"The buzzword is fourth-party logistics"

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: are the consultancies such as Accenture that advise their clients on logistics solutions and help answer exactly the same question—as to whether third party logistics companies are better than in-house solutions.

Our pitch to customers would start with a simple proposition: if a computer vendor based in central Delhi has to ship a consignment of computers to another state, the consignment would in most cases reach much quicker with Gati than if the company were to use its own resources. That is because our assembly line churn, or domino discipline as we refer to it, is far more efficient.

What is the importance of technology in all this?

Gati’s strengths are its transportation, warehousing and process design capabilities. Our philosophy is to use technology to ensure transparency. We want the customer to know that we are not hiding anything. We use IT to provide real-time information online. Customers can view their docket receipt and delivery chalan online. Our customer relationship management is backed by Oracle Financials and Gati has its in-house enterprise relationship package called Gati Enterprise Management System and our warehousing is through a web-enabled tool.

We have not installed a general positioning system yet in our vehicles but are also exploring that option.

What is the function of Gati Café Deliver?

Gati Café Deliver was started keeping the young people in mind and currently we have five outlets including those in Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata and the most recent one opened in Ahmedabad in July. It is the exact same model of (Fedex) Kinko’s that has outlets all across the US, and double up as coffee lounges. The outlets are designed like a business lounge where a customer can relax, surf the internet, check emails, send his documents after taking photocopies or printing them out.

What strategy is Gati adopting to become a household name?