1.

Project Cargo Logistics

Project cargo is also called Over Dimension Cargo (ODC) and often referred to as Heavy
Lift cargo due to its typical characteristic. Project Cargo is a specialized field of freight
forwarding requiring immense expertise, experience, and knowledge. It plays a very
important role in development of a country or region as most of the infrastructural
projects fall in this category.

Project contracts are spread over long periods of time and are price competitive in nature
and are often fairly fixed in cost. Such constraints necessitate building project logistics
contracts that account for variable nature of the cargo and also arbitrage to cover
variations in freight charges, insurance cost and to some extent also cover statutory costs.
Providing logistics to such projects involves huge costs, both of the goods and the
delivery of goods. Sometimes cost of delivering the product exceeds the cost of providing
the product. Thus time taken to deliver and cost of delivering the product also plays an
important role in the decision making on the project viability.

Example:

 Loading of various equipments and components on board a ship/vessel

 Delivering a power generator to a power plant located in east India

 Delivering of special coaches for trains in India from Germany

2. Specialty Logistics

Many products require special consideration while transport and delivery due to the
nature of the product. Such goods are not bulky and can be comfortably delivered in
standard packaging at any location. However unlike project cargo, these products require
special attention due to the value of the product hence the insurance costs is very high.
High insurance cost coupled with high cost of the product makes it important to ensure
 safety of the product. While diamonds, other precious stones, gold and other valuable
items require adequate security then products like food (vegetables and fruits) require
refrigeration during transit complemented by quick delivery schedule. Organic products
at times are required to pass through complex environmental clearances before entering
another country. If special care of such consignments is not taken then it may result in
damaging the product utility to the customer.

Examples:

 Diamond, gold and silver trade and jewelry market

 Pharmaceutical sector (medicines)
 Sports equipments
 Important documents

3. Ancillary Cargo Logistics

You need to rework this to include aspects of repeatability, vast product variability, EDI,
consolidation and break bulking.

India has emerged as an important destination for automobile majors across the world
due to highly skilled workforce available at relatively low price and cheap availability of
raw materials. With bulk of automobile majors establish their manufacturing presence
and new entrants setting up plants across the country, the challenge is to link them to the
wide spread network of ancillary units.
Such industry requires

Such cargo requires fast movement from ancillary units to the OEMs factory. With
product delivery schedule reducing and more and more importance being given to
product differentiation at the point of sales, it is mandatory for both, the OEM as well as
the ancillary units to deliver on time. With product margins shrinking due to increasing
competition and customer awareness and the focus shifting from customer satisfaction to
customer delight at a price the customer is willing to pay, the production planning has
 seen big change. The companies are using technology to minimize cost of carrying
inventory by practicing JIT manufacturing processes, Lean production systems and
vendor management inventory concepts to name a few.

All this requires great deal of understanding and coordination between what the customer
wants and when the supplier can deliver what the customer wants. Thereby the kind of
logistical challenges faced in this type of cargo are typical where similar components
have to be delivered repeatedly, along the same route and delivery on schedule is of
prime importance. Here cost of delivery is not as high as the cost of delay in the delivery.
Though the cost of the components is less, delay in delivery schedule means that the high
value end product is not available to the consumer, thereby adversely affecting the
demand for that product and aiding in sales of competitors products.

4. Retail Logistics

In a highly competitive retail market, known for changing consumer preferences,

different types of set-ups spread across large geographical store areas, the responsibility
of retail logistics to ensure efficiency and cost margins is significant. Hence, it can also
be said that often viability of retail operations depends on having efficient logistics and
responsive supply chains as much as it depends on the success achieved in over the
counter sales.

With low operating margins and fierce competition, holding onto one’s market share or
increasing it is a very difficult. Times have changed from when if the product was not
available on shelf the customer would wait for its replenishment and be loyal to the
brand. Today, customer’s preferences are dynamic and are bold to try different products
(brands) if one is not available. In such a scenario, not having an efficient logistics
system to ensure that one’s product is available in right quantity at right place at right
time is detrimental to the business.
 Efficient supply chain adds value to the product and makes it cost effective as well. It is a
prerogative of retail logistics to ensure that break bulking is done at the right location and
sufficient quantity of inventory is kept at optimal distance from the retail outlets.

Example:

1. FMCG products
2. Electronic products
3. Stationery

5. Commodity Logistics

There are certain basic essential commodities that one needs in routine of their lives.
Products like cement and steel are basic necessity at any construction site while food
grains and perishable goods are necessity of every home. It is necessary to plan this field
of logistics as the cost of logistics (and thus the product itself) is greatly dependent on
cost per unit. With demand fluctuation happening not only due to consumer preference
but also due to the seasonality, it becomes very essential to plan the flow of
materials/products well in advance and be able to execute it at the right time.

As seasons play a major role during efficient planning and execution of the logistics
cycle, it is important to cover up major portion of the investment during the peak season,
which generally lasts for a period of 3-4 months. To be able to successfully manage the
flow of materials during peak season, it is important to have planned the logistics support
well in advance and at right cost. Unlike other fields of logistics, in commodity logistics
there is a great correlation of price management and the infrastructure (transport, break
bulking, cross docking, etc) management.

Examples:

1. Fertilizers
2. Cement