INTRODUCTIONFreight forwarding is a service used by companies that deal in international or multi-national

import and export .while the freight forwarder doesn’t actually move the freight itself. It act us

an intermediate between the client and various transportation services. Sending products from

one international destination to another can involve a multitude of carriers, requirements and

legalities. A freight forwarding services handles the considerable logistics of this task for the

client, relieving what would otherwise be a formidable burden. Freight forwarding services

guarantee that products will get to the proper destination by an agreed upon in good condition.

The freight forwarding service utilizes established relationships with carriers of all kinds, from

air freighters and trucking companies, to rail freighters and ocean liners. Freighter forwarding

services negotiate the best possible price to move the product along the most economical route

by working out various bids and choosing the one that best balances, speed, cost and reliability.

Freight forwarding plays an important role in facilitating international trade, fulfilling a number

of distinct functions. In basic terms they act on behalf of exporters to buy and manage

transportation services. These usually include air or sea freight, as well as land transportation

services to move goods from the shipper to the port.

FREIGHT FORWARDING PROCESS

Logistics is the ability to properly prepare the complex process of planning the movement,

storage, as well as sending of services as well as sending of services as well as items. This freight

forwarding service is trigged by a freight forwarder, the 3rd party provider that designs and also

schedules the logistics, as well as process shipment from one place to another. That forwarder

directs goods as well as services through airplane, ship, train, trucks as well as several other

vessels. The key purpose of freight forwarders for exports is almost always to move the products

to international locations, while these forwarders also process complex documentation needed to

import and export items. As extremely competitive market, corporations have found solutions to

modernize their own freight forwarding service to attract and also sustain the business of

exporters.

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It is crucial for freight forwarders to understand the laws and regulations of countries where

they’re to send out their shipment. This know-how must include about the costs, charges, as well

as fees and other expenses associated to each forwarding procedure. Freight forwarders take care

of commercial invoicing, bill of lading, as well as export declarations.

During freight forwarding transactions, the freight forwarder will notify the sender regarding the

date of whenever the goods will be delivered. It is part of the freight forwarders service to be

certain that the products definitely will reach the selected location of shipping and delivery in

time, which may be a port, airport terminal as well as other locations according to the agreed

time frame on the transport contract. A lot of the freight forwarders are licensed by international

organizations as well as other intermediary agencies as necessary for forwarding industry.

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NEED OF THE STUDYIn the shipping industry freight forwarding plays a very vital role. Freight forwarding is a vital

part of international trade activity and the forwarder act as a buffer between the manufacturer/

exporter and the sea carrier to assist in efficient flow of good down the international transport

chain.

Since logistics is a booming felid considered to INDIA, retention of the existing customer and

getting the new customer is very important for that understanding the customer expectation on

the services will help to provide a better solution to the customer. Especially in logistics industry

customers will be more reliable on the services which we are providing. according to that only

they can plan things so in logistics felid it is always important to understand the customer, not

only in logistics industry in all industry “Customers are always right” so this study will surely

help the company to improve the business

This study is to analyze the customer service model and offer suggestions on a new

model of CRM

This study will help ASV supply chain solutions to know whether they can retain the

customers in business

In another way this study will improve the performance of the company

To improve the service and quality level

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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Customer is always right and customer is the king in all business. Without customer no company

can survive in the market. In this competitive world it is more difficult to retain a customer than

getting a new customer. So before getting in to something we should understand the customer

and their expectation on the service of the company then only company will be able to provide a

better service and to create more competitive edge with competitors so, to identify the customers

expectation in the case of sea export is necessary in ASV supply chain solution with a motive of

retention of customer because the customer may or may not be happy with the service.

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INDUSTRY PROFILE

LOGISTICS INDUSTRY

Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of

consumption in order to meet some requirements, for example, of customers or corporations. The

resources managed in logistics can include physical items, such as food, materials, animals,

equipment and liquids, as well as abstract items, such as time, information, particles, and energy.

The logistics of physical items usually involves the integration of

informationflow, materialhandling, production, packaging, inventory,transportation, warehousin

g and often security.

The complexity of logistics can be modeled, analyzed, visualized, and optimized by dedicated

simulation software. The minimization of the use of resources is a common motivation in

logistics for import and export.

Origin definition

The prevalent view is that the term logistics comes from the late 19th century: from

French logistique (loger means to lodge). Others attribute a Greek origin to the word: meaning

reason or speech, meaning accountant or responsible for counting.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines logistics as "the branch of military science relating to

procuring, maintaining and transporting material, personnel and facilities." However, the New

Oxford American Dictionary defines logistics as "the detailed coordination of a complex

operation involving many people, facilities, or supplies", and the Oxford Dictionary on-line

defines it as "the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation". As such,

logistics is commonly seen as a branch of engineering that creates "people systems" rather than

"machine systems".

According to the Council of Logistics Management, logistics includes the integrated planning,

control, realization, and monitoring of all internal and network-wide material, part, and product

flow, including the necessary information flow, industrial and trading companies along the

complete value-added chain (and product life cycle) for the purpose of conforming to customer

requirements.

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Logistics is the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the effective and efficient

flow of goods and services from the point of origin to the point of consumption.

Academics and practitioners traditionally refer to the production management when referring to

physical transformations taking place in a single business location (factory, restaurant or even

bank clerking) and reserve the term logistics for activities related to distribution, that is, moving

products on the territory. Managing a distribution center is seen, therefore, as pertaining to the

realm of logistics since, while in theory the products made by a factory are ready for

consumption they still need to be moved along the distribution network according to some logic,

and the distribution center aggregates and processes orders coming from different areas of the

territory. That being said, from a modeling perspective, there are similarities between operations

management and logistics, and companies sometimes use hybrid professionals, with for ex.

"Director of Operations" or "Logistics Officer" working on similar problems. Furthermore, the

term supply chain management originally refers to, among other issues, having a global vision of

both production and logistics from point of origin to point of production. All these terms may

suffer from semantic change as a side effect of advertising.

SHIPPING INDUSTRY

The transport system the shipping industry has developed to carry this diverse range of

commodities involves several separate but overlapping segments of the shipping business, each

handling a different group of trades. This specialization is based on parcel size (i.e. the size of

the individual consignment of cargo) and the cargo. Physical characteristics. The industry can be

divided into three broad segments, each of which handles a specific set of cargoes.

BULK SHIPPING: handles large cargo parcels in "bulk carriers" and oil tankers

designed for the efficient transport of the very large parcels (10 to 450,000 tonnes) of

homogeneous cargoes such as iron ore, coal, grain, oil etc.

SPECIALIZED SHIPPING: Transports large quantities of "specialized" trades (e.g.

chemicals, gas, motor vehicles, forest products), generally using ships built for the

purpose. Although these ships are purpose built, they are often designed to allow the

carriage of other cargoes. Specialized cargoes are often subject to competition from

both the liner and bulk shipping segments.

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LINER SHIPPING: specializes in the transport of small cargo parcels, which do not

fill the hold of a ship, on regular services. Today most liner cargo is carried in

containerships, but some are still transported in multi-purpose vessels or Ro-Ro’s.

FREIGHT FORWARDING

HISTORY

One of the earliest freight forwarders was Thomas Meadows and Company Limited of

London, England, established in 1836. According to "Understanding the Freight Business,"

written and published by the executive staff of Thomas Meadows and Company in 1972. The

advent of reliable rail transport and steamships created demand for the fledgling freight

forwarding industry. Trade developed between Europe and North America, creating additional

demand. The first international freight forwarders were innkeepers in London who held and re-

forwarded the personal effects of their hotel guests.

The original function of the forwarder was to arrange for carriage by contracting with various

carriers. Forwarder responsibilities included advice on documentation and customs requirements

in the country of destination. His correspondent agent overseas looked after his customers' goods

and kept him informed about matters that would affect movement of goods.

In modern times the forwarder accepts the same responsibilities. It operates either as a domestic

US carrier or otherwise with a corresponding agent overseas or with his own branch-office. In a

single transaction, the forwarder may be acting as a carrier (principal) or as an agent for his

customer or both.

Freight forwarder, forwarder, or forwarding agent is a person or company that organizes

shipments for individuals or other companies and may also act as a carrier. A forwarder is often

not active as a carrier and acts only as an agent, in other words as a third-party (non-asset-based)

logistics provider that dispatches shipments via asset-based carriers and that books or otherwise

arranges space for these shipments. Carrier types include ships, airplanes, trucks, and railroads.

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Freight forwarders typically arrange cargo movement to an international destination. Also

referred to as international freight forwarders, they have the expertise that allows them to prepare

and process the documentation and perform related activities pertaining to international

shipments. Some of the typical information reviewed by a freight forwarder is the commercial

invoice, shipper's export declaration, bill of lading and other documents required by the carrier or

country of export, import, or transshipment. Much of this information is now processed in a

paperless environment.

International Freight Forwarders and NVOCCs and customs brokers often charge a fee for

transferring documents to another transportation company at destination. This fee is ultimately

paid by the importer at the port of discharge generally as an advance on the customs brokers

billing. This fee is separate from documentation fees charged by steamship carriers and

NVOCCs as part of the freight charges on a bill of lading and is separate from other fees for

document preparation or for release of cargo. Some companies may call this an admin fee, doc

fee, doc transfer or other name but it exists in some form in most destinations around the world

and is well known to most importers.

FREIGHT FORWARDING IN WORLD

A freight forwarder, forwarder, or forwarding agent, is a person or company that organizes

shipments for individuals or corporations to get goods from the manufacturer or producer to a

market, customer or final point of distribution. Forwarders contract with a carrier to move the

goods. A forwarder does not move the goods but acts as an expert in supply chain management.

A forwarder contracts with carriers to move cargo ranging from raw agricultural products to

manufactured goods. Freight can be booked on a variety of shipping providers,

including ships, airplanes, trucks, and railroads. It is not unusual for a single shipment to move

on multiple carrier types. 'International freight forwarders" typically handle international

shipments. International freight forwarders have additional expertise in preparing and processing

customs and other documentation and performing activities pertaining to international shipments.

Information typically reviewed by a freight forwarder includes the commercial invoice,

shipper’s, bill of lading and other documents required by the carrier or country of export, import,

and/or transshipment. Much of this information is now processed in a paperless environment.

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The FIATA shorthand description of the freight forwarder as the 'Architect of Transport'

illustrates the commercial position of the forwarder relative to his client. In Europe, some

forwarders specialize in 'niche' areas such as rail-freight, and collection and deliveries around a

large port.

Lloyd's Loading List is the freight forwarding industry’s' journal of record, first published 160

years ago as a UK export directory today it provides details of forwarders, NVOCC , shipping

lines/agents who serve over 10,000 ports globally.

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COMPANY PROFILE

ASV supply chain services private limited is a private company incorporated on 10

August 2011.it is classified as Indian non government company and is registered at Register of

companies, Chennai. Its authorized share capital is Rs.100, 000 and its paid up capital is Rs.100,

000.

ASV supply chain services private limited’s corporate identification Number is (CIN)

U63090TN2011PTC081866 and its registration number is 81866 .Its registered address is

NO.90,GNT Road ,ponniammanmedu, madavaram CHENNAI-600110,TAMIL NADU INDIA

VISION STATEMENT

Perform Safe and on time delivery to Domestic & International Customer. Operate with well

trained and Competent Personnel. To strive for continual improvement and try to offer

innovative & cost effective solution to our customer

Key objectives of ASV SUPPLY CHAIN SERVICES PVT. LTD

1. , lead - time reduction and flexibility are our most important objectives. To

improve the profit performance of our customer through excellence in Supply

Chain Management, Domestic and International Logistics of WMS

[Warehouse Management Systems] & TMS [Transport Management Systems].

2. On time delivery

3. International Quality IT systems for Visible Track & Trace’ the cargo.

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CORPORATE PROFILE

Logistics Division – ASV Logistics.

Established – Year 2008.

Converted as Partnership – YEAR 2009.

Converted as PRIVATE LIMITED – Aug 2011.

Domestic & International Logistics and SCM.

Associate Companies :-

M/s. JMD Shipping Agencies – CHA.

M/s. Sun freight India Pvt Ltd – FF & CHA in Tuticorin.

M/s. Heart Care Technologies Pvt Ltd – Mfg Company.

ASV SUPPLY CHAIN SERVICES PVT. LTD. – CUSTOMER LIST

Delphi – TVS Diesel Systems Ltd

Komos Automotive India Pvt Ltd

Roche Mining MT [India] Pvt Ltd

Maersk Logistics - DAMCO

Shenzen Mediplus – China

THE HINDU – Kasturi & Sons Ltd

ICI India Limited – Akzo Nobel

Super Auto Forge Ltd

Komatsu India P Ltd / Cargo Intl. Pvt. Ltd

TVS Dynamic / TVS Logistics Services

Wilson Sandhu Logistics [India] Limited

Insmart Systems, Hyderabad

DHL Lemuir Logistics Pvt. Ltd

Orion Express Container Lines Pvt. Ltd

ASV SUPPLY CHAIN SERVICES PVT. LTD

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INFRASTRUCTUR

OUTSOURCED 40’ TRAILERS - 18 NOS

ATTACHED TRAILERS 20’ & 40’ - 18 NOS

OUTSOURCED 9 MT/16 MT LORRY – 12 NOS

ATTACHED LCV’S - 11 NOS

COVERD WAREHOUSE – Closed to 60,000 SQ. FT

OWN FORKLIFT – 04 Nos

BUSINESS VERTICAL OF FF, CHA,TMS & WMS

ODC TRANSPORTATION

NEWS PAPER DISTRIBUTION

Company services

Ware house

Transportation and distribution

Customs house agents

Other logistics related services

Competitors

NTC( Namakkal Transport carriers)

KINGS SHIPPING

ADARSH SHIPPING

KMM FREIGHT SYSETEM

SINDHU CARGO LOGISTICS

NTC PVT LTD

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Namakkal Transport Carriers (P) Limited (NTC), was established in the year 1997 and

incorporated as a Private Limited company in the year 2001 with an objective to cater to the

specific logistics needs of the business and trade. It was established at a time when the Indian

transport entrepreneurs were severely handicapped due to non-availability of specialty vehicles,

especially for the transportation of heavy over dimensional consignments. From a humble

beginning just about a decade ago, NTC today is a multi-crore business group, providing end-to-

end logistic solutions to meet the specific needs of its prestigious customers, aspire to branch out

into allied businesses in India and abroad.

NTC firmly believes that Quality Service, Safety and timely delivery not only satisfy the

requirements of Customers and establish long term relationships, but also identifies NTC as a

company with a competitive edge in the Transport spectrum across India. The recognition thus

earned, further influenced new scope and dimensions in the logistic segments in transport

industry. It's all-round efficiencies and competencies provide optimal solutions to the customers

backed by strong systems, controls and procedures have lead the company to certification on ISO

9001:2008 by TUV NORD – Germany.

ADARSH SHIPPINGADARSH SHIPPING as a bunker trading company they strongly commit to compliance with the

product specification provided by the ship owners. To make sure 100% smooth sailing to their

destinations, they adhere to the process for ensuring the prominent bunker delivery with best

quality products.

Logistics: As part of supply chain management, logistics play a vital role. They believe that their

efficient logistics which makes bunkering more smoother.

Cost and Service efficiency: To compete with the current market trend they provide efficient

service for better prices.

KMM FREIGHT SYSTEM13

KMM Freight Systems is one of the upcoming International Freight Forwarding agent, Air and

Sea Cargo consolidators and Customs Clearing Agents. They operate in the following:

Freight Forwarding (AIR & SEA)

Door – Door Logistics Services

Export & Import Consultation

Consolidation of Air/ Sea (Import & Exports) Customs Broker

Transportation

Warehousing

KMM offers its sincere and dedicated service to its customers for more than a decade. The

Company is being directed by Smt. LOUIS PREMALATHA who is trained in the field of

logistics for more than 2 decades. She is leading the Empire with the ideal policy to serve the

customers with utmost Satisfaction. The company's aim is to provide fast, reliable

KINGS SHIPPING

Nationally. Internationally. Wherever you're going, we'll get you there. Their global

transportation offerings include ground, ocean and air freight transportation services. And they

include GPS units at the pallet level, too. So wherever you are

They follow a detailed approach that starts with on-boarding every client, and carries through

from pre-start through post-launch. Kings shipping will not stop their service in shipping and

will help you with fulfillment, warehousing, project management, and more. They will find out

what you need.

SINDHU CARGO SERVICES

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Sindhu Cargo Services Private Limited is a Bangalore based company engaged in

providing end-to-end logistic solutions in India. Sindhu Cargo has been serving the Trade &

Industry since 1987. Sindhu Cargo has a strong team of well trained manpower of over 800

qualified & experienced professionals' across India to serve the esteemed clients. Sindhu Cargo

is well spread across India & have branches at 20 locations in all major ports, ICDs & airports

across India. Sindhu Cargo is associated with more than 100 counterparts across the

globe.Sindhu Cargo is a licensed Custom House Agent (CHA). The company is accredited to

IATA & possesses NVOCC licence. The company is also member of many freight forwarding

associations such as FFFAI, FIATA & AMTOI. Sindhu Cargo is also a registered member of

WCA Family of logistics network comprising of APLN, IGLN etc., Sindhu Cargo is also an

active member of Bangalore Customs House Agents Association Ltd., (BCHAAL)

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

To identify the customers expectation on freight forwarding with special reference

to ASV SUPPLY CHAIN pvt ltd

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES

To understand the export and import process in Indian logistics industry.

To identify the problem associated with export import in Indian logistics industry

To identify the steps involved in the sea export.

To offer suggestions to improve customer satisfaction.

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Adrian; aivaz, kamer; capatina, alexandru their studies in implications of logistic service

quality on the satisfaction level and retention rate of an e-commerce retailer's

customer’s economic computation & economic cybernetics studies & research.

The article offers information on the research which is focused on how the logistic service

quality influence the satisfaction of customers and their retention rate within an online retailer,

specialized in sales of information technology and electronic devices. It informs that the data

were analyzed by means of confirmatory factorial analysis, one-way and two-way analysis of

vari8ance (ANOVA) method and linear regression analyses. (AN: 89707078), Database:

Business Source Elite

Arun; Grewal, Dhruv; Levy, Michaelon in their studies the customer satisfaction

/logistics interface Journal of Business Logistics. The article examines the impact of a firm's

business logistics policy on customer satisfaction, profitability and strategic partnering. The

degree to which customers are satisfied determines whether customers make additional

purchases and recommend the company and its products to others. Improving the quality

of logistics service is particularly important because it increases customer satisfaction, which in

turn heightens the occurrence of strategic partnering and corporate profitability. The degree to

which customers are satisfied with a product is determined by the combined impact of its

attributes versus its cost. An important determinant of customer satisfaction is how well the

product performs. Specifically, logistics managers should understand and occasionally shape

the customer's pre-purchase logistics service expectations in order to increase customer

satisfaction. The proposed framework highlights strategies by which logistics managers can

increase customer satisfaction by focusing on specific post-purchase

customer/logistics interactions. It is important for the selling firm to get customers involved in

the management of the logistics process. (AN: 9510173368), Database: Business Source Elite

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Burkovskis, raimondas his study in efficiency of freight forwarder's participation in the

process of transportation   in the process of transporting goods allows his clients to refuse

unnecessary services and get focused on the main competencies of a company. At presence, there

is no common definition of the term ' Freight forwarders ' or identical legal regulation of

responsibility and functions; therefore, the problems of unifying the international process of

goods movement are confronted. This reduces the efficiency of activity and causes additional

problems in the field of international trade. In the future, Freight forwarders role in logistics

supply chain will rise and the clients will demand the whole package of logistics services.

Therefore, special notice should be given to stimulate investments into the new Freight

forwarders services. Freight forwarders participation in the process of transporting goods allows

his clients to refuse unnecessary services and get focused on the main competencies of a

company. At presence, there is no common definition of the term Freight forwarders or identical

legal regulation of responsibility and functions; therefore, the problems of unifying the

international process of goods movement are confronted. This reduces the efficiency of activity

and causes additional problems in the field of international trade. In the future, Freight

forwarders role in logistics supply chain will rise and the clients will demand the whole package

of logistics services. Therefore, special notice should be given to stimulate investments into the

new Freight forwarders services.

Douglas m leuschner, rudolf; lambert,.; knemeyer, a. michael their studies in logistics

performance, customer satisfaction and share of business acomparison of primary and

secondary supplies journal of business logistics in the linkage between logistics performance

and overall firm performance has received attention in the literature for more than 30 years.

However, researchers have not investigated if differences in performance between primary and

secondary suppliers affect customer satisfaction and the percentage of business allocated to

suppliers. In this research, primary suppliers received more than four times as much business as

the secondary suppliers. We investigated the impact of the Marketing Mix

on customer satisfaction and share of business for primary suppliers and secondary suppliers, and

identified differences between the two groups, using multi group structural equation modeling.

The results indicate that perceived performance on logistics attributes significantly

affects customer satisfaction and the percentage of business that is allocated to primary and

secondary suppliers, which is key information for developing competitive strategies. Our

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research findings challenge the practice of providing service levels to customers based on current

revenue or profitability which does little to convince customers, who are using a company as

secondary source, to make it the primary supplier.

Florez-Lopez, Raquel; Ramon-Jeronimo, Juan M. in their studies on

Managing logistics customer service under uncertainty logistics customer service model is

a critical competitive advantage that enhances both customer satisfaction and firm performance.

Researchers have developed several models for assessing customer requirements, measuring

product performance, and positioning products. However, handling customers’ linguistic

preferences and uncertain product attributes remain significant and unresolved problems. In this

study, we develop an integrative framework that incorporates the Kano model, fuzzy distances,

and 2-tuple fuzzy-linguistic model to manage customer-service logistics more effectively.

Following a five-module architecture, we consider numerical, fuzzy, and linguistic data on

product attributes and customer requirements. We first evaluate product attributes using utility-

value functions and converted into satisfaction scores related to Kano categories. We then

consider raw importance assessments to obtain an overall satisfaction score for each market and

product. An empirical example illustrates the benefits of this integrative approach. The results

show that our proposal can effectively manage logistics customer service, enabling managers to

identify targets and formulate competitive strategies to enhance customer satisfaction.

Gin-Shun Liang; Tsung-Yu Chou; Shu-Fen Kan (2006), in their studies in Applying fuzzy

quality function deployment to identify service management requirements for an

ocean freight forwarder Total Quality Management & Business Excellence identified that

service management requirements for an ocean freight forwarder is developed through Fuzzy

Quality Function Deployment (FQFD). First, customer needs, with importance

and satisfaction degrees, have been investigated, followed by the development of service

management requirements for satisfying the observed customer needs. Furthermore, a fuzzy

relation matrix to link service management requirements and customer needs based on cross-

functional expertise is also constructed. The aggregated fuzzy assessments of various service

management requirements are ranked to determine their importance priority.

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Gajewska, teresa lisińska-kuśnierz, małgorzata; their studies in customer satisfaction with

the quality of the logistic services. It is evaluated mainly by measuring customer satisfaction.

Measurement of the customer satisfaction provides the information about how organizations

operate as well as how to effectively satisfy customer needs. The aim of this paper is to propose

an evaluation model of the customer satisfaction of the quality of the logistic services provided.

The research in this paper was focused on the evaluation of the level of customer satisfaction in

the context of logistics service as well as on the analysis of importance often logistic services

attributes influencing customer satisfaction. Methods: The research was conducted on the basis

of the questionnaire designed for purchasers of logistic services. The subjects of the research

were companies which are using refrigerated transport. Results: To define relation between level

of customer satisfaction in the context of logistic service and logistic service attributes impacting

this satisfaction Pearson's correlation method was used. In turn the model to evaluate

the customer satisfaction in the context of logistic services in scope of refrigerated transport was

built using multiple regression and stepwise regression methods.

Goldsby Rao, Shashank;, Thomas J.; Griffis, Stanley E.; Iyengar, Deepak. Their studies in

Electronic Logistics Service Quality (e-LSQ): Its Impact on the Customer's Purchase

Satisfaction and Retention Journal of Business Logistics. The Internet retailing industry

continues to grow rapidly. Several Internet retailers are, however, struggling to

retain customers due to the high level of competition among incumbents. We propose

that customer satisfaction with the order fulfillment process is an important determinant of

overall customer satisfaction with the retailer, as well as with the extent of customer retention

enjoyed by the retailer. This paper offers a new concept for electronic logistics service quality

and investigates the relationship between the quality of online fulfillment and the ensuing

retention of customers, using archival data on 260 online retailers.

The structural equation model results indicate that satisfaction with the physical distribution

quality and cost are positively related with customer's purchase satisfaction and customer

retention. Additionally, the results indicate that while purchase satisfaction is a strong indicator

of customer retention, underlying drivers of purchase satisfaction do not have nearly the same

impact on customer retention directly as they have on purchase satisfaction.

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Giovanis, A.N.; Tsoukatos, in their study on relationships between logistics service

deliverable, customer satisfaction and loyality in industrial supply chains E. In: Journal for

International Business and Entrepreneurship Development, 2013,( vol.7, no.1, pp. 63-80, ). This

study aims at identifying the main dimensions of logistics service quality (LSQ) and analyzing

their effects on satisfaction and loyalty in B2B settings. For this purpose an integrative structural

model of logistics service performance impact on satisfaction and loyalty is proposed and tested

in a self-built logistics setting. On evidence drawn, through a dedicated research instrument,

from 213 companies in Greece, the effects of outcome and process elements of LSQ

on satisfaction and loyalty are assessed. Results show that customers' perception about their

suppliers' LSQ level is shaped by both outcome and process elements while outcome quality is

further affected by process quality. Both dimensions impact satisfaction with outcome quality

being the main driver. LSQ dimensions and satisfaction directly affect

loyalty. Satisfaction's hypothesized enhancing role on the association between LSQ dimensions

and loyalty is confirmed. Finally, several implications of the findings are discussed and further

research directions are provided.

Ranjan, Jayanthi; Puri, Sandeep. Out of Stock conditions

affecting Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty In their studies in Journal of Business

& Retail Management Research.( Apr2012, Vol. 6 Issue 2, p38-52. 15p.)

Abstract: In the retail industry, customer experience, satisfaction and service are going to

become the limiting differentiators. Increasing competition is creating pressure on retailers to

improve both inventory turnover and customer service. Poor logistic management can result in

either over stocking (leading to cash flow problems and unnecessary discounts) or lost sales due

to stock outs. Stock outs can have serious impact on the business as it affects retailer's credibility

and consumer's satisfaction. It is important to understand the cost of a retail stock out before the

implementation of any retail inventory model.

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Export import in Indian logistics industry

The advent of 2015 marks the beginning of a new era where the government would try its best to

clear the obstacles that come in the way of doing business, attracting more investment and

generating employment. Expectations run high in the logistics sector from the upcoming Budget

and also the recent ‘Make in India’ campaign. The Indian logistics industry is currently plagued

with poor infrastructure and high costs. However, it is going to turn around on the back of robust

GDP growth, globalization, FDI in logistics and increasing government support. The biggest

expectation of logisticians is the recognition of logistics as an industry, which will help in the

creation of transparent policies towards the overall development of this sector. It will also boost

investment in logistics and allow easy options to generate finance from banks instead of

expensive private funding. After being recognized as an industry, logisticians can expect that

strict guidelines and rationalization of regulations will be followed by all service providers and

on matters related to payment defaulters within the entire supply chain. Due to the inefficiency of

the payment defaulters, there can be an obstacle in the smooth execution of the supply chain and

handling of goods, leading to higher cost and inefficiencies. Thus, making defaulters more

accountable will safeguard the interests of LSPs. The logistics companies wish that the

government, in the Budget, shall necessarily give the final go-ahead to the much-awaited Goods

& Services Tax (GST) rollout plan, which is imperative to shed state level barriers and simplify

the tax structure. GST will create a single unified Indian market for the logistics industry. It will

make them competitive to meet international standards of cost of inventory holding and

transaction cost, which is one of the major weak links in the global competitiveness of Indian

logistics companies. The provision for proper infrastructure is another important expectation of

the logistics industry, which includes development of a better transportation system and setting

up of warehouses. Additional rail infrastructure should be put in place to ensure there is no piling

up of containers at inland ports. Better infrastructure in metro cities along with development of

major airports as cargo hubs will supplement India’s growing ex-im (export-import) trade.

Increased allocation for creating inland waterways projects and pushing forward to revive the

Sagarmala plan for coastal areas are a must.

The development of logistics parks across the country for speedy delivery is another expectation

of logistics companies. The creation of industry clusters and corridors will also provide

22

infrastructure for major improvement in logistics activities. Logistics parks will provide services

and facilities to reduce costs, boost efficiency and improve the flow of both raw material

procurement and finished goods. The NDA government has already taken some valuable

initiatives focusing on infrastructure development. Examples include the push for the golden

quadrilateral project, east-west and north-south corridors, and free trade warehousing zones

(FTWZs) in line with special economic zones (SEZs). The SEZs could avail of 100 per cent

foreign direct investment (FDI) and go in for public-private partnerships (PPP) in infrastructure

development with the abolishment of MAT on infrastructure companies.

The logistics industry further hopes that the government comes up with a clear incentive plan for

funds from private equity firms, strategic investors and public listing in order to finance massive

expansion in warehouses. Plans should be made for the investors (venture capital/PE funds) to

fund logistics as a specialized industry. There is also a need to provide fiscal incentives towards

financing and training, and human resource development programmes. The Budget should

envisage availability of long-term (more than 10 years) and cheaper debt. the congested air cargo

terminals at some gateway international airports that face dwell time. The existing container

freight stations (CFS) should be upgraded to have AFS facility, and later a new independent A *

Facility of a single-window clearance for permission prior to the export of products, to simplify

processes, reduces documentation and ambiguities on the Customs regulatory front.

All in all, the government should look at logistics with a holistic approach instead of focusing on

small partial challenges. Being the backbone of the economy, freight and logistics companies

have huge expectations from this Budget. Ending 2014 on a decent note, the Indian logistics

industry is looking forward to script another success story in 2015 as a year of growth, new

investments and new opportunities.

India‘s share in global trade is still less than 2%. The majority of this comes through maritime

Shipping, yet port container traffic in 2011 was 9,983,940 TEU only1.The country’s increasing

Current account deficit is increasingly an area of concern for Indian government and policy

makers2. One of the ways to reduce this deficit could be by increasing our exports in the services

Sector wherein so far prime contributions have come mainly from IT (Information Technology)

&ITeS (Information Technology enabled Services)sectors. According to the World Bank

estimates3,export of goods and services from India amounted to 24% of the GDP in 2008-2012.

23

Among these, the Information &Communications Technology (ICT) goods constituted only

2.2%4of the goods exports whereas ICT services constituted a major chunk of over 60% of

service exports.

Other service sectors like consulting, logistics, health, etc. have so far contributed only

Marginally. Even in IT & ITeS sectors, we have not paid much attention to many aspects of ‘soft

logistics’, especially the regulatory ones, which if facilitated properly, may lead to further fillip

in export of ICT services. All these need our immediate attention. The aim of this concept paper

is to understand the current state of exports in logistics services from India, analyze the various

regulatory and promotional policies applicable to this area and suggest a roadmap for the

development of the same. As the export in logistics services is directly interlinked to the level of

the development of the logistics management in the country, we also discuss it as a

complimentary process to the development of exports. In the next section, we discuss various

types of logistics services in a global economy and provide a simple classification for the same.

Section3 constitutes the main body of the paper wherein India’s state of logistics performance,

important exports in these services and scope, current administrative and regulatory setup for

development in this area including initiatives, Lacunae and pointers to reforms are presented. In

the section-4, we analyze the given problem and deduce important insights for further

improvement. Finally, we propose a solution Framework for augmenting the export in logistics

services in section5 along with a matrix ofActions for way forward.

India’s Current Position in Logistics PerformanceLogistics cost by value accounts for around 13.5% of the GDP of India – this is much higher

than that in the US (9%), Europe (10%) and Japan (11%) but lowers than that in countries such

as China (18%) and Thailand (16%).7 Further, India is ranked 46th in the logistics performance

index among 155 countries8. The composite index for this ranking is based on five factors,

namely customs efficiency of the clearance process (i.e. speed, simplicity and predictability of

Formalities by border control agencies, including customs), quality of trade and transport related

Infrastructure (e.g. ports, railroads, roads, information technology), international shipments

(ease of arranging competitively priced shipments), logistics competence (competence and

quality of logistics services like transport operators, customs brokers, etc.),tracking & tracing

24

(ability to track and trace consignments) and timeliness. India’s logistics sector is fragmented

with most of the logistics services being provided by small Firms with limited networking and

integration capabilities. Due to this reason in most of the cases, India is so far unable to leverage

the benefits amenable to large scale integrated Operations. One example could be the

development of hub-and–spoke based distribution system. To implement and avail the benefits

associated with such advanced distribution system, the operator needs to have a critical mass.

Another example could be cited in the distribution of Automobiles in India. ICT applications like

RFID scanning systems and EDI systems have been Found to substantially increase the logistics

efficiency in the western countries by improvement in vehicle visibility in the supply chain,

quick and reliable data exchange, etc. The general Shortcomings that have been identified for the

deployment and application of these systems are general lack of standards across the various

systems of LSPs and absence of a logistics integrator across the entire chain to implement these

expensive systems (Chandra et al., 2012). Let us compare the Indian scenario with that of China.

CEVA, a leading global supply chain management firm, started operations in China in 1988.

Currently, CEVA has 88 sites all over mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and manages

more than 1.4 million square meters combined storage space. CEVA commands a unique

position within the market, combining a global network and strong domestic capabilities to

provide its customers with integrated end-toned Supply chain solutions9. Presently India lacks

such big players with the aforementioned capacities and capabilities. So, we need to arise, awake

and act fast.

We identified a list of around 350 Indian firms involved in the trade of logistics services from the

CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) Prowess database. This is not an exhaustive list

of firms providing logistics services, but the aggregated sales information is expected to

approximately represent the whole sector. This list includes mostly firms providing direct

Services, as the revenue generated through ICT, DSS and consulting services may be difficult to

Segregate from the overall revenue of firms offering these services. The total revenue generated

by logistics firms in last 10 years in India is about INR 4,332 billion of which approximately

INR 344 billion i.e. roughly 8% is in foreign exchange. The sales in foreign exchange can be

taken as a proxy for revenue generated through export of services, as foreign exchange earnings

are the main motivation for promoting exports. Further, as per the latest Foreign Trade Policy,

any trade-in services in which consideration is received in free foreign exchange would be

25

considered as service export10. The top 50 firms have contributed more than 96% of the total

exports in the last decade (refer Appendix 1). Therefore, we limit our focus on these top 50

exporters of logistics services. As per the data shown in Fig 2, private Indian firms contributed

the major share of around 88%, followed by foreign private players (11%). The firms owned by

central government generated less than 1% of the total export revenues. In fact, the only

government owned firm to figure in the top list is CONCOR (Container Corporation of India).

.

Despite the importance of centralization of logistics development in the country, there is no

single nodal agency, regulatory authority, or a task force to plan, implement and foresee the

Development of logistics services. Logistics services, especially connected to foreign trade are

Heavily interlinked and capacity and/or procedural bottlenecks in any one sector severely Impact

the efficiency of the whole system. In such a scenario, it is imperative that a central Organization

or task force looks after the development of logistics services in an integrated and Holistic

manner. As discussed earlier, there is no clear budgeting to promote logistics services in the

country. Presently, different organizations are focusing on developing their own Infrastructure

and in some cases intermodal infrastructure in collaboration with other Organizations. This leads

to unclear, uncoordinated and overlapping resource allocations by Various ministries. For an

example in case of containerization of cargo in India, Raghuram and Gangwar (2007) report that

inadequate capacities in the hinterland transport modes often lead to higher costs and delays on

account of sub-optimal mode choices, circuitous routing and Congestion in the hinterland

transport links, despite maintaining higher capacities in the ports and rail transportation. Other

impediment in the development of logistics services and their exports is the poor quality of

logistics operations along with poor infrastructure in the country. This leads to high costs, delays,

accidents, etc. Today, if a truck has to carry goods for export by road to Bangladesh, the waiting

time at the border could be as high as 15 days. One is not sure how many such points in the

country exist (state borders, highway tolls, etc.), where nobody is bothered about the waiting

time of the commercial vehicles. It is a national waste and needs to be taken care of. One of the

problems faced by LSPs in India is inefficient inspection strategies adopted by customs and

border authorities, which causes multiple handling at check-posts leading to delays and damages.

There is a complex framework of direct and indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the

central and various state governments. A lack of unified GST (Goods and Services Tax) across

26

the country makes the use of logistics systems like the hub-and-spoke system inefficient, as

transportation costs across various state borders may vary considerably. This promotes the

development of regional warehouses all across the nation, rather than a few big warehouses.

Other problems are bribery, harassment of drivers, unnecessary paperwork and lack of associated

infrastructure like drainage, lighting, parking space, etc. The poor condition of roads leads to

reduced fuel efficiency and increased maintenance with consequent higher logistics costs. The

resultant effect is the bad turn-around ratios, increased cost of insurance, and other associated

cost increases. Thus overall the logistics costs increase manifold highlights a few of the

significant reasons for high logistics cost in India.

Significant Reasons for High Logistics Costs in India

Our interaction with a few key players reveals that presently, FTWZ seems to have got

Entangled in procedural bottlenecks with the ministry of finance having serious reservations over

the modalities facilitated by the ministry of commerce. These bottlenecks need to be Removed

expeditiously if we need to give a push to export centric logistics services. Further, in the Indian

logistics market, there are a few large players with a large number of small Players. This makes

the logistics sector highly fragmented and unorganized. There is a Mushrooming of transport

unions, which prevent flow of trucks from one geographical area to Another. This is hampering

the free price settlement in the transport sector. Most of these Unions are affiliated to the local

political groups. Institutionalized corruption (in north-east Organizations need to pay a fixed

27

amount per month to ferry the trucks) is another major Obstacle in the development of efficient

nationwide transporters .Currently in India, the national economy and marketplace are

undergoing rapid changes and transformation. A large number of reasons could be attributed to

these changes. One of the reasons in these changes in the Indian Market Scenario is

Globalization, and the subsequent and resulting explosive growth of global trade and the

international competition. The other reason for these changes in the Indian Market Scenario is

the technological change. This is an important factor because the technological competitiveness

is making, not only the Indian market, but also the global marketplace cutthroat. In the Indian

Marketing Scenario, the market success goes to those companies that are best matched to the

current environmental imperatives. Those companies that can deliver what the people want and

can delight the Indian customers are the market leaders. Today the companies are operating in

such a marketplace where survival of the fittest is the law. In order to win, the companies are

coming out with various new and evolving strategies because the Indian market is also changing

very fast. It is to capture the Indian market, that the Indian and the Multi National Companies are

using all of their resources.

The Indian market is no longer a seller’s market. The winner is the one who provides value for

money. A large number of companies have huge idle capacities, as they have wrongly calculated

the market size and installed huge capacities. This has further contributed to converting the

Indian market into a buyer’s market. The Indian Marketing Scenario is one of the biggest

consumer markets and that is precisely the reason why India has attracted several MNC’s. These

large Multi National Companies have realized that to succeed in the Indian market-place they

need to hire Indian representative who are much more aware of the Indian economic, political,

legal and social realities. In the Indian Marketing Scenario, it is the MADE FOR INDIA

marketing strategies that work.

India's exports rose 35.1 per cent in May to USD 16.1 billion year-on-year, but the trouble

brewing in some European economies may weigh on future demand. The seventh straight month

of rise was registered on a low export base of USD 11.95 billion in May 2009, when shipments

had plunged by over 29 per cent from the previous fiscal under the impact of the recession in the

US and several other advanced economies. For the April-May 2010-11 periods, exports grew by

35.7 per cent to USD 33 billion against the year-ago period, according to official data released on

28

Thursday. President of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations A Sakthivel said that the

crisis in some European countries is a cause for concern.

"We hope the growth trend will continue but the only worrying aspect is the crisis in the eruo

zone, which is likely to affect India's exports in that area," he said. He also added that the

depreciation of euro would provide fierce competition to Indian products in countries where they

are facing competition from Euro nations. Ministry officials said that labour-intensive sectors

like engineering, gems and jewellery, leather and man-made fibres have registered healthy

growth rates in May. Imports also surged 38.5 per cent in May to USD 27.4 per cent, indicating a

rapid pace of domestic economic activity and leading to a trade gap of USD 11.29 billion during

the month under review. Imports during the first two months of this fiscal grew 40.9 per cent to

USD 54.7 billion against USD 38.85 billion in the same period last year. Oil imports in May

were valued at USD 8.8 billion while the non-oil import bill was about USD 18.6 billion.

Problems associated with export import in Indian logistics industry The removal of 25-30 per cent Customs duty levied on fuel used by Indian ships and

solving other logistical hurdles to push for more usage of sea routes for both domestic

and international cargo. This will bring down transportation costs and also help in quick

transportation without any delays in delivery.

The refined policy of setting up Air Freight Stations (AFS) should be there across the

country, which will help to boost trade and take into account the interests of private

airports. This will also promote international air cargo operations by reaching out to

hinterland regions of the country, besides decongesting FS should be considered.

Introducing the Multimodal Transport Policy that would cover road and sea. The

government should work towards developing waterways, roads as well as the sea mode,

rail and airports together.

Time-based hiring of ships for the purpose of imports should be exempted from payment

of service tax. Service tax on freight and all related services should be exempted.

In today’s IT-driven logistics, there is need for the creation of a separate cell to act as an

information nerve centre forecasting the daily demands and supply of container racks at

various ports and ICDs.

29

Language difference

More risk

Government control

Difference in laws

Difficulty in payment

Custom duty

Lack of information

Evil effects of foreign trade

Economics dependence

Disadvantages to agriculture countries

International jealousy

One side development of country

dumping

30

RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the research project. It specifies the

details of the procedure necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure and solve the

research problems. The research design used is descriptive design.

SAMPLE SIZE

Taking in account the nature and extend of the study. Along with constrains of time a

sample of 20 customers of ASV SUPPLY CHAIN were surveyed.

SAMPLING METHOD

The method of sampling used for the study is convenient sampling method.

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

Closed ended questions-Respondents answers are limited to a fixed set of responses. Most scale

is closed ended. Other type of closed ended questions include,

Multiple choice-the responds has several options which to choose.

Scaled questions- responses are graded on continuum (example rate the appearance of the

product on a scale from 1 to 5 being the most preferred appearance) Examples of type of scale

include the liker scale semantic differential scale and rank –order scale.

The respondent supplies their own answer without being constrained by a fixed set of possible

responses.

31

PERIOD OF THE STUDY

The study was undertaken for three months from February 2nd to April 30 2015.

METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

The data needed for the research study were collected by two source primary source and

secondary source.

PRIMARY DATA

Primary data were collected through survey from the customers of the company using the

questionnaire. Questionnaire helps to recognize the customers’ expectations.

SECONDARY DATA

Secondary data needed for conducting this research work were collected from brochures of the

company and employee profile, books internet and various journals etc.

TOOLS USED

1) PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS The percentage analysis is the analysis of ratio of a current value to based value either the result

multiplied by 100 .the main objective of the percentage analysis is comparison of data for the

analysis.

Percentage analysis = No of respondents / Total respondents × 100

2) GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION

Graphical representation like bar diagram, pie diagram, column are used to represent the data

which has been collected through the study

32

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will help to understand the customer’s expectation from freight forwarders. It helped

to know about the satisfaction level of the organization. This study helps to sort out the area of

improvement in customer services. The study portrayed the need of continuous training along

with new skills and knowledge and technology that will help them with changing business needs

and demands. It also helps to access the real opinion and mind-set of customers and aids to meet

out their expectation in future.

33

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The customers are busy while collecting the information so there may be inaccuracy in

information given by the customers.

Due to time factor the study is limited to a period of three month.

The information given by the customers may be biased.

Some of the respondents should have not given actual facts in order to quickly finish off

the interview due to their time constraint.

34

TABLE NO 5.1

Respondent classification based on description of cargo

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

FCL 10 50%

LCL 10 50%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table that shows 10% of customers chooses FCL cargo and 10% of

customers choose LCL cargo.

CHART NO:5.1

FCL LCL0

2

4

6

8

10

12

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

35

TABLE NO- 5.2

Respondent classification based on commodity of cargo

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Garments 2 10%

Machineries 5 25%

Auto mobile 5 25%

Leather items 2 10%

Others 6 30%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that 30% cargo is other items, 25% of cargo is

machineries,30% of cargo is auto mobile,10% of cargo is leather and other 10% of cargo is

garments.

CHART NO: 5.2

Factors Garments Machineries Auto mobile

Leather items

Others0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Series1Series2Series3

36

TABLE NO: 5.3

Respondent classification based on shipment per month

No: of shipment per month No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Below 1 TEU 3 15%

1 to 2 TEU 2 10%

3 to 4 TEU 4 20%

5 to 6 TEU 8 40%

More than 6 TEU 3 15%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows 10% of customers exporting 1 to 2 TEU, 20% of customers

exporting 3 to 4 TEU, 15% of customers exporting below 1 TEU and, 40% of customers

exporting 5 to 6 TEU and remaining 15% of customer exporting more than 6 TEU.

CHART NO: 5.3

Below 1 TEU 1 to 2 TEU 3 to 4 TEU 5 to 6 TEU More than 6 TEU

0123456789

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

37

TABLE NO: 5.4

Respondent classification based on who controls the shipment

Shipment controller No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Seller 13 66%

Buyer 7 34%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows 66% of shipment is taken by seller and remaining 35% of

shipment is taken by buyer.

CHART NO: 5.4

Seller Buyer0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

38

TABLE NO: 5.5

Respondent classification based on who negotiate the freight rates

Negotiator No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Sales manager 12 60%

Logistics manager 08 40%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that 60% of freight negotiation done by sales manager and

40% is done by logistics manager.

CHART NO: 5.5

Sales manager Logistics manager0

2

4

6

8

10

12

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

39

TABLE NO: 5.6

Respondent classification based on frequency of after shipment requirement

Frequency No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Daily statement 07 35%

Weekly statement 13 65%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows 65% of customers want weekly statement and 35% of

customers want daily statement.

CHART NO: 5.6

Daily statement Weekly statement0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

40

TABLE NO- 5.7

Respondent classification based on the importance of Customers service through phone

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Highly unimportant 0 0

Unimportant 0 0

Neither unimportant nor

important

4 20%

Important 8 40%

Very important 8 40%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows importance of telephone service, 40% important,40% very

important, 14% neither un important nor important.

CHART NO: 5.7

Highly u

nimporta

nt

Unimporta

nt

Neither

unimporta

nt nor im

portant

Importa

nt

Very im

portant

02468

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

41

TABLE NO: 5.8

Respondent classification based on the importance of giving competitive freight

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Highly unimportant 0 0

Unimportant 0 0

Neither unimportant nor

important

0 0

Important 06 30%

Very important 14 70%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that competitive freight is very important for 70% of

customers and 30% of customers are important.

CHART NO: 5.8

02468

101214

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

42

TABLE NO: 5.9

Respondent classification based on the importance of co-ordination during pre-shipment

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Highly unimportant 0 0

Unimportant 0 0

Neither unimportant nor

important

0 0

Important 6 30%

Very important 14 70%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that coordination during pre-shipment is very important for

70% of customers and 30% of customers are important.

CHART NO: 5.9

Highly u

nimporta

nt

Unimporta

nt

Neither

unimporta

nt nor im

portant

Importa

nt

Very im

portant

048

12

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

43

TABLE NO: 5.10

Respondent classification based on the importance of Coordination while taking B\L

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Highly unimportant 0 0

Unimportant 0 0

Neither unimportant nor

important

0 0

Important 2 10%

Very important 18 90%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows coordination in taking B\L is very important for 90% of

customers and 10% of customers are important.

CHART NO: 5.10

Highly u

nimporta

nt

Unimporta

nt

Neither

unimporta

nt nor im

portant

Importa

nt

Very im

portant

048

1216

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

44

TABLE NO: 5.11

Respondent classification based on the importance of giving cargo details to consignee

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Highly unimportant 0 0

Unimportant 0 0

Neither unimportant nor

important

0 0

Important 2 10%

Very important 18 90%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that information about delivery of the cargo to the consignee

is very important for 90% of customers and 10% of customer is important.

CHART NO: 5.11

Highly u

nimporta

nt

Unimporta

nt

Neither

unimporta

nt nor im

portant

Importa

nt

Very im

portant

048

121620

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

45

TABLE NO: 5.12

Respondent classification based on the importance of ASV giving information about the

shipment

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Very rarely 0 0

Rarely 0 0

Average or sometimes 0 0

Most of times 13 65

Always 07 35%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that 35% customers always getting information about the

shipment and 65% of customers getting most of the times.

CHART NO: 5.12

Very rarely Rarely Average or sometimes

Most of times Always0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

46

TABLE NO: 5.13

Respondent classification based on the importance of ASV giving competitive freight

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Very rarely 0 0

Rarely 0 0

Average or sometimes 0 0

Most of times 08 40

Always 12 60

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that 60% of customers always getting competitive freight

from ASV and 40% of customers getting most of the times.

CHART NO: 5.13

Very rarely Rarely Average or sometimes

Most of times Always0123456789

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

47

TABLE NO: 5.14

Respondent classification based on ASV giving coordination during pre- shipment

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Very rarely 0 0

Rarely 0 0

Average or sometimes 0 0

Most of times 07 35

Always 13 65

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that 65% of customers always getting coordination during

pre- shipment from ASV and 35% of customers getting most of the times.

CHART NO: 5.14

Very rarely Rarely Average or sometimes

Most of times Always0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

48

TABLE NO: 5.15

Respondent classification based on the importance of ASV giving co-ordination in taking

the B\L

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Very rarely 0 0

Rarely 0 0

Average or sometimes 0 0

Most of times 4 20%

Always 16 80%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that 80% of customers always getting coordination in taking

B\L from ASV and 20% of customers getting most of the times.

CHART NO: 5.15

Very rarely Rarely Average or sometimes

Most of times

Always0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

49

TABLE NO: 5.16

Respondent classification based on the importance of ASV helps in track and trace of the

cargo

Factors No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Very rarely 0 0

Rarely 0 0

Average or sometimes 04 20%

Most of times 10 50%

Always 06 30%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that 30% of customers always getting helps in trace and track

of the cargo from ASV, 50% of customers getting most of the times and 20% of customers

getting some times.

CHART NO: 5.16

Very rarely Rarely Average or sometimes

Most of times Always0

2

4

6

8

10

12

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

50

TABLE NO: 5.17

Respondent classification based on importance of ASV gives information about delivery of

the cargo to the consignee

Frequency No. of Respondents Percentage (%)

Very rarely 0 0

Rarely 0 0

Average or sometimes 0 0

Most of times 6 30%

Always 14 70%

Total 20 100%

Inference: The above table shows that 70% of ASV customers prefer always to give delivery

details of the cargo to the consignee and 30% customers most of time

CHART NO: 5.17

Very rarely Rarely Average or sometimes

Most of times

Always0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

No. of Respondents

No. of Respondents

51

FINDINGS

10% of respondents choose FCL cargo. And 10% of respondent choose LCL cargo.

30% cargo is other items, 25% of cargo is machineries, 25% of cargo is Auto mobile,

10% of cargo is leather and other 10% of cargo is garments.

10% of respondents choose 1 to 2 TEU, 20% of respondents choose 3 to 4 TEU, 15% of

respondents choose below 1 TEU and remaining 40% of respondents choose g 5 to 6

TEU

66% of shipment is taken by seller and remaining 34% of shipment is taken by buyer.

60% of freight negotiation done by sales manager and 40% is done by logistics manager

65% of respondents want weekly statement and 35% of respondents want daily

statement.

Importance of telephone service, 40% of the respondents feel telephone service is

important, 40% of the respondents feel telephone service is very important, 20% neither

UN important nor important.

70% of respondents feel competitive freight is very important and 30% of respondents

feel is important.

For 70% of respondents feel coordination during pre-shipment is very important and 30%

of respondents feel is very important.

90% of respondents feel coordination in taking B\L is very important for. And 10% of

respondents are important.

72% of respondents feel information about delivery of the cargo always get to the

consignee and 30% of respondents feel most of time they get information.

52

SUGGESTIONS

ASV Supply chain can concentrate more on service during pre-shipments so that they can

fulfil the customer’s expectation on coordination during pre-shipment.

ASV supply chain management can ask some suggestions about promotions to the sales

associative who meet the customer on face to face so that he will know better about the

expectations of the customers

ASV supply chain can keep a regular contact with the customer to understand the

customers expectation on the services

Like all other departments ASV should focus on CRM also which will make a better

understanding with the customer

ASV supply chain can improve the information flow since the customers feels that

information about delivery of the cargo to the consignee is very important

It is always better to improve the telephone services because Majority of the respondent

feel telephone service is very important considering to flow of information

Concentrate more on giving competitive services so that ASV supply chain can retain the

customers in their business

53

LEARNINGS OF THE STUDY

Studied about the challenges faced by ASV supply chain solutions in sea exports

Studied about the export procedures

Learnt about the CRM strategies that used by ASV supply chain solutions

Studied the working process at ASV supply chain solutions

Learnt about customer expectation on export and import

54

CONCLUSION

This study which is a collection of opinion from ASV Supply chain customers helps to

learn the customer’s new point of view .The main objective of the study was to make a

complete study over the customer’s expectation from freight forwarders. In this cut throat

competitive environment understanding customer expectations and preference are

essential for providing customer satisfaction, this study helps to understand the customer

preference while selecting freight forwarders. The important found to be considered by

the exporter while selecting a freight forwarder includes: Freight rate allowed Credit

period, turnaround time, service quality Clearance service, network of overseas agent,

tracking and tracing of cargo, consolidation and Value added service. The customer’s

expectation was almost satisfied by ASV Supply chain and further improves with the

market.

55

BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERRENCE

Adrian; aivaz, kamer; capatina, alexandru their studies in implications of logistic service

quality on the satisfaction level and retention rate of an e-commerce retailer's

customer’s economic computation & economic cybernetics studies & research. (2013,

vol. 47 issue 2, p147-155. 9p.)

Arun;Grewal,Dhruv;Levy,Michaelon intheirstudiesThe customer satisfaction/logistics int

erface Journal of Business Logistics.( 1995, Vol. 16 Issue 2, p1-21. 21p)

Burkovskis, raimondas his study in efficiency of freight forwarders participation in the

process of transportation transport (16484142). 2008, Vol. 23 Issue 3, p208-213. 6p.

Douglas m leuschner, rudolf; lambert,.; knemeyer, a. michael their studies in logistics

performance, customer satisfaction and share of business acomparison of primary and

secondary supplies journal of business logistics. sep2012, vol. 33 issue 3, p210-226. 17p.

Florez-Lopez, Raquel; Ramon-Jeronimo, Juan M. in their studies on

Managing logistics customer service under uncertainty: An integrative fuzzy Kano

framework. ( Information Sciences. Oct 2012, Vol. 202, p41-57. 17p. )

Gin-Shun Liang; Tsung-Yu Chou; Shu-Fen Kan (2006), in their studies in Applying

fuzzy quality function deployment to identify service management requirements for an

ocean freight forwarder Total Quality Management & Business Excellence

Gajewska, Teresa Lisińska-Kuśnierz, Małgorzata; their studies in CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY OF THE LOGISTIC SERVICES.

LogForum. 2014, Vol. 10 Issue 1, p13-19. 7p.

Goldsby Rao, Shashank;, Thomas J.; Griffis, Stanley E.; Iyengar, Deepak. Their studies

in Electronic Logistics Service Quality (e-LSQ): Its Impact on the Customer's Purchase

Satisfaction and Retention Journal of Business Logistics. 2011,( Vol. 32 Issue 2, p167-

179. 13p.)

Giovanis, A.N.; Tsoukatos, in their study on relationships between logistics service

deliverable, customer satisdaction and loyality in industrial supply chains

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Ranjan, Jayanthi; Puri, Sandeep. Out of Stock conditions

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WEBSITE REFERREDwww.ebsco.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.google.com

57

QUESTIONNAIRE

1) Company name:

2) What type of containers do you use?

a) FCL b) LCL

3) What is the commodity?

4) How many shipments do you ship per month?

a) Below 1 TEU b) 1 to 2 TEU

c) 3 to 4 TEU d) 5 to 6 TEU

e) more than 6

5) Who controls the shipment for you?

a) Seller b) Buyer

6) What is the procedure followed to fix meeting with you?

a) Appointment b) Direct meet

7) Who is the person authorized to negotiate freight rate?

a) Purchase head b) Logistics manager

8) What is required for after shipment service required?

a) Daily statement b) Weekly statement

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c) Ware house d) Transportation

e) Tracking

9) How important is the Customer service through phone?

a) Highly unimportant b) Unimportant

c) Neither unimportant nor important d) Important

e) Very important

10) How important is giving competitive freight to you?

a)Highly unimportant b) Unimportant

c) Neither unimportant nor important d)Important

e) Very important

11)) How important is giving coordination during pre shipment?

a)Highly unimportant b) Unimportant

c) Neither unimportant nor importantd) Important

e) Very important

12) How important is giving coordination in taking the B/L?

a) Highly unimportant b) Unimportant

c) Neither unimportant nor importantd) Important

e) Very important

13) How important is giving information about delivery of the cargo to the consignee?

a) Highly unimportant b) Unimportant

c) Neither unimportant nor importantd) Important e) Very important

59

14) How often ASV SUPPLY CHAIN Gives information about the shipment?

a) Very rarely b) Rarely

c) Average or sometimes d) Most of the times

e) Always

15) How often ASV SUPPLY CHAIN gives competitive freight?

a) Very rarely b) Rarely

c) Average or sometimes d) Most of the times e) Always

16) How often ASV SUPPLY CHAIN gives coordination during pre-shipment?

a) Very rarely b) Rarely

c) Average or sometimes c) Most of the times

d) Always

17) How often ASV SUPPLY CHAIN gives coordination in taking the B/L?

a) Very rarely b) Rarely

c) Average or sometimes d) Most of the times

e) Always

18) How often ASV SUPPLY CHAIN helps in track and trace of the cargo?

a) Very rarely b) Rarely

c) Average or sometimes d) Most of the times

e) Always

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19) How often ASV SUPPLY CHAIN Gives information about delivery of the cargo to the

consignee?

a) Very rarely b) Rarely

c) Average or sometimes d) Most of the times

d) Always

61