1. SHIPPER’STALK28 CARGOTALK SEPTEMBER 2015
‘Streamlining the supply chain’
QHow do you see
future of logistics
market of the automotive
industry in India?
The automotive industry can be
broadly segmented into finished
products like cars, trucks and other
automotive components. The auto-
motive components can be further
segmented as per inbound logistics,
that is components required for
assembly of a vehicle and outbound
logistics, mostly as spare parts for
after sales requirements.The indus-
try is bullish on vehicle sales growing
in the coming five years.Commercial
vehicle sales are a barometer to read the correct situation of the Indian
economy.The‘Make in India’project
and investments in infrastructure and
manufacturing will spur the demand,
which will call for more transportation
needs for material and goods.
QWhat are the crucial
bottlenecks faced by
the logistics sector?
Responsive and skilled man-
power, automation in warehousing,
telematics in transportation, road
infrastructure, reliable services of 3PL
and transporters, storage and han-
dling inefficiencies are certain bottle-
necks faced by the logistics sector.
QIs there any specific
strategy for better
supply of products?
Spare parts management is
purely a game of lead time manage-
ment.The department has embarked
upon overcoming these supply lead
time constraints by adopting the
consumption-based replenishment
mode of supplies. To put in
simple ways, the retail consumption
will trigger the channel partner to
supply, which in turn will trigger the
company to supply, in turn triggering
the vendor to supply as per
norms specified. The entire supply
chain will have visibility of consump-
tion at each stage, which drives
the movement of supplies in
efficient ways.
QWhat strategies does
your company adopt
to manage costs and
protect margins?
Consolidation at hub and redis-
tribution through ‘Hub and Spoke
Model’will reduce logistics costs.This,
coupled with higher inventory turns
due to norm based replenishment
mode of supplies, will protect margins.
CT BUREAU
Gaurish L Salgar, Head – Supply Chain and Demand Fulfillment (Commercial Vehicle Business Unit), Tata
Motors, speaks about the bottlenecks faced by the logistics sector and the strategies adopted by Tata Motors for
better supply of products.
Gaurish L Salgar
Head – Supply Chain and Demand Fulfillment
(Commercial Vehicle Business Unit)
Tata Motors
Highlights:
N Commercial vehicle sales are a
barometertoreadthecorrectsituation
oftheIndianeconomy
N An efficient supply chain is of
paramountimportanceinspareparts
distributionbusinessinoverallgrowth
Cargo Talk SEPTEMBER-2015:Layout 1 9/1/2015 2:20 PM Page 28