OPERATIONS

MANAGEMENT

Group Members:Abhinav Thakur

Adil Garg

15DM004
15DM009

Akhil Surendran

15DM015

Anish Patnaik

15DM025

Anshul Gupta

15DM033

Ayush Jain

15DM042

ABSTRACT
In this project, our main emphasis was to map out business processes of DTDC. We had visited
DTDC facility at alpha 2 Greater Noida as well as hub at Noida. The route map of the project
was to visit the site, interaction with the manager and observation of their day to day activities so
that we could figure out any wasteful activities and come up with any idea or process to remove
or reduce such activities. In the execution, first we had meeting at collection and distribution
agency in Greater Noida, after which we approached the Noida hub manager. Along with this, we
had collected secondary data related with DTDC and logistics industry to have an overview and
overall understanding of the industry.

INTRODUCTION
DTDC Courier & Cargo Ltd. is one of the leading Express distribution company in India
covering both domestic and international services. Incorporated in the year 1990, DTDC is in its
21st year of operations in India. It has a large delivery network covering close to 10,000 pin
codes giving its customers the best reach in the country. Its efficient international network spans
over 240 global destinations supported by its own offices in US, UK, DUBAI, SINGAPORE,
CANADA, BANGLADESH, HONGKONG, SRI LANKA, NEPAL, TURKEY and associate
offices in all the important global destinations.
Head quartered in Bangalore DTDC has its Zonal offices in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and
Kolkata supported by 300 plus own offices and over 5400 channel partner offices spread across
the country delivering over 100 million shipments every year. Company has the state of art IT
infrastructure to support their operations and has built many customized applications for its
corporate clients.

Objective of the project

The aim of our project is to map out business process, find out any wasteful activities and
suggest any idea or process to remove or reduce such activities. For our project our target
organization is DTDC.

ABOUT DTDC
DTDC has been innovating constantly to provide products and services that meet customers
current and future needs. Today you will find DTDC offering wide range of services like Express
courier, cargo, end to end supply chain solutions, Retail services like ticketing solutions, bill
payments, Mobile & DTH top ups apart from Training supply chain professionals through its
supply chain training institute.
DTDCs Customer profile cuts across the industry verticals covering banking, insurance,
telecom, manufacturing and IT. Company provides excellent solutions for E commerce business
and has capability of seamless integration of applications with the customer providing efficient
transaction and database management. Major clients include Airtel, Aircel, BHEL, Godrej, LIC,
Bata, Amway, Parle, Bajaj, Skoda etc.
E-solutions
DTDC has deployed a state-of-the-art technology backed by efficient operations infrastructure to
provide enhanced services to all its customers.
The high-end IT capabilities ensure end-to-end tracking of each consignment at all stages right
from booking to delivery. The data is readily available on the web for customer reference.
Corporate customers are provided customized solutions to meet their service requirements and an
efficient Management Information System MIS support by way of timely automated reports to
keep track of their large number of shipments effortlessly.
E-Notify
DTDC E-Notify is a web-based solution for priority services. To enable this service, customers
need to mention the shipment numbers along with their email details for the types of notification
they might prefer: Delivery, Exception, etc. Customers are notified automatically about the latest
status of their consignments, whether they are delivered, held up, not delivered or Return to
Origin (RTO) and (based on customers choice).

Corporate Tracker
DTDC Corporate Tracker is a web-based tracking solution which is available only for corporate
customers who provide bulk load in regular basis. Secure Login and password are provided to
customers to access the DTDC Customer portal for tracking their load status either for an
individual consignment or for a specific period. Other than internet connectivity no other
software installation is required to access the website.
E-Tracker
DTDC E-Tracker is a unique Tracking solution mainly for the customer who does not want to
open the browser and track the consignment explicitly from the Portal. It is a desktop-based
application that the customers need to install on his local system. (Not required)To get the latest
consignment status, all the customers have to do is to go online and point their computer mouse
just on top of the application icon on their desktops. A tiny online window will display the
shipment status for all their deliveries.
Web Pickup
DTDC Web Pickup is a total online pickup solution for the customer. Customers need to submit
pickup requests through the DTDC web portal. On successful submission, the requests will be
forwarded to the designated pickup office. DTDC executives will pick up the shipment from
customers premises within a stipulated time.
E-Invoice
This is DTDCs Green-Initiative. Corporate customers and Channel partners need to login to the
customers portal and view their current and old invoices at any point of time. Authorized
customers can also download their invoices and print if required.
E- Compliance
DTDC E-Compliance is a web-based complain forum for the corporate customers and channel
partners. Without any special application installed to run this, customers can register their service

complaints on the portal. Complaints are tracked with unique complaint numbers and details are
available with complete communication history. Customers can also view the support matrix
with age wise analysis.
OPERATIONS IN NOIDA
A. For distribution of incoming packages
There are different agencies which are in partnership with DTDC. Each agency is
assigned with a particular area in the territory. There territorial rights are preserved so that
no two agencies have conflict with each other.
B. Outgoing packages
Customers can schedule a pick up request by clicking on the option available on
company website or they can personally visit any of the agency. As per rules,
customer need to pack the consignment in the presence of DTDC officials for

security reasons.
In case packing is not done in front of the DTDC officials, the collecting person
takes two ID proofs of the customers to handle the subsequent security issues if

arise in case.
In the evening, collected packages are processed to DTDC hub, Noida. Here,
barcode is generated for each package. Each package is handled as per priority

requirement.
From the hub, all the packages are directly sent to airport.
As the barcode is generated, whole information related to that particular package
becomes available on company website like date of booking, source, destination

hub and expected date of delivery.

In the premium category, next day delivery option is available for metros.In
others, 2 to 3 days are taken for delivery at doorstep

METHODOLGY

1) Research plan

Telephonic
conversation

To contact and derive information from corporate sector.

Hub Visit

To understand the entire process from dispatchment to

delivery.
To know manager's opinion about problems faced on daily
basis.
To know the present condition of the company in service
sector.
To know problems faced by logistics department with
customers.

Agency Visit

In order to carry out the process map of DTDC for the identification and elimination of the
wasteful activities, direct contact with the agency office of DTDC was required. Group members
visited the agency office in Alpha-2, Greater Noida. Thereby understanding the entire process
verbally from the contacted person. A visit to the hub station was also required to understand the
entire process from the dispatching of the item to the final delivery and also to know the day to
day problems faced by the company. Alternative research plans, such as interview with the
manager of the hub and telephonic conversations were also used for deeper understanding of the
day-to-day functions of the hub.

1.1) Preliminary Investigation

DTDC is the third party logistic provider, providing multiple logistic services for
customers. The prime services include transportation, warehousing, cross-docking,
inventory management, packaging and freight forwarding.
One of the prime issues faced by DTDC is the problem related with transportation. Since
courier and logistics services function with time factor and have clients who prefer or
want their goods on time, the mode of transportation and channels are often given high
rank of importance and disturbances in the channel of transportation, which includes
human or non-human errors can be a cause of loss of goods or revenue for the company.
Normal courier service differs extensively when compared to logistics services. The
former focuses on small scale delivery while the latter concentrates more on large scale
delivery of goods to its customers, mainly the industrial customers.

The restrictions implicated by DTDC on certain goods/products transfer and delivery are
explosives, flammable liquids and solids, oxidizers and organic per oxides, radioactive
material, corrosives etc. Such goods and products contain hazardous characteristics and
are categorized by the IATA in the Dangerous Goods Regulations.

1.2)

Explorative Study

Solution to a particular problem faced by any company cannot be full proof, although amount of
loss can be reduced. Reducing cost at the same time earning profit could increase sustainability.
In case of DTDC, the problem lies with its loading and unloading time gaps which disturbs the
flow of transportation.
When a third party logistics provider is compared with a normal business firm concentrating on
FMCG or other products, the former needs to imply more attention to its clients because of the
direct customer relationship, which is needed for service based companies, unlike the latter
which approaches intermediaries for disturbing its physical products to its customers. Hence
losses can be greater when a service company is involved with its clients. In case of DTDC, if a
courier does not reach its destination on time, it would result in complete refund thereby
increasing the overall cost of the delivery and also loss to the company.

2) Research Design

Primary sources
Questionair
Interview
re

Telephoni
c
Interview

Secondary sources
Web
Reference
s

Existing
Company
Reports

3rd Party
Reference
s

3) Limitations

Limited base time for the project

Less agency office and hub stations covered.
Less number of questionnaire filled.

Sample Questionnaire
Most of the questions asked were open-ended in nature.
1) Do you have any distribution channel problems (related to transportation)?if so, how
can they be minimized?
2) Which of the following factors, under transportation segment affects its functionality
the most?
A)
B)
C)
D)

Environmental Disturbances
Human Errors
Loading and Unloading time gaps
Miscellaneous _________________________________

3) Is there any possible material damages that happen during execution of an order?
4) Are there any situation which are out of your control that affects the daily operations
of the company?
5) Are there any problems regarding manpower management?
6) Are the technologies used by DTDC constantly improved and does your staff require
specialized training regarding operations of such technology?

PROCESS MAP
The process map starts with distribution and collection agency who are generally private
operators whose work of distributing and collecting the orders has been outsourced by DTDC.
COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION AGENCY
DISPATCHING OF ALL THE
ORDERS TO THE AREA HUB
(DTDC)

ENTRY OF ORDER DETAILS

INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN
SYSTEM

ACCEPTANCE OF
ORDER AND
PAYMENT FROM
CUSTOMER

NO
Whether to accept
order?
NO

YES

CUSTOME
R

PROCESS MAP OF COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION AGENCY

The map is described as follows
1. The customer would place an order to deliver its mail or good to its desired location.

2. Generally, the agencies accept the order. However, there are certain cases where they can
also deny the acceptance of order because logistic constraints like non-availability of
manpower to execute the order.
3. Once the order is accepted and the payment is received from the customer. The operator
would then enter the details of the order into the supply chain website of DTDC which
can be accessed only by the operator. The website can be accessed by operator anytime
and anywhere.
4. After a certain threshold time, all the orders are then sent to DTDC area hub. In our
project, after 8 pm all the orders in the agency would be sent to hub.
THE HUB
The area hub where all the orders are sent to and received, from various collection and
distribution agencies and hubs from other areas.

SUPPLY DISTRIBUTION
HUBS LIKE AIRPORT,
RAILWAYS AND BUS
SERVICES

AUTOMATED
CHECKING AND
VERIFICATION OF
CONSIGNMENTS

AUTOMATED
PACKAGING AND BARCODING OF

MANUAL SORTING
BASED ON AREA CODES,
STATES AND PRIORITES
STORAGE SPACE

Collection and
Distribution
agencies

Collection and
Distribution
agencies

Collection and
Distribution
agencies

The process map of AREA HUB is as follows:

1. Once the orders are received from collection and distribution agencies they are stored in
storage warehouses where they are manually sorted based on area codes, region, states
and priorities.
2. Once the sorting is done these orders are then grouped together to form consignments
based on certain similar criteria like same zones (north, south, east and west), similar area
codes, same states or same priorities. The orders are also individually barcoded to ensure
that it is not misplaced.
3. These consignment are then packed together in automated machines and then bar-coded.
4. Finally, the consignment are then sent to supply centers like airports, railways and bus
terminals where they are sent to other hubs for further distribution.
5. When the hub is receiving consignments for delivery in local area, they checked and
verified through an automated process which also updated in their tracking system.
6. Once they have been checked, they are then sorted according to local area codes and then
sent to collection and distribution agencies for delivery of orders to their destination.

PROBLEMS

Customers may under value or overvalue the goods they dispatch. This false declaration

leads to delays at airport clearances.

In winters, most of the trains run late and flights also get delayed/ cancelled leading to

delays in the shipment delivery.

There are also cases of natural calamities like recent floods in Chennai.
There is also possibility of human errors which results in misplacing of packages. For

example, a shipment scheduled to Delhi if is placed in Jammu bound baggage.

There has also been cases of sudden and large scale loss of manpower. For example, in
Bangalore there are cases where E-commerce companies hire all of the staff of DTDC in
Bangalore airport to handle all the incoming cargo of these companies at Bangalore
airport. Since these people are not regular employees of DTDC they leave without notice.
This leads to sudden loss of manpower which causes consignment to stockpile for weeks.
This happens during peak season like Diwali, Christmas or Holi season.

There are cases where automated verification and packaging systems malfunctions.
Although an engineer is always available on call, it always takes time to correct any
problem which causes delays in day-to-day operations of the DTDC.

SUGGESTIONS
Primarily DTDC follows best industry practices modelled on international players like FEDex
and DHL. Furthermore, DTDC follows standardized processes in all of its hub. However there
are certain cases where variation in services is very high.
In cases of sudden loss of manpower we suggested that they regularize the hiring of field staff
and make them permanent employees, but it was rejected by the manager because it would lead
to increased operating expenses which would translate to increased prices in the market. This
would make DTDC uncompetitive in the market.
Furthermore DTDC itself outsources some of its processes to third party which again leads to
high chances of variation in services. This is often done by companies all over the world so as to
cut costs. Again to reduce variations DTDC has already created certain standards which has to be
fulfilled by third-party vendors. Our suggestion regarding this was that DTDC should constantly
evaluate its standards and change them according to emerging scenarios.
Certain climatic factors are still out of DTDC control. While misplacement of orders are very
rare cases where chances of such occurring is 0.02%.Since DTDC has already refined its process
over the years it did not require any more suggestion to improve its services. Except for the
above cases which is out of control of DTDC, it has managed to reduce variations in every aspect
of its process flow.

Conclusion

We visited DTDC hub in Noida and private courier agency (distribution and collection agency)
to elicit information about their processes so as to construct their process map. We visited
courier agency so that we can know about the problems at the customer contact point. Then we
visited to the hub so that we can understand about the entire process from dispatching to delivery
and to know the problems faced by them on daily basis. In due process we also understood on
how a supply chain management organization functions on daily basis. After talking to the
manager of the hub we were able to understand the nuances faced by him on daily basis.
Furthermore, we also discussed on various suggestions i.e. their pros and cons if the suggestion
was to be implemented. Also we found out that the organization constantly tries to refine its
process. Hence, most of the suggestions recommended were already implemented and improved
upon. We also learned that no matter how much we try to improve our process we also have to
account for factors which are beyond our control and prepare for all eventualities. Hence, a
perfect solution can never be found. There were also problems that came from customers end
like under or over valuation of goods which leads to delays in execution of an order. Even though
proper rules and guidelines are made, such cases always arise.