Covid effect on MSMEs: Express logistics organization Spoton Logistics on Wednesday announced customisable logistics options for MSMEs such as delivery optimization application to enhance their provide chain models and boost their attain. The organization presented genuine-time visibility and predictability of shipments to enabling door-to-door delivery along with freight-to-gather facility and returns management to assist modest firms enhance their bottom line.
“The ongoing pandemic has brought along several supply chain bottlenecks in India. Given their presence at the bottom of the business pyramid, MSMEs of the country, have been the hardest hit. These businesses are being faced with the challenges of unsold stocks and lost business opportunities because of not being able to procure the right supplies in time. In order to ensure business continuity amid such an uncertain environment, they need to optimize their supply chain, build more predictability, visibility, and efficiency into it,” Uday Sharma, COO, Spoton Logistics told TheSpuzz Online.
Spoton Logistics also presented a buyer self-service portal for MSMEs to location and track their orders in order to minimize the all round cycle time. Launched in 2012, Spoton was acquired by a group of investors led by domestic private equity investor Samara Capital and Xponentia Fund Partners for Rs 550 crore. Samara counted Monte Carlo, Guardian Pharmacy, Thyrocare, RBL Bank, and more amongst its portfolio providers.
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Meanwhile, the effect of Covid on the logistics segment was visible as unique sectors witnessed inactivity such as aviation, retail, realty, automobile, and so on. The lockdown last year had brought the initial and last miles movement of goods to a halt. As per Crunchbase, according to a survey performed to comprehend the effect of Covid on Indian firms, more than 60 per cent of 317 respondents in March last year had indicated disruption in their provide chain. While for rating agency India Ratings and Research, India’s logistics sector looked steady in FY22, the estimate was made just before the second Covid wave struck.
“The impact will certainly be there but to what extent will be known in coming weeks as Covid restrictions are different in different states currently. Logistics in most of the sectors had recovered significantly to 75-80 per cent till FY21 end in auto components, retail, garments, electronics, etc. as per feedback from industry, while pharma was perhaps the only sector that had benefited the most from the pandemic,” AV Vijayakumar, CEO, Paramount Shipping Services and Chairman, Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India told TheSpuzz Online.
MSMEs are also seemingly much better ready this time amid restricted lockdown in comparison to last year and are guaranteeing to spend their workers with no deductions. “The regular employees have been taken care of by the companies. Most of them can bear the payments of these employees. In our case, we are clearing existing goods for clients even as due to lockdown they have not been able to manufacture goods. As a result, there has been some impact on our business too but we are still paying complete salary to our employees. Currently, we are at 50-60 per cent of the pre-Covid level. However, I am not expecting it to decline further as things might start improving soon,” PS Atree, Founder and Director, PS Atree & Company told TheSpuzz Online.