Hima Parvataneni, CEO of Navata Supply Chain Solutions, is a third-generation entrepreneur with 15 years of experience working in varied firms, primarily in the tech space in Silicon Valley. With expertise in B2B supply chain, the company launched supply Chain Solutions in April 2020, solving customer problems for over 200+ B2B clients.
In a conversation with Women Entrepreneurs Review Magazine, Hima shares the various aspects of implementing technology in supply chain and logistics. She talks about how AI and automation can remove barriers and connectvendors and supply chain leaders on a fine track ensuring smooth framework. Hima also sheds light on the challenges faced by logistics providers when addressing local and global demands. Read on to know more.
How would you describe the current market conditions in B2B logistics, particularly in light of increased demand for operational efficiency? What new trends or disruptions are you observing that could shape the future of this industry?
India has experienced significant changes in its supply chain over the past decade, with consumers now having around 100 different ways to buy the same product. This has put pressure on supply chain leaders to make the supply chain a competitive advantage. B2B logistics plays a crucial role, as over 90 per cent of commerce is still B2B, particularly in rural India.
The Indian supply chain costs around 12 per cent to 14 per cent of overall revenue compared to the global standard of around eight per cent. The supply chain leader mostly faces two challenges, to optimize their supply chain to meet customer demands of increased service levels, visibility, and reducing costs. They are focusing on optimizing the entire supply chain value, incorporating automation in industries like agriculture and FMCG electronics, and outsourcing to specialists to manage the entire supply chain.
Another aspect is increased rural consumption where leaders are looking for disruptions to reach these rural consumers in less time and cost. To meet this demand, supply chain leaders are looking for B2B logistics partners who can help to organize and build visibility with the vendors.
B2C logistics has heavily leaned on consumer behavior data to optimize delivery times and routes. How are B2B companies harnessing data in a different way, given the more complex and layered nature of business relationships? Could predictive analytics redefine the future of B2B logistics?
Data plays a crucial role in supply chain, as every touchpoint is tracked throughout the journey. However, the current supply chain faces challenges due to the fragmented nature of data. The inclusion of AI and automation are the main innovations that can be incorporated into B2B logistics that can help to address the vendor's data and supplier's data into a reliable dashboard, allowing decision-makers to optimize the value chain. This innovation is driving change in the industry, as B2B logistics now uses a combination operational model, which generates an AI bot to optimize transit time, vehicle utilization, and delivery speed. This significantly helps to improve what the current partners in the market are doing to this and make it a more plug-and-play model.
Customers are more interested in holistic optimization at a value chain level, rather than just optimizing in silos. In B2B, logistics players focus on vehicle utilization, which is different in B2C, where pricing models are per parcel. To optimize vehicle utilization, technologies like predictive analytics are used to determine optimal vehicle count, size, and route.
To maximize the benefits of predictive analytics, companies need to focus on building end-to-end clean data integration systems. The current supply chain rate involves over 20-30 vendors, making data fragmented. To use predictive analytics, companies must integrate all vendors and ensure data flow cleanly.
B2Bsupply chains can be more complex with multiple stakeholders involved. What innovations in logistic management help to streamline this complexity?How do you think technology and automation play a role in making B2B logistics more efficient?
Integrating companies should focus on achieving their end goals through investing in integrated tech platforms. The major innovations such as predictive analytics, advanced transport management systems, IoT tracking, and controlled tower services can significantly impact their operations. Automation in warehouses, such as robotics and task management, can help reduce losses and returns and automate all mundane tasks. The integration of robotics, ML, and AI also optimizes the last mile, which contributes to 20 per cent of overall supply chain costs. By integrating all vendors into one platform, companies can optimize their delivery methods and identify the right vendors for rural areas.
B2C companies are known for emphasizing customer experience, but in B2B, the relationship dynamics and expectations differ significantly. How is the role of customer experience evolving in B2B logistics? What strategies should companies adopt to build lasting, value-driven relationships with their clients?
B2B and B2C logistics industries are driven by customer satisfaction and relationships, but many big companies have been around for decades, making their solutions less relevant. This has led to rigid systems that prioritize serving their operations over the customer. To address this, new companies should focus on supply chain solutions that are customer-centric and work as growth partners for customers.
Simplified dashboards can help customers answer questions about consignments and billing data, reducing the need for multiple customer care executives or tracking portals. A system that consolidates vendor tracking information into one portal can help streamline the process. Major players should also focus on building or rethinking CRM teams, providing a single point of contact for all customer requirements, and providing proactive communication on delays and issues.
Modern trade is a major channel for most companies in India, with supermarkets contributing significantly to market share and reaching rural penetration. B2B logistics faces challenges in managing appointments and ensuring timely delivery, which can lead to direct loss of sales. To address this, tech should integrate with customer systems, end modern trade solutions, and transporter portals, providing regular alerts and rescheduling appointments.
B2B logistics players play a significant role in helping companies manage modern trade channels by providing plug-and-play solutions that cater to different customer needs. These solutions should include a customer-centric experience for modern trade, general trade solutions, shipping solutions, and FDL solutions, all of which should integrate with the customer's tech.
As B2B logistics companies scale from regional to global operations, what are some of the key challenges that arise in maintaining operational consistency, compliance, and quality? How can companies ensure that local needs are addressed while maintaining the agility and standards of a global logistics network?
Local needs vary significantly by geography, and logistics players operating in different states must understand individual local needs and set up scalable supply chain operations (SOPs). This involves considering individual use cases, such as union payments at the time of delivery, which can vary significantly based on the regional level. To build a scalable product, leaders must understand the realities of end customers and vendors, and build systems that can be scaled to different geographies.
Setting up KPIs at a high level and then trickling them down to a local level is crucial. For example, a 95 per cent service level for urban deliveries is possible for urban consignors, but a 90 per cent service level for agro companies in rural areas is not possible.
Indian logistics companies face compliance issues compared to global standards, such as the introduction of GST, which has led to standardization in taxation and penalties for e-Way Bills. The government is learning from these issues and working with various associations to create a more consolidated and successful compliant solution.
Inclusive initiatives from the government, such as the Indian Logistics Index and focus on infrastructure, are empowering the industry to move towards global standards, but it may take years to achieve them.
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