Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chain Professionals – current & future needs

Archie D’Souza December 11, 2012

I have on several occasions written about the general lack of skills among our recent graduates.  Even MBAs and other aspiring managers lack the requisite knowledge and skills needed for corporate life.  However, thanks to opportunities available and some attempts from the HRD and Labour & Employment ministers, there is one area where this trend is definitely changing.  This is in the field of Logistics & Supply Chain Management (SCM).  The Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOLE) has come out with a number of vocational programmes to train people at every level in the field of Logistics.  Details of these skill development programmes are available on the MOLE website.  Similarly, MBA programmes have started introducing Logistics as an integral part of the courses that students have to undergo. 

So, while professionals in many industries may have observed a notable decline in skills amongst recent graduates, during the past couple of decades, the opposite is true in the field of SCM.  I can safely ascertain that we’ve become a profession and a recognised one at that.  Several universities are offering specialised courses in these areas.  This is the trend world over.  Globalisation of the economy has become a reality that we can’t run away from.  Technology has been upgraded and supply chains have become very sophisticated.  Therefore, good quality SCM professionals are a necessity without which no economy will survive.

In the past and to some extent in the present too, universities have not been working in sync with industry.  However, in the field of Transportation and Logistics this trend is changing.  The contribution to the world economy of shipping, aviation, road & rail infrastructure and every other sector related to the field of Logistics is tremendous.  Without transportation there would be no trade and most of the world’s populations would starve.  Centres of production and consumption are no longer close to each other.  International transportation infrastructure connects the two.  Without shipping, air and land transport services this would never have been possible.

Food grains, fertilizers, cement, coal, ore and a host of products are transported in bulk carriers; crude oil and other liquids as well as LPG & LNG and several petroleum products – crude and finished – move in container ships; container ships, ro-ro services, break-bulk, reefers, etc. – we can make a long list of the kind of shipping services available.  Without shipping the entire world economy would collapse.  Water is the most economic mode of transporting most goods.  Only pipelines are cheaper for a single liquid or gaseous commodity moving in very large quantities.  Shipping services also leave a much smaller carbon footprint compared to the mother modes of transportation.  Here again, pipelines are the exception.

Air services also play a major role in international trade.  Transportation of goods by air has reached unimaginable proportions.  Today the world’s major passenger carriers earn a great deal of revenues from cargo, at time exceeding passenger ticket revenues.  Several major airlines, e.g. Lufthansa, have hived off their cargo divisions into wholly owned subsidiaries.  In addition, we have all-cargo airlines and integrators – cargo airlines offering door-to-door services for freight.  The variety and range of services that all these airlines offer are numerous.

Airports, ports, truck & train terminals, courier service providers, etc. all require top quality logistics professionals.  Apart from these there are a range of intermediaries like freight forwarders, customs brokers, shipping & air cargo agents, etc. that need professionals.  Manufacturing and service undertakings too require logistics and SCM professionals.  So, the opportunities are virtually unlimited.

In order to provide professionals to the industry at various levels and sectors, we at SAMS have, for the last three years, successfully been training and placing fresh graduates.  We provide an advanced and a post-graduate diploma in transportation and logistics.  The PG programme includes a one-month internship with reputed service providers.  The fact that all diploma holders from our previous batch of students have been 100% places speaks a great deal about the quality of our training.  Our aim is to provide as many trained professionals as physically possible to the industry.

Transportation and Logistics Management Archie D'Souza

This article on logistics education by me was published in The Hindu a little over a year ago.  It is still current.
http://www.hindu.com/2011/02/10/stories/2011021052420500.htm

India, the fourth largest and the second fastest growing economy in the world, is on the fast track where infrastructure spending is concerned. Some of the infrastructure areas where huge government spending is taking place are, roads, ports – major & minor, airports – expansion and modernisation of existing ones and building of new ones, inland waterways, coastal shipping and railway lines. There is also huge spending by the corporate sector both as PPP and private enterprises.

All this means huge career opportunities for fresh graduates and professionals. The movement of goods within and across regions and from one region to another plays an important role in economic growth. Roads, railways, air and shipping lines play a great role in this activity. Airlines, Shipping Lines, Railway Companies, Truckers and a host of allied services need professionals on a regular basis. These are sectors that hire high volume of people with improved and better pay options and transactions run into billions of dollars.

Transportation plays a very significant role in development. The transportation industry is the lifeblood of a nation's economy. In today's globalised situation it becomes the lifeblood of the world economy. How developed is a nation or a part of the World, or for that matter a region within a nation, state or even city, is directly correlated to its transport infrastructure.

When we talk about transport facilities we are not restricting ourselves to the physical infrastructure, which is very important. Also playing a great role is policy. A significant part of a quality course in Transportation and Logistics Management will be devoted to policies formulated and legislations involved in the transportation of goods. Free movement of goods leads to growth and development and thus a better standard of life for the people living in a given region. Procedural delays still exist in India, especially in movement and clearance of goods.

This is one lament of foreigners doing business in India. It is often easier to move goods by road from Rome to Amsterdam, crossing three international borders, than to move them from Hosur to Bangalore – a distance of 30 kilometres.

If transportation is the lifeblood of the world economy, logistics is the lifeblood of the corporate world. It is a very integral and important part of the supply chain. Technology, in today's global village, is available to anyone willing to pay for it. Quality products are taken for granted by every buyer and every supplier knows he needs to deliver. What makes one supplier different from another, today, is logistics. What exactly is logistics? It is all about movement of goods from supplier to manufacturer and from manufacturer to the consumer.

Every manufacturing enterprise as well as organisations in the services sector requires logistics professionals. The role of a logistics professional starts even before an organisation's operations start. Setting up a unit requires machinery and materials to be moved to the site. This may come from different parts of the world. Procuring, transporting and storing are all a part of the logistics department of a company. Once operations start, raw materials and components need to reach the factory site. These may need to be stored and later moved to the manufacturing areas. Finished goods need to reach consumers when they need them.

The commissioning of the ICTT will mean that containers that were previously transiting Colombo, Dubai, Singapore and Port Klang in feeder vessels will now be able to move on direct voyages in mother vessels. This will lead to all the major shipping lines bringing their mother vessels here for the purpose. Employment opportunities will be available directly with these shipping lines or with their appointed agents.

Shipping will bring with it other ancillary and support activities. Large scale warehousing, bonded storage and distribution centres are but some of the activities that will generate specialised jobs.

Cochin, as a whole, has a strategic location on the international seafaring route lying midway between Europe, Middle East and East Asia and the Pacific Rim. Its all-weather natural harbour and the large export of goods, especially spices and sea food makes it a very important port in India. The ICTT at Vallarpadam will tap into the large cargo movement along the international east-west sea lane. This will be a boon not just to Kerala but also neighbouring states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and rest of India. The estimated value of the logistics market in India is $14 billion and will grow at a rate of 7-8 per cent.

Indian and multinational logistics companies operating in India cater to millions of retailers, manufacturers and service sector companies. This will translate into lakhs of jobs over the next few years.