The Hindu Business Line : ABT to offer customised warehousing

ABT Courier, the courier service arm of ABT Ltd, has hit the national trail in about a year of its launch, in association with a national courier service provider, which the company believes is a win-win situation for both the partners.

It is also willing to offer customised warehousing and despatching services for large companies that would enable them plan their requirements `just in time'.

Mr M. Manickam, Director, told Business Line that the company is also in discussions for a possible tie-up to launch international operations but did not want to divulge details at this `crucial juncture'.

In the last one year since the courier operations were launched in the South, the company was able to establish itself in a competitive market and gain customer confidence, he said.

As a part of offering value-added services and end-to end logistic solutions, the company is looking at some sort of distribution tie-up under which it may store cargo in bulk and distribute it as per the instructions of the companies. There could also be value-addition particularly in respect of pharmaceutical and refrigerated products.

Mr Manickam said with the improvement in roads due to the Golden Quadrilateral and North-South and West-East corridor projects, organised transport companies would do well.

He said warehousing need not be in a metro area and pointed out that for Tamil Nadu, Tiruchi is the ideal choice in view of its central location and due to availability of land at a cheaper price.

The success of warehousing operations depends on the depot's strategic location and how fast one could reach the designated centres from there. He said his company is experimenting methods and may decide on tie-ups by early next year. Initially, the hub would be in Tamil Nadu for this operation.

On the national courier operations launched by ABT Courier, he said the company has entered into an agreement with a national service provider and together they have a presence in 535 towns across the country and the reach would be by both air and surface transport. The customers booking the cargo would be dealing with only one service provider.

Mr N. Shanmugasundaram, Chief Executive, said both the operators would draw upon the strength of each other and there would not be any conflict of interest. The tariff also would be uniform across the country. The exchange of cargo would take place at strategically advantageous locations.

Explaining the benefits of the tie-up, Mr Manickam said both would be able to reach a larger number of locations. This, in turn, would lead to higher bookings.

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