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Jun, 04 2015

Mission 10 K: Of passion, pincodes & profits

The Indian third party logistics (3pl) market is geared for a robust growth during 2014-2019. It is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 21% to touch Rs 48,000 crore over the period 2014-2019.

From rechristening brand's name to DTDC Express Limited to becoming an integrated parcels driven business through its strategic alliance with Europe's DPD Group and developing Vision 2020 strategy, DTDC is all set to make a mark across India and global markets. DTDC actively seeks to develop partnerships with franchisees that have common interests and are all set to achieve strategic objectives.

What has really spurred the express and logistics industry in India? Is it the enormous surge in e-commerce retail or dependability of more than half of Indian companies on outsourced logistics services, comprising supply chain management and warehousing. Multiple reasons are there to stimulate the growth of third party courier services and logistics players in India. Out of the leading players making a mark in this industry, DTDC tops the priority list for its consumers and partners as the brand has witnessed robust growth across the globe.

How did the brand come into being

With a motive of serving customers at their doorstep, DTDC was established by Subhasish Chakraborty in 1990, when India's communication scenario was witnessing a major change. Amidst the growing demand for faster and better logistics services, the consumer's dissatisfaction towards the existing system with its various gaps was also rising. During that time, a compelling need for private players with significant reach and higher accountability took shape and DTDC took its inception on 26th July 1990. Headquartered in Bangalore, DTDC currently has seven zonal offices, 20 strategically located regional offices and over 430 operating facilities spread across India.

At present, DTDC Express Limited has its presence in more than 500 district headquarters through its large network of more than 8, 000+ franchisees and extends services to over 10,000 pin codes while handling more than 12 million shipments every month.  DTDC Express Limited is an ISO 9001:2008 company, as certified by Bureau Veritas Certification (BVC) India.

Internationally, DTDC Express Limited also has a significant global footprint and services across 220 international locations including the USA, the UK, Canada, the UAE, Australia, China, Singapore and major Asian countries, through its own operations, joint ventures and business associates. A key part of the success of DTDC's network is the contribution of more than 35,000 people including employees, franchisees and their associates who are committed to its spirit of service.

DTDC's new avatar

Looking at the growing trends within the market, DTDC has lately embarked upon its journey of transforming its identity from an Express Document player to an Integrated Parcels driven business through its strategic partnership with Europe's second largest Parcels Delivery player Geopost's DPD Group.

Recently, the brand name was rechristened to DTDC Express Limited (formerly known as DTDC Courier & Cargo Ltd), as the company focusses to enhance its expertise in the logistics sector under the Vision 2020 programme. On commenting about the same, Abhishek  Chakraborty, Executive Director, DTDC Express Limited says: “Our rebranding and rechristening coincides with the firm's global Vision 2020 strategy which is about repositioning DTDC as a complete express logistics player in the markets we operate in. It echoes our aspiration to focus on qualities that make us different from our competitors and more valuable to our customers.” The strategy behind the repositioning of the brand is to project DTDC as a complete express logistics player that delivers significant value across markets within the globe.

A dynamic business approach by father & son duo

After years of know-how within the industry, Subhasish Chakraborty realised that one of the key steps and challenges to succeed in the field of courier was the creation of a sizeable network geographically. He then decided to grow the company with the help of a unique franchise-based business model. Commenting about the benefits of a proven concept, Subhasish Chakraborty, Chairman & Managing Director, DTDC Express Limited, says: “Franchising allows us to build a large geographical reach in a relatively shorter period as well as help realise the entrepreneurial dreams of many small-time businessmen from all over the country, including from the remotest parts. This model has become the blueprint of DTDC's success, and the company continues to replicate it both domestically and internationally.”

Subhasish Chakraborty passed on the legacy to his son Abhishek Chakraborty who is now at the forefront of taking the business to new heights. Abhishek is a management specialist with expertise in strategic planning and execution and in his capacity as Executive Director of DTDC Express Limited; he currently leads DTDC's Express Business with focus on core domestic operations and technology initiatives. Currently, Abhishek spearheads the new business initiatives in the company focussed on retail and e-commerce and also leads the group-wide business transformation programme currently being undertaken in DTDC.

Over the last six years, he came up with some of the key strategic initiatives and innovations of DTDC which proved to be game changers. Take a look at box below which enlightens about the key steps that he took forth for rapid expansion of the company and helped it to scale new heights.

DTDC to remain focussed on franchising!

DTDC's unmatched 'Power Factor' has been its unique franchise-based model that has enabled thousands of entrepreneurs to connect with its organisation's dream and become a large scale first-of-its-kind logistics network in the private sector. With technological advancement, sophisticated products and services for each market category and with the mutual support of one of the widest networks in the country, DTDC offers a lucrative platform for success to aspiring entrepreneurs. “We strongly believe that having this vast network of 8,000+ channel partners ensures that we are not just the only private Express services provider available within a 2 km radius of our customer's office or home in the city, it also helps us connect our customers across every nook and corner, district and tehsil of India,” says Subhasish Chakraborty. 

To its franchisees, the company provides hands on support in terms of training before joining, on-job training on sales, operation, product and marketing skills etc and periodic training from our learning and development team on various process and skill set. Apart from this, we invest heavily on providing technological support to ensure that the franchisees can maximise their business opportunities.

Partner with right franchisee

DTDC's target is to partner with young or first time entrepreneurs who are ready to take risks with the potential for earning significant RoI and salaried professionals wanting to become entrepreneurs. In general, people having the aspiration to make it big by their efforts are the company's target franchisees. For selection and recruitment of franchisees, the company has a well-defined scientific selection process for any new applicant or franchisee. Recently, the company has mapped all its existing franchisees on geospatial map. On the basis this geographical mapping, the brand knows where is the gap in coverage, where the opportunities are as far as their geographical penetration is concerned and last but not the least where the business requirements are emerging. The decision to recruit a franchisee is based on all of the above. Besides this, the company is taking all required steps to be present in every nook and corner of India, district and tehsil of India and invite all budding entrepreneurs to join them in this opportunity.

Mission 10 K for growth manifold

To become a winner in this segment, DTDC Express Limited, is now all set with its new expansion strategy.  As economic prosperity increases, customers will become more demanding in terms of quality and price. Therefore, the company's plan is to significantly invest in increased levels of automation in its logistics processes. All its hubs will undergo up-gradation and automation to increase efficiency levels and deliver the best to its customers.

On the expansion front, Subhasish Chakraborty says: “We are on a ‘Mission 10 K’ wherein we aim to induct 10,000 franchisees into our network along with establishment of an additional number of allied outlets to make our services accessible to greater number of households. In terms of our e-commerce business, we are targeting expansion in distribution and fulfillment services. We further plan to induce growth in our international business by increasing the number of international trade lanes and cross border logistics.” On the other side, Abhishek Chakraborty says: “Our retail business focal point is to offer new commerce solutions to our customers on online and offline platforms. This year, we plan to add 50 stores to our retail footprint in the country. We aspire to integrate networks across all line of businesses to offer unified solution to our customers.” He also adds: “DTDC is poised to create India's most integrated parcel network focussed on express distribution, third party logistics (3PL) and ecommerce solutions with a comprehensive global reach by the year 2020. We plan to do this by focussing on DTDC's core value proposition which is to 'Help clients improve their supply chain service and optimise their supply chain spend' in order to create long term value for customers. Our specific area of focus is to become the logistics supplier of choice for B2C businesses with a focus on tier II, III and IV markets.”DTDC has also built the breadth and depth of differentiated offerings to be an end-to-end solution provider. In order to succeed in its Mission 2020, DTDC has undertaken an organisation-wide business transformation programme, with the following four-pronged approach:

= Improve customer relationships and ensure a better customer experience

= Develop overall people capabilities across the organisation

= Enable improvement in process efficiency with a goal to optimise overall spend

= Introduce technological enablement to improve control, support process enhancements, provide complete data visibility and support automated decision making

DTDC is already a leader in its segment with massive reach in India and global markets. So, its right time to join hands with DTDC franchise to be successful!

INKED A NEW CHAPTER!

DTDC's Founder Subhasish Chakraborty has recently added another feather to his entrepreneurial cap with the launch of his new book  “Dream Dare Deliver” which carries his entrepreneurial journey that talks about how he started his company in 1990 with the intention of providing a better logistics solution to people. Challenged by a lack of capital to create a network, he came up with an idea to partner with entrepreneurs who shared his vision of providing the best customer service experience in the field of express and supply chain logistics. Through its chronicling of Subhasish Chakraborty's amazing journey, this book serves as a great guide for would be entrepreneurs who would like to know what it takes to create something brilliant out of literally nothing. This book carried the story of a man who made it against all odds and taking DTDC from a start-up courier company to the supply chain of happiness that it stands for today and providing employment to thousands and delivering smiles to millions.

DTDC has lately embarked upon its journey of transforming its identity from an Express Document player to an Integrated Parcels driven business through its strategic partnership with Europe's second largest Parcels Delivery player  Geopost's DPD Group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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