Arun Kumar Final Project MBA - 2010

A STUDY ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY TOWARDS LOGISTICS IN

SAFE EXPRESS PRIVATE LIMITED

by

M.S ARUN KUMAR

Register Number – 0891003

of

SRI RAMAKRISHNA ENGINEERING COLLEGE, COIMBATORE – 641022

(AUTONOMOUS INSTITUTION, AFFILIATED TO ANNA UNIVERSITY COIMBATORE)

A PROJECT REPORT

Submitted to the

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the award of the degree

of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

ANNA UNIVERSITY COIMBATORE – 641 047

JUNE, 2010

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BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that the a project report titled “A STUDY ON CUSTOMER

LOYALTY TOWARDS LOGISTICS IN SAFE EXPRESS PVT LTD” is the bonafide

work of Mr. M.S ARUN KUMAR who carried out the research under my supervision.

Certified further, that to the best of my knowledge the work reported herein does not

from part of any other project.

Faculty Guide DIRECTOR

(Department of Management Studies)

Viva Voce Examination Held On

Internal Examiner External Examiner

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DECLARATION

This is to certify that the project titled “A STUDY ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY

TOWARDS LOGISTICS IN SAFE EXPRESS PVT LTD”submitted to the

Department of Management Studies, Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College,

affiliated to Anna University; Coimbatore is an original record of project done by me,

under the supervision of Mrs. V.VANAJA, Assistant Professor, and Department

of Management Studies. Certified further, that to the best of my knowledge the

work reported herein does not from part of any other project.

M.S ARUN KUMAR (0891003)

Place: Coimbatore

Date:

3

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank Management, Principal, and Director of Sri

Ramakrishna Engineering College for giving me the opportunity to

carry out my project work.

Also I wish to thank Dr.K.Chitra, Director, Department of

Management Studies, Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College for the

invaluable guidance throughout the project work.

I am also grateful to my guide faculty member, Prof.V.Vanaja,

Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies for her

valuable suggestion and guidance leading to my successful completion

of this project.

I owe my bound less thanks to the project guide Mr.E.Karthik IT

Head, Safe Express Pvt Ltd., Coimbatore for his valuable

encouragement and proper timely advice.

Last but not least I extend my grateful thanks to all my faculty

members of Department of Management Studies and my beloved

parents.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the current scenario logistics plays an important role in the

transfer of goods and services to the customers and logistics services

provide a variety of warehousing, transportation, and supply chain

management services. The services offer that customized product

solutions can perform custom, custom labeling, and packaging

operations.

Logistics forms the system that ensures the delivery of the

product in the entire supply pipeline. This includes transportation,

packaging, storage and handling methods, and information flow.

Safe Express was started in 1993. It started its business as a

door-to-door service in 1995 with 4 routes, 9 offices, 12 container

mounted vehicles and 20 employees. Safexpress –India’s Leading

Logistics Company is renowned for its domain expertise and

experienced manpower in the LSCM sector

The study is conducted with the main objective of

understanding the demographic profile of the customers, service usage

behavior of the customers and level of customer loyalty towards

safexpress.

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The study is descriptive as the objectives and purpose is very

clear. A sample of 100 respondents is drawn from the population based

on convenience sampling method. The data is collected with the help

of Specially Designed Questionnaire. The tools used for analysis are

Percentage Analysis and mean score.

The limitations are , the study is limited to the survey is restricted

to the customers of Safe Express Pvt ltd and time limit restricts

detailed survey work for this particular topic of research and Some

customers have lack of time, so they may not communicate properly.

From the findings of the study Demographic profile of

respondents most of the respondent’s annual turnover is more than 25

Lakhs and followed by and in the service usage behavior and Majority

(66%) of the respondents identified the safe express through friends

And Relatives and (80 %) of the respondents are satisfied with the way

of handling goods and (85%) are satisfied in the 3PL.

From the Level of customer loyalty Majority of respondents is

very much satisfied in clearance department and Majority (70%) of the

respondents are excellent in risk coverage in safe express, Majority

(62%) of the respondents is very much satisfied in transit days and

Most (41%) of the respondents are very much satisfied in security

system and Most (33%) of the respondents values people relationship

ahead in short term goals.

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Also it reveals that the over all Satisfaction level of customers

will recommend to others and satisfied with the over all services

provided with the safexpress

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER CONTENTS

PAGE NO

1 INTRODUCTION 1.

1 Background 1

1.

2 Review of literature 4

1.3 Statement of the problem 8

1.4 Objectives of the study 8

1.5 Scope of the study 9

1.6 Methodology 9

1.7 Limitations 10

1.8 Chapter scheme 11

2 COMPANY PROFILE

2.1 History of the organization 12

2.2 Management 16

2.3 Organization structure 17

2.4 Product profile and market potential 18

2.5 Competitive strength of the company 20

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2.6 Future plans 21

2.7 Description of various functional areas 22

3 MICRO - MACRO ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

3.1 Industry position in Global Scenario 23

3.2 Industry position in Indian Scenario 25

4 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTREPRETATION 28

5 CONCLUSION 53

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE

PAGE

NO

1 Type of Organization 28

2 Type of Business 28

3 Annual Turnover 29

4 Association with Safe Express 29

5 Information Resources 30

6 Service Utilization 30

7 Type of Express service 31

8 Trustworthiness of goods handling 31

9 Reasons for dissatisfaction 31

10 Trustworthiness of Warehouse facility 32

11 Reasons for dis-satisfaction 32

12 Client Handling 33

13 Risk Coverage 34

14 Employee Efficiency 35

15 Online track information 36

16 Trustworthiness of Third-party Logistics 37

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17 Reasons for dissatisfaction 37

18 Representative Ability 38

19 Responsiveness to Telephone / email 40

20 Handling & Packing 41

21 Clearance Department 42

22 Security System 43

23 Transit Days 44

24 Shipment Delivery on Doorstep 45

25 Logistics services of other companies 46

26 Switch over to other Logistics Services 46

27 Switch over to other companies. 47

28 Safe express deserves loyalty 47

29 Increase in loyalty 49

30 Value people & Short term goals 50

31 Recommendation to others. 51

32 Rating the overall services 51

33 Mean score 52

LIST OF CHARTS

CHART NO. TITLE

PAGE

NO

4.1 Client Handling 33

4.2 Risk Coverage 34

4.3 Employee Efficiency 35

4.4 Online Track Information 36

4.5 Representative Ability 39

4.6 Responsiveness to Telephone / email 40

4.7 Handling & Packing 41

4.8 Clearance Department 42

4.9 Security System 43

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4.10 Transit Days 44

4.11 Shipment Delivery 45

4.12 Increase in Loyalty 49

4.13 Safe express Value people & Short term goals 50

CHAPTERS

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

1.2 Review of Literature

1.3 Statement of the Problem

1.4 Objectives pf the study

1.5 Scope of the study

1.6 Methodology

1.7 Limitations

1.8 Chapter scheme (report structure)

Chapter 2: ORGANIZATION PROFILE

2.1 History of the Organization

2.2 Management

2.3 Organization Structure

2.4 Products profile and market potential

2.5 Competitive strength of the company

2.6 Future plans

2.7 Description of various functional areas.

Chapter 3: MACRO – MICRO ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

3.1 Industry position in global scenario

3.2 Industry position in Indian scenario

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3.3 Competitors profile - a snapshot

Chapter 4: DATA ANLYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION

i) Results and Discussions

ii) Considered recommendations

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background

A multitude of companies today has already identified the need

to create a loyal customer base and acknowledges that maintaining

existing customers and extending business with them is significantly

less expensive than acquiring new customers. Empirical proof of the

proliferation of such customer loyalty efforts in the business world is

e.g. provided in the form of loyalty programs, which many companies

have installed during the past years by engaging in efforts aimed at

creating customer loyalty, which in turn fosters financial success in

monetary terms firms react to increasing competitive challenges.

Indian Supply Chain and Logistics Industry is more than USD 100

Billion in size and is the backbone of Indian Economy. In India the

industry is growing at a rate of 8-10% annually and has been a crucial

contributor in the growth and development of the Indian economy. In

the near future, Traditional Logistics services like Transportation and

Warehousing would continue to grow at a good rate.

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In addition, we expect strong Foreign Direct Investment inflows

in the Indian markets, which would lead to increased market

opportunities for providers of Third-Party Logistics in India. Therefore,

India possesses substantial opportunities for growth in the Supply

Chain & Logistics industry in the coming years, notwithstanding the

temporary jolt due to the economic slowdown.

Currently the annual logistics cost of the world is about USD 3.5

trillion. For any country, the annual logistics cost varies between 9%

and 20% of the GDP, the figure for the US being about 9%. US-based

Armstrong & Associates, Inc. tracks the issues and trends in the world

logistics market and in the US logistics market, in particular, in their

annual surveys of top 25 global LSP. According to the firm, the

global logistics market sizes in 1992, 1996 and 2000 were USD 10

billion, USD 25 billion and USD 56 billion, respectively. In 2003 and

2004, the corresponding figures were USD 70 billion and USD 333

billion, registering high growth rates. Though most of the large LSPs

are headquartered in Europe, the US logistics market is the largest in

the world capturing one-third of the world logistics market. In 2003, it

was about USD 80 billion.

In 2004, it grew to USD 89 billion, and in 2005, it registered an

impressive growth rate of 16% to cross the USD 100 billion mark for

the first time and reach USD 103.7 billion (Foster and Armstrong, 2004,

2005, 2006). However, considering the fact that the logistics market in

the US is about 10% of its annual logistics cost (Foster and Armstrong,

2006), there is still immense potential for growth of 3PL in the US in

particular, and in the world in general.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, customer loyalty has gained

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importance both in relationship marketing research and in business. In

business, this can be attributed to changing market- and competition-

environments. Due to a shift from a sellers’ to a buyers’ market and

because of an increasing degree of globalization, most industries find

themselves confronted with new challenges.

A loyal customer base represents a barrier to entry, a basis for a

price premium, time to respond to competitor innovations, and a

bulwark against deleterious price competition. Loyalty is critical to

brand volume, is highly correlated to market share, and can be used as

the basis of predicting future market share; consequently,

understanding loyalty appears critical to any meaningful analysis of

marketing strategy.

In the supplier-focused perspective, customer loyalty is seen as a

bundle of measures that aim at improving relationships with

customers. The supplier is in the center of attention and the customer

is only regarded as the factor at which success of customer loyalty

becomes manifest. Here it becomes clear that this approach contains a

conceptual deficit. It is the customer who eventually decides on

whether customer loyalty management is successful or not, because

all activities undertaken by a supplier can only be geared at influencing

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customers to be loyal. A customer-focused perspective therefore has to

be added to evaluate the success of customer loyalty management.

Within the customer-focused perspective, customer loyalty is

conceptualized taking into account customers’ complex characteristics.

These can either be approached as customers’ directly observable

actions and/or take into account their attitudes and intentions. Since

customers’ actions are directly influenced by their attitudes and

intentions, it is obvious that these have to be scrutinized to understand

and manage loyalty.

The relationship-focused perspective directly examines the

relationship between suppliers and customers. Accordingly, the

objectives of study in this perspective usually are buying behavior in

retail contexts and long-term relationships marked by frequent

interaction between suppliers and buyers in industrial contexts.

1.1 Review of literature

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This section deals with the review of literature conducted in

regard to the study. Martin sa al. (1998)1 in their study evaluated the

qualitative and quantitative differences in logistics and courier. The

objective of the study was to identify the customer loyalty in courier &

logistics services in India. The data was collect from 170 customers in

two groups: those under the age of 20 and those 65 and over. The

important question is loyalty in services provided in logistics and

courier. The results indicated that most of the service provided by the

logistics company is satisfied by the customers. From the findings of

the study known that most of the customers are loyalty in logistics

services provided in the India.

Paul Joseph Raj. (2001)2 in their study evaluated the customer

satisfaction in logistics, provided by the various companies. The

objective of the study was to identify the customer satisfaction in

logistics services. The data was collected from 150 respondents, under

the age from 20 to above 65.From the findings of the study, most of

the customers are satisfied with the service provided in the logistics.

From the findings of the study, known that, few customers are neutral

in services providing quick in delivery.

William M. Weilbacher (2006)3 evaluates in her study comparison

of Indian Logistics & Foreign logistics Services. The objective of the is

to find out the level of usage in the logististics services in India as well

as in globally. The data is mostly collected as secondary data. The

scope of the study is broad in nature. From the findings of the study

most of the users are very much satisfied in logistics services provided

in all the aspects, the satisfaction level is very much satisfied in

1 Martin sa al. (1998) “A Study on Qualitative and quantitative analysis of logistics services in India & loyalty towards in logistics.

2 Paul Joseph Raj,“A Study on Customer Satisfaction in Logistics , provide by the various companies in India.

3 William M. Weilbacher, “A study on Comparison of Indian Logistics and Foreign Logistics.

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logistics services in India, on concluding that, logistics are very much

useful in all the categories.

Rathore Singh (2006)4, in their study evaluated the impact of

logistics services in India, The main objective of the study is to identify

the problems in logistics services, and to know about the customers

loyalty in the logistics usage, the data is collected from 100

respondents under the age from 22 to above 60, From the findings of

the study, most of the respondents are satisfied with the

transportation, in transit, Insurance cover provided by the logistics

company. Few respondents dissatisfied with the warehouse and the

online tracking information. On concluding that the logistics services

are useful in all aspects.

Robertson. Eliza (2003)5, in their study on Customer preference

in the Courier and the logistics Services, The study used an

experimental design in which certain groups of participants were

exposed to a logistics to identified it well, The objective of the study is

to identify the customer preference in the logistics services. From the

findings of the study few customers are dissatisfied with damage of

goods when in transit , most of the customers are very much satisfied

in the logistics services provided. The result was that the respondents

are well aware in choosing the logistics company.

Prof.P.R.S.Sharma (2006)6, A Study on Current Scenario of

Logistics service Iin India, The objective of the study is , to know the

current scenario of the logistics services , and to identify well and

measured by using the quantitative and qualitative analysis. The

survey was collected mostly from the secondary data as well as 4 Rathore Singh, “A Study on Impact of Logistics Services in India with special reference to the North India & South India.

5 Robertson .Eliza, “Customer Preference in the logistics services”, International journal of Logistics, vol 25(1), pp.71-86.

6 Prof.P.R.S.Sharma, “A Study on Current Scenario of Indian logistics”, International journal of Logistics, vol 28(1), pp.61-86.

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primary data; the data is collected from the 75 respondents. From the

findings of the study the Indian logistics is pretty good in nature and

respondents are well aware of the logistics service providers’.

Paul E. Hendry et al. (2008)7, in their study under stand the

Brand Recall Gati Brand in Logistics and Cargo Needs, The main

objective if the study is to identify the brand strategy in Gati , in cargo

needs as well in logistics services. The data is collected from the 150

respondents from the Gati, most of the respondents in the age from 22

to above 65, from the findings of the study most of the respondents

are well aware and satisfied towards Gati cargo and logistics services.

Prof.Ajay Sharma (2006)8, evaluated in their research

investigated in supply chain management and competitive marketing

strategy of major courier and cargo services in India, The main

objective of the study is to identify the marketing strategy evaluated,

the data is mostly collected from the secondary data. From the

findings of the study most of the respondents are satisfied with the

marketing strategy by the cargo service provided, and few

respondents are in not agree with the marketing.

Peter R. Drake et al. (2004)9, in their study investigates the

impact of Logistics services in globally, the main objective of the study

is to identify the problems faced in the logistics services by the users,

the data is collected from the 100 respondents, from the findings of

the study most of the respondents are neutrally aware of the logistics

services provided in domestically, and most of the respondents are

very much satisfied in the logistics services provided globally.

Prof.Srikanth.Gupta (2008)10, in their study Customer perception

towards logistics services provided in India, The main objective of the

7 Paul E. Hendry et al , A Study on Brand recall of Gati Logistics and Cargo services

8 Prof.Ajay Sharma , ‘ A Research in Supply chain Management and Competitive Marketing Strategy of Major Courier and Cargo services in India.

9 Peter R.Drake et al, “ The Study on Impact of logistics services in global”

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study is to identify the customer perception towards logistics services,

The data is collected from the 100 respondents, secondary data is

been collected mostly , from the findings of the study , some

respondents are not satisfied with the services provided and few are

neutrally satisfied in it. Concluding that the customers are well

satisfied in cargo services.

10 Prof.Srikanth Gupta, “A Study on customer perception towards Logistics services provided in India.

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1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In the current scenario the competition is very high in the

logistics industry. The satisfaction of the customers is very

important to promote the products among the customers. The

customers are business organizations the factor leading to

customer loyalty is different from the factors that influence

individual customers .The company wants to take necessary steps

to increase sales. The clarity of information, advice provided to

customers by staff, the language used by the staff to communicate

it properly, are the main problems faced by the customers. The

analysis of customers’ perception will help the company to know the

satisfaction level of customers and customer loyalty towards the

organization and also help the company to improve the services.

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To know about the demographic profile of the customers.

2. To Study the service usage behavior of customers.

3. To study the customers’ opinion about the various services provided by Safe Express Ltd., and the customer loyalty.

4. To provide suggestions to safe express limited for further

improvement.

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1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study is conducted at safe express pvt ltd. The

respondents are various business houses in Coimbatore making use of

logistics services provided by Safe Express Ltd.The present customers

alone are considered for conducting this study.

1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Type of Study:

The study is a descriptive study because it enables the quick

assimilation of data.

Sampling Design and Sample Size

The Sampling method used in this study is convenience

sampling. The sample size is 100. The respondents are chosen on the

basis of accessibility to the researcher.

Data collection

Questionnaire method is used for data collection

Questionnaire consists of three parts they are

1. Customer Profile.

2. Service usage behavior.

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3. Level of Customer Loyalty.

Tools for Data Analysis:

Simple percentage method and Mean Score is performed

for the samples collected to estimate the overall customer satisfaction

level of customers.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Time limit restricts detailed survey work for this particular topic of research

The survey is restricted to the customers of Safe Express Pvt ltd who belong to Coimbatore region only.

Some customers did not have enough time, so they were not able to communicate properly.

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1.8 CHAPTER SCHEME

Chapter 1:INTRODUCTION

This part deals with Background, Review of Literature,

Statement of a problem, Objective of the study, Scope of the study,

Research Methodology, Limitations, Chapter Scheme (Report

Structure)

Chapter 2:ORGANIZATION PROFILE

This part deals with History of the organization,

Management, Organization Structure, Products profile and Market

potential, Competitive strength of the company, Future plans,

Description of various functional areas

Chapter 3:MACRO-MICRO ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

The prevailing economic scenario with respect to the

industry

Selected for the study is briefly discussed in this chapter

Chapter 4:DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

This part of the project deals with the analysis of data

using the

Statistical tools and interpretation of the results

Chapter 5:CONCLUSION

This part deals with the Results and Discussions,

Considered

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CHAPTER - 2

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE

Organizational Profile deals with the history of the organization, its

management, organizational structure, programme profile and market

potential, competitive strengths, future plans and the description of

various functional areas.

2.1 HISTORY OF THE ORGANISATION

Safe Express was started in 1993. Pawan Jain (Chairman and

Managing Director Safexpress), Anil Sayal (General Manager

Safexpress). Safexpress started its business as a door-to-door service

in 1995 with 4 routes, 9 offices, 12 container mounted vehicles and 20

employees.Safexpress' door-to-door services include niche products

like DoD and To-Payfreight. In 1996 Safexpress opens super hubs at

Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.Next year Safexpress launches

Integrated Logistics Services. Our first ILS client is NIIT; the first

international ILS account is signed with Hilti from Europe. Spurred on

by a surging domestic economy, Safexpress extends its fleet to 250

and number of stations to 290. Safexpress Private Limited emerges as

an independent entity

In1998 Safeair and Safebox are launched, setting a new standard

in value added cargo services.All hubs are connected through web-

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based software. In 1999 Having grown by over 300%in 4 years without

compromising quality, Safexpress is awarded the Golden Peacock

Award for quality and innovation in Logistics Management.In 2000 Pilot

run for GPS starts on 28 routes.

Safexpress reaches the 350-destinations mark and the fleet

crosses 1400. Again 2001 Safexpress upgrades and launches a whole

lot of features on www.safexpress.com including ePod, Virtual Cargo

and Privileged Member.In the year 2002,2003 Safexpress was declared

India's "Largest Logistics Service Provider" by Limca Book of Records.

In 2005 Safexpress bags the MICO:Power of We Award for excellent

service in logistics. In the same year Safexpress fleet crosses

3000 mark. Next year in 2006 Safexpress was awarded by ADC Krone

for providing best logistics services and in same year Safexpress bags

prestigious RAI's (Retailers Association of India) Award for Best

Logistics Service Provider.

Safexpress –India’s Leading Logistics Company is renowned for

its domain expertise and experienced manpower in the LSCM sector.

Safexpress can best understand your Logistics and distribution

requirements and can offer the most suitable Logistics model and

solution to you. Safexpress has the largest network coverage across

India traversing over 3,50,000 km.

Every day covering over 550 locations through more than 750

routes operating 24 hours a day 365 days a year reaching these

locations through it’s fleet of 3000 vehicles operating on. All

Safexpress vehicles have all-weather proof containers for safe transit.

Safexpress also operates through Air to locations directly covered by

flights and to all other locations on a multi modal basis.

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Safexpress have a Integrated Logistics Management. It is our 3PL

Product that optimises your company’s supply chain. First, we examine

the linkages between your suppliers, producers, buyers, intermediaries

and end users in order to identify time and cost inefficiencies. Next, we

deploy o ur uniquemix of local know-how, global practices and cutting-

edge technology to provide integrated supply chain solutions. These

range from specific services such as warehouse management,

statutory compliance and invoicing - to an entire gamut of third party

logistics services.

Mission:

To adopt and internalize a work culture which demonstrates a

"we can we will" attitude to reflect in our daily responsibilities so as to

far exceed our objectives, consistently striving towards market

dominance. It will create historical landmarks forming a strong edifice

for the future overcoming all obstacles pro-actively as our personal

responsibility and commitment to create delight for the customer with

impeccable personalized services.

Vision:

To be a conscious learning organization maintaining flexibility for

change so as to provide the most customized solutions. Striving

towards global market share whilst maintaining dominance in the

domestic market through good hr practice and excellent customer

service.

Quality:

A quality service relies upon constant customer interaction and

feedback. An immediate response to the changing environment with

pre-defined business processes managed effectively and efficiently

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lead to the highest output from the lowest input and this is the

strongest measure of quality.

The best certification of a quality organization is the

measurement of the scale of the smile on the customers face”

HISTORY

1995 Safexpress launches as a door-to-door service with 4 routes, 9 offices, 12 container mounted vehicles and 20 employees.Safexpress' door-to-door services include niche products like DoD and To-Pay freight.

1996 Safexpress opens super hubs at Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

1997 Safexpress launches Integrated Logistics Services. Our first ILS client is NIIT; the first international ILS account is signed with Hilti from Europe.Spurred on by a surging domestic economy, Safexpress extends its fleet to 250 and number of stations to 290. Safexpress Private Limited emerges as an independent entity

1998 Safeair and Safebox are launched, setting a new standard in value added cargo services.All hubs are connected through web-based software.

1999 Having grown by over 300%in 4 years without compromising quality, Safexpress is awarded the Golden

27

Peacock Award for quality and innovation in Logistics Management.

2000 Pilot run for GPS starts on 28 routes.Safexpress reaches the 350-destinations mark and the fleet crosses 1400.

2001 Safexpress upgrades and launches a whole lot of features on www.safexpress.com including ePod, Virtual Cargo and Privileged Member.

2002 Safexpress declared India's "Largest Logistics Service Provider" by Limca Book of Records 2002

2003 Safexpress declared India's "Largest Logistics Service Provider" by Limca Book of Records 2003Mr.pawan Jain, CMD, Safexpress, becomes one of the finalists in the prestigious EnY's Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

2005 Safexpress inaugurated its 500th scheduled delivery locationSafexpress bags the Franchise Awards04 for excellence in Team Work.

2006 Safexpress bags the MICO:Power of We Award for excellent service in logistics Safexpress fleet crosses 3000 mark.

2.2 MANAGEMENT

Mr.Pawan Jain

(Chairman and Managing Director Safexpress)

15 Years of experience in the industry

Mr.Anil Sayal

General Manager of Safexpress.

Mrs. Jain

Director – HR & Admin.

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Mr.E Karthik

Head – IT

Southern Region.

P.Suresh

Head – Coimbatore Region

Mr.Uday Sharma

Director – Marketing Head

R.K Jain

Director - Finance

Mr.N.D Kishore–

Director – Southern Region

Mr. P.S Nair

Director - Coimbatore Branch.

2.3 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

REGIONAL OFFICER

AREA MANAGER

ASST. MANAGER

Logistics HR Marketing System Finance & Accounts Manager Manager Manager Manager Manager

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Executives Executives Executives Executives Executives

R & D Administration Manager Manager

Executives Executives

2.4 PRODUCT PROFILE AND MARKET POTENTIAL

SAFEXPRESS SERVICES

EXPRESS

Safexpress service is an express service which involves

movement of cargo in all weather proof sealed containers on feeder

and express routes. The service is time definite with a published transit

schedule covering more than 550 destinations nation wide and

provides the flexibility for surface, air and multi-modal connectivity

with a wide reach associated with Indian airlines and air taxi operators

such as jet airways, Sahara etc.

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DRAFT-ON-DELIVERY

Draft on delivery is an unparalleled value-added service wherein

the seller can dispatch goods through Safexpress to the buyer and be

assured that the delivery would take place only when the draft has

been collected.

In the Safexpress DOD system pre-alerts are sent to the

consignee to allow reasonable time for the draft to be made, thus

meeting the desired objective of express transit with the amount ready

for collection.

ALL RISK COVER

The management of Safexpress hereby undertakes and declares

that:

14 “The company would redeem the value of the loss in the uneventful

case of any shortage or damage to the consignment whilst in the

custody of Safexpress, subject to the risk charge having been paid by

the sender or the recipient as per the company policy.

SAFEBOX

The safebox comes in two convenient sizes of 17” x 17” x 12”

and 16” x 12” x 9” easily accomodating upto 20 & 10 kgs respectively

of your cargo.

The robust design is further reinforced with internal insulation for

safety of your cargo. So you save on packaging cost and for a nominal

amount it is ready for delivery with an auto insurance upto rs. 5000

absolutely free of cost.

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SAFEAIR

To ensure that time sensitive cargo reaches the destination

through a faster mode meeting all your requirements for the time

definite deliveries. Safeair connects your cargo through airlines, atos

and uses the services for morning and evening flights to provide a wide

variety of connectivety to suit different market cutoffs.

ILM

Safexpress works on the value chain concept using a framework

for examining linkages between suppliers, producers, buyers,

intermediaries & end users.Safexpress ensures the success of the

entire chain, marrying local knowhow with the best global practices,

technology & perspective

CONSULTING

Safexpress offers value added services beyond physical

operations in the form of logistics consultancy covering a wide

spectrum of the Indian economy.The company plays a pivotal role in

guiding diverse market segments on existing and recommended

logistics models with various simulation modules to map transactions

using historical data and providing befitting supply chain solutions.

2.5 COMPETITIVE STRENGTH OF THE COMPANY

Strength

Over 550 destinations spread across 28 states & 7 union

territories.

Warehousing space exceeding 3 million square feet.

Over 3,000 all weather-proof ISO 9002 vehicles.

32

More than 1000 routes, linked through 41 super hubs & hubs.

Delivering more than 3 million packages a month.

Traversing more than 5, 00,000 kms a day.

Operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Weakness

Safe express is still lagging in ware house management to its

competitors.

Safe express was a late entrant to generic cargo business.

Opportunities

Automotive industry in India is growing at 18% per annum

creating a huge opportunity for Indian logistics companies like

Safe express.

Indian retail sector is growing 25% annually creating US$ 175-

200 billion by 2016.

Threats

Safe express business model was cloned by several retail courier

operators thus creating threat for Safe express business.

Safe express employees were recruited by its competitors with

high salary and other perk and allowances.

2.6 FUTURE PLANS

Logistics services provider Safexpress plans to invest Rs 800-

1,000 crore (Rs 8-10 billion) in five years to expand its operations

on the back of the boom in manufacturing and retail activities in

the country.

33

As a result of the expansion, the company's turnover is likely to

touch Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) by 2012.

The company is also establishing a 3 lakh sq ft logistics park near

Chennai at an investment of Rs 35 crore (Rs 350 million). It

already operates a 80,000 sq ft warehouse in Chennai.

The warehousing capacity of the company will grow to 10 million

sq ft in the next three years from the current 3 million sq ft.

The company was planning to strengthen its presence in the air

cargo segment by taking three Boeing-737 cargo aircraft on

lease.

Safexpress has also placed an order for 380 trucks to add to its

current fleet of 3,000 vehicles.

Safexpress intends to set up logistics parks comprising

warehouses, vendor management services, raw material

management and finished products storages at 32 locations

across the country.

2.7 DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS FUNCTIONAL AREAS

Human resource department

Marketing department

System & administration department

Finance & accounts department

34

Research and development department

Dispatch Department

Human Resource Department:

A human resource department plays a vital role in the

organization, to recruit the employees and train them to satisfying the

need of the customer, and motivate the employees in the organization

to achieve the goals.

Marketing Department:

It will try and maximize the level of sales by carrying out market

research and promoting the goods or service through a motivated

sales team.

Finance & Accounting Department:

Keep a record of all money coming in and going out of the

business. They have responsibility for securing finances for future

expansion and paying staff.

System & Administration Department:

Coordination of branch activities and provision of interaction

between branches and the main office, and maintain the documents

and invoice bills upto dates to be maintained to record it.

Research and Development Department:

Usually, the primary function of the R&D department is to

conduct researches for new services and develop new solutions.

CHAPTER-3

MICRO-MACRO ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

35

3.1 GLOBAL SCENARIO:

Logistics is a quite an old concept, it has been becoming very

efficient only after the wave of 1990s globalization. With the advent of

intense competition coupled with globalization and liberalization forced

both public and private firms committing themselves to make available

to the customers, the right condition material, at the right place, at the

right time, at the very lowest cost-may be a product or a service.

The World Bank in a recent survey connecting to compete: Trade

logistics in global economy which conducts the LPI survey for every

two years. The LPI is a multidimensional assessment of logistics

performance, rated on a scale from one (worst) to five (best). The

index uses more than 5,000 individual country assessments made by

nearly 1,000 international freight forwarders to compare the trade

logistics profiles of 155 countries.

Based on a worldwide survey of freight forwarders and express

carriers, the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) is a benchmarking tool

developed by the World Bank that measures performance along the

logistics supply chain within a country. Allowing for comparisons across

155 countries, the index can helps in identify challenges and

opportunities and improve their logistics-performances.

Technological progress and worldwide trade and investment

liberalization are presenting new opportunities for countries to harness

global markets for growth and poverty reduction. But with the advent

of global supply chains, a new premium is being placed on being able

to move goods rapidly, reliably, and cheaply.

The ability to connect to the worldwide logistics web depends on

a country'sinfrastructure, service markets, and trade processes.

36

The government and the private sectors in many developing countries

should improve these areas - or face the large and growing costs of

exclusion, said a World Bank report.

REVENUE DISTRIBUTION GLOBALLY:

Size of the global logistics industry:

Currently the annual logistics cost of the world is about USD 3.5

trillion. For any country, the annual logistics cost varies between 9%

and 20% of the GDP, the figure for the US being about 9%. US-based

Armstrong & Associates, Inc. tracks the issues and trends in the world

logistics market and in the US logistics market, in particular, in their

annual surveys of top 25 global LSPs.

According to the firm, the global logistics market sizes in 1992,

1996 and 2000 were USD 10 billion, USD 25 billion and USD 56 billion,

respectively. In 2003 and 2004, the corresponding figures were

USD270 billion and USD 333 billion, registering high growth rates.

37

Though most of the large LSPs are headquartered in Europe, the US

logistics market is the largest in the world capturing one-third of the

world logistics market. In 2003, it was about USD 80 billion.

In 2004, it grew to USD 89 billion, and in 2005, it registered an

impressive growth rate of 16% to cross the USD 100 billion mark for

the first time and reach USD 103.7 billion (Foster and Armstrong, 2004,

2005, 2006). However, considering the fact that the logistics market in

the US is about 10% of its annual logistics cost (Foster and Armstrong,

2006), there is still immense potential for growth of 3PL in the US in

particular, and in the world in general.

3.2 INDIAN SCENARIO:

Indian Supply Chain and Logistics Industry is more than USD 100

Billion in size and is the backbone of Indian Economy. Our industry is

growing at a rate of 8-10% annually and has been a crucial contributor

in the growth and development of the Indian economy. In the near

future, Traditional Logistics services like Transportation and

Warehousing would continue to growth at a good rate. However, the

big ticket growth would come from the Value Added Logistics services

in the near future.

At present, Outsourced Logistics accounts for only one-third of

the total Logistics market in India, which is a significantly lower

proportion vis-a-vis the developed markets. Growth in this industry is

currently being driven in India by over USD 300 billion worth of

infrastructure investments, the phased introduction of VAT, the

development of organized Retail and Agro-processing industries, along

with a strong manufacturing growth.

38

In addition, we expect strong Foreign Direct Investment inflows

in the Indian markets, which would lead to increased market

opportunities for providers of Third-Party Logistics in India. Therefore,

India possesses substantial opportunities for growth in the Supply

Chain & Logistics industry in the coming years, notwithstanding the

temporary jolt due to the economic slowdown.

The logistics and warehousing sector in India, till now, has been

highly fragmented and characterised by the presence of numerous

unorganised players. A large number of players have been providing

services in individual segments like transportation, warehousing,

packaging etc.

In 2007, organised players accounted for only 6 per cent of the

total US$ 100 billion Indian logistics industry However, changing

business dynamics and the entry of global third party logistics players

(3PL) has led to the remodelling of the logistics services in India. From

a mere combination of transportation and storage services, logistics is

fast emerging as a strategic function that involves end-to-end solutions

that improve efficiencies.

India’s logistics sector attracted investments worth Rs. 23,200

crore in first half of 2008, according to a study by Assocham”Trade

logistics”2008. The report said about 110 logistics parks spread over

approximately 3,500 acres at an estimated cost of $1 bn are expected

to be operational and an estimated 45 mn sq ft of warehousing space

with an investment of $500 mn is expected to be developed by various

logistics companies by 2012.

39

Comparison of Indian logistics performance index with other

countries:

Country LPI Score

USA 3.85

UK 3.84

Singapore 4.19

India 3.07

China 3.64

Mexico 2.64

The Logistics Performance Index (LPI) indicators provide the in-

depth each country assessment of the logistics gap among countries.

As the above graph shows those LPI scores of different countries and

also the performance of developed countries comparing to the

developing nations. Singapore-1stUSA- 9th

China-30th India-39th.

CHAPTER-4

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

40

This Chapter 4 deals with the analysis and the interpretation of the

data collected through questionnaire and the data is presented under

suitable headings.

4.1 Respondents’ demographic profile.

This part deals of the study deals with the

demographic profile of the respondents like type of the

organization, type of the business, annual turnover and

association with safe express.

Table 4.1.1: Type of Organization

Nature of Organization No. of Respondents

Percentage

Sole Proprietorship 27 27Partnership 24 24Private Limited Company 23 23Public Limited Company 21 21Others 5 5.Total 100 100

The above table reveals that most (27%) of the customers are Sole

proprietors followed by Partnership business (24%), Private limited

company(23%) and Public limited company (21%).

Table 4.1.2: Type of Business

Type of Business No. of Respondents Percentage

Manufacturing 36 36Trading 47 47Assembling 13 13Others 4 4Total 100 100

41

The above table reveals that most (47%) of the customers are in

trading business followed by manufacturing business (36%) and

assembling business (13%).

Table 4.1.3: Annual Turnover

Annual Turnover No. of Respondents Percentage

Less than 25 Lakhs 56 5626-50 Lakhs 20 2051-100Lakhs 16 16Above 101 Lakhs 8 8Total 100 100

The above table reveals that majority (56%) of the customers have

an Annual turnover less than 25 Lakhs and most (20%) are in 26-50 Lakhs

category 16% are in 51-100 Lakhs category followed by 8% who are

above 101 Lakhs category.

Table 4.1.4: Association with Safe Express

Association with Safe Express No. of Respondents PercentageLess than 3 Years 55 553 to 5 Years 22 225 to 7 Years 12 127 to 10 Years 5 5More than 10 Years 6 6Total 100 100

The above table reveals that majority (55%) respondents are

associated with Safe Express for less than 3 years followed by most of

the (22%) respondents are in 3-5 years category, 12% in 5-7 years

category, 6% in more than 10 years and 5% are in 7-10 years category.

4.2 Information resources and service utilization.

42

This part deals of the study deals with the information

resources, service utilization, and type of express service.

Table 4.2.1: Information Resources

Information Resources No. of Respondents PercentageNewspaper 11 11Television 16 16Friends & Relatives 66 66Others 7 7Total 100 100

The above table reveals that majority (66%) respondents came to

know about safe express through Friends & Relatives and (16%) from

Television and (11%) of the respondents from Newspaper.

Table 4.2.2: Service Utilization

Services Utilized No. of Respondents

Percentage

Express 56 56Warehouse 17 173 P'L 11 11Draft on Delivery (DOD) 14 14Check on Delivery 2 2Total 100 100

The above table reveals that majority (56%) respondents availed

Express Services, 17% are using Warehouse services, 14% are using Draft

on Delivery services, 11% are using Third Party Logistics and 2% are

using Check on Delivery services.

43

Table 4.2.3: Type of Express service

Type of Express Service

No. of Respondents Percentage

Surface 43 43Air 13 13Total 100 100

The above table reveals that most (43%) of the respondents are

availing Surface services followed by 13% who are availing Air services.

4.3 Respondents’ opinion about Goods Handling


trustworthiness of goods handling, reasons for dissatisfaction,

trustworthiness of warehouse facility and reasons for dissatisfaction.

Table 4.3.1: Trustworthiness of goods handling

Respondents Opinion


Yes 80 80No 20 20Total 100 100

The above table reveals that majority (80%) of the respondents are

satisfied with the way of goods handled and feel it is trustworthy.

Table 4.3.2: Reasons for dissatisfaction

Reasons No. of Respondents PercentageTransit Damages 8 40Method Of Packing 5 25Accidents 4 20Others if any 3 15Total 20 100.0

44

Out of 20 respondents who feel that goods handling system is not

trustworthy, 40% of them expressed that it is due to transit damages

followed by 25 % of the respondents who felt that it is due to improper

packing.

4.4 Respondents opinion about warehouse facility


trustworthiness of warehouse facility and also the reasons for

dissatisfaction

Table 4.4.1: Trustworthiness of Warehouse facility

Respondents Opinion


Yes 81 81

No 19 19Total 100 100

The above table shows that majority (81%) of the respondents

expressed that warehouse facility provided by Safe Express Ltd is

trustworthy.


Reasons for Dis-satisfaction No. of Respondents PercentageLack of Space 8 40Security 5 25Damages 4 20Marking Problems 2 15Total 19 100

45

Out of 19 respondents who feel that warehouse facility is not

trustworthy, 40% expressed that lack of space is the main reason for the

dissatisfaction and 20% of them expressed that it is due to lack of

security.

4.5 Respondents’ opinion about other services

This part of the project deals with the respondents’ ratings

(Such as Excellent , Good , Fair and Poor) about other services like

Client Handling , Risk Coverage, Employee Efficiency and providing

online track information.

Table 4.5.1: Client Handling

Respondents Opinion No. of Respondents PercentageExcellent 44 44Good 26 26Fair 21 21

Poor 9 9Total 100 100

The above table reveals that most (44%) of the respondents expressed that

client handling is excellent and 26% of the respondents stated that client handling is good.

Chart 4.1: Client Handling

46

Table 4.5.2: Risk Coverage

Respondents Opinion No. of Respondents PercentageExcellent 70 70Good 17 17Fair 10 10Poor 3 3Total 100 100

The above table reveals that most (70%) of the respondents

expressed that Risk coverage is excellent and 17% of the respondents

stated that Risk Coverage is good.

Chart 4.2: Risk Coverage

47

Table 4.5.3: Employee Efficiency

Respondents Opinion No. of Respondents PercentageExcellent 28 28Good 22 22Fair 20 20Poor 30 30

Total 100 100


expressed that Employee Efficiency is poor and 28% of the

respondents stated that Employee Efficiency is Excellent.

Chart 4.3: Employee Efficiency

48

Table 4.5.4: Online track information

Respondents Opinion No. of Respondents PercentageExcellent 30 30Good 18 18Fair 27 27Poor 12 12Very poor 13 13Total 100 100


expressed that Online track information is excellent and 27% of the

respondents stated that Online track information is fair.

49

Chart 4.4: Online Track Information

4.6 Respondents’ Opinion about Third-party Logistics

This part of the project deals with the respondents’ opinion about

the trustworthiness of the Third Party Logistics and reasons for

dissatisfaction.

Table 4.6.1: Trustworthiness of Third-party Logistics

Respondents’ Opinion


Yes 85 85

No 15 15

Total 100 100

50

The above table shows that majority (85%) of the respondents

expressed that Third Party Logistics provided by Safe Express Ltd is

trustworthy.


Reasons No. of Respondents

Percent

Delay in Delivery 6 40Delivery status updates 2 14Frequent Inventory Damages & Shrinkage

4 26

Just in time requirements 3 20Total 15 100

Out of 15 respondents who feel that third-party logistics is not

trustworthy, 40 % of them expressed that the reason for dissatisfaction

and 26 % felt that it is due to frequent inventory damages & shrinkage.

4.7 Respondents’ Level of Satisfaction of Certain Facilities

This part of the project deals with the respondents’ ratings

(Very much Satisfied , Satisfied , Neutral, dissatisfied , Very much

Dissatisfied) about other services like Representative ability,

Responsiveness to telephone & email, Handling & packing, Clearance

Department , Security system, Transit days and Shipment delivery on

doorstep.

Table 4.7.1: Representative Ability

51

Level of Satisfaction No. of Respondents Percentage

Very Much Satisfied 49 49Satisfied 27 27Neutral 24 24Total 100 100


very much satisfied with Representative Ability and 27% are Satisfied.

Chart 4.5: Representative Ability

Table 4.7.2: Responsiveness to Telephone / email

Level of Satisfaction No. of Respondents PercentageVery Much Satisfied 26 26Satisfied 13 13Neutral 20 20Dis-satisfied 41 41Total 100 100

52


dissatisfied with responsiveness to telephone /emails and 26% are very

much satisfied with responsiveness to telephone /emails.

Chart 4.6: Responsiveness to Telephone / email

Table 4.7.3: Handling & Packing

Level of Satisfaction No. of Respondents PercentageVery Much Satisfied 22 22Satisfied 27 27Neutral 34 34Dis-satisfied 9 9Highly Dis-satisfied 8 8Total 100 100

53


neutral in their opinion about handling & packing and 27% are satisfied

with the handling & packing services.

Chart4.7: Handling & Packing

Table 4.7.4: Clearance Department

Level of Satisfaction No. of Respondents PercentageVery Much Satisfied 68 68Satisfied 21 21Neutral 11 11Total 100 100

54


very much satisfied and 21% are satisfied with the services of clearance

department.

Chart4.8: Clearance Department

Table 4.7.5: Security System


Very Much Satisfied 33 33

Satisfied 25 25

Neutral 26 26

Dis-satisfied 16 16

55

Total 100 100


very much satisfied and 25% are satisfied with the security system

followed in the company.

Chart 4.9: Security System

Table 4.7.6: Transit Days



Satisfied 28 28

Neutral 10 10

56

Total 100 100


very much satisfied and 28% are satisfied with the duration or time taken

for delivery.

Chart 4.10: Transit Days

Table 4.7.7: Shipment Delivery on Doorstep



57

Satisfied 25 25

Neutral 26 26

Dis-satisfied 11 11

Total 100 100


very much satisfied and (26%) are neutral with regard to shipment

delivery on doorstep.

Chart 4.11: Shipment Delivery

4.8 Usage of Services of other logistics companies

This part of the project deals with the usage of logistics

services of other companies at present by respondents, switching back

58

to safe express in future and also switching over to other companies in

future.

Table 4.8.1: Logistics services of other companies

Usage No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 20 20

No 80 80

Total 100 100

The above table reveals that majority (80%) respondents are not

utilizing other logistics services and 20% are using other logistics

services.

Table 4.8.2: Switch over to other Logistics Services

Switch over to Safe Express


Yes 12 60

No 8 40

Total 20 100

The above table shows that out of 20 respondents who are using

logistics services of other companies, majority (60%) have an idea to

switch over to Safe Express Ltd in future.

Table 4.8.3: Switch over to other companies

59

Switch over in Future


Yes 20 25No 60 75Total 80 100

It is inferred from the above table that out of 80 respondents who

are using only the services of safe express 25% have an idea to switch

over to other logistics companies in future and 75 % expressed their wish

to remain with Safe Express Ltd.

4.9 Respondents’ Opinion about their Loyalty

This part deals with customer loyalty, increase in loyalty over

the years and also respondents opinion about the company’s value to

people and relationship ahead of short-term goals.

Table 4.9.1: Safe express deserves loyalty

Respondents Opinion No. of Respondents PercentageDis-agree 23 23Neutral 21 21Agree 32 32Strongly Agree 24 24Total 100 100

The above table shows that most (32%) of the respondents agree

that they are loyal towards safe express and 24% strongly agree that they

are loyal towards safe express.

Table 4.9.2: Increase in loyalty

60


The above table reveals most (33%) of the respondents strongly

agree and 32% disagree about increase in loyalty over the period.

Chart 12: Increase in Loyalty

Table 4.9.3: Value people & Short term goals

61


The above table reveals most (41%) of the respondents strongly

agree and 31% agree that safe express values people and relationship.

Chart 13: Safe express Value people & Short term goals

4.10 Recommendation to others.

62

This part deals with the Respondents recommendation of

safe express to others.

Table 4.10.1: Recommendation to others.

Recommendation


Yes 75 75

No 25 25

Total 100 100

The above table reveals majority (75%) of the respondents will

recommend safe express to others 25% will not recommend to others.

4.11 Rating of Overall services

This part deals with the Rating of the customers about the

over all services provided by the company.

Table 4.11.1: Rating the overall services

Rate the overall services No. of Respondents PercentageVery much Satisfied 26 26.0Satisfied 41 41.0Neutral 33 33.0Total 100 100.0

The above table reveals most (41%) of the respondents are satisfied

(33%) are neutral and (26%) are very much satisfied with respect to the

overall services of the company.

4.12 Mean Score

63

This part deals with the Ranking Level of customer loyalty, increase

in loyalty over the years and also respondents opinion about the

companies value to people and relationship ahead of short-term goals.

Reasons Mean Rank

Believe Company Safe express deserves my loyalty

3.9232 2

Loyalty towards Safe express has become better

3.4788 3

Safe express company values people and relationship ahead in short term goals

1.7692 1

The above table shows the categorization of the Customer

Loyalty on the basis of the reasons trustworthiness of safe express.

The respondents believe that safe express company values people and

relationship ahead in short term goals following deserves the loyalty

and loyalty towards safe express is become better.

CHAPTER-5

CONCLUSION

Chapter 5 deals with the results of the analysis and the

interpretations and the discussions upon the same. It also deals with

the considered recommendations.

64

5.1 Results and Discussions

The Major findings are summarized under various sections.

5.1.1. Demographic profile

Most (27%) of the respondents are sole proprietorship firms.

Most (47%) of the respondents are engaged in trading business.

Majority (56%) of the respondents’ Annual turnover is less than 25 Lakhs.

Majority (55%) of the respondents are associated with safe express for less than 3 years.

5.1.2 Service usage behavior

Majority (66%) of the respondents said that they came to know about the safe express through their friends and Relatives.

Majority 43 %of the respondents is availing surface services.

Majority of the respondents are satisfied with way of goods handled in safe express (85%), warehouse facility (80%), Third-party logistics services (85%).

5.1.3 Level of Customer Loyalty

Majority of the respondents expressed that the client handling is either excellent (44%) or good (26%).

Majority of the respondents expressed that the Risk coverage is either excellent (70%) or good (17%).

30% of the respondents expressed that Employee Efficiency is poor whereas 28% stated that Employee Efficiency is Excellent.

The respondents expressed that online track information is excellent (30%) and 27% stated that online track information is fair.

Majority of the respondents are either very much satisfied (49%) or satisfied (27%) with Representative Ability.

65

41% of the respondents are dissatisfied with responsiveness to telephone /emails while 26% are very much satisfied with responsiveness to telephone /emails.

34% of the respondents are neutral in their opinion about handling & packing and 27% are satisfied with the handling & packing services.

Majority of the respondents are either very much satisfied (68%) or satisfied (21%) with the services of clearance department.

Majority of the respondents are either very much satisfied (33%) or satisfied 25% with the security system followed in the company.

Majority of the respondents are either very much satisfied (62%) or satisfied (28%) with the duration or time taken for delivery.

38% of the respondents expressed that they are very much satisfied and 26% are neutral with regard to shipment delivery on doorstep.

Majority (80%) of the respondents are using the logistics services of Safe Express Ltd only.

Out of 20% of the respondents who are using logistics services of other companies majority of them have an idea to switch back Safe Express Ltd.

Most of the respondents expressed that safe express deserves loyalty.

About 50% of the respondents strongly agree or agree that their loyalty has increased over the period.

Most of the respondents expressed that company values people relationship.

Majority (75%) of the respondents said that they will recommend safe express to others.

Majority of the respondents are either very much satisfied or satisfied in over all services provided by the safe express.

5.2 Suggestions

5.2.1 Most of the respondents are not satisfied with employee

efficiency, therefore, Safe express can initiate Human resource

66

Department to enhance employee motivation and to develop

employee skills.

5.2.2 Most of the respondents are not satisfied with Online track

information system, therefore Online track information system

can implemented and updated effectively to improve client

services.

5.2.3 Most of the respondents are neutral in handling and packing

therefore, handling and packing system can be well improved.

5.2 Observatory based Recommendations.

Security system can be upgraded with latest technologies as it

will increase the loyalty.

Proper communication with the clients regarding over all services to be updated frequently.

Client’s meeting/grievances cell should be instituted in the organization.

Appendix – 1

67

QUESTIONNAIRE

1) Name & Address of the organization:

2) Year of establishment:

3) Type of the organization:

a) Sole Proprietorship

b) Partnership

c) Private Limited Company

d) Public Limited Company

e) Others

4) Nature of the business: a) Manufacturing b) Trading

c) Assembling d) Others

5) Annual Turnover: a) Less than 25Lakhs b) 26 – 50 Lakhs

c) 51 – 100 Lakhs d d) Above 100 Lakhs

6) How long you are the customer/client of Safe Express Pvt Limited?

a) Less than 3 Years b) 3 to 5 Years

c) 5 to 7 Years d) 7 to 10 Years

e) More than 10 Years

7) How do you came to know about Safe Express Pvt Limited?

a) Newspapers b) Television

c) Friends & Relatives d) Others

8) Which of the following services offered by the Safe Express are availed by you at present?

a) Express b) Warehousing c) 3 P’L

d) Draft on Delivery (D0D) e) Check on Delivery

9) If express, which one of following services you are availing?

68

a) Surface b) Air

10) Is the way of goods handled by Safe Express Pvt Limited trustworthy?

a) Yes b) No

11) If No, what are the reasons?

a) Transit damages b) Method of packing

c) Accidents d) Others if any

12. Is the warehouse facility provided by Safe Express Pvt Limited trustworthy?

a) Yes b) No

13) If No, what are the reasons?

a) Lack of space b) Security

c) Damages d) Marking problem

14) Please rate the services offered by Safe Express Pvt Limited?

Services offered by the Safe Express

Excellent Good Fair Poor Very Poor

1)Client handling

2) Risk Coverage

3)Employee Efficiency

4)Online Track Information

15) Is the Third-Party Logistics services provided by the Safe Express Pvt Limited trust worthy?

69

a) Yes b) No

16) If no, what are the reasons?

a) Delay in delivery b) Delivery status updates

c) Frequent Inventory Damages & Shrinkage d) just in time requirements

17) Please mention the level of satisfaction regarding the following services provided by the Safe express Pvt Limited :

(VMS - Very much satisfied, S – Satisfied, N- Neutral, DS- Dissatisfied, HDS – Highly Dissatisfied)

VMS S N DS HDS

1.Representative ability to help you resolve your issue/need

2. Responsiveness to telephone calls & emails

4. Handling & packing

5. Clearance Department

6.Security system

7. Transit Days

8. Shipment Delivery at your doorstep

18) Do you also make use of logistics services of any other company at present?

a) Yes b) No

19) If yes, will you switch 100% to Safe Express Pvt Limited in future?

a) Yes b) No

70

20) If no, Do you have any idea of switching over to any other Logistics Services Company?

a) Yes b) No

21 ) Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements (10-1 scale with 10 being completely agree, 5 being neutral, and 1 being completely disagree):

1

(Strongl

y

Disagree

2

(Disagree

)

3

(Neutral

)

4a

Agre

e

5

(Strongl

y agree)

I believe Company Safe

Express deserves my loyalty

Over the years, my loyalty to

towards Safe Express has

become better

Safe Express Company values

people and relationships

ahead of short-term goals

22) Do you recommend the Safe Express Pvt Limited to others?

a) Yes b) No

23) Rate the overall services provided by the Safe Express Pvt Limited? a) Very much Satisfied b) Satisfied c) Neutral

d) Dissatisfied e) Very much Dissatisfied.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Book Reference:

Logistical Management – Tata McGraw 2000 Edition. Written by

Donald. Bowersox, and David. Closs.

The Management of Business Logistics – 7th Edition: Written by

Edward J. Bardi, C.John Langley, and John Joseph Coyle

Kothari C.R. “Research Methodology” New Age International

Publishers

Kotter Philip “Marketing Management” Prentice Hall Of India

Private Ltd

Websites:

i) www.safexpress.co.in

ii) www.safexpresspackers.com

iii) http://www.indexuae.com/Top/Business_and_Economy/

Services/Logistics

iv) http://www.lintasfreight.com/

v) www.yahooanswers.com

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Documents

Arun Kumar Final Project MBA - 2010