Page 24 - 20 Booming Logistics Companies in India 2021

Seasoned Supply chain executive, with leader-
ship experience in both startups and large, global
corporations, Manjit Singh Kathuria brings to the
table a 22-year old proficiency earned across
multiple sectors, including Logistics, Retail, Bever-
ages, Cold-chain, and Fashion & Ecommerce. Storing
the passion for building innovative solutions Manjit
has designed, developed and managed highly
complex warehouses across the country and has
planned & executed Surface Logistics networks.
It’s always intriguing to see such ingenious minds
who are not only addressing the current hindrances
associated with the industry but are also creating
futuristic solutions by breaking new grounds. And
this approach took us on a journey to explore the
minds of these co-founders and their journey to
make a difference in their industry. We interviewed
them to learn more about their company, their
products or services, how they are different from
their competitors, and the problems that they are
trying to solve for their customers.
How did it all start?
Starting off PurpleDrone has always been about
revolutionizing the logistics Industry. I think the
industry didn’t need another similar logistics player
offering the monotonous service framework.
I met Manjit during the initial phase of my profes-
sional journey. We both started in the industry in
1999 at Safeexpress’ Delhi Hub.
Afterwards, we got the opportunity to explore
the know-how of the Logistics via the JIT (Just Manjit Singh Kathuria | Founder
in time) project with Maruti Industries. To yield
industry-rich expertise, we parted our ways; Manjit
moved with Adidas, Coke, Reliance Retail, Yebhi. PurpleDrone at a Glance
com & Snapdeal, whereas I got associated with We take immense pride in calling ourselves an Execu-
Seco Tools, JCB India, Reliance Retail, Snapdeal & tion company leveraging in-house state-of-the-art
Delhivery and gained major exposure towards Retail technology. Technology sits at the core of our
(Store Operations & SCM) & E-commerce SCM. heart and the pulse of our technology runs on the
The career exposure widened our horizon to algorithms used in AI to ensure a reduction in RTO
multiple industries like Manufacturing, Retail, E-com- (Returns) shipments for companies selling online.
merce, Apparel & footwear, Agro Industries, Milk,
Cold Chains, Solar & Pharma and Surface freight, to Our humble beginnings one client, a Ware-
name a few. house of 15000 sq. ft. and a team of 5 people has
now transformed into a clientele of more than a
The ideation dozen industry-leading clients, a Warehousing space
Warehousing forms approx. 30% of the total logis- of over 2,00,000 sq. ft. and a team size of over
200. Our dedication, industry-rich expertise and
tics market and is the most sector of the industry. technology dexterity has fruited well. We recorded
Throughout our professional journey, both Manjit a rolling revenue of 30 Cr per annum as of the year
& I witnessed how highly fragmented the market is.
The absence of skilled workforce, limited infusion ending 20-21.
of technology, higher costs and market domination Over the years, we have expanded our reach
have always hindered the growth of the industry. across 28 cities in PAN India to cater services
With the Indian market booming, brands had to from Fulfilment, Distribution centres, to Last-mile
contend with prohibitively expensive and inept delivery, Order processing (Online & offline), Yard
service providers, which didn’t make much business management and Reverse auctioning (for Logis-
sense as it eats their time and pocket as well, thus tics services) to leading brands like Asort, Adidas,
leading them to handle logistics in-house. Benetton, DBA, Emami, Baidyanath, Orient Bell Tiles,
This idea got us by and the struggle to find an to name a few.
expert, cost-effective and well-formulated ware- Furthermore, we are providing an Omnichannel
housing solution stirred us to plot the foundation of last-mile delivery for Lenskart and are even looking
PurpleDrone in 2017. We have geared up, with time, at exploring our global footprints with them. The
with the help of technology, and are now addressing team is also executing the yard management
the new-age requirements. systems for Orient bell tiles.

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