Business Case Study: Agarwal Packers and Movers
Business Case Study: Agarwal Packers and Movers - A 2000 Cr Business Brand
APML is a transport, packing, and moving company founded by Mr. Ramesh Agarwal, a retired Air Force officer. Mr. Agarwal transformed his vision into reality, and today, APML holds a worth of INR 2000 crore.
Mr. Agarwal, originally from Haryana, had his first posting in the Air Force in Srinagar, J&K. His life story is quite fascinating. Upon joining the Air Force, he was given a 15-day period to explore the area before starting his official duties. After these 15 days, he began his work. When his first salary of INR 8000 was credited, he promptly returned INR 4000, stating that he had only worked for 15 days and would only accept payment for the time he had worked.
This act of honesty impressed his superiors, and within 15 days, he was made the secretary to his wing commander—a position typically requiring over 15 years of experience.
Transportation in India
In India, about 60% of goods are transported via roadways. The challenging conditions of Indian roads make this task particularly difficult.
Mr. Agarwal has to go through a lot of challenges while building the company and its strategies. The challenges he faced are listed below, along with how he concurred them.
Challenge 1: Transhipment and Storage
Problem-
During the transfer, the goods tend to get damaged or lost, which increases the logistics cost. When the truck took the goods, the customers often offloaded the goods, which later resulted in the truck's non-usage, causing a big loss for the company.
Solution-
Mr. Agarwal introduced ‘trucking cubes’ that had the capability of getting attached and detached from the trucks. The trucking cubes were built keeping in mind the ISO guidelines, i.e. fireproof, rainproof and strong built quality.
He also introduced a plan that said ‘AAPKA TAALA AAPKI CHABHI’. The plan allowed the customers to lock their cubes and unlock it by themselves after reaching the destination. The introduction of this plan built the trust of the customers and profited the company.
Using the trucking cube, APML decreased its logistics cost by 8% and increased its efficiency by 200%.
Challenge 2: Television
Problem-
After 6 months of the shifting the TVs of the customers stopped working. No customers would accept the fact that the TVs they have been using for over 7 years suddenly stopped working. Mr. Agarwal formed a separate team to acknowledge and analyse the issue, and the results were that the TVs were transported in a wooden crate that was fixed with nails and a hammer. The vibrations caused by the hammers damaged the delicate circuit board, and this issue tarnished the reputation of APML.
Solution-
As a solution, Mr.Agarwal introduced special ‘TV BOXES’ for the packing and transportation of the TVs. The boxes were made with soft cushioning inside and shock-absorbent sheets. These TV boxes were comparatively expensive than the wooden crates, but the benefit of the company was that the wooden crates were for single use, and the TV boxes could be used up to 7-8 times.
Challenge 3: Religious Items
Problem-
India is a country of cultures and beliefs, and many customers got offended by the behaviour of the workers not washing their hands or handling the mandir while wearing shoes. Many customers complained about this behaviour and questioned the training of the workers in the company.
Solution-
As soon as Mr. Agarwal acknowledged this issue, he planned a strategy to conduct ‘Behavioural Training’ for the staff who worked at the APML. The staff were told to take off their shoes before entering the house and wash their hands.
Also, the mandir was packed first with a label of no. 1 and loaded at the very last so that when the goods reach the destination, the first thing that is unloaded and unpacked is the mandir. There were also special ‘Mandir Boxes’ introduced for the packing of the Mandir of the customers.
Customers started noticing these gestures, and soon, they started trusting the company more and more. This was not the end of the challenges for the APML.
Another challenge of all the challenges was,
Challenge 4: Valuable and Delicate items
Problem-
Crockery and other delicate items often got broken or damaged because they were packed in a box with no special cautions. People found it hard to transport their other valuable items, such as jewellery, antiques, etc. The items getting broken or damaged due to shock or any other external force was creating a big problem for both the company and the consumers.
Solution-
The company came up with the ‘Perfect Box’ specially designed for packing such items that were really delicate or valuable. The box had soft cushioning inside and was made of tensile material from the outside.
This solution made it easy for the customers to transfer their goods without the tension of them getting damaged. Because of the material it was made of, the goods remained safe inside without shocks or other damage.
Now came the problem that was most important and human in nature.