Manhattan in New York is a hub for world’s leading fashion designers. These designers mostly decide the fashion trends across the globe.
Many of the leading Indian textile companies work closely with these design houses, and so do their competitors. Some of the textile companies have a specific request to deliver their samples to Manhattan before 9.00 a.m. on a given day to ensure that they have the advantage of reaching their samples on the client’s table well before competition. This is where logistics service providers like DHL play a very critical role.
DHL Express serves as a trade facilitator for the fashion industry. Over the years, it has provided speedy response and convenient delivery that the industry demands. Fashion is the definition of a fast moving industry. Lead times, accuracy, availability and reliability are all of critical importance. Supply chains are extended and complex, as manufacturing moves to lower cost countries.
Though more than 50 years in fashion, DHL has provided the speedy response, excellent quality and convenient delivery that the industry demands, especially in these days of multiple sales channels and online retailing. It has developed specific logistics solutions to meet the demanding needs of this sector.
Mr. R.S. Subramanian, Country Head, DHL Express India, says: “Right from sampling to finalising design to executing the order and delivery, there is time pressure and that is what makes express service very important. The customer is looking for a partner who can understand his needs”.
Fashion is all about innovation and perfection, and it’s always on the move. Therefore the transportation and logistics industry plays a key role in the fashion and textile industry. For many years, DHL has been working hand in hand with the industry and has great experience in developing innovative solutions to meet the demanding standards of the individual challenges of various enterprises.
DHL Express began its India operations in 1979. DHL offers its customers the entire spectrum of express services, from international air express to high-end logistics solutions, including repair and return, strategic inventory management and direct express inventory. The company was also the first to introduce customized solutions such as Jumbo Box, Junior Jumbo and Import Express for customers in the air express industry as well as the first to provide track and trace services in India via email, via SMS, Internet and WAP phones.
DHL India has over 60,000 customers serviced through its national network. It has 1,700 employees, a fleet of over 370 LPG vehicles and dedicated service centres in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune and Tirupur.
Mr. Subramanian observes: “Our interest in Indian textile industry continues to grow. In the last 5 to 7 years the business from this industry has doubled. Our network has now expanded to cover Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. From around 100 towns in 2006, we are in about 600 towns now and our target is to reach 1,000 destinations across India in the next couple of years. We are following our customers, and in some places we are there even before them”.
DHL’s services cover the entire logistics value chain of the fashion industry, from material purchasing, quick movement of samples and quality control of production to the direct delivery of finished products to boutiques. Tailor-made express solutions address the latest trends in the fashion world and meet the specific needs of individual customers. These include value-added services such as provision of track and trace capability to enhance shipment visibility, express services for efficient distribution of products from factory to store at competitive cost levels, as well as global trade services to provide specialist brokerage assistance.
Textile and apparel goods require greater care and packaging. Based on the demands and trends, the merchandise needs to reach the market on time as well. With its extensive global presence, DHL can ensure this segment faces no hassles in terms of logistics.
India continues to be a high growth market for DHL Express, and there is specific focus on investing in infrastructure, network and people in India to augment growth. This includes investments to enhance service facilities and upgrade air connectivity from and into the country. These investments will more than double the dedicated air network capacity of DHL into and out of India.
South India is an important region in the country, and the launch of the freighter at Bangalore is a key step towards facilitating growth in the region. DHL Express also has in-house customs clearance facility at Bangalore for faster clearances into and from South India.
DHL Express offers a number of industry solutions that leverage the capabilities of its network to support customers who demand innovative and competitive supply chain networks.
DHL Break Bulk Express provides door-to-door delivery of shipments that are consolidated at origin, sent from one customs zone to another and then deconsolidated by DHL at the destination before delivery to different addresses within the same country or customs union. The consolidated shipment is cleared as a single entry on arrival at the destination facility.
Many individual shipments with the same contents are combined under one waybill at origin to create a single consolidated shipment. The consolidated shipment is transported to the destination country and customs cleared as a single entry, using one commercial invoice which details the contents of each individual shipment. The consolidated shipment is separated into individual shipments on arrival at the destination facility. The individual shipments are then delivered to the final receivers in the same country or customs union.
DHL is also a global partner of prestigious fashion weeks and events organised by IMG Fashion around the world. In addition to Asia Pacific, other cities in which DHL will sponsor fashion events include Milan, London, New York, Mexico City, Moscow, Los Angeles and Miami. As the world’s leading logistics service provider for the fashion business, the company believes these events form a strong platform to strengthen its business access with the fashion, apparel and retail industries.
As the world’s leading logistics service provider for the fashion business, DHL has been using these events to strengthen its business penetration with the fashion, apparel and retail industries. India is amongst the top five countries that account for almost 23 per cent of the global apparel market, and DHL Express, along with Blue Dart in India, has an estimated 48 per cent shipment market share in the apparel & textile industry.
