Pramod Kumar Gupta
Managing Director
You name any supply chain management service be it procurement, warehousing, transportation, or last mile delivery EFC is your go-to partner. Founded by Pramod Kumar Gupta, the Company is the epitome of trust and transparency. Appreciating his four decades of leadership in overseeing the Company's operations, motivating the team to produce the best results, and continuously creating new strategies for the optimization of the supply chain strategy CEO Insights had a chance to engage in a conversation with him. This humble jargon of the industry, who ideated EFC Group of Companies in 1983, is the steward of ensuring seamless and smooth processes in taking the Company to greater heights.
Kindly peruse the excerpts of this interview from this mentor, motivator, and leader of the supply chain industry.
Tell us about the inception of EFC Logistics. How has been the journey so far?
I started working as an intern in a transport company in Kolkata, alongside pursuing my graduation from St. Xavier’s College. EFC was conceptualized right after my graduation in the year 1983. It primarily started as a transport company and was later registered into a Private Limited Company by merging warehousing services as well. Over the years, while logistics remains our core, we have ventured into different supply chain verticals such as C&F, Container Depot Management, Reefer Container Depot, ISO Tank Terminal, providing Warehouse Management services,
First Leg, 3PL and Last Mile Deliveries and most recently our own Container Freight Station in Nhava Sheva, Mumbai.
Having started from scratch, today we have a stronghold in both Primary and Secondary Transportation, across the length and breadth of the country. A fleet strength of more than 600 owned vehicles and 1000 attached vehicles5lakh sq.ft of warehouses in West Bengal and Maharashtra; a tank container cleaning and repair station; a 40 acre CFS we have come a long way. Our clientele includes leading Indian multinationals across Chemical, Polymer, Tyre & Lubricant, FMCG, Steel & Cement sectors.
What are the challenges you encountered in the initial phase of entrepreneurship and how did overcome them?
Way back in the early 80's, supply chain management was an unorganized sector. Entering into such an ambiguous industry itself was a challenge. How ever, I always wanted to stand out from the crowd and hence making my mark in this sector was a major challenge. I, along with my brothers Sanjay and Pravin, were keen on taking this Company to the greatest heights possible. Initially, there were several major hurdles like financing (bank finance was not easily available), trade union issues, no technology for tracking and communicating and lack of a proper system overall. As years have progressed, we have always been at the forefront of adapting the industry best practices, incorporating latest technology, designing systems, and transforming into a well structured systemized organization staying much ahead of our competitors. With indepth knowledge of the industry and expertise in human resource management, today leading business enterprises rely on EFC for their SCM requirements.
How do you update yourself and stay abreast with the advancement
Having started from scratch, today we have a stronghold in both Primary and Secondary Transportation, across the length and breadth of the country. A fleet strength of more than 600 owned vehicles and 1000 attached vehicles5lakh sq.ft of warehouses in West Bengal and Maharashtra; a tank container cleaning and repair station; a 40 acre CFS we have come a long way. Our clientele includes leading Indian multinationals across Chemical, Polymer, Tyre & Lubricant, FMCG, Steel & Cement sectors.
Pramod’s revolutionary ideas and holistic approach to business development is the reason for EFC’s spectacular growth - from a small company with a net worth INR 20L, today it is a leading Indian brand with a net worth of INR 500 Cr
What are the challenges you encountered in the initial phase of entrepreneurship and how did overcome them?
Way back in the early 80's, supply chain management was an unorganized sector. Entering into such an ambiguous industry itself was a challenge. How ever, I always wanted to stand out from the crowd and hence making my mark in this sector was a major challenge. I, along with my brothers Sanjay and Pravin, were keen on taking this Company to the greatest heights possible. Initially, there were several major hurdles like financing (bank finance was not easily available), trade union issues, no technology for tracking and communicating and lack of a proper system overall. As years have progressed, we have always been at the forefront of adapting the industry best practices, incorporating latest technology, designing systems, and transforming into a well structured systemized organization staying much ahead of our competitors. With indepth knowledge of the industry and expertise in human resource management, today leading business enterprises rely on EFC for their SCM requirements.
How do you update yourself and stay abreast with the advancement
in the industry?
The network of people around me is my biggest knowledge source. Within the Company my team of professionals, my branch managers across the country and the next generation of my family involved in this business aIl keep me well abreast with the industry advancements. Outside the Company, I consider myself lucky to be associated with the top industry experts, CEO of different logistic companies and being at the helm of transport organisations like CGTA, AITWA and AIMTC enable me to be well informed and updated all the time.
Highlight some of the milestones achieved so far.
In this journey of 40 years there have been multiple milestones that I can sight. Like, the day we opened our first branch outside Kolkata in Mumbai it was a day of joy and pride. The day we reached a turn turnover of INR 20 Cr, starting from a mere 20Lakhs that was a milestone. Today, we have 35 branches pan-India, over 1000 employees and a turnover of INR 500 Crores. We are also the only transport operator in India having our own CFS. Time and again, we have been recognized with various awards from our clients, suppliers, and different organizations for our continued best services. Very recently, we were recognized by the prestigious group The Economic Times as “The Champion in Supply Chain Management 2020” as well.
What is the future roadmap of the company? What vision do you have in place for EFC?
We have some particularly important projects lined up for the immediate future. We are during launching our own Logistics and Industrial Park in the Howrah industrial area in West Bengal, very shortly. Spread across 100 acres of land, with state-of-the-art facilities, it will cater to the infrastructure needs of leading companies in Eastern India.
Another distinctive project that we have been working on is the R&D for last-mile delivery using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)/drones and Air-Taxis, that can be productively used in civil defence, paramedics, and emergency services. We are in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur for this project.
In the long term my vision is to establish EFC as a global player in the Supply Chain Management industry and simultaneously extend our expertise to our valued customers, helping them grow in their respective business, through our diversified verticals.
The network of people around me is my biggest knowledge source. Within the Company my team of professionals, my branch managers across the country and the next generation of my family involved in this business aIl keep me well abreast with the industry advancements. Outside the Company, I consider myself lucky to be associated with the top industry experts, CEO of different logistic companies and being at the helm of transport organisations like CGTA, AITWA and AIMTC enable me to be well informed and updated all the time.
Highlight some of the milestones achieved so far.
In this journey of 40 years there have been multiple milestones that I can sight. Like, the day we opened our first branch outside Kolkata in Mumbai it was a day of joy and pride. The day we reached a turn turnover of INR 20 Cr, starting from a mere 20Lakhs that was a milestone. Today, we have 35 branches pan-India, over 1000 employees and a turnover of INR 500 Crores. We are also the only transport operator in India having our own CFS. Time and again, we have been recognized with various awards from our clients, suppliers, and different organizations for our continued best services. Very recently, we were recognized by the prestigious group The Economic Times as “The Champion in Supply Chain Management 2020” as well.
What is the future roadmap of the company? What vision do you have in place for EFC?
We have some particularly important projects lined up for the immediate future. We are during launching our own Logistics and Industrial Park in the Howrah industrial area in West Bengal, very shortly. Spread across 100 acres of land, with state-of-the-art facilities, it will cater to the infrastructure needs of leading companies in Eastern India.
Another distinctive project that we have been working on is the R&D for last-mile delivery using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)/drones and Air-Taxis, that can be productively used in civil defence, paramedics, and emergency services. We are in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur for this project.
In the long term my vision is to establish EFC as a global player in the Supply Chain Management industry and simultaneously extend our expertise to our valued customers, helping them grow in their respective business, through our diversified verticals.