This document is a cover sheet and assignment submitted by a student for a Masters program module on understanding business for analysts. The 12-page assignment critically evaluates the fleet management of SRLS Transport, a logistics company that transports molasses and ethanol in India. The assignment addresses risk management, problem structuring, scheduling, ethics, and provides recommendations. It finds that route optimization tools and tracking systems could help solve issues and keep the transportation process on track. While technology adoption is recommended, transparency and driver consent are important to maintain trust. Overall, improving fleet management and optimizing resource usage could help the company better handle risks and open doors for new business opportunities.

1. Masters Programmes
Assignment Cover Sheet
Submitted by: 2288002
Date Sent: 01 February 2023
Module Title: Understanding Business for Analysts
Module Code: IB9PL0
Date/Year of Module: 2022-2023
Submission Deadline: 01 February 2023
Word Count: 2800 words
Number of Pages: 12
Question: Critically evaluate a business analytics project or process and write an
academic assignment of maximum 3000 words that answers the following questions
and provides the required evidence and explanations.
“I declare that this work is entirely my own in accordance with the University's Regulation 11
and the WBS guidelines on plagiarism and collusion. All external references and sources are
clearly acknowledged and identified within the contents.
No substantial part(s) of the work submitted here has also been submitted by me in other
assessments for accredited courses of study, and I acknowledge that if this has been done it
may result in me being reported for self-plagiarism and an appropriate reduction in marks
may be made when marking this piece of work.”
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2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………… 3
2. Risk Management …………………………………………………………………. 4
3. Problem Structuring and Framing………………………………………………… 6
4. Scheduling ………………………………………………………………………….. 9
5. Ethics and Ethos …………………………………………………………………… 10
6. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….. 10
7. References………………………………………………………………………….. 11
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3. 1. INTRODUCTION
India is one of the largest producers of sugarcane in the world, with Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and
Karnataka being the main sugar-producing states. There are over 700 sugar mills in the country,
with a capacity to crush 340 lakh metric tonnes of sugar and an annual turnover of Rs. 80,000
crores (Vohra, 2022). Sugarcane is a water intensive plant; the cash crop’s growth cycle is about
12-15 months. The harvested cane is taken to the factory where it is crushed and separated to give
- sugarcane juice, molasses, filter cake, and bagasse. Sugarcane molasses can be used as
bioethanol production. Bioethanol is ethanol produced through a fermentation process that can be
done by various microorganisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae (R Raharja et al, 2019 ). The
production of ethanol has been on a rise as India aims to become more independent, hope to see a
10 recent rise in the year 2023.
Of late, the Government of India has been moving towards being more independent in the area of
crude oil (“Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India 2020-25 – Policies,” n.d.) . The Indian Ethanol
Programme or Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme (EBP Programme) is one of the initiatives
focuses on increasing the production of ethanol which in return would increase the production of
molasses in 2023 (Government Of India (no date) Ethanol blended petrol programme (EBP
programme)). The Indian sugar industry aims be a pivotal supplier to the global molasses market,
showing an approximate of 1.3 million tonnes of exports (Creasey, A. 2022). In effect, this industry is
a major focus for the Government’s goals for 2023. This prominent but yet niche market will have an
intenser impact on its own logistics companies. Focusing on the upcoming events, relevance and
importance this industry holds, I have chosen one of the top contenders and oldest logistics
company in this industry as a focus of my report: Sri Raghavendra Transports.
A family run business, Sri Raghavendra Transports is one of the top transport companies, having
transported a wide range of molasses, ethanol, petroleum products, and petrochemicals for more
than 60 years. Ethanol and molasses are transported by Sri Raghavendra Transports, a
biochemical and fuel transporter, from the suppliers to the refineries (Transports, S.R. (no date)
About Us, SRLS Transport). They work with private partners and partake in government tenders
with their clientele consisting of Vijaynagar Sugars Private Ltd., Chanmundeshwari Sugars, Nandini,
Indian Oil, HP, Bharat Petroleum and Reliance Industries Ltd. Their sister concern companies are
Chandan Bulk Carriers and SRLS Transport - the latter being the focus of this essay.
SRLS Transport is the branch that actually handles the process of transportation - to be precise,
fleet management. The firm’s role is crucial: it can either make or break the the process. There are
various factors around the company's fleet that have a great effect on the company and their
operations. Driver retention, accidents, time scheduling, resource scheduling, supplier stakeholders,
route optimisation, communication, vehicle availability and theft are a few essential factors that are
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4. directly proportional to the company. As it is a seasoned company, they have come up with some
solutions to tackle and optimise their fleet management. In this report I will be focusing on Fleet
Management and it’s impact on: Risk Management , Problem Solving (Resource Management) and
Scheduling. Although the company is effective at fleet management, there is room for improvement.
In this essay, I will largely be focusing on private and consistent customers and suppliers of
Molasses and Ethanol, offering first-hand insights, critical evaluation, comparisons and suggestions
to the topics mentioned.
2. RISK MANAGEMENT
Risk management is key in eliminating waste and stimulating other best practices within the
supply chain, such as within the fleet management here. Identification, assessment, and
control of financial, legal, strategic, and security threats to the assets and profits of an
organisation constitute the process of risk management (“What is risk management?,” n.d).
Logistics systems are ruled by uncertainties and disruptions, inbound and outbound
logistics are two of the main operations in logistics, and inventory management and
transportation are two essential functional domains (Tsan-Ming et al. 2016). Internal risks
are separated from external risks, according to a well accepted categorisation by Ma-son-
Jones and Towill, external sources will either be related to customers, suppliers,
environment, and internal sources will either be material flow or information flow (Fuchs , H.
and Wohinz, J.W. 2009).
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Figure 1. Logistics Risk Sources (Fuchs , H. and Wohinz, J.W. (2009))

5. SRLS Transport deals with various risks. The Material Flow system in sugar factories would have a
large influence on the operations of the company. The material flow would directly be proportional to
the cash crop and weather conditions. These uncontrollable factors could possibly impact the
operational period for that year. Within these factors, theft has been declared a non-issue by K.S.
Raghu, Proprietor of SRLS Transport: “Theft is not a major concern or a risk in our company as we
carry an unfinished product, this is our USP. We try to curtail theft risk by sticking to our USP.”
However, I would argue that theft of vehicle is a major concern - even if theft of product is not. Theft
of a vehicle can occur with an intention to sell vehicle parts - the concern is intensified when a
loaded vehicle is stolen; a trader such as ‘Wheelseye’ could be the solution to this. Wheelseye
gives a wide access to control the truck even in emergencies. This could possibly be a one stop
solution. Another issue that would be of concern would be allocation and availability of trucks. With
the wrong information a consignment can go completely wrong but with the right amount extra hires
can save the day.
As the company has a fleet of 70 trucks, accidents are a large area of concern. As of writing, India
has no governing laws that regulate driving or rest hours. During my interview with the proprietor he
mentioned that as a company they train their drivers to drive in-off peak hours and they personally
established stringent driving rules of 7-9 hours per day and rest time from 11 pm to 6 am. The UK
has a governed limit of driving hours of 9 hours in a day and that it can be extended to 10 days
twice a week, they also follow stringent rules in regard to breaks and rest (Service, G.D. , 2015).
India has now taken measures to introduce similar working hours to reduce road accidents by 50%
before 2025 (Omar E.B.P., 2023).
As a result, to maintain driver morale and reduce rash driving, the firm has leveraged the cultural
impact on employees. Cultural impact refers to the drivers’ lives: drivers more often than not tend to
share a close relationship with their family. The firm’s initiatives utilises this connection, with
measures including placing a small family picture in their line of sight to induce positive emotions.
Apart from this, suggested improvement measures they can use to inculcate a few more positive
habits are feedback programs, professional development opportunities, implement a mentoring
program, and a rewards program (Walton, M. 2017).
As it is a seasonal business, fleet management has high risks due to in operation for specific times
of the year. One main form of maintaining and caring for the fleet to have the right set of drivers.
The firm currently employs a troupe of 50 well trained drivers that adhere to the company's
regulations. In order to retain these seasoned drivers, the company pays a retaining wage outside
their working period of six to nine months. This acts as a capital cost and can be heavy on the
company’s finances as they might bear greater loss in losing an accountable driver, potentially
spending more time and money to train newcomers. I would argue that the right approach to tackle
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6. employee retention would be to providing benefits throughout the year, such as monthly food
rations, mental health programs, and educational benefits for workers’ families.
Figure 2. Depicts the the probability and impact of certain risks indicating the intensity with the
colours RED, AMBER AND GREEN. Table 1. Shows specific risks, urgency levels, prson
responsible to help or take action and contingency plans.
3. PROBLEM STRUCTURING AND FRAMING
In business, problem solving would refer to developing procedures that lessen or get rid of
roadblocks that keep one from achieving strategic objectives (“10 Step Process for Effective
Business Problem Solving,” 2021). As fleet management has stringent schedules, the necessity for
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Figure 2. Probability Impact Chart
Table 1. Risk Register
RISK URGENCY PERSON
RESPONSIBLE
ACTION
Vehicle Failure/Repairs HIGH Fleet manager/ driver Call Backup,
fi
nd
closest service centre
Driver Sick/Leave HIGH/MEDIUM HR Manager Find Replacement
Road Accidents HIGH Manager On call emergency
contact
Poor weather MEDIUM Find Safety
Route Deviation LOW Driver Find the right route

7. problem solving techniques is always there - not only to solve, but also to optimise. Credibility and
reliability go hand in hand (“11 Fleet Management Problems Fleet Tracking Systems Solve | Inseego
| UK,” undefined) .
SRLS Transport has faced its fair share of problems of late. Following the sugarcane cash crop life
cycle this logistics company works for a span of six to nine months a year affirming it to be a
seasonal business. They have a fleet consisting of 70 trucks including 10 wheelers, 12 wheelers
and 14 wheelers all specialised to transport molasses and ethanol. In the span of six decades they
have supplied over 8 million tonnes of Molasses and 400 million litres of Ethanol cumulatively over
the period across India. Currently they transport 200 thousand tonnes of Molasses and 8 million
litres of Ethanol from suppliers to customers per year (Transports, S.R. (no date), SRLS Transport) .
80% of their transportation goes to private companies and the other 20% to government tenders.
Their vehicles transport throughout the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, the two top
contributors of sugarcane. The is also where most sugar factories and distilleries are located. The
list of expenses the company’s fleet may encounter is endless and includes fuel management,
insurance, and vehicle upkeep.
The above figure helps us understand the business canvas of the company. Understanding and
structuring a problem in a company is important in order to avoid focusing on the wrong issues. Mr.
Murthy (manager at SRLS Transport) has stated Molasses is an excise commodity. Due to this, a
non objection certificate (NOC) has to be applied for by the distillery placing the order from the
sugar factory and this is valid for a span of 45 to 60 days. Within this period the ordered placed has
to be picked up by the company and delivered. The repercussions of not doing so would be a lapse
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Figure 3. Business Model Canvas Of SRSL Transport

8. in the NOC - in extreme cases the Sugar Factory can deny the access to the load for the then
quoted price leading to failure in contract and Loss. This is a major potential loss for both the
customer and the company.
From the above we can understand areas the company failed which led to the loss, we have a
much more clear and precise area to focus our solutions on. The areas would be communication
errors, availability of vehicles, consignment orders and allocation and distribution would increase
risk and confusion in the project making it complex to solve.
I would strongly urge the company to hire an analyst to provide route optimisation rather than doing
it manually or through google maps which is the current method being followed as stated by Mr.
Lokesh (Consignment Manager at SRSL Transport). By brining in technology there is area to not
only understand which is the shortest route but also one that can accommodate the size of the
vehicle without any hindrance. Tracking and Real-Time tracking will be a useful tool to adapt, Fleet
tracking - vehicle tracking systems enable the business to monitor the whereabouts and speed of
each vehicle, organise tasks, optimise routes, aid in navigation, road closures, and evaluate driver
productivity. The most fundamental navigation services provide directions for getting from point A to
point B. GPS, mapping, and mobile cellular technology will all be used to deliver more advanced
navigation services((Husak et al., n.d.).
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Figure 4. Rich Picture of understanding failure in contract.

9. SRLS Transport should also focus on fleet optimisation throughout the year and not just for six to
nine months. This would mean to adopt alternative uses for the tankers. I would suggest this is the
perfect year to broaden their hauling services to another product - Ethanol Blended
Petroleum(EBP). The molasses tanks are perfect carries for any liquid with a specific gravity
between 1.00 to 1.35(admin, 2021) and EBP fits the profile. The Indian EBP programme is paving a
new path for a new product and industry. This Company should look into tapping into this market
early on as it would leverage and optimise their fleet and bring great financial benefit along with it.
4. SCHEDULING
Schedule management is “the process of developing, maintaining and communicating schedules for
time and resource”.
The above figure demonstrates a simple version of the scheduling process involved in the
transportation. These will be effected by time limits, weather and other unforeseen circumstance
discussed previously. With time scheduling the company can process consignments better, making
more space for tenders and new ventures as mentioned above (Liu et al., 2012). The above
structure will be dealt in a much deeper aspect as and when it is needed along with other factors
compiled by them.
5. ETHICS AND ETHOS
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Figure 5. Work Breakdown Structure Scheduling process of transportation of
molasses and ethanol

10. While implementing tracking I would argue that the company also update their ethics and ethos to
show complete transparency of the tracked data and the consent of the drivers for these devices to
maintain trust. SRLS transport already focuses on well being, safety, inter-regional empathy and fair
compensation. Doing the needful with transparency will strengthen the company, its brand value
and add to their goodwill.
6. CONCLUSION
It is now seen that fleet management has a various areas that are directly and indirectly
proportional. Analysing the right problem structure and finding right ways to reduce risks will help
the company be more efficient. Focusing on route optimisation, time maximisation and accurate
allocation of trucks and consignments will bring peak results to the company by cutting down
casualties of loss and failure. Route optimisation tools and trackings in my opinion will not only solve
but also help keep the process in the right path in the future. Technological intervention will also give
more manpower for the company where it needs such as accurate communication channels and
track of allocated vehicles, the company hires extra trucks when in need of more resources. To
conclude, getting the fleet management and progressing towards fleet optimisation will do wonders
in a seasonal logistics company making space for new and improved ventures and raising the bar
for the same.
7. REFERENCES
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