Operations dev and employee engagement.
Operations and employee engagement are still a struggle. But I can see I have come a long way from where I was and still see plenty of potential. The fact that I spent so much time on these two segments would be quite rhetorical to most, but bad operational management and staff were killing the growth of the company.
Set 1: Operations status quo upon arrival
As unexpected as I was with my role in logistics, and the family legacy being such, the only difference was that it was at a stage where I could do anything. That was a time when I had the will and energy to take on any challenge, which I still do, but now with a pace and more realistic steps toward progress.
To begin with, our company operations were all manual logs in books. There were too many uncertainties with this method. Just to name a few: handwritten errors, general laziness, and manual labor for tracking back. There was a high volume of orders and practically no trackback even for data storage and employee reliability. It was a rabbit hole of flaws and uncertainty. Simply implementing new systems and introducing a computer would have been a nightmare for employees to learn. Data logging needed to be productive but also designed in a way that made sense for employees who had learned to use WhatsApp and UPI apps for survival, with practically no formal schooling.
Stage 1 – Making sense and budget
So, I had to pick a tool that could log data efficiently and a layout that could be taught and trained easily. Also, it had to be a tool that wouldn’t cost much or anything, so we could stay professional and create a robust system. This was the operational side.
However, my employees had no exposure to computers and had only adapted to cell phones because the world pushed them to. I still wonder how the business survived as long as it did before I took over. To get to the point, I had to train them while also building a system that worked for our company.
What I noticed early on in the team was that they were extremely hardworking. Doing this work daily, just relying on memory and paper data, was an impressive skill. All I had to do was find a way to transfer those skills into a system that would make operations easier.
I started by exploring existing software from many vendors and shortlisted them. However, all the systems were built around the companies that made them, not in an ideal operational manner—at least not how I wanted them. Don’t get me wrong, they did a great job building them, but it was simply not workable for my team.
So, after a lot of trial and error, I chose the most basic form of data logging that has been improved for decades: “Sheets.” I went with Google Sheets because of its advantages, such as cloud operations, data structure, Apps Script for automation, connectivity, and workspace add-ons. This gave me a way to build an ERP myself—not from scratch, but by using multiple tools and connecting them to act as one system.
This was a kickstart and instantly improved results. It barely took our team a week to learn how to click and enter data. I had expected at least a month. In the initial days, I did the entries, and later the staff caught up.
With data entry and daily logs on track, I gradually made the UI clearer and divided operations into two segments: internal and external. Internal was for the self-owned fleet, and external was for hired and associated vehicles. It was remarkable how much data was collected in just a few months—data on different vehicles, contacts, route frequency, timing, the most profitable vehicle types, and more.
As our team started getting used to the new workflow, more flaws and loopholes appeared that I had to fix. One such issue was bills and payment receipts. For the first month after I joined, we were still writing bills on paper, taking pictures, and sending them. This was unprofessional and messy. So, we created a digital version of these bills. We got an instant positive response, and many clients who were impressed started giving more orders, increasing frequency.
Then my team had a human error problem, such as entering names incorrectly and manually typing details for bills. This required a solution. We pre-built entries for clients and carriers and used dropdown selections. This made things much faster and easier. With the help of Apps Script, we automated trip entry to billing with just one click. Now we can export bulk bills instantly.
At this point, we had a automated daily log and an billing system. Up next was tracking POD (Proof of Delivery) and payment logs. Building this didn’t take much time, as we already had the data—we just had to connect it. By doing so, we separated POD by linking it to the main operations sheets and created a separate POD log entry where my team could track payments and proofs. This made receiving and reminders much simpler.
Next, we needed a way to send bills and trip confirmations to clients and carriers. This would build trust and reliability. After researching options, I came across Twilio—a business solution for automating messages in bulk. This helped us send WhatsApp bills to clients and carriers without errors. This again became a revolution. Everyone who received the bills and trip confirmations reached back, asking how we did it.
All this happened within a year, with a lot more to come. I have more plans to improve operations, but I will have to put them on hold. For now, I need to concentrate on improving order volume. The number of orders I take has increased, but not the volume. This needs to improve significantly.