'New technology still underused by logistics industry'

How is the logistics sector in India vis-a-vis other parts of the world?

The Indian logistics industry has always been characterized by robustness, adaptability, and agility. It has had a difficult but encouraging path over the last two decades, with demand for ever-increasing quality services. In the past few years, the Indian Government has put a renewed focus on investing in the country's logistics infrastructure and encouraging private sector participation at the same time.

The coming generations of the sector would be incomplete without highlighting the benefits of high-level technology deployment, which has been instrumental in optimizing operations, route planning between hubs and spokes, and improving the visibility of supply chains for manufacturers while reducing time-consuming documentation processes. As a result of technological advancements, the utilization of fleet and spare capabilities across the nation has improved. The sophisticated technological solutions like tech-powered logistics aggregators have helped to alleviate the difficulties of warehouse and last-mile operations.

Please explain how you conceived the idea of establishing your venture at a time when there were several other options?

The thing about technology is that acquiring education in this sphere and having a passion for it supersedes every other barrier. This is what inspired my journey to create iThink logistics. Throughout our college years, me and my friends, Vipul, and Bharat were keen on creating software solutions. Our efforts culminated in the formation of Depasser Infotech, which furnished services to notable brands. Throughout these years, we worked closely with e-commerce entrepreneurs to analyze the challenges they encountered.

They acknowledged that the e-commerce ecosystem faced a number of constraints, such as an increase in shipping returns, the coordination of multiple courier partners and the continuous monitoring of package progress. Due to the interwoven complexity of logistics and e-commerce businesses, there existed an unrealized potential at the heart of all of it. Transparency, connectedness, and efficiency were the three fundamental concerns for which we had solutions. Since real-time information was a primary problem in logistics, it became apparent that integrating logistics and e-commerce in a seamless bond of functionality was not just an opportunity, but an obligation.

What was the turning point towards achieving your dream?

Vipul's childhood friends Paresh and Nikul, fellow co-founders, joined the company with their expertise in logistics. This is how five friends founded iThink Logistics to ameliorate the issues in the e-commerce ecosystem. iThink Logistics is a productive marriage of technology and logistics. Combining data intelligence and customer success innovations, the business enables outstanding logistical performance. It is the only logistics aggregation firm with a patent-protected system for minimizing return rates, and it is also the only company that employs this method.

What is the growth path you may have planned for iThink? What are your projections for the future?

At iThink, we realize the importance of a cohesive unit. As we expand our territorial perimeters and operational capabilities, we will be hiring aggressively and have more than 120 people pan India in various positions by FY23. We are also looking out with our commercial compass to identify resourceful locations where we will be opening our new centers.

Being deeply backed by the tech mentality, our core cognition is always occupied by a relentless and constant research and development outlook. This ensures that the products are robust, suitable for the industry, and e-commerce friendly.

As a woman entrepreneur, what kind of challenges came your way and how did you face them?

The panorama of tech-based services has always been a very male-dominated sphere. So the very primary challenge was to cascade into the very base of this industry and build my entrepreneurial journey from scratch. I was fortunate enough to find the troika of entrepreneurial success early – the right people, a problem to solve, and the solution to the problem. The untapped space within the e-commerce logistics industry was not just an opportunity, but I felt it became my responsibility. Being a woman myself, there were not many women that I could look up to in the logistics space. My ideas and my team became my support system to elevate me to this position.

As a female entrepreneur, I believe that chances today are equal in supply chain management for both genders. The overall environment has been encouraging in the space for women to enter and manifest their capabilities. However, it is also true that, as of today, only ten per cent of senior and notable positions in the supply chain management industry are held by women, which is extremely low. I would like to see more women emerge as leaders and contribute significantly to logistics.

Are you happy with the present data-driven and artificial intelligence-centric ecosystem or do you suggest some initiatives immediately to improve the situation?

Expressing happiness would be too early to express. We are at the very early stages of optimizing the data-driven and artificial intelligence ecosystem. What the current industry is using and delivering is just the tip of an iceberg. There is a long way to go where we can say that we have utilized Artificial intelligence at maximum for us to then start looking at other initiatives.

What are the challenges and opportunities you visualize in the near future?

Many companies try to incorporate disruptive attitudes in their functioning to gain market share in a short period of time through lower pricing and speed of acquisition alongside other unrealistic promises. These gimmicks eventually fail to materialize and deliver the required value creation and user-centric offerings in India. The mentality that guides a company toward growth at any cost can be quite disruptive to its own existence. The

core cognition needs to be channelized within the company to be the best not to just be No. 1 at any cost. This needs to be established by team leaders and experienced members. The self-destructing outlook needs to be eliminated in order to create a sustainable value chain and generate exponential growth.