Ashwani Kumar Associate General Manager, IT and Communication,
Adani Logistics Limited

Enterprises across business verticals are leveraging information and communications technology (ICT) to achieve greater efficiencies in their day-to-day operations. A robust IT and telecom infrastructure is required to communicate not only with customers but also within the organisation. To ensure effective communication, manage operations, improve productivity and increase efficiency, logistics enterprises are stepping up their investments in their ICT infrastructure. Leading enterprises in the logistics industry discuss their IT strategies, emerging technology trends and future plans for IT infrastructure upgradation…

What is the company’s telecom and IT blueprint? Please mention the wide area network (WAN) components, last mile access technologies, and enterprise, mobility, security and software applications?

Our company has operations spread across India as well as globally. Therefore, our IT and telecom requirements are significant. For WAN connectivity, we use MPLS and point-to-point connections. We have also deployed VPN for users. As last mile access technology, we use fibre, radio frequency (RF), multichannel multipoint distribution service or microwave, depending on the site. On critical sites, we use fibre, with RF as backup. On remote sites, we have deployed only RF because laying fibre can be difficult. We have undertaken joint capex with our enterprise partners for establishing telecom connectivity as well as the WAN and local area network components in some areas. Further, we are using load balancers for WAN optimisation, and international private leased circuit lines for accessing international connectivity as we have set up our base in multiple locations globally.

As regards enterprise applications, we have SAP at the topmost level, which has been deployed by the Adani Group. Further, we have business-specific systems (BSSs), which reside with local verticals like logistics. Being a logistics company, we have different kinds of equipment and assets, which need to be integrated in order to extract data from them. Therefore, we have put in place supervisory control and data acquisition systems, which feed data into the private cloud owned and maintained by the Adani Group. While the data is saved centrally, it is used by us through BSS, which is hosted on the local cloud owned by Adani Logistics. We depend on the group’s network architecture for all compliances and licences. Therefore, all the BSSs are connected back to the group’s ERP application. Our security and mobility applications are also managed by the group.

What new IT initiatives has the company taken recently? What advantages has it derived and what were the implementation challenges faced by the company?

We have recently developed interfacing with other shipping lines and Indian Railways. This interfacing has been done through internet of things applications, which are hosted on our private cloud. This has generated huge savings in terms of costs and time. In addition, we are increasing automation to make our operations hassle-free and less dependent on human interaction. For instance, we have installed load sensors at various points where our cargo is handled to do away with the traditional weighing infrastructure.

What is the level of adoption of applications such as customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management and sales force automation in the logistics industry?

These applications have a critical role to play in logistics companies. However, it is important to ensure that business analytics is also in place.

What are the company’s plans regarding telecom and IT network upgrades?

Going forward, we are planning to enhance our system’s capability. This will lead to an increase in our IT requirements.