Wake up folks, change yourself to drive productivity gains…
Ramesh Kumar
Folks, don't
raise your eyebrows and hurl expletives at me after seeing the headline that
squarely pinpoints that long haul truck drivers are penalized for others
foolhardiness. Sounds harsh? Indeed, it ought to.
This
assessment does not need a pen-and-paper study by IIM or IIT grads. Even a
school dropout can figure out by one look at the long line of waiting trucks at
the material gates of any renowned Indian manufacturing companies' factory
gates and warehouses.
Several
India Inc companies tom-tom about their observance of practice of "Just In
Time" and or "Zero or No Inventory". Great. They also boast of how their supply chain
honchos have developed a robust vendor base (Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 etc) as
part of their outsourcing model. Supply chain risks, they claim, are manageable
through this dependency via penalty clauses blah blah.
While the
Big Boys of India Inc have re-layered or restructured their inbound operations
to begin with, even Tier 1 vendors have
not achieved that level of maturity in Just in Time practice at their level.
This is not out of lack of desire but
their own dependency on their vendors, who are not matured enough to meet the
expectations of their Masters (Tier 1 vendor of the Big Boys).Further you go
down, the adoption of efficient manufacturing - that's what Just In Time is all
about - is not robust.
Okay, how
this chain of lesser and lesser efficiency impacts the Big Boys boast of Just
in Time? One, Tier 1 vendors (other level of vendors or suppliers or suppliers
are not directly linked to the Big Boys) to escape the penalty clause as part
of their Service Level Agreement produce, pack and push it to the OEMs - the
Big Boys - well before deadlines; rather Just Before Time to beat the penalty
use of the Big Boys.
By and
large, OEMs have again outsourced their logistics handling to 3PLs who monitor
the inbound as well as outbound. It is no secret these white collar
professionals have to abide by OEMs factory gate entry/exit norms. The OEMs
don't keep their gates open 24x7. Entry & Exit hours are restricted.
Mostly, night entries into the factory premises for unloading is strictly a No-No
affair. Considering the fact that products manufactured have several hundred -
if not more - components procured right across the country and outside (routed
via seaports and brought on road post-deshipment) these trucks line up outside
factory gates for long hours for no fault of theirs.
Warehouse on
Wheels. WoW! Actually, it was not what was intended originally. Pure
inefficiency or poor planning on the parts of every stakeholder involved: be it
OEM, 3PL or vendors etc.
Secondly,
the Big Boys enamored by the gains of JIT have slashed down their inventory
levels. Or almost, no inventory as they claim. So there is no question of a
huge warehouse as in the past. Not that they 100% scrapped because imported and
some vital components are kept for emergencies or supply chain risks. But that
space is inadequate to store even a fortnight's stock of their 100% requirement
to keep their assembly lines running non-stop. That critical is inventory
management.
Now, there
is another element: another the Big Boast of the Big Boys: supply directly to
the assembly line. This is more critical and more interesting. More challenging
too. Components have to be unloaded directly from the trucks and pushed to the
assembly line: from the belly of trucks to the tut-tuting production lines.
This
"direct to assembly line supply" presupposes the assembly lines are running. Unlike power utility
companies - nuclear, thermal, hydro etc - which operates round the clock, not
all Indian Inc operates 24x7 for a variety of reasons. Maybe, they operate two
shifts in any 24 hour cycle and therefore, the assembly lines go to sleep for
one shift of say 8 hours daily. Right?
Not to be overlooked is the weekend when the plants are shut totally.
They shut
shop and go home for a few hours rest daily. Weekend shutdowns mean longer rest
for white collar supply chain/logistics babus.
When the
plants are shut and operators have gone home, vendors who pushed their part of
agreement via trucks, witness their trucks loaded with their product waiting
outside factory gates as the security guards (of course, they work round the
clock!) bar any truck movement into the plant. Logical when there is no 3PL
hand to monitor unloading and pushing to
assembly line feeding.
It is
significant to note that NONE - repeat NONE - of the Big Boys have created
Driver Rest Rooms outside their factory gates - whom they call their Business
Associates. Proxy, yes, because Vendors are OEMs/3PLs'Business Associates. Not
truck drivers!
Inside any
factory when blue collar workers work beyond the prescribed hours, they are
compensated in terms of Overtime allowance as per well laid out regulations.
And there is a blue collar union to protect their rights if and when any
violation occurs. Besides, there is governmental interface via the Labour
Department of the respective state governments where the plants are situated
for any dispute mechanism.
Unfortunately,
there are no regulations for truck drivers. There is no Overtime for them. They
is no Union to protect their rights. So even while their complaints are
Himalayan size, there is no wailing wall or listening post. Rarely one heard of
this unorganized truck drivers' complaints being heard by authorities. They
simply don’t exist for OEMs & 3PLs. Because their interaction is with their
Business Associates viz., transporters or fleet owners. Not who actually move raw
materials/components to help OEMs/3PLs to execute their production plans and
assist the top echelon of these companies achieve their goals: increased top
line and robust bottom line.
Significantly,
these truck drivers are one of the vital supply chain links in the entire
ecosystem, but ignored right royally.
These truck
drivers are not paid by hour. They are mostly paid by kilometres they drive.
There is no concept of compensating them for the waiting hours outside the
factory gates.
So, it is
not off the mark and pure baseless allegation when it is said that these less
privileged and less educated truck drivers pay for the inefficiencies of highly
educated, better profiled OEMs/3PLs, surely.
Yes, there
are some Big Boys/3PLs claim that in the absence of unloading within a
stipulated timeframe after trucks reach their factory gates, they have to pay a
penalty to the transporter. But, it is all on paper. None of them pays. Instead
they arm-twist transporters/vendors and subtly blackmail that any escalation of
such inefficiencies on their part would entail transporters/vendors losing business.
So, a lot of compromises – all in the interest of protecting
OEM/3PLs’interests!
Having said
that actually, truck drivers would not mind the long waiting hours outside
factory gates if only there are some toilets/washrooms in and around the
factory gates that they can access while waiting for the "Pearly
Gates" to open. Surprisingly, these Big Boys talk of Village Adoption and
building toilets in girls schools etc under the recently mandated CSR norms.
Yet, they have not built toilets/washrooms outside their own factory gates to
help Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project of Swatchch Bharat Abhiyan.
In the absence of any toilet/washroom facilities, these waiting drivers
fertilize the surroundings of factory gates via open defecating. Nauseating.
But who cares?
Just not in
India, even overseas, drivers are paid for kilometres they drive. No penny for
the long waiting hours caused by the inefficiencies of OEMs/3PLs. Detention
time is a big productivity loss. This pain point is purely the handiwork of
OEMs/3PLs. Nothing to do with drivers. So, why should they pay for this?
It’s time
for a deep introspection by the white collar honchos. Will they?
Send your feedback to
editor@driversduniya.in or text (sms or whatsapp) to 9711544181
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