Market

Over the years the task of delivering urgent

letters has evolved into a highly skilled industry
and the business itself has metamorphosed from
being a courier service to a logistics provider.
On the face
of it, however,
delivering
goods and
services just
in time is no
big deal. In
actuality, it entails a complex, integrated
procedure which requires extensive and efficient
detailing, stream mapping, networking and the
critical last mile delivery which has been the
Achilles heel for many companies.
Starting more than a
quarter century ago, Blue
Dart has manifested into a
well-oiled, finely tuned
military-like machine. Thanks
to this effort and the
confidence businesses repose
in it the logistics industry in India, led by Blue
Dart, has grown to employing an impressive one
million plus people.
The mushrooming of businesses and the gains
India is making provide the logistics industry
with a plethora of opportunities and an
environment conducive for the sustained
augmentation of its resources.
Today, the logistics sector is estimated at
between 12% and 13% of GDP a figure higher
than in many developed economies (Source:
www.researchandmarkets.com). Fuelled by these
opportunities the business is attracting
investments in growing measure. Accepting its
criticality, the government, too, has allowed
100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in
this industry.
Blue Dart itself has grown into an
unchallenged leader in the domestic air express
market. Of the share garnered by the organised
sector, Blue Dart commands an impressive
40.10% (Source: A T Kearney TMS Study and
internal estimates).
This market dominance didn't happen on its
own. Blue Dart has made huge investments in
building an infrastructure that is unparalleled
in the entire South Asia region. The figures
make impressive reading: over 25,000 locations,
51 domestic warehouses, four B757
and three B737 freighter
aircraft offering a
revenue payload of
370 tonnes
each night, a
fleet of over
5400 vehicles,
more than
1150
business
associates,
over 380
combined
ONE
RETAIL
stores with
DHL, over
1 million
square feet of
warehousing
space and
over 7100
committed and
customer-
focused Blue
Darters, driven
by a singular passion of delivering service
excellence and value.
Achievements
Putting together this mammoth organisation
required Blue Dart to endure formidable
challenges and take bold steps to protect its
gains. When others in the domain were still
trying to grasp the nature of the beast, Blue
Dart had already tamed it. The brand created a
palpable differential for itself by arrogating a
niche and a hard-to-emulate segment in
supply chain management that demanded critical
deliveries, low inventories and reliable and
timely distribution.
With the induction of two B737 freighters
in 1996, Blue Dart became the first express
company to launch dedicated cargo operations.
Over the years and in sync with customer
demands, it augmented capacity and, today,
continues to be the largest and most successful
player with a dedicated fleet of Boeing
freighter aircraft.
Blue Dart's technology solutions have played
a key role in its premium positioning and in
bringing global standards to the doorstep
of Indian customers. Such has been the
ramifications of these offerings that more than
79% of Blue Dart's regular customers use it
actively. Home grown innovations like the
COSMAT II (the tracking and ERP system),
TrackDart (monitoring shipment status),
MailDart (tracking shipments over e-mail),
InternetDart (memory bank for shipments),
PackTrack (tracking software for medium
and large customers), ShopTrack (tracking and
CRM tool for e-business portals), ImageDart
(online download of proof of delivery
challans/documents, to speed up the customer's
bill process, waybill issuance capability, customer
directory, data upload and download of tracking
information), among others have enabled the
weaving of thoughtful information management
to the logistics business.
The efforts made by Blue Dart have gained
wide recognition. The company benchmarked
to international standards has won several
brand leadership awards. Blue Dart is enshrined
in the Forbes under Top 200 Companies for
Best-under-Billion Companies in the Asia-Pacific
region. The company was
rated as One of India's Best
Companies to Work for in 2010
in a study conducted by The
Economic Times and Great
Places to Work Institute, India.
Amongst a host of several other awards, the
company won the 22nd Jamnalal Bajaj Council
for Fair Business Practices (CFBP) award 2010
in the Medium Service Enterprise category.
History
In November 1983, three young entrepreneurs,
Clyde Cooper, Tushar Jani and Kushroo Dubash
pooled in Rs. 30,000 (now about US$ 670) to
kick-start an idea of delivering small packages
and samples to support India's burgeoning
exports. On that date, in a space of 200 square
feet under a staircase, Blue Dart was born. Grit,
determination and hard work would propel the
fledgling from sorting and delivering a few
dozen packages outside Mumbai airport on that
first night, to handling over 200,000 shipments
each day. In a study conducted by DSRS in
2008, Blue Dart was rated as the strongest
express brand in India with the highest top-of-
mind recall.
To offer international air package express
services to its clients Blue Dart, in its early days,
forged ties with Gelco Express International, UK.
In 1993, the company shifted its focus from
international to domestic services and went
on to become the first Indian express company
to conceptualise domestic on-board couriers
with a guaranteed 10:30 am delivery to
major metros.
In the following year, Blue Dart went public
with an IPO of 2.55 million shares. In the same
year, Blue Dart launched its multi-modal,
premium package delivery service DartApex
(Air Package Express) and COSMATII, an
advanced tracking and ERP system that
redefined the industry. In that year, too, Blue
Dart Aviation, then a 100% subsidiary of Blue
Dart Express, was incorporated and became the
first private company to receive government
approval for the operation of cargo aircraft in
the country.
The next five years were a period of intense
growth for Blue Dart. The company created its
proprietary Space Management Allocation
24 BUSINESS SUPERBRANDS
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Reservations and
Tracking (SMART)
system, gained the ISO:
9001 certification,
acquired two Boeing
freighter aircraft,
launched domestic
charter operations,
signed interline
agreements with
international airlines for
distribution of bonded
cargo within Blue
Dart's network,
developed India's first
Load and Trim software
for its aircraft, reducing
handling time by 80%
and inaugurated its
state-of-the-art
administrative,
technology and
operations Superhub
and Headquarters, the
Blue Dart Centre, in
Mumbai.
Strengthened by the effect of these
developments Blue Dart added a third Boeing
to its fleet in2001. A year later it entered into a
sales alliance with global leader DHL Express
Worldwide. Today, DHL owns 81.03% stake in
the company. The fourth aircraft joined the fleet
in 2004 and Blue Dart became the first private
operator in India to receive approval from the
Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for
undertaking heavy maintenance D-checks on
its aircraft.
Two B757 freighters the first in the Indian
skies joined the Blue Dart fleet in 2006. In an
effort to fortify its unique capability of offering
the entire gamut of end-to-end distribution
solutions, Blue Dart launched its ground express
service Dart Surfaceline in September 2007
and inducted the third B757 freighter.
2008 was special. It marked Blue Dart's silver
jubilee. In celebration Blue Dart announced
twenty-five new defining products and services.
Product
Blue Dart is one of the most complete logistics
companies in India. It offers its clients services
that range from express air and integrated
transportation to distribution and logistics
services. As part of the DHL Group, it is able to
access the international delivery platform of the
world's premier logistics company and offer the
entire spectrum of distribution services including
supply chain solutions and customs clearance.
The express services offer Domestic Priority
the fastest, most reliable door-to-door service
for non-commercial
domestic documents
and small packages
under 32 kilos. Dart
Apex a door-to-
door, time-definite,
supply chain and
logistics distribution
service for
commercial shipments
that require
regulatory clearance.
Dart Surfaceline is
Blue Dart's premium
ground express
service providing
economical, door-to-
door ground
distribution solutions.
Smart Box, available
on air and ground
express modes, is the
convenient, door-to-
door service for
cargo in two sizes 10 kilos and 25 kilos.
Air Freight services include domestic, early
morning airport-to-airport deliveries to the
seven metros Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata,
Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad,
serviced by Blue Dart aircraft. Interline services
include transhipment of international loads
between major metros, the movement of
shipments classified as dangerous goods and the
specialised movement of aircraft engines across
the country. Charters offer palletised capacity
for the carriage of urgent and large volumes to
major airports in the country and the region.
Blue Dart has also introduced several
customised products such as Rakhi Express and
University Express for domestic addresses while
Import Express offers a door-to-door facility for
importing shipments from over 200 countries.
Recent Developments
In its most recent additions, Blue Dart has
introduced two robust customer-centric
programmes First Choice and Net Promoter
Approach (NPA). First Choice follows a DMAIC
(Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control)
process which helps systematically resolve an
enduring problem, while NPA aims at gauging
customer loyalty and delivers a Net Promoter
Score which is an international benchmark for
customer advocacy.
Blue Dart has recently added Temperature
Controlled Logistics, developed especially for
the pharmaceutical sector. It has a range of
superior temperature-controlled solutions to
meet customer's specific needs. These solutions
are backed by extensive
and reliable express
distribution, dry ice
supplies including free
top-up replenishments,
real-time shipment status
information, regulatory
clearance, validation
services and project
management.
For time-critical
business needs,
customers can now avail
of a door-to-door, time-
definite delivery. These
services are currently
available in selected cities
and are backed by a
money-back guarantee.
The company also
aggressively launched a
slew of new products
and services like the
Domestic Express Pallet
on air- and
ground- mode,
Dart SurfaceLine
Plus, and an
advanced
technology called
On-the-Move
(OTM), which has
strengthened
shipment visibility.
The continuous
improvement of
service is, of
course, a priority.
But through it,
Blue Dart hasn't
lost sight of
its social
responsibilities. Its
effort Go Teach
empowers
children and
revolves around
providing young
people from
marginalised societies to acquire English
speaking skills, computer literacy, life skills and
customer-orientation. In the last two years this
initiative has transformed the lives of 313
people. For this fine effort, Blue Dart won the
BSE 6th Social & Corporate Governance Award.
Blue Dart has also strong interventions in areas
of go-green and go-help.
Promotion
In an overcrowded, cluttered world, brand
Blue Dart has exploited every opportunity
to stand out. The core focus has been on
strengthening customer relationships and on
making more effective use of its vehicles as
mobile touch points.
In the past, Blue Dart, coinciding with the
launch of its ground express service Dart
SurfaceLine released a television commercial
titled 'Delivering more than just Packages.' The
commercial played back the emotions of trust,
hope, dreams, aspirations and success that often
lie in the consignments that Blue Dart carries.
Blue Dart's trust emanates from the fact that it
never allows itself to forget this.
More recently, the brand strengthened its
recall through a print campaign that arrogated
for itself the very concept of express logistics: if
it's express logistics in India, then the company
must be Blue Dart.
Brand Values
Blue Dart has always made a conscious effort
to create a bond with its customers. Perhaps,
because of this, the brand has, today, become
synonymous with value, quality, speed, efficiency,
responsiveness and service excellence.
www.bluedart.com
25 BUSINESS SUPERBRANDS
Blue Dart still has employees who joined it on
Day One
'Pride of working for Blue Dart' is rated highest
each year in the company's Employee
Satisfaction Survey
Blue Dart offers money-back guarantee on its
time-definite services
Blue Dart handles 80 million shipments in a
year that's five consignments every two
seconds
Blue Edge Empowering Lives is an award-
winning CSR initiative
Things you didnt know about
Blue Dart
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