1Reader in Operations Management, Department of Management Studies, School of Management, Pondicherry University, India
2Colonel General Staff MIS, HQ Northern Command, Indian Army, CIO 56, APO, India
The present work was carried out in a company manufacturing desktop computers and laptops in South India. The company is one of the leading Indian IT hardware manufacturing firms. The inbound logistics cost has been on the rise during the past few years. The freight cost associated with transshipment of the components by air and sea has been a cause of concern. The study was intended to measure the efficacy of planning process including forecasting, inventory holding and cost effectiveness of the inbound logistics involved in getting the items from abroad. In addition to this, reasons for increase in inbound logistics cost had to be indentified. The authors suggested a cost effective solution for import of components using air or sea mode of transshipment for manufacturing computers. After implementation of suggestions by the company, the net annual savings on inbound logistics went up to a staggering Rs. 6. 91 crores.
