Jagannath International Management School, Kalkaji
(Please write your Roll No. immediately) Roll No. __________
End Term Examination
PGDM IV PGDM October 2024
Batch (2023-25)
Paper Code: GEN401
Subject: Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Time: 3 Hours M. Marks: 60
Note: 1) Q. No. 1 is compulsory and carries 10 Marks.
2) Q. No. 02 to 05 Attempt any three questions from the remaining which carry 10 Marks each.
3) Q.6 is compulsory and carries 20 Marks.
Q1 What is a Hub and Spoke Model? Explain the model with the help of a diagram and give examples of the same in
domestic and international business. What are the advantages that accrue from the model to both the service provider
and the customer? (10)
Q2 List down the seven R’s of “Business Logistics.” Taking into consideration a commodity i.e. ‘Ready Made
Garments,’ how will each of the seven “R’s” make an impact if you were exporting the garments from Port of Mundra
(India) to Hamburg (Germany), clearly citing examples for each of them? (10)
Q.3 (Differentiate between the following „Customer Service Elements‟: (10)
(a) Pre-Transaction Elements
(b) Transactional Elements
(c) Post-Transactional Elements
Explain them briefly with some examples.
Q.4 (a) What are the environmental and economic benefits of expanding coastal shipping in comparison to other
modes of transport? (5)
(b) How can cold chain logistics contribute to reducing food waste and increasing food security globally? (5)
Q.5 Differentiate between ‘Uni-modal,’ ‘Bi-modal,’ ‘Intermodal’ and ‘Multimodal’ transport and cite valid examples
to differentiate each of these terms. (10)
Q6 Case Study
Technology & Trucking Industry
Sunil Kumar has been recruited by a pharmaceutical firm to drive the company’s new initiatives of achieving better
efficiency in its transportation. Having gone through a specialized course in logistics management, Sunil has realized that
technology could offer opportunities for improvement to the firm. He is fairly aware of the different identification and
tracking technologies used by companies across different industries to achieve operational efficiencies.
For example, retail companies have been using bar code technologies for many years. This technology was far superior
to manual billing at checkouts. When it first came into existence, barcode technology was considered to be revolutionary.
However, it has now been replaced by RFID technology, which offers many advantages over barcode like identification
of an item even from a distance, unlike barcodes which require physical proximity between the item and the scanning
Jagannath International Management School, Kalkaji
equipment. Sunil has heard how Wal-Mart has issued strict guidelines to its suppliers to tag these items with RFID.
Using this technology, retail checkouts would be much faster. Unlike barcode scanning, RFID scanning would take
fraction of a second-hand all the items purchased by a customer would be scanned at the same time. In addition to the
development of identification technology, another area of development has been the tracking technology. Using a
combination of satellites, it is possible to track and trace an object on earth. Sunil has learnt that many companies use
this to track their moving assets, mainly trucks, ships etc.
Sunil was toying with various possibilities for using technology for improvement of logistics for his new company, but
his concern was as to how technology would help him to address one of the critical issues of pharmaceutical
transportation-transportation under controlled conditions. Refrigerated trucks are used for transporting pharmaceutical
products, which requires strict temperature controls. However, there have been reports that truck drivers often switch off
the air-conditioning equipment in order to save on fuel. Sunil realized that RFID technology would allow him to identify
the contents of individual packages in a truck, and GPS would help him track the location of the truck. However, his
major concern was to ensure that the temperature inside the refrigeration chamber used for transporting medicines is
maintained.
When pondering over these issues, he suddenly came across an article discussing about telematics-a technology that
transmits computerized information over long distances. A telematics device combines a GPS chipset, a data logger and
a GPRS module is used to gathering information transmitted over a mobile data network. In its simplest form, this
technology is used for tracking a vehicle. The device runs on a battery and sends text messages about the location of a
vehicle. Sophisticated systems may use the vehicles power supply or have backup batteries of their own, and can record
data related to speed, fuel consumption, etc. Sophisticated systems can also use sensors to detect open door, temperature
of refrigerated compartment, or idling engine.
Despite these advantages, the use of telematics devices in India is limited to a meagre percentage of trucks. Some of the
reasons are cost of the devices and the fragmented nature of the trucking industry. A bigger cost, perhaps, is the negative
impact on the morale of drivers who may consider technology as a policing mechanism and can, even in extreme cases,
turn the equipment off.
Questions: (8+6+6=20)
(a) Trucking industry has its importance in the Indian economy as it caters to over 55% of cargo movement in the
country. Bring out clearly all the major points through a SWOT analysis.
(b) Evaluate the decision options available with Sunil, considering the costs and the benefits of technology, clearly
bringing out all the salient features.
(c) Discuss how technology can improve the trucking industry and what controls could it bring about.
