1. Logistics
IT Helps
A Logistics Firm Grow
Three-fold In Five Years!
The ability to serve its customers in the automotive “Excellent firms don’t believe
in excellence—only in constant
industry with niche services has helped TVS
improvement and constant change.”
Logistics stay ahead of the competition and grow at
Thomas J. Peters
a phenomenal pace. The company owes this growth
to certain best practices related to IT that have
T
he transportation and logistics
become part of its DNA. We take a look at how the firm sector in India is a still only a
leverages IT solutions like ERP, GPS, biometrics, et al quasi-mature and fragmented
to coordinate over 140 offices and manage its complex segment that operates without
logistics operations. technology, more often than not.
Globalisation, however, is pushing
this vertical to evolve and adopt
Vandana Sharma
BenefIT Bureau international best practices. In this
18 / August 2010 / BenefIT

2. Logistics
context, it is reassuring to know
about a domestic player that has not TVSLSL’s IT
only defined and systematised the infrastructure
hitherto disparate processes of its
The company uses a rich mix of technology
logistics supply chain, but has also tools, which include:
set benchmarks for excellence before • Ramco’s ERP suite
• A mobile gateway integrated
going global with its services.
with the ERP system, which
TVS Logistics Services Ltd allows transmission and receipt of
Harinath Chakravarthy,
(TVSLSL), a Chennai-based third party CIO, TVSLSL information feeds via SMS as well
as e-mails.
logistics (3PL) company has crossed
• An integration middleware
many a milestone in its 15 year journey “The ERP system has platform that facilitates integration
to becoming one of the leading 3PL enabled access to real- of new technologies with existing
technology platforms.
players in the country. It currently has
six affiliate firms in India and overseas,
time information, not • Dell servers to host software
applications.
over 140 offices, and joint ventures with only to those in the • A Web portal created to serve
firms in the US, UK, Thailand, Spain management and the as a self-service access point,
where suppliers can log in and
and Germany, with a few more alliances employees, but also request for payments; route it to
the TVSLSL accounts module in
on the anvil.
The company made a foray into the
to our partners and the ERP system; customers can
logistics domain in 1994, beginning as customers.” check the status of their orders;
and suppliers can know how
the logistics division of TVS Sundram their performance was rated in a
particular month.
Iyengar and Sons, the flagship Today, despite these requirements, • Interactive learning gateway: This
company of the TVS Group. It became a TVSLSL manages to ensure timely is an online learning portal meant
listed company in November 2004. availability of parts and components for TVSLSL employees to impart
training in IT, the rules of behaviour
for production with the bare and simple disclosure, besides a
Taking challenges, head-on minimum of inventory, by deploying basic induction into the TVS Logistics
Group. It has an interactive voice
In the automotive industry, servicing the necessary technology across its
module that gives users a score after
even one customer order can be processes and locations. It provides every training session.
quite complicated. Typically, a end-to-end solutions to its customers • Specialised applications integrated
into GPS and telematics devices.
manufacturing facility requires over by coordinating between them and
• Biometric solutions: The
50,000 parts at any point of time, of their suppliers. “Our strength lies in company makes use of a biometric
which about 5,000 are fast moving. delivering these complex services device to record employees’
attendance and shift-based
Harinath Chakravarthy, CIO, TVSLSL, by bringing a certain amount of
start-up and leaving time. Special
shed light on the challenges that intellectual horse power to the table biometric devices are also used at
plague the 3PL industry: “A 3PL and making sure that every thing, locations where TVSLSL operates
from inside its customer’s facility.
service provider has a tough role at every stage in the supply chain, “We provide in-bound services to
to play as the job involves dealing works,” says Chakravarthy. our customers, which means, we
with multiple suppliers to service a The entire process is orchestrated, operate from within their facility.
We have critical profiles operating
single order for its clients. There are using different types of IT solutions. from these facilities. But we don’t
specialist providers in the supply From sophisticated operations and use the client’s network or any
chain, like trucking agencies, labour supply chain automation solutions attendance recording system
at their end for our attendance
contractors, standalone warehouses, to GPS (global positioning system) reporting. As soon as a shift starts,
and so on. It is time consuming to and biometric devices; from a this device sends an alert in case
derive performance consistency from range of analytics and Web-based an employee doesn’t report,” says
Chakravarthy.
each agency involved. The only way in solutions to enable real-time access to • PDAs are being used by all
which we can survive in such a big and information, to other IT hardware like professionals on the move.
complex ecosystem is by having access servers, laptops and personal digital • Video conferencing solutions
are used for rich communication
to real-time information. And, it is only assistants (PDAs) that are required exchange between locations.
technology that can enable this.” for executives on-the-move to access
BenefIT / August 2010 / 19

3. Logistics
data, the list goes on. [For more on of its supply chain. But to achieve
the IT infrastructure of TVSLSL, please this was an extremely challenging
refer to the box.] task. Chakravarthy narrates the
complexities: “When TVSLSL decided
The tryst with ERP to automate its operations, the core
Maintaining automation of the supply Prince Sudersanam, team studied the Indian market
E-general manager, Base
chain and visibility across each stage Component Development, the hard way, to map the firm’s
has always been crucial for TVSLSL. But Ramco Systems expectations from the ERP and SCM
the biggest transformation in the way
the company operated came after its
“As the new solution systems. Logistics companies have
rather unique requirements and
deployment of the ERP system in 2005. was very different dynamics. Because of these inherent
Prior to this, TVSLSL was using home from what was being complexities, most of the big players
grown IT systems and a specialised
followed, process in the 3PL domain, like TNT and DHL,
accounting package. But what led
re-engineering and
have opted for home grown systems.
the company to switch over to an They usually never buy IT solutions
ERP system? Chakravarthy answers: change management off the shelf,” says Chakravarthy.
“Given the kind of growth that we were were the key “Considering this, we decided to
experiencing, we felt the need to opt for
factors that would build a supply chain management
a more sophisticated and integrated IT (SCM) application. But then the
solution, like the ERP system.”
ensure a successful question was—“With whom do we
When the process of zeroing in on implementation.” build this solution?” We mapped
an ERP solution began, the company our requirements and then began
started evaluating some of the Development, Ramco Systems discussions with Ramco Systems. Its
available solutions based on a couple says: “Ramco has deployed its Web team then put their technical hats on
of key criteria. Chakravarthy recalls: architected enterprise application and suggested a few solutions to us.
“We wanted a system that could with functions catering to 3PL This entire brainstorming process—to
offer most of the required modules, players. It includes modules like chalk out what the solution ought to
directly out-of-the-box, without the a transportation management look like, how the contract was going
need for any modifications. Since system, warehousing operations, to be created, how suppliers would
we were experiencing expansion procurement, sales, financials and be brought into the loop, and how the
across regions, in India and overseas, human capital management, etc.” entire requirements of a customer
this demanded language support In addition to this, Ramco has also would be serviced end-to-end—took
and compliance with local laws and provided TVSLSL a powerful business three to four months,” he recollects.
regulations and we needed a vendor intelligence solution, he adds. The SCM module handles domestic
who could provide it as part of the transportation, international transport,
solution, as much as possible. Managing the supply chain time-to-market warehousing, material
“Also, at a time when the Since TVSLSL deals mainly with handling and so on and has been
technology life cycle is as short as five customers in the automotive industry jointly built by TVSLSL and Ramco
years, we wanted a solution that could that operate on tight delivery Systems, for which the two companies
enable us to port all the components schedules, the terms and conditions jointly own the intellectual property,
from today’s platform to tomorrow’s under which it deals with vendors offer says Chakravarthy.
world, and that too, economically.” incentives for on-time performance,
Measured against these and penalties for non-compliance. The process of implementation
requirements, Ramco System’s ERP This is because any delays in When TVSLSL started the ERP
solution came out on top, admits transit can lead to disruption of the system’s implementation, the time
Chakravarthy. production process at the customer frame was aggressive. Keeping in
Enumerating the modules of the end, resulting in huge losses. mind the complexity of TVSLSL’s
ERP system, Prince Sudersanam, So TVSLSL can’t afford to get requirements and the size of the
E-general manager, Base Component anything wrong in the management application, a phased approach was
20 / August 2010 / BenefIT

4. Logistics
adopted and it took over a year to Having IT systems on board has Going forward
bring the business operations into helped TVSLSL achieve efficiencies Ever since its inception, TVSLSL
the system, says Sudersanam. of scale. Chakravarthy enumerates has looked around and adopted the
He further elaborates: “As the the improvements that ERP-led best automation tools to better its
new solution was very different automation and allied plug-ins have various functions, and in the future
from what was being followed, brought about in its operations: too, the company plans to add to this
process re-engineering and change “Dynamic expansion: We have bouquet of technologies. Chakravarthy
management were the key factors expanded dramatically, using IT. explains: “The company wants to
that would ensure a successful Currently, we have 140 offices in always be ahead of the next generation
implementation. These were India compared to 45 in 2005, the of technology. Thus, we are constantly
addressed through comprehensive year when we deployed the Ramco at work to identify what needs to be
employee training programmes.” ERP system. Since then, we have yanked out and changed.”
TVSLSL laid a lot of emphasis witnessed a three-fold expansion. TVSLSL is also working at creating
on putting together a framework for “An honest view of affairs: Earlier a buffet-like solutions’ service package
dialogue with employees as it believes when we had different home grown for its customers. Chakravarthy
that keeping employees informed is systems, each system was capturing explains: “We want to create a pack
very important. Chakravarthy says: data in a different format. But now, we that has solutions in the form of
“We have created joint task forces can have a single version of data across components; so that when we require
at even the lowest levels; this helps the organisation. This ensures greater only a set of two to three solutions to
create a knowledge pool, which, in transparency and a better view of what service an order in a certain market,
turn, speeds up decision-making even is happening across the organisation. we are able to just pick and choose
at the lower level.” “The ERP system has enabled components out of this buffet and serve
TVSLSL has already got the access to real-time information, not the customer. We are putting our heads
Ramco ERP system implemented only to those in the management together to build such a solution with
across all offices of its divisions. and the employees, but also to our the help of Ramco Systems and a few
In addition, work is under way partners and customers. The latter other specialised vendors.”
to implement the solution in its get status alerts on shipments via Another area that the company
overseas subsidiaries and joint the mobile gateway, about potential aims to focus on is to actively reduce
venture companies. delays or on-time deliveries. the overall total cost of ownership of
“Reduced costs: The ERP system has IT in the next three years. Currently,
Leveraging IT to the fullest also greatly helped in reducing costs. TVSLSL spends 4 to 6 per cent of
To leverage the power of IT more Because of better, streamlined processes, its annual turnover on IT. It has a
effectively, TVSLSL has made two in the first six months of deployment 20-member IT team and an extended
significant moves after the ERP itself, the overall expenditure has come team of over 200 IT vendors to whom
implementation. Chakravarthy down by 3 per cent. it has outsourced its requirements.
divulges more details: “We have “Scalability: Irrespective of The company also plans
upgraded to a new GPS technology the high growth that we have been to innovatively monetise its
stack to track vehicles and experiencing, we are able to scale sophisticated analytics capabilities
consignments in transit, which has much faster now. For instance, if by generating specialised analytical
alert-generating capabilities. This earlier, 10 people could support a reports for its customers, as part of its
capability has been integrated with transaction volume of Rs 3 crore per support services offerings.
the Ramco ERP system. We have person, the same 10 can now support In the future too, TVSLSL plans
also integrated the ERP system with twice that transaction volume, that to continually add to its IT portfolio
biometric devices. Apart from this, too with the existing infrastructure. to find solutions to its business
we have a system of using smart “Better customer response: challenges. We are sure our readers
cards to check who is moving in Despite the strict parameters that we will be inspired by this technology-
and out of the organisation. This follow to gauge customer satisfaction, savvy company and use IT to put
data is pooled into the ERP system’s we can confidently say that this their own businesses on the fast-
payroll module.” aspect has improved, considerably.” growth track.
22 / August 2010 / BenefIT