survey carried as part of this study, most players expected growth in the next three years to be in the range of 16-25% CAGR. The growth will be higher if the general economic situation in the country and across the globe improves leading to increase in domestic and international trade, and creating

incremental demand for the express industry. On the other side, an economic slowdown will impact the growth of the express industry by suppressing demand and creating pricing pressure. The industry faces threat from implementation of restrictive regulations and increased usage of technology to replace need for documents shipments. Products in the industry could be divided into two categories:

Documents This segment comprises letters, financial instruments etc. The document sector offered high margins and opportunity to tap into unorganized sector for growth. However, the recent move by the Indian government to restrict the carriage of document packages weighing less than 500gms to IPS could, if implemented, spell disaster for private players operating in this space. The segment was expected to grow at a rate of 12~15%.

Packages This segment consisted of commercial goods like electronic products, spare parts, samples etc. In this segment, the margins were lower even though the competition was relatively less with only large, organized players in a position to offer the reach and service level demanded by the customers. This segment was expected to continue growing at around 30% for the next 5 years. It can be further subdivided into two segments: 1 Air shipments comprising of high value, time sensitive shipments which move through air transport. The typical weight per package was up to 50 Kg. 2 Ground shipments Typically high weight and/ or low value shipments. Usual transit time was 3~5 days depending on the destination

In the mid 80s, couriers were used primarily to send time sensitive documents and the nondocument sector was very small. The trend began to change in the late 80s and the domestic express industry grew at 30 ~ 35 % during this period. This led to international players like Federal Express and UPS making entry into the country through strategic alliances with Blue Dart and Elbee, respectively. Strategic alliances with international players gave Indian companies access to the global markets without replicating their network in these countries. This, however, came at a cost as the domestic companies had to share the revenue with their overseas partner(s).

4.EXPRESS INDUSTRY VALUE CHAIN

A unique characteristic of the express delivery services is the door-to-door delivery services. A customer has to deal with only one player for the entire process of shipment. However, the shipment process involves various stages and activities. A depiction of the flow of shipments between the consignor and consignee across various stages is presented below. Broadly, collection, transportation, and distribution are the main activities in the value chain for express delivery services. The collection is typically done through the branch network. The collection at the door of the consignor is generally done once a day, mostly towards the end of the business hours for business segment customers. The shipments are then transported from the branches to a hub, where the sorting and consolidated packing are carried out. For air express player, these hubs are preferably located inside the airports or in the vicinity of airports to allow for faster movement to the transport gateway. The consolidated shipments destined for outstations are boarded onto aircrafts for transport to other cities, within and outside the country. Most players are dependent on commercial airlines and air cargo agents for outstation shipments by air. However, some large players have their own aircraft fleet and have limited dependence as such on commercial airlines and air cargo agents. For the surface express segment, the shipment movement happens largely by road and to a lesser extent by rail. At the destination end, the process is executed in a reverse sequence with the express service player collecting the consolidated shipments from the airlines and moving it to their distribution hubs. The last mile distribution and handing over of the shipment to the consignee may be done directly out of the distribution hub or through a local distribution office. As part of the process, the express service provider also provides customs clearances for international shipments and state border clearances for domestic shipments, wherever applicable. In addition, services like special packaging, storage, etc., may also be provided by the express service player.

Value chain of express industry Flow of consignment

The shipments may be transported on leased vehicles and commercial aircrafts. Most of the express delivery services companies use services of commercial airlines for air express services though some of the larger players have their own air fleet. At the distribution end, the services of an agent may be employed for the last mile distribution, especially by medium and smaller players. The ability to outsource a large number of services across the value chain helps an express player in scaling its operations without investing large amounts upfront in the same. This lowers the entry barrier for the industry and allows for the presence of large number of players in the industry. However, the high level of outsourcing combined with tight delivery schedules leads to a complex operation. An express service company needs to have strong processes, which ensure clockwork precision, in order to deliver shipments within the short and committed timelines. The use of information technology aids in the process. An express service player keeps control and visibility on the movement of shipments across the value chain. The ability to manage movement of shipments across various activities and services to ensure timely delivery at an economic cost is the key to operation of express. Most of the large players have a preference for an owned branch model, while few of the large players prefer a franchisee network model. The transport services like air transport are

mostly outsourced though some of the larger players have their own aircraft fleet. The larger players have wide networks, sophisticated processes and strong information technology networks which have enabled to capture higher market share and put them in a better competitive players vis-a-vis the others.

5.DTDC

DTDC is headquartered in Bangalore , with 4 of its Zonal Offices at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai & Mumbai, evenly managing North, East, South & West of the country respectively. It has expanded the delivery network across the length & breadth of the country, thereby creating the nations Largest Domestic Delivery Network. The business is micro-driven through its Regional Strategic of over 3,700 Franchisee. With its widespread success in the domestic domain, they have extended its service network around the world too London office caters to the European Continent, while its New York office covers America, at the Asian continent, Singapore office serves the Far East, while Dubai office manages the Middle East, & all the SAARC countries are serviced from the Indian subcontinent.
Zonal offices Regional offices Area / Hub offices Branch offices Employees Shipments per day 4 10 75 3710 13000 3,71,000

5.1 Franchisee Model Structure

Aligned with its founding principles, DTDC's franchisee model has been structured to address the requirements of a robust pan-India presence and highest service levels for clients. Internationally, DTDC ensures presence via subsidiaries, joint ventures, representative offices and franchisees as well. As the key elements of this framework, the following categories of franchisees currently operate in DTDC:

1. Single Unit Franchisee This is the most basic form of the franchisee in the DTDC system, which covers more than 95 percent of its network and contributes to 75 percent of its business. This type of franchisee represents a small territory or a particular pin-code. They are responsible for the development of the business and serving the customers within a limited territory. 2. Master Franchisee (MF) Master franchisee represents a franchisee-operated unit in an area within the city limits of the Regional Office, with one or more of the reporting franchisees under its purview. In addition to the role of the Single Unit Franchisee, the MF is responsible for operations and development of the other franchisees within its territory. 3. Super Franchisee (SF) Super franchisee represents a franchisee-operated unit in an independent territory or district within a region, with one or more reporting franchisees. It acts as an extended branch that is responsible for business development, operations and servicing of the clients. They are a key member of the system and the appointment procedure for SF is different from the two franchisee categories mentioned above. 4. Corporate Franchisee (CF) An experienced individual from the industry, with basic office infrastructure, an investment capacity and business contacts with corporate houses, is eligible to become a DTDC Corporate Franchisee to promote its products and services. This is a highly specialized form of franchisee, which the company appoints selectively. All the above franchisees are responsible for the protection of the DTDC brand and upholding the corporate image in their territory or area of operations. New franchises are given the opportunity to join as Single Unit Franchisees, and slowly graduate to higher categories explained above.

5.2 SETUPAT DTDC

They have offices located in about 150 locations in India and other parts of the world, apart from these locations they have franchises and agents across the country. Their network infrastructure is distributed;only their main braches were interconnected thru leased lines. Consolidation used to happen office line by collecting data at a delayed phase for their other branches and franchises.

5.3TRACKING OF CONSIGNMENTS Domestic:

Customer can track all your Domestic Consignments sent via internet:

SMS Tracking: Current status can be checked by sending a SMS in the format 'DTDC Consignment No.' to the number: 9845324040

International consignment:
Online tracking of Consignment sent to Overseas destinations. Enter Airway Bill No below:

SMS : To get the current status of International consignment, send a SMS in the format 'INTL Consignment No.' to the number: 9845324040.

5.4 KEY ISSUES

The recurring cost of leased lines is highly expensive per year. Availability of having leased lines in minor towns was a limitation. Investment in infrastructure from franchises and agents was not a feasible option for leased line and internal security for the systems in clients location would be exposed. An alternative method of secure remote access that is reliable was needed.

The branch offices / franchises had the client server application connected to their weighing scale device which was direct input to the application client. The Server based computing model was failing in this mode as the application client sits on the terminal server. The Customer needed a quick method of secure remote access to its centralized application with less deployment time and quick availability for all the stakeholders. 5.4.1 Key Reasons why they Selected Propalms VPN 1 Security with Propalms VPN

The first issue one encounters when Remote Access is contemplated is security. Propalms VPN offers outstanding security features. These features are:

Encryption using SSL. There can be some argument that this is not beneficial to organizations that have leased line connectivity. Regardless, whatever transport technology you adopt you run a real risk of passing unencrypted data via devices you do not manage. Worse, individuals who are hostile to your organizations interest can manage them and can gain access to your data. Hence encryption is a tool useful for all. Once your firewall is set up you do not have to make any changes to it whatever applications you deploy. Propalms VPN supports strong authentication using LDAP, RADIUS, PKI, Smart Cards and Biometrics. Hence all applications can get the benefit of strong authentication. 2 Secure Remote Access Strategies

There are fundamentally two remote access strategies was possible for LOGISITIC INDUSTRY CUSTOMER

Server Based Computing

Access via VPN

Each of the above comes with different costs of ownership and has different efficiencies in their operating scenarios.

Server Based Computing In server based computing a client/server computer functions like a traditional multi-user computer. This implies multiple instances of an application execute in context of different users on the server. Clients access application using terminal emulation protocols such as Microsofts RDP, VNC, XVNC , and/or Citrixs ICA.

Server based computing traditionally has the following advantages:

The data traffic between the client and the server is limited depending upon the efficiency of the protocol

The task of maintaining clients of application on the remote user is reduced significantly Overhead of managing the remote client security is reduced significantly

This technique has the following disadvantages also:

Hardware requirements on the server side can be expensive. One has to right size the server side computing environment and this is often a guess despite getting the best of resources. Terminal Services software comes with a cost. Cost can range between $69 (Rs. 2300) to $100 (Rs. 4500)per user depending on the technology acquired. One overriding advantage is that bandwidth requirement is low because of less traffic between client and server. Bandwidth is something the ISP controls and in most conditions organizations have no control over it.

One can control costs by using open source Linux based terminal services however if the application is not designed to run on Linux then one has incur the cost of reengineering the application. However, because of richness of tools available on Linux extremely low cost strategies can be evolved for making remote access available to the following class of applications made available: DOS based applications Certain Windows based applications such as Microsoft Office. ASP based applications

Server Based Computing with Propalms VPN The Propalms VPN product delivers the full benefit of traditional server based computing with several additional advantages. These advantages are: It proxies all access hence the Application Server need not be deployed in the DMZ Provides SSL based access with PKI Provides access from non Microsoft clients Provides access from kiosks Does not require port forwarding of TCP ports used by any server based computing protocol

Propalms VPN Secure Remote Access Solution for Logistics Industry In the logistic markets, competition and business among courier companies is expanding with the opening of the Indian economy. Customer satisfaction and loyalty is critical. From its humble beginnings, the customer has grown into an organization with 1,000 plus staff and about 3750 franchises. With expansion of franchises it needed to monitor sales, delivery mechanism and amount of cargo which would be shipped in their various mode of transport. Propalms VPN offered an ideal solution for the client o provide secure remote access and application security to all its branches and franchises regardless of their location to their Centralized applications for processing their business needs.

Propalms VPN offers a single secure access trusted infrastructure for both Intranet applications and centralized applications that can scale to the companys users demands. The Customer benefits included Workforce mobility. Employees, business partners, and customers were provided secure anywhere access to network resources. Continued scrutiny of expenditures. The client seeking low-cost solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing resources and can scale to accommodate growth.

Increased productivity, because it works in more wired and wireless environmentsfrom devices including home PCs, kiosks, and PDAs. Lower costs, because it is clientless, and reduces management and support calls. Increased security suited to remote accessby providing granular access controls and endpoint control.