The
logistics process has always been labour intensive and had played a critical role to play in the country’s economic growth. However, it is also a well-known fact that the logistics sector itself is highly unorganised, fragmented and faces multiple challenges which leads to operational inefficiency on several fronts of the business. There is the requirement of flexible supply chain that can easily adapt to unexpected changes and circumstances which can be easily met by meeting the requirements of consumer’s at multiple locations with multiple transport modes at different times.
In financial year 2021, the size of the
export logistics market was around 250 billion U.S. dollar. It was estimated that this market would grow to 380 billion dollars by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate between 10 to 12 per cent. That being said, in this article, lets have a look at some of the industry practices which has redefined the entire export logistics market.
Setting up a Proper Market Penetration Strategy
The export logistics have always set the market penetration strategy in alignment with the goals of the company. It helps to find out the feasibility of the operations from the point of view of administration, technical, logistics, finance and staff. “Before exporting any product, companies need to mind the international dimensions of the operation and manufacturing”, says
Veronika Nikishina, CEO, Russian Export Center. Many companies have started opting for international, mature and emerging markets as it has become a part of the overall business growth strategy.
Industry experts say that coming with an export plan helps companies not only in their commercial planning but also allows them to carry out a self-assessment regarding the market and the competitors. Also, it produces a greater knowledge and commitment to its execution. It needs to have flexibility and undergo constant revisions so it can adapt better.
Providing End-to-End Logistics Management
Export Logistics usually involves the inclusion of many small and large companies throughout the world. For example, to ensure the delivery of a shipment from India to America may require the cargo to be handled by custom brokers in both the countries, trucking companies, rail operators,
shipping companies, feeder operators and courier services. There are multiple handlings by so many third parties which turn to be chaotic and confusing for both the customers and the parties involved. In addition to that, there are chances that each party may have access to customer information which can leave the system vulnerable to data breaches.
In fact, a recent trend which is emerging in the industry is to handle all aspects of logistics management from the starting point to the end. “End-to-end logistics management is helping companies to avoid the extra costs of hiring third parties and removing the confusion in warehouse management”, says Bhaskar Priyadarshi, Logistics Expert, Cogoport.
Leveraging Data for Improving Efficiency
Export logistics generates a lot of business data which holds a lot of importance for supply chain companies. Export logistics providers can collect a lot of data like custom codes, transportation costs, pricing of product in different countries and shipping management methods. Even this data can provide an opportunity to the business analysts in shipping management companies to leverage the data by extracting more out of their supply chain and improve the efficiency and speed of the shipping processes.
Government Efforts
In the recent years, consistent efforts have been put into pushing the export logistics paradigm towards a better tomorrow. Currently, the government has brought up so many new policies like ‘Zero Defects, Zero Effect’ in order to rank up India higher in the global export logistics market. Also, with the rise of global warming and increasing focus on environment protection, green initiatives are driving massive changes in shipping regulations and the business decisions of export logistics across the world.
Process Optimization
Optimising the logistics process is very crucial to ensure a profitable and smooth journey of the export. “Logistics companies needs a proper planning, effective people management and selecting the best transport mode as these points need to be deliberated upon carefully for the optimum results”, says Sylvestor D’mello, Director-Operations, Freightwalla. Advanced planning has always helped the companies to deliver the products on time and save considerable revenue by avoiding last minute surge charges.
Also, since export is a labour intensive job be it on the dock or while shipping, it is always crucial to effectively deal with the on-ground workforce. After that comes the role of mode of transportation, which plays a pivotal part in optimising export logistics as it would directly impact the costing and profitability of the business.
Expectations from Future
Global market is expected to gain exposure to premium brands and industries in unconventional niches. This will lead to the boosting up of both export logistics and domestic consumption. Logistics chain will be seamlessly brought together by aligning the processes with the help of latest technologies. The new age interaction between port customers, carriers, drivers, terminals, freight forwarders, haulers, shippers and others is expected to get paced up because of the technologies. Also, the multiple interactions between these parties will be reduced and hence prevents data manipulation.
