Click, ship, done: How a 150-year-old logistics company is delighting its customers

From delivering heavy cargo through drones to automating repetitive processes, Shantanu Roy, CIO for the Indian subcontinent at global logistics firm DB Schenker, is balancing innovation with business continuity. In a free-wheeling discussion with CIO India, he throws light on the efficient use of digital technologies in the company and the emerging trends in the logistics industry.

CIO India: Integrated logistics is extremely demanding. As a 150-year-old company, what is DB Schenker doing to align technology for meeting the ever-changing needs of customers?

Roy: We realize that technology can create a strong differentiation. Keeping this is mind, about a month back, we kickstarted an enterprise-wide digital transformation initiative at the global level. The aim is to relook at the entire business and technology landscape to make the company future-ready. As part of this, all the warehouses will be upgraded, customer processes and issues would be addressed, and the entire technology stack will be updated.

DB Schenker has a vast footprint — a presence at 1,850 locations across the world, which includes 725 warehouses, hundreds of offices, sites at airports, and customs handling points. I am not sure when the project will be over but when it does the company will have radically different processes to meet the present and future market needs.

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CIO India: Talking about digital initiatives at a country level, 70% to 80% of DB Schenker’s processes in India run on bots. How is robotic process automation redefining business processes for the company?

Transportation and Logistics Industry