Supply Chain Innovation

Problem Statement

POD Management in Transportation

• Proof of Delivery or a POD is one of the most important documents in transportation

• POD indicates timely and quality delivery to intended recipient• POD is the basis of payment by consignee to shipper and by

shipper to transporter• Thus, POD is the lubricant that drives supply chain as much as fuel

runs vehicles• Thus, management of POD, its storage and transfer between

stakeholder is a one of the most important transactions in supply chain management

Why is POD flow important

• Most players in supply chain are not connected electronically

• Thus, POD becomes a way of communication between shipper, transporters and consignee

• Thus, MOST businesses insist on authenticated POD copy as a way of final confirmation of proper delivery of consignment

POD Flow- Ideal Situation

Shipper Hands over

consignment to Transporter

Transporter Delivers

Consignment to Consignee

Transporter gets Proof of

Delivery (POD) from Consignee

Transporter Invoices

Shipper along with POD

Shipper Pays Transporter

and Gets Payment from

Consignee

But it is not that simple…

• To minimize vendors and consolidate supply chain, Shipper uses services of a 3PL provider

• 3PL provider in turn works with transport operators for various lanes• Transport operator places his own vehicle or uses services of a broker to place a

vehicle from open market• Broker deploys truck owner for movement of material• Truck owner or his driver picks up material from shipper and delivers to consignee• Truck owner then collects physical POD and submits to broker• Broker hands over POD to delivery location office of transport operator• Transport operator moves POD to his head office, which in turn sorts PODs shipper wise• Transport operator then invoices shipper and sends invoice and original POD to pickup

location of shipper- say a factory• Factory verifies POD, movement details and send POD to shipper head office for

payment• Shipper head office then pays transporter and also marks invoice raised on consignee

as delivered and due for payment

POD Flow- Actual Situation

Consignee to Trucker • Day 1

Trucker to Broker • 2 to 4 days

Broker to Transport Operator Branch

• 3 to 4 days

Transport Operator Branch to HO

• 7 to 10 days

Transport Operator HO to Shipper Booking Location

• 7 to 15 days

Shipper Booking location to Shipper Head office

• 10 to 15 days

0

4

8

18

33

48

Cumulative Days for POD to reach Shipper

Problem Summary

• Too many players are involved in managing POD• The time taken to flow POD from delivery point to shipper is

anywhere from 15 to 50 days• As most transporters and their partners are not tech savvy, POD

management remains a manual and paper driven process• Poor POD management results in additional working capital

expense of at least 15-30 days

Solution: PODXpress

Mobile and Cloud Enabled Solution for Supply Chain Collaboration

PODXpress

MOBILE CLOUD COLLABORATION

What is PODXpress

• PODXpress is a Cloud and Mobile based software to enable collaboration in supply chain

• PODXpress can be used by transporters to manage POD, delivery information and billing to shippers

• Shippers and Consignee can get access to PODXpress to receive information on delivery

• PODXpress follows classic Software as as Service (SaaS) model where transporter pays per transaction of usage

• PODXpres has no CAPITAL cost and is READY TO USE platform for ANY transporter

How Does it Work

Transport Operator Uploads Booking in Cloud Application

STEP 1 STEP 2

Delivery Person Takes Photo of POD at Consignee Location

STEP 3

Delivery Notification Sent to Shipper with copy of POD and location of POD

PODXpress App

How does PODXpress work

• Transporter will login to PODXpress Cloud Application Portal• He will upload/ enter orders given to him by various shippers• PODXpress will store the order and consignment number given by shipper as Cloud

DatabaseStep 1

• Transporter/ Partner delivery person receives POD from consignee• He opens PODXpress Mobile App and captures photo of POD• The App also captures GPS location of image capture• The same is uploaded on cloud using mobile data connection

Step 2

• The cloud application scans the image and reads bar code on CN • The cloud app then associates CN number to order ID and thus shipper• The cloud app then send POD image to Shipper e-mail ID and also sends SMS• Shipper can view image as well as location of delivery with date and time on MAPS

Step 3

PODXpress Feature List

For Transporter For Shipper For Consignee

Web based application Web based portal to monitor delivery Auto e-mail on delivery of POD image

Mobile application for Android smartphones Mobile App to get delivery status update Delivery monitoring portal

Admin module to create users, customers, mobile numbers

Possible to view data across transport partners Possible to view data across shippers

Authentication based on mobile numbers Anytime access to POD for any number of years Anytime access to POD for any number of years

Storage of POD for unlimited years with no restriction on storage space

All data linked to Order number for internal tracking

Order upload and edit module for quick data update

API for automated data exchange with portal

Module for enroute status update Transporter performance comparison Shipper performance comparison

Rate entry and billing module Transporter payment module

Billing collection monitoring

Dashboard and MIS to monitor delivery Dashboard and MIS to monitor delivery Dashboard and MIS to monitor delivery

Automated Billing System

• On POD receipt, Transporter can add any additional charges, modify current charges for each consignment

• Transporter can also confirm shipper information for billing- name, address etc.• Transporter will then clear consignment for billing and specify billing date

Step 1: Data Update

• On billing date, PODXpress application will check all consignments available for billing• PODXpress will run a program to automatically generated a bill for each shipper of

transporter• PODXpress will automatically send bill to each shipper by e-mail and also to

transporter team

Step 2: Auto Bill Generation

• Transporter can export billing data and update its accounts system• Transporter can check PODXPress for Outstanding management and update collections

from shippers• Shippers too can make online payment against bills to transporter

Step 3: Collection update

Latest Technology for Community Benefits

PODXpress: Leveraging Cloud and Mobile Technology

Mobile Network

2G/ 3G/4G

GPS Satellites

POD Data and Geo-location captured on Mobile

Data sent over Mobile Networks to Cloud Servers

Cloud application sends data to Shipper on PC and

Mobile

Leveraging Cloud and Mobile Technology

Mobile Technology Cloud Technology

India has more than 120 mn smart phones and likely to cross 300 mn by 2015

PODXpress leverages Cloud technology capable of serving 1000s of transporters and Millions of images

Thus, most delivery persons already have a device to capture data- a major shortcoming in past

Cloud makes it possible to scale PODXpress application at a low cost and on demand, thus making it scalable

With the help of Mobile networks such as 3G and in future 4G, images and even videos can be sent easily

Cloud can store images and videos forever with multiple backups, thus shippers can retrieve POD anytime in future without failure

PODXpress compresses images to work even on 2G connections

With its multi-tenant architecture, cloud supports simultaneous usage by any number of users

As smartphones also have GPS built-in, PODXpress can also capture exact location where image was captured

Cloud technology offers ready connectivity to various smart phone platforms, thus making it easier to manage different OS such as Android, Windows, iOS etc.

Benefits to Stakeholders

Present Communication between stakeholders

SHIPPER

TRANSPORTER

CONSIGNEE

Present Communication between stakeholders

SHIPPER

TRANSPORTER

CONSIGNEE

PODXpress

Mobile + Cloud

Platform

POD Flow- AFTER PODXpress

Consignee to Trucker • Day 1

Trucker uses PODXpress • Day 1

Transporter, Shipper and Consignee get POD COpy

• Day 1

Transport Operator HO receives Physical POD for storage

• 7 to 10 days

0

0

0Cumulative Days for POD to reach Shipper

10

PODXpress Benefits to Stakeholders

For Transporter For Shipper

Better service to customer due to faster POD access Faster access to delivery information and POD

Reduction in billing cycle by over 15 to 20 days, thus savings of working capital

Reduction in collection cycle from consignee

No capital investment in technology, lifetime storage of PODs Measurement of Transporter wise service levels

Online access on Mobile as well as Web across India No need to manage and follow up 1000s of physical POD across tens of transporters

Automated Billing System and collection management Better visibility to consignee resulting in more sales orders

Future Enhancements

PODXpress Future Enhancements

• As India enters 4G age, it will be possible to upload videos much more easily• Thus, transporter can then take a video of delivery and verbal delivery proof from

consignee• PODXpress will thus offer Video POD to shippers leaving no doubt about authenticity

Video POD

• Shippers can place orders ONLINE on transporters and also make payments on receipt of POD

• This will drastically cut down working capital for transporters and thus reduce cost of transportation

Online Booking and Payments

• Transporters can plug in GPS and Sensor data to each consignment and thus offer real time tracking to shippers and consignees

• This will greatly reduce follow up required for delivery status updates

Real Time Tracking

Client Cases

PODXpress Deployments

• FSC has deployed PODXpress equivalent Mobile Applications for delivery data information capture

• FSC has gone one step further to even add booking data using Mobile application

Future Supply Chain

• Surat Goods has deployed PODXpress for capturing vehicle placement confirmation• Surat Goods uploads driver and truck photo along with POD to confirm placemen of

vehicle at customer location

Surat Goods Transport

• Bhavna Roadlines has made a mobile application available to all consignees to offer tracking and POD view information

• POD can be captured by delivery team and then is sent as auto mail to customersBhavna Roadways

• DTDC Cargo has deployed next version of PODXpress to upload SUBMITTED Bill images • This helps to confirm that an invoice was submitted in time and thus reduce collection

cycleDTDC SCS