Bobba Logistics to offer tailor-made micro-fulfilment, warehousing solutions

Bobba Group is a 30-year-old Bengaluru-based logistics company that has operations in aviation and airport cargo terminal handling. The Group recently launched a new division called Bobba Logistics to niche warehouse and logistics solutions that meet the end-to-end supply chain needs of enterprises. Bobba Logistics is planning to launch a new warehouse inside the city of Bengaluru in December 2022. Director of Bobba Group, Chandrakala Bobba, talks about her plans, what is the need for Bobba Logistics, the nature of demand she could foresee and the future of Bobba Group.

What are your learnings from the last few months of disruption and unprecedented weather in Bangalore?
As much as we try to plan things, the one thing we have learnt is that we have to be open to changes due to situations beyond our control like erratic weather. Patience is the key to such projects, without taking a dip in the motivation of the team.

Why Bobba Logistics? What are the services offered by Bobba Logistics and what is the nature of the demand in the market right now?
Globally, a lot of warehouses are coming up within the city or in proximity to the airport in many Asian and South Asian countries or places like Tokyo and Korea. Because transportation and delivery time is the most important thing post-pandemic.

The reason why we do a lot of online or e-commerce is to get it at the time we want it. Or rather, we would just go to the store and pick it up. If the warehouse is more in proximity to the city, distribution and delivery become faster and easier.

And that's the reason we've come up with Bobba Logistics. It's a micro fulfilment, micro warehousing solution. It's an evolved version of a godown. Generally, warehouses are known for lakhs of square feet for which one needs to go to the outskirts of the city. These days the traffic situation has led logistics players like us to think of out-of-the-box solutions to provide spaces and places in close proximity to city limits and highways and other industrial hubs.

The concept of having warehouses close to the city, just in time for the town is more important not just to ensure timely deliveries but also to save on your transportation costs.

By the time the goods go into the warehouse and get sorted and then get distributed demands a longer turnaround time. That's why Bobba Logistics warehouse is very much in proximity to the national highway, the city and all industrial hubs.

We also provide all the value-added services and customise solutions to the client's needs. A lot of our clients are looking for cold chain solutions and we provide that component as well. We do reverse logistics, inventory management, labelling, packing, repacking barcoding and everything from A to Z when it comes to delivery and distribution.

We are planning to provide tailor-made solutions by customising them according to our client's requirements. Our aim is to sit down with clients from e-commerce players to shippers to freight forwarding communities to whoever needs a third-party logistics company to handle their logistic requirements and give them appropriate solutions. The main concern for all is on-time delivery, efficiency and service for which we have been known for last 30 years.

Bobba Group is completing 30 years of existence. Give me an idea about what that means.
My father has been in aviation for more than 45 years, he was a pilot and he was with Lufthansa. And then we went to GSA and GHS. It was a natural progression for us to get into warehouse and terminal handling. We've seen quite a journey. It is for the next generation to handle it and take it forward to another level. Our core competence was more to do with logistics warehousing, aviation-related and that's the way we're progressing and looking forward to expanding pan India in the next few years. We always started in the south. We did Chennai, Cochin, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, and then we went into Calcutta and it's the same way we want to take it forward.

Give me an idea about the city of Bengaluru and the demand for 3PL services in the city as an example what are your plans for the city?
During the Covid-19 pandemic and even post-pandemic, we have realised that there is a huge demand for 3PL services in Bengaluru, particularly in the healthcare and food industry, where the supply was huge while the storage was not much and with restrictions and lockdowns it had supply issues as well. As a basic ingredient such as milk, they used to stock up because they were not sure if it was there the next day or the day after. The supply chain is essential for all the cities and Bengaluru also sees that demand. The reason why over here we feel higher demand compared to the others is because of lots of imports, exports and distribution happening from here.

What are the features and peculiarities of the new warehouse that you are launching in Bengaluru?
The Bobba Logistics warehouse is a sprawling 75,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility with complete provision to manage end-to-end supply chain needs, including newer strategies like micro-fulfilment. It can be used as a distribution centre (located closer to the market) and allows both fast pick-up and faster delivery.

What is your capacity in terms of cold storage?
The Bobba Logistics cold storage section has a 600-pallet capacity. It is a robust cold chain management solution, complete with packaging and processing technology & value-added services, dedicated to keeping up with consumers' high expectations for the best product.

E-commerce and omnichannel operations have brought some new trends in warehousing. How well you are aligning with those?
Our facility is designed to cater to all sorts of industries. It's not just a regular warehousing activity but also e-commerce. We cater to first-mile and last-mile deliveries, as well as hyperlocal deliveries, depending on what the client wants. We have also tried to experiment with a couple of new concepts like on-demand warehousing to book slots, consolidation and handle valuable cargo as well.

What is the immediate and long-term future of Bobba Logistics in terms of footprint, competition and service offered?
The immediate plan is to make sure what we're launching in Bangalore, caters to everyone the way we envision and fulfils all kinds of service standards. The next action plan would be to go forward in the other Southern states, add more verticals, create more employment and be a part of boosting the economy. We believe in providing service and state-of-the-art infrastructure to industries that need warehousing as we all support and contribute to the overall growth of the economy and our country. This is such a huge industry where everyone can have their own combinations and models.

This interview was originally published in Indian Transport & Logistics News' Nov- Dec 2022 issue.