A PROJECT REPORT

ON
“A study on the SOPs of the functions of the warehouse and to suggest and
innovate new practices for its better management.”

A project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the Degree
of Master of Business Administration (MBA), in NERIM Group of Institution under Dibrugarh
University & approved by AICTE

Submitted by:
ARINDAM DUTTA
MBA 4th SEMESTER
ROLL NO:

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

INSTITUTIONAL GUIDE: ORGANIZATIONAL GUIDE:

Mrs. Monti Kalita Mr. Ratul Ch. Nath

Asst. Professor Senior Executive

NERIM Group of Institutions Flipkart India Pvt. Ltd.

NERIM
NERIM Group of Institutions
Padma Nath Sarmah Bhawan, Joyanagar
Khanapara, Guwahati – 781022

2019
 DECLARATION

I, ARINDAM DUTTA, hereby declare that this project report entitled “A study on the existing
SOPs of all the functions of the warehouse and to suggest and innovate new practices for better
management of the FLIPKART warehouse” has been prepared by me during the year 2019 and
is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Degree in Master in
Business Administration (MBA) of Dibrugarh University.

This project report has not been submitted earlier for the award of any other Degree / Diploma
from Dibrugarh University or any other University.

DATE:
SIGNATURE:

PLACE: Guwahati ARINDAM DUTTA

Roll No.

MBA 4th SEM

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This summer project has been an outstanding work and I wish to convey my gratefulness
to those people whose timely help and guidance went a long way in finishing this internship
from commencement to achievement. First of all I would like to convey my sincere thanks to
our respected Chairman Sir Dr. Zoii Nath Sarmah and Director Madam Professor Dr.
Sangeeta Tripathi who has given me the wonderful opportunity to do this project. I would like
to express my sincere thanks to Mr. Ratul Ch. Nath, (Senior Executive) Flipkart India Pvt.
Ltd. Changsari, Guwahati for giving me the opportunity to explore the practical knowledge in
the Organisation. I would also like to thank Mr. Manab Sarma, (Shift Incharge) Flipkart
India Pvt. Ltd. Changsari, Guwahati and Mr. Bihu Bhattacharrya, Flipkart India Pvt.
Ltd. Kolkata for giving me the necessary guidance at every step during the period of my
project.

I would also like to acknowledge the help of those employees as without their help and
response, it would not have been possible for me to complete my project work.

I would like to express my deepest sense of gratitude to Dr. B.K. Choudhury

(Assistant Professor cum Placement Coordinator) and Mrs. Monti Kalita (Assistant
Professor, NERIM Group of Institutions, Guwahati) for their guidance in the course of the
study. It would have been hard to complete this project without their guidance and support.

At the end I would like to thank my parents, the well-wishers and all those who have
helped me in the completion of the project report directly or indirectly.

With thanks & regards,

ARINDAM DUTTA

MBA 4th Semester

 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TITLE OF THE PROJECT: A study on the existing SOPs of all the 4 functions of the
warehouse and to suggest and innovate new practices for better management of the FLIPKART
warehouse.

STUDY AREA: Instakart Services Pvt. Ltd., Changsari, North Guwahati

NAME OF THE INSTITUTE: NERIM Group of Institutions

DURATION OF INTERNSHIP: 64 Days (4th Feb. to 8th Apr, 2019)

ORGANIZATIONAL GUIDE: Mr. Ratul Ch. Nath (Senior Executive)

INSTITUTIONAL GUIDE: Mrs. Monti Kalita, Assistant Professor (NERIM)

NAME OF THE INTERN: Arindam Dutta, MBA 4th Semester

MAJOR FINDINGS:

 Out of 70 employees, 100% says Yes & 0% i.e. nobody says No which shows that the
warehouses follow the SOPs given by the company.
 Out of 70 employees, 67.15% says Yes & 32.85% says No which shows that few of the
employees from the sample size feel that the SOPs doesn’t help the warehouse to be
efficient in its working rather they are a bit lengthy.
 Out of 70 employees, 74.30% says Yes, 14.28% says No and 11.42% feels that SOPs are
somewhat time consuming but not fully. This shows that some of the department of the
warehouse feels that the SOPs are time consuming while for the others they are not a
problem.
 Out of 70 employees, 51.43% says Yes, 15.71% says No and 32.86% are partial
regarding the issue. This shows that some of the employees from the sample size feels
that the change in SOPs will help to work more properly while few of them don’t think
so and the rest are not sure but feels that it might help in working style.
 Out of 70 employees, 100% says Yes & 0% i.e. nobody says No which shows that the
employees are aware of their respective departmental SOPs and have the full knowledge.
 Out of 70 employees, 77.14% agrees & 22.86% disagrees which shows that majority of
the employees are aware of other departmental SOPs while few of them don’t have any
knowledge about other departmental SOPs.
 Out of 70 employees, everyone from the sample size agrees that the SOPs change from
time to time which proves that the SOPs are modified from time to time for the
betterment of the workplace as well as for easy P2D of the products.
 Out of 70 employees, 82.86% agrees & 17.14% disagrees which shows that majority of
the employees feels that they get the knowledge through training and classes before new
SOPs are implemented.
 Out of 70 employees, 61.43% agrees, 24.29% disagrees while 14.28% are not sure
regarding the change required on the existing SOPs. Few of them think that they don’t
have problem whether SOPs are changed or not.
 Out of 70 employees, 94.29% agrees & 5.71% disagrees which shows that almost all the
employees understand the SOPs easily and hence can work according to it while very
few of them find it difficult to understand the SOPs.
 Out of 70 employees, 84.28% agrees & 15.72% disagrees which shows that almost all
the employees feel that the new SOPs will be of great help if improvements are made
while few of them thinks the opposite because regularly SOPs are changed but the
working remains complicated every time.
 Out of 70 employees, 85.71% agrees, 11.43% partially agrees and only 2.86% remains
neutral on the point that the warehouses follow all the SOPs for all the department
separately as laid down by the warehouse and no one feels that the warehouse never
follow the SOPs separately for all the functions.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO. CHAPTER NAME PAGE NO

DECLARATION
CERTIFICATE BY THE GUIDE
CERTIFICATE OF THE ORGANIZATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION
PART-A ABOUT INDUSTRY
PART-B ABOUT COMPANY PROFILE
PART-C ABOUT SUBJECT
CHAPTER-2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
TITLE OF THE STUDY
STATEMENT OF THE STUDY
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
DATA COLLECTION
TYPES OF RESEARCH
SAMPLE SIZE
TOOLS OF DATA COLLECTION
PLAN OF ANALYSIS
REFERENCE PERIOD
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER-3 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

CHAPTER-4 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

CHAPTER-5 SUGGESTION AND CONCLUSION
ANNEXURE-QUESTIONNAIRE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE TABLE NAME PAGE

NUMBE NO.
R
1 Warehouse following the SOPs.
2 SOPs helping warehouse to be efficient in working style.
3 SOPs time consuming or not.
4 Changing the SOPs will help in working style of the Warehouses.
5 Full knowledge of the SOPs of own Department.
6 Full knowledge of the SOPs of other Department
7 Change of SOPs from time to time
8 Provision of training/classes for new SOPs
9 Requirement of change in existing SOPs
10 SOPs are easily understandable
11 SOPs will be of great help if improvements are made

12 Warehouse following the SOPs of all the 4 functions separately as

laid by the company.

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGUR FIGURE NAME PAGE

E NO. NO
1 Warehouse following the SOPs.
2 SOPs helping warehouse to be efficient in working style.
3 SOPs time consuming or not.
4 Changing the SOPs will help in working style of the Warehouses.
5 Full knowledge of the SOPs of own Department.
6 Full knowledge of the SOPs of other Department
7 Change of SOPs from time to time
 8 Provision of training/classes for new SOPs
9 Requirement of change in existing SOPs
10 SOPs are easily understandable
11 SOPs will be of great help if improvements are made

12 Warehouse following the SOPs of all the 4 functions separately as laid by the
company.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1: PART A

ABOUT THE INDUSTRY

Flipkart is one of India’s leading e-commerce marketplaces. It was founded in October 2007
and its headquarters are in Bengaluru. It was founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. This
online venture was initially started as an online bookstore and as the popularity of the company
grew, it expanded and diversified its operations.

It started selling other items such as music, movies, and mobile phones. As the revolution of e-
commerce gained momentum in India, Flipkart grew at an accelerated pace and added several
new product lines in its portfolio.

As of now, the company offers 80 million+ products spread across more than 80 categories such
as mobile phones & accessories, computers and accessories, laptops, books and e-books, home
appliances, electronic goods, clothes and accessories, sports and fitness, baby care, games and
toys, jewelry, footwear, and the list goes on.

Flipkart has 100 million registered users and more than a million sellers on its electronic
commerce platform. To ensure prompt delivery to its customers, the company has invested in
setting up warehouses in 21 states.
This online platform attracts ten million page hits every day and around eight million shipments
are processed every month. Flipkart has also introduced its mobile application, which has
become quite popular, with 50 million+ app users. Flipkart is a billion dollar company and its
valuation in 2016 was INR 15,129 crore (US$2.3 billion). It is also fulfilling its social
responsibility by providing huge scale employments (employs more than 33,000 people).

Flipkart was originally started as an online book store in October 2007. To start Flipkart, the
founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal left their jobs at Amazon and took a huge risk to start
a venture of their own. When the founders thought of starting Flipkart as a company the market
at that time was not so much vibrant and was not adapted to the e-Commerce sector that much.

This means e-commerce in India was mostly non-existent at that time and there was no certainty
about its future. Still, the Bansals decided to take this risk and now it has turned out to be a huge
success.

One of the major problems that Flipkart tackled during its initial years was online payments
because at that time, people in India were averse to make online payments to a virtual store, due
to fear of frauds and loss of money.

To deal with this issue, Flipkart launched its ‘Cash on Delivery’ service, which helped to build
confidence among online buyers. It also made significant efforts to improve the supply chain
system, which helped the company to ensure timely delivery to its customers.

The service competes primarily with Amazon's Indian subsidiary, and the domestic
rival Snapdeal as of March 2017, Flipkart held a 39.5% market share of India's e-commerce
industry. Flipkart is significantly dominant in the sale of apparel (a position that was bolstered
by its acquisitions of Myntra and Jabong), and was described as being "neck and neck" with
Amazon in the sale of electronics and mobile phones. Flipkart also owns PhonePe, a mobile
payments service based on the Unified Payments Interface(UPI).

In August 2018, U.S.-based retail chain Walmart acquired a 77% controlling stake in Flipkart

for US$16 billion, valuing it at $22 billion.

In late 2011, Flipkart made several acquisitions relating to digital distribution, including
Mime360.com and the digital content library of Bollywood portal Chakpak.
In May 2012, Flipkart acquired Letsbuy, an online electronics retailer. In May 2014, Flipkart
acquired Myntra, an online fashion retailer, for ₹20 billion (US$290 million). Myntra continues
to operate alongside Flipkart as a standalone subsidiary; the site focuses on an upscale,
"fashion-conscious" market, while Flipkart itself focuses on the mainstream market and major
international brands.

In February 2014, Flipkart partnered with Motorola Mobility to be the exclusive Indian retailer
of its Moto G smartphone. Motorola also partnered with Flipkart on the Moto E—a phone
targeted primarily towards emerging markets such as India. High demand for the phone caused
the Flipkart website to crash following its midnight launch on 14 May. Flipkart subsequently
held exclusive Indian launches for other smartphones, including the Xiaomi Mi3 in July 2014
(whose initial release of 10,000 devices sold out in around 5 seconds), the Redmi 1S and Redmi

Note in late-2014 (which saw similarly accelerated sellouts), and Micromax's Yu Yunique 2 in

2017.

On 6 October 2014, in honour of the company's anniversary and the Diwali season, Flipkart

held a major sale across the service that it promoted as "Big Billion Day". The event generated a
surge of traffic, selling US$100 million worth of goods in 10 hours. The event received
criticism via social media over technical issues the site experienced during the event, as well as
stock shortages.

In March 2015, Flipkart blocked access to its website on mobile devices, and began requiring
that users download the site's mobile app instead. The following month, Myntra went further
and discontinued its website on all platforms, in favour of operating exclusively through its app.
The "app-only" model, however, proved to be unsuccessful for Myntra (reducing sales by 10%),
and its main website was reinstated in February 2016. The experiment with Myntra led to
suggestions that Flipkart itself would perform a similar move, but this did not occur. In
November 2015, Flipkart launched a new mobile website branded as "Flipkart Lite", which
provides an experience inspired by Flipkart's app that runs within smartphone web browsers.

In April 2015, Flipkart acquired Appiterate, a Delhi-based mobile marketing automation firm.

Flipkart stated that it would use its technology to enhance its mobile services. In October 2015,
Flipkart reprised its Big Billion Day event, except as a multi-day event that would be exclusive
to the Flipkart app. Flipkart also stated that it had bolstered its supply chain and introduced
more fulfilment centres in order to meet customer demand. Flipkart achieved a gross
merchandise volume of US$300 million during the event, with the largest volumes coming from
fashion sales, and the largest value coming from mobiles.

In December 2015, Flipkart purchased a minority stake in the digital mapping

provider MapmyIndia. The company stated that it would licence its data to help improve
delivery logistics. In 2016, Flipkart acquired the online fashion
retailer Jabong.com from Rocket Internet for US$70 million, as well as the UPI mobile
payments startup PhonePe. In January 2017, Flipkart made a US$2 million investment in
Tinystep, a parenting information startup.

Acquisition by Walmart

On 4 May 2018, it was reported that the US retail chain Walmart had won a bidding war with
Amazon to acquire a majority stake in Flipkart for US$15 billion. On 9 May 2018, Walmart

officially announced its intent to acquire a 77% controlling stake in Flipkart for US$16 billion,
subject to regulatory approval. Following the proposed purchase, Flipkart co-founder Sachin
Bansal left the company, while the remaining management now report to Marc Lore, CEO of
Walmart eCommerce US. Walmart president Doug McMillon cited the "attractiveness" of the
market, explaining that their purchase "is an opportunity to partner with the company that is
leading transformation of eCommerce in the market". Indian traders protested against the deal,
considering the deal a threat to domestic business.

Vision of Flipkart

“To become Amazon of India”

Mission of Flipkart

“Providing a delightful and memorable customer experience”

Objective

“Completely hassle free shopping experience with best prices in India”

Tagline

“India ka Fashion Capital”

1.2: PART B

COMPANY PROFILE

A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers,
exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in
industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, towns or villages.

They usually have loading docks to load and unload goods from truck. Sometimes warehouses
are designed for the loading and unloading of goods directly from railways, airports, or
seaports. They often have cranes and forklifts for moving goods, which are usually placed on
standard pallets. Stored goods can include any raw materials, packing materials, spare parts,
components or finished goods associated with agriculture, manufacturing, and production. In
India, warehouse is referred to as a godown.

The Guwahati Warehouse is presently a 14,000 sq. ft. one and has storage capacity of near
about 1,500 large products. This is also known as the Large Distribution Centre or LDC because
only the products weighing 6kgs and more are stored here. It includes Refrigerator, Washing
Machine, Air Cooler, Geyser, Furniture, Fitness Goods, etc.

So basically Flipkart warehouses have 4 different departments where works are done
systematically from accumulating of materials in the warehouse to shipping it from the
warehouse. And hence the Guwahati LDC also have the same 4 functions.

The 4 departments or functions are:

1. Inbound
2. Inventory
3. Outbound
4. Return Centre

Let us discuss about them.

1. Inbound – Inbound is the function where inwarding of the materials are done. This is
one of the most important function because if wrong materials are once inwarded, then
for sure the wrong material will be shipped once order is placed. So the company has
laid many rules and regulations following which quality check is done, outer box is
checked properly. All this is done because for Flipkart, customer is the First Priority. So
the employees at Flipkart looks from the customers’ side and keeping that thing in mind,
they work.
The procedure followed is as follows –
a. Vendors arrive at the dock with the materials.
b. Products are stacked on pallets and the material handlers check the product and its
packaging along other legal matters.
c. Once everything is done on system, the product is stacked into various shelfs with
given system details and finally the confirmation is done in the system. This is the
simple inbound process.

2. Inventory – Inventory generally means the stock that is kept for business holds for the
ultimate goal that is for sale. Here in Flipkart the inventory also means the same, that is
to stock the products so that when orders are placed, the products can be dispatched as
soon as possible. But apart from that, inventory has two more parts here in Flipkart.
They are Goods Transfer List (GTL) & Stock Take.

 Goods Transfer List – It is the list or the process by which goods are transferred
and kept from one place into another. It is an important process because same or
identical products are kept in the same shelf and there may be multiple shelfs
where the same products are kept. So if from one shelf the products keep on
decreasing and only one product remains in one shelf, so GTL can be performed
using system and then the single product can be kept with same products in other
shelfs. This will help in emptying up the space which can be utilized for storing
other products.
 Stock Take – Stock take is the process by which the total stock of the warehouse
is counted physically and matched with the system. There are two variances in
stock take, negative and positive variance. When physical count is less than
system count, it is called the negative variance and when physical count is more
than the system count, it is called the positive variance. Stock take in very large
 warehouses are done after every 1 week or 10 days and in some places it is done
on a daily basis.

3. Outbound – Outbound is the function in which the products are made ready to ship
from the warehouse to the customers. Here in outbound he system indicates the no of
orders on the present date and according to that the products are brought out from the
shelf. The products are then again checked properly along with the system whether the
product is the same which the customer has ordered. After it is done the bill label is
pasted over the product. There are 2 types of Outbound. One is the 3PL and the other is
FSD. 3PL stands for 3rd Party Logistics which includes Gati, Delhivery, etc. For 3PL, the
products are packed with corner angles and shrink wrap for extra protection because we
don’t know how the logistics party will handle the products.
And FSD stands for Flipkart Self Deliver. For this no shrink wrap or corner angle is
required because it is our own Logistics partner and they know how to handle the
products. After the products are packed and are ready for shipping, the vehicle arrives
according to LPST or the Latest Possible Shipping Time, the vehicles are loaded, sealed
and are sent for their respective destinations.

4. Return Centre – Return centre is the function in which the returned items come back. It
has 3 parts RTO, RVP and PREXO. RTO means Return to Origin. Here RTO means
those products which remains undelivered to the customer due to some reason or the
customer has cancelled the order before delivery is attempted. RVP means Reverse
Pickup. Here RVP means those shipments or products which are either opened or used
by the customer and because of some issue, they return it. PREXO means Product
Exchange Offer. We have seen that we can exchange old product for brand new product.
Old products are exchanged with new products with a little discount. Flipkart delivers
the new products and the old product are brought from the customer’s place which also
comes into the return centre. The RVP and PREXO items are liquidated while the RTO
shipments are again put into the fresh inventory.
1.3: PART C

ABOUT THE SUBJECT

The subject is based on warehouse management. In today’s world, transfer of goods and
materials have become one of the most important topic all over the world. After the
globalization, marketing process also has gained pace and because of this, new areas have been
covered up and to keep the products and goods for a longer duration and in a safer manner, the
concept of warehouse has come up. Warehouses are nothing but the storage area or the godown
where the products are stocked and kept. Now if these warehouses are not managed properly,
then the products may be kept in a haphazard manner and when required, it may be a problem to
find out the product. So management of warehouse is very important. In context of Flipkart, the
warehouses should be managed with the given procedures and this is what the subject of this
project report is.
 CHAPTER 2

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1 Title of the Study:

A study on the existing SOPs of all the 4 functions of the warehouse and to suggest and
innovate new practices for better management of the FLIPKART warehouse.

2.2 Statement of the problem:

It is said that warehousing is one of the most important feature in online marketing. This is because if the
warehousing is not proper and the products are damaged, then customers will receive faulty or damaged
product which is against the company rule. If the customers are not satisfied, then that day will be not
near when the company will wind up its business. In this connection, a survey was conducted on behalf
of Flipkart Warehouse to identify the problems associated with the warehousing techniques.

2.3 Objectives of the Study:

The objectives of this study are as follows:

 To analyze whether the existing SOPs are performing well or not for the Flipkart Warehouse
 To analyze whether all the 4 functions of the Flipkart Warehouse follow the SOPs given by the
company or not.
 To find solutions for the existing SOP for betterment of the Flipkart Warehouse

2.4 Scope of the study:

This study covers the warehouse of Flipkart of Guwahati. It will help to reveal the way they
work and also the problems that they are facing while following the SOPs. This report will be useful to
the management of the company in understanding the problems associated with the procedures that the
warehouse has been following and then can take measures accordingly.

2.5 Data collection

Any statistical data can be classified under two categories depending upon the sources utilized. They are-

 Primary Data

The primary data was collected from the respondents by preparing a structured questionnaire.

 Secondary Data

The secondary data for this study was collected from books, journals, company records and
internet.

2.6 Sampling

Sample Population

There are total of 107 employees in the Guwahati LDC & Hooghly LDC of Flipkart.

Sample Size

Out of the Total strength the sample taken amongst workers are 70 respondents.

Sampling Area

The research was conducted at Instakart Services Pvt. Ltd., Changsari, Guwahati

Sample Method

The research method was made by the survey in accordance to the convenience of the employees. So the
sample type is convenience sampling.

2.7 Types of research:

The type of research is descriptive as well as subjective, as it has been prepared from both the
organization and employees’ point of view.

2.8 Tools of data collection:

The tools used for data collection are well structured questionnaires, discussions with the employees of
the Guwahati LDC & Hooghly LDC.

2.9 Plan of Analysis:

The data which is collected from well-structured questionnaires have been analyzed with the help of
tables and graphs. The findings are drawn on the basis of the data analysis and interpretation. Further
conclusion and suggestions are made on the basis of entire study.
2.10 Reference Period:

The reference period for the study is from 4th Feb to 8th Apr ‘2019 i.e. 64 days.

2.11 Limitation of the study:

 The busy time schedule of the employees posed constrain to the study as most of the information
has been collected from them.
 As it was job training cum internship, so we had to simultaneously collect data as well as learn
all the work process.
 As the survey was restricted to a limited number of respondents, so there may be error between
actual result and result shown in the survey.
 CHAPTER 3

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

After collecting the data with the help of structured questionnaires, I have analyzed the data and tried to
express it in the form of tables and graphs which are shown below-

3.1 Warehouse following the SOPs.

Table 1 – Analyzing whether the warehouse follow the SOPs.

Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage

Yes 70 100%
No 0 0%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 100% says Yes & 0% i.e. nobody
says No which shows that the warehouses follow the SOPs given by the company.

Warehouses following the SOPs

120%

100%

80%

60%
100%
40%

20%

0%
0%
Yes No

Warehouses following the SOPs

Figure 1- Depiction of the following of the SOPs by the warehouses.

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that all the employees from the
sample size agree that the warehouses follow the SOPs that are given by the company. So it
implies that the warehouses of Guwahati and Hooghly complies with all the procedures
provided by the company.

3.2 SOPs helping warehouse to be efficient in working style.

Table 2 – Analyzing whether SOPs help warehouse to be efficient in its style of working.

Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage

Yes 47 67.15%
No 23 32.85%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 67.15% says Yes & 32.85% says No
which shows that few of the employees from the sample size feel that the SOPs doesn’t help the
warehouse to be efficient in its working rather they are a bit lengthy.

Figure 2- Depiction of the efficient working style of the warehouses if the SOPs are followed.
 Efficiency in working style

33%

67%

Yes No

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that more than half of the
employees from the sample size agree that the SOPs make the working style of the warehouses
more efficient while few of them disagrees and says that these SOPs make the work lengthy
instead of efficient. So it implies that the employees of Guwahati and Hooghly Warehouse have
mixed reactions regarding efficiency of the working style regarding the SOPs.

3.3 SOPs time consuming or not.

Table 3 – Analyzing whether SOPs consume more time of the employees when followed-

Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage

Yes 52 74.30%
No 10 14.28%
Partially 8 11.42%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 74.30% says Yes, 14.28% says No
and 11.42% feels that SOPs are somewhat time consuming but not fully. This shows that some
of the department of the warehouse feels that the SOPs are time consuming while for the others
they are not a problem.

Figure 3- Depicting whether the SOPs are time consuming or not.

SOPs are time consuming

80.00%

70.00%

60.00%

50.00%

40.00%

30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%
Yes No Partially

SOPs are time consuming

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that most of the employees from
the sample size feels that the SOPs are time consuming as they are lengthy and hence creates
problem while working while few of them feels that the SOPs are okay and there is no problem
with them while few are unsure but feels that SOPs may be time consuming. So it implies that
the employees of Guwahati and Hooghly Warehouse have mixed reactions regarding time
consumption by the SOPs.

3.4 Changing the SOPs will help in working style of the Warehouses.

Table 4 – Analyzing whether change in the existing SOPs will help in the working style of the
Warehouses.

Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage

Yes 36 51.43%
No 11 15.71%
Partially 23 32.86%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 51.43% says Yes, 15.71% says No
and 32.86% are partial regarding the issue. This shows that some of the employees from the
sample size feels that the change in SOPs will help to work more properly while few of them
don’t think so and the rest are not sure but feels that it might help in working style.

Figure 4- Depicting whether the change in SOPs will help in the working style.

Change in SOPs will help in the working style

60.00%

50.00%

40.00%
51.43%
30.00%
32.86%
20.00%
15.71%
10.00%

0.00%
Yes No Partially

Change in SOPs will help in the working style

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that half of the employees from the
sample size feels that the change in the SOPs will help to change the working style of the
warehouses while very few think that it will not help but among them some are there who are
not sure whether the change in SOPs will really help in changing the working style of the
warehouse. So it implies that the employees of Guwahati and Hooghly Warehouse have mixed
reactions regarding the change in SOPs.

3.5 Full knowledge of the SOPs of own Department.

Table 5 – Analyzing whether the employees of the various departments have knowledge of their
respective SOPs.

Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage

 Yes 70 100%
No 0 0%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 100% says Yes & 0% i.e. nobody
says No which shows that the employees are aware of their respective departmental SOPs and
have the full knowledge.

Figure 5- Depiction of the knowledge that employees have regarding their departmental SOPs

Knowledge about own Departmental SOPs

120%

100%

80%

60%
100%
40%

20%

0%
0%
Yes No

Knowledge regarding the departmental SOPs

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that all the employees from the
sample size agree that they have the full knowledge about their respective departmental SOPs.
So it implies that the employees of the warehouses of Guwahati and Hooghly are sincere in their
works.

3.6 Full knowledge of the SOPs of other Department.

Table 6 Analyzing whether the employees of different departments have knowledge of other
departments’ SOPs.
 Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage
Yes 54 77.14%
No 16 22.86%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 77.14% agrees & 22.86% disagrees
which shows that majority of the employees are aware of other departmental SOPs while few of
them don’t have any knowledge about other departmental SOPs.

Figure 6- Depiction of the knowledge that employees have regarding other departmental SOPs

Knowledge about other departmental SOPs

23%

Yes
No

77%

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that majority of the employees
from the sample size agree that they have the knowledge about other departmental SOPs while
very few of them don’t know regarding other departmental SOPs.
3.7 Change of SOPs from time to time.

Table 7 Analyzing whether the SOPs changes from time to time and are updated or not.

Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage

Yes 70 100%
No 0 0%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, everyone from the sample size
agrees that the SOPs change from time to time which proves that the SOPs are modified from
time to time for the betterment of the workplace as well as for easy P2D of the products.

Figure 7- Depiction of the change of SOPs from time to time.

Change of SOPs from time to time

120%

100%
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
0%
Yes No

Change of SOPs from time to time

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that all the employees from the
sample size feel that the SOPs change from time to time. And everyone are accustomed with the
timely change of the working procedures.
3.8 Provision of training/classes for new SOPs

Table 8 Analyzing whether the employees are provided with trainings or not before implementing new
SOPs.

Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage

Yes 58 82.86%
No 12 17.14%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 82.86% agrees & 17.14% disagrees
which shows that majority of the employees feels that they get the knowledge through training
and classes before new SOPs are implemented.

Figure 8- Depiction of the training and classes given to employees before implementing new
SOPs

Training/Classes provided to the Employees for new SOPs

17%

Yes
No

83%

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that most of the employees from
the sample size agree that for them training and classes are conducted for every new SOPs that
are brought into use while few of them feel that proper training are not provided to them.
3.9 Requirement of change in existing SOPs

Table 9 Analyzing whether the existing SOPs need any change or not.

Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage

Yes 43 61.43 %
No 17 24.29%
Partially 10 14.28%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 61.43% agrees, 24.29% disagrees
while 14.28% are not sure regarding the change required on the existing SOPs. Few of them
think that they don’t have problem whether SOPs are changed or not.

Figure 9 - Depiction of the requirement of change in existing SOPs

Requirement of change in the existing SOPs

70.00%
61.43%
60.00%

50.00%

40.00%

30.00%
24.29%
20.00%
14.28%
10.00%

0.00%
Yes No Partially

Requirement of change in the existing SOPs

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that most of the employees from
the sample size agree that the exiting old SOPs should be changed and new SOPs should be
introduced while few of them say that the existing SOPs are alright. But among them very few
are unsure whether the change is required or not.

3.10 SOPs are easily understandable.

Table 10 Analyzing whether the SOPs are easily understood by the employees or not.

Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage

Yes 66 94.29%
No 4 5.71%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 94.29% agrees & 5.71% disagrees
which shows that almost all the employees understand the SOPs easily and hence can work
according to it while very few of them find it difficult to understand the SOPs.

Figure 10 - Depiction of the SOPs being understandable.

SOPs are understandable

6%

Yes
No

94%

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that the employees easily
understand the SOPs, rules and regulations laid by the company by following which they can
easily do their work on time. But among them very few are there who finds it difficult to
understand the SOPs. Overall, the SOPs are understandable by the employees.

3.11 SOPs will be of great help if improvements are made.

Table 11 Analyzing whether the new SOPs will help in working if improvements are made.
 Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage
Yes 59 84.28%
No 11 15.72%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 84.28% agrees & 15.72% disagrees
which shows that almost all the employees feel that the new SOPs will be of great help if
improvements are made while few of them thinks the opposite because regularly SOPs are
changed but the working remains complicated every time.

Figure 11 - Depiction of the new SOPs helping in work if improved.

New SOPs will help in working when improved

90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes No

New SOPs will help in working when improved

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that majority of the employees
from the sample size thinks that the new SOPs will be of great help for them to work with when
improvements are made but few of them thinks that even if improvements are made in new
SOPs, still they will not help in the working.

3.12 Warehouse following the SOPs of all the 4 functions separately as laid by the company.
Table 12 Analyzing whether the 4 functions of the warehouse follow the SOPs separately laid by the
Company

Types of Responses No. of Responses Response Percentage

Agree 60 85.71%
Partially Agree 8 11.43%
Neutral 2 2.86%
Partially Disagree 0 0%
Disagree 0 0%
Total 70 100%

Analysis:
From the above table we can see that out of 70 employees, 85.71% agrees, 11.43% partially
agrees and only 2.86% remains neutral on the point that the warehouses follow all the SOPs for
all the department separately as laid down by the warehouse and no one feels that the warehouse
never follow the SOPs separately for all the functions.

Figure 12 - Depiction of the warehouse following the SOPs of the 4 functions separately as
given by the company.

War ehous e f ollowing the SOPs of the 4 Functi ons

s epar ately
Warehouse following the SOPs of the 4 Functions separately

90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00% 85.71%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00% 0.00% 0.00%
11.43%
10.00% 2.86%
0.00%
Agree Partially Agree Neutral Partially Disagree Disagree

Interpretation: From the above diagram, it can be interpreted that majority of the employees
from the sample size thinks that the warehouse follows the SOPs of the 4 functions separately
while only few of them are neutral regarding the point which shows that the warehouses strictly
follows the guidelines and rules.

3.13 Solution for change in SOP

Throughout the training period we noticed some major problems which was because of the warehouse
was following the existing SOPs which led to more hard work, more cost and time wastage. So here are
few of the Solutions which the warehouse should follow or the company should implement so that the
work becomes easy as well as the cost is reduced.

In-charge should be given with certain power like Dock Rejection if the vendor brings without
following stacking norms, rejecting the materials if manufacturing date is more than 12 months,
etc. Because when the vendor brings the products to the warehouse, even then SOPs have to be
followed, and if the vendor do not follow the SOPs, then the warehouse has the right to reject the
material, but for that they have to write up to the seniors at Kolkata and then reply will come
which is a long process, so the power to reject should be given in the hands of the in-charge of
the warehouse.
IWIT materials with issues which chocks the QC Rejection Area, will be automatically moved to
RC Liquidation Bulk after 1 week. When sometimes the materials coming into the warehouse
doesn’t clear the quality check and has some issue, then it is directly sent to the quality check
rejection area. But it takes a lot of time to solve the problem which is solved centrally.
Insurance eligibility should be brought down to ₹ 5,000/- from ₹ 12,000/- . The old SOP should
be followed again. Following the new SOP is a loss for the company. Previously the insurance
was done for products with Rs. 5000/- and above but now it has been changed to Rs. 12000/-
and above.
For 3PL Delivery, Indoor Unit of an AC should also be protected using corner angles. This is
because the handling of 3PL partners are very bad, they don’t handle it properly which has many
times led to damage od box before even reaching the customer. So to protect from that, Corner
Angles are fitted.
There should be a provision for Auto generation of “Manifest” for 3PL for lesser Error. This is
because for FSD, the manifest is auto generated by the system, but for the 3PL, the manifest
with all details are written by hand, so there may be some error which may lead to various other
problems.
GTL process should be made easier. Two options should be there. Pick and Put. This is done to
free up space, but the process is a long one it is very complicated too. So to make t easier, only
two option should be kept.
Instead of “Mark as Lost”, there should be an option as “Not Found” & “Found”. Deduction
from inventory will only be possible after manager decision. Mark as Lost when pressed, it will
automatically show that the product is not in the warehouse, but sometimes it may happen that
the product is misplaced but is still in the warehouse. So options should be found and not found
so that the work becomes easy.
There is no perfect SOP for stacking of materials in return center. This leads to problem in
stacking as the products received are either damaged or not in good condition. PREXO materials
(Refrigerator & Washing Machine) should be stacked horizontally.
Shrink wraps should not be used for 3PL. Instead of that corner angles should be used along
with straps.
Shrink wraps are hazardous for the environment as well so these also creates pollution. Instead
of that, to protect the product, corner angles should be used which is a much safer option.

Corner Angle Fitting Shrink Wrap Used

 CHAPTER 4
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
After the analysis of the collected data, these are the findings which I have got and are mentioned below.

Findings of the study.

 Out of 70 employees, 100% says Yes & 0% i.e. nobody says No which shows that the
warehouses follow the SOPs given by the company.
 Out of 70 employees, 67.15% says Yes & 32.85% says No which shows that few of the
employees from the sample size feel that the SOPs doesn’t help the warehouse to be
efficient in its working rather they are a bit lengthy.
 Out of 70 employees, 74.30% says Yes, 14.28% says No and 11.42% feels that SOPs are
somewhat time consuming but not fully. This shows that some of the department of the
warehouse feels that the SOPs are time consuming while for the others they are not a
problem.
 Out of 70 employees, 51.43% says Yes, 15.71% says No and 32.86% are partial
regarding the issue. This shows that some of the employees from the sample size feels
that the change in SOPs will help to work more properly while few of them don’t think
so and the rest are not sure but feels that it might help in working style.
 Out of 70 employees, 100% says Yes & 0% i.e. nobody says No which shows that the
employees are aware of their respective departmental SOPs and have the full knowledge.
 Out of 70 employees, 77.14% agrees & 22.86% disagrees which shows that majority of
the employees are aware of other departmental SOPs while few of them don’t have any
knowledge about other departmental SOPs.
 Out of 70 employees, everyone from the sample size agrees that the SOPs change from
time to time which proves that the SOPs are modified from time to time for the
betterment of the workplace as well as for easy P2D of the products.
 Out of 70 employees, 82.86% agrees & 17.14% disagrees which shows that majority of
the employees feels that they get the knowledge through training and classes before new
SOPs are implemented.
 Out of 70 employees, 61.43% agrees, 24.29% disagrees while 14.28% are not sure
regarding the change required on the existing SOPs. Few of them think that they don’t
have problem whether SOPs are changed or not.
 Out of 70 employees, 94.29% agrees & 5.71% disagrees which shows that almost all the
employees understand the SOPs easily and hence can work according to it while very
few of them find it difficult to understand the SOPs.
 Out of 70 employees, 84.28% agrees & 15.72% disagrees which shows that almost all
the employees feel that the new SOPs will be of great help if improvements are made
while few of them thinks the opposite because regularly SOPs are changed but the
working remains complicated every time.
 Out of 70 employees, 85.71% agrees, 11.43% partially agrees and only 2.86% remains
neutral on the point that the warehouses follow all the SOPs for all the department
separately as laid down by the warehouse and no one feels that the warehouse never
follow the SOPs separately for all the functions.
 CHAPTER 5
SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Suggestions –

1. Warehouse should be kept clean. It should be dusted off regularly so that when the
product reaches the customer, the outer packaging box doesn’t look dirty and also it
creates a bad impression of the company.
2. Space utilization should be done properly so that more space can be freed up for the new
products. Identical products should be kept in the same area or shelf so that it becomes
easy to find as well as the extra occupied space is freed up.
3. The shipping station and the area for cutting corner angles should be managed properly
as this is the main part before the product is packed and left for delivery.
4. The warehouse staff and the material handlers should be trained regularly because
sometimes their handling is not according to the norms which may lead to damaged
product or even accidents may happen and they may get hurt.
5. Install CCTV cameras at the Inbound section because that is the part where the products
come into the warehouse and security is very important for that place as well.
6. Picking methods should be made more easy because repeated scanning of various codes
are required and it takes time so if one time scanning can be done and the rest process is
carried out, then the time consumption will be very less and the works will also be
efficient.
Conclusion –

The warehouse is a key component of the supply chain in emergencies. It buffers uncertainties
and breakdowns that may occur in the supply chain. When properly managed and appropriately
stocked a warehouse provides a consistent supply of material when it is needed.
Warehousing reduces the time and required expenses. It also protects the goods and services
from being wasted. But for all these to be successful, the warehousing should be done
efficiently and following the proper procedures. Everything works in a procedure and these
procedures are set by the upper level managements. But sometimes following these procedures
also lead to more time consumption as well as more expense.
It can be concluded that the study has fulfilled its objective in finding out the various procedures
that the warehouse follow and also the problems associated with it.
It can be concluded that Flipkart is a good organization to work with. The findings and
suggestions of this study can help the organization in the long run to rerain the No. 1 position as
the most preferred Online shopping site.
APPENDICES AND ANNEXURE
BIBLIOGRAPHY –

1. More V. S. (2016), “The study of Efficiency and Effectiveness of Warehouse

Management in the context of Supply Chain Management”, International Journal of
Engineering Technology, Management of Applied Sciences, August 2016, Volume 4,
Issue 8, ISSN 2349 – 4476.
2. Paul Y. (2015), “Managing stock in Warehouse”, Journal of Business and
Management, 2015, Vol. 4, No. 7, 830 – 834.
3. Subramanya N. K. (2012), “Impact of Warehouse Management System in a Supply
Chain”, International Journal of Computer Applications, September 2012, Volume
54, No. 1, 0975 – 8887.

Websites referred

 https://www.statista.com/statistics/251666/number-of-digital-buyers-worldwide/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart
 https://www.startupopinions.com/flipkart-company-profile/
 https://www.flipkart.com/
 https://www.google.com
 QUESTIONNAIRE

As a part of my MBA 4th Semester project at NERIM Group of Institutions,

Guwahati, I am conducting a survey on the Topic – “A study on the existing
SOPs of all the 4 functions of the warehouse and to suggest and
innovate new practices for better management of the FLIPKART
warehouse.” I will appreciate if you could kindly fill up this questionnaire.
Any information obtained in connection with this study that can be identified
with you will remain confidential.

Thanking You
Arindam Dutta

Respondent Details –

Name – Age -

Gender - Male Female

1. Does the warehouse follow all the SOPs given by the company?

a. Yes b. No

2. Are the SOPs helping the company to be efficient in its working style?

a. Yes b. No

3. Are the SOPs time consuming?

a. Yes b. No c. Partially

4. If the SOPs are changed, will it help in the working style of the
warehouse?

a. Yes b. No c. Partially

5. Do you have full knowledge about the SOP of your particular Dept.?
 a. Yes b. No

6. Do you have knowledge about the SOPs of the other Dept.?

a. Yes b. No

7. Do the SOPs change from time to time?

a. Yes b. No

8. Is training/classes provided for new SOPs before implementing it?

a. Yes b. No

9. Do you think that the existing SOPs need any change?

a. Yes b. No c. Partially

10. Are the SOPs easily understandable?

a. Yes b. No

11. Do you feel that the new SOPs will be of great help if improvements are
made?

a. Yes b. No

12. Does the warehouse follow all the SOPs of all the 4 functions separately
as laid by the company?

Tick whichever is applicable

1. Agree
2. Partially Agree
3. Neutral
4. Partially Disagree
5. Disagree
Solution for change in SOP -