ThetoplevelflowofFlipkartSCMisrepresentedintheabovediagram,Everythingin
Dark Blue belongs to EKL.
EKL (eKart Logistics)
EKLisamajorpartofSCMwhichismainlyresponsibleforgettingtheordersdelivered
tovariouslocationsofthecountrybymappingtheroutesfromtheorigintothecustomer
location in the fastest time possible.
TherearenumberofmodulesandcomponentsinEKLasshownintheabovediagrams,a
brief introduction about them as as follows:
1.EKL mainly consist of two modules:
a.LPE–LogisticPromiseEnginewhichismainlyresponsibleindecidingtheroutefor
theshipmentandgivingSLA(timetodelivertheorder)inamannerthattheproductmustreach
the customer at the earliest time possible.
b.FKL–FlipkartLogisticsismainlyresponsiblefordeliveringtheorderstothe
customersontime,bytheroutespecifiedbyLPEandindecidingwhichvendortousefor
delivering the order.
2.Vendors:
We have several vendors who provide logistic services for delivering the orders
to our customers, the vendors are divided into two,
a. FSD – Flipkart Self Delivery
b. 3PL – Third Party Logistics
WeuseFSDforalmost8590%oftheorderstobefulfilled;whenweuseour
ownlogisticserviceitsourresponsibilityinmanagingthetransittilltheorderisdelivered.For
which we've a number of hubs that are distinguished into Mother Hubs and Delivery Hubs.
MH–itisthemainhubforaparticulargeographicalzonetowhichtheshipmentscome
from our WareHouse.
DH–thereareanumberofDeliveryHubsforsmallergeographicaldivisions,likeone
DH for a major area of Bangalore, or one DH for a smaller city.
3.Procurement Logistics (PL):
Wehaveanumberofsuppliersfortheproductsthatwesellonourwebsite,
inordertogetorprocuretheproductsfromthesupplierwe'veasystemcalledPLwhichmajorly
helps in procuring the products from our sellers.
4.Market Place – (MP)
Flipkart has a facility in which other sellers can sell their products on our website
whichiscalledasMP.Forasellertoqualify,hemustnotbesellingaproductofthesamebrand
whichisalreadybeingsoldbyWSRetail.Flipkartprovidesfewfacilitiesforthesellerslike
SellerDashboards,warehouseasservicebywhichthesellerscanstockthereproductsatour
warehouses.
WehaveaseparatesystemcalledSellerManagementSystem(SMS)bywhichthe
orders of MP are managed and delivered to the customers.
deliverywhichbelongstoFlipkartitself,theflowofordersbeingfulfilledbyflipkartusingFSD
is as follows,
The major operations involved in FSD are as follows:
1.Inscan Receive :
Theshipmentthatcomesfordeliverymustbefirstreceivedbythevendor;for
whichtheshipmentmustbeShelfReceivedatFSDsite.Iftheshipmentbelongstoany3PL
vendors then these operations are omitted from our side.
2.Create Bag and Consignment :
AnumberofshipmentsthatbelongstothesameDHwillbeputintoabag,toput
fewsmallparcelsintoonebigbag.BagcontainsCOCcodewhichcontainstheSourceand
DestinationdetailsofthebagintheformatSCR/DST.ThisCOCcodewillbeimprintedonthe
bagasbagtrackingidthatwillbeintheformatQXBLRDEL12345.HereBLRDEListheCOC
code of the bag which indicates the source of the bag is BLR and the destination is DEL.
ThenumberofbagsthatmustgotothesameDHareaddedtooneConsignment
and the consignment is forwarded to the particular DH from the current hub.
3.Receive Consignment at DH :
Theconsignmentthathasbeenforwardedbythenumberofhubstotherespective
DHmustbereceivedattheDHandseparatethebagsandshipmentsappropriatelywithrespect
to the area to which the shipment must be delivered.
4.Create Runsheet and delivery :
Theshipmentwillbesegregatedbasedonthelocationitmustbedeliveredto
withinthecityorwithinthelocalzonalarea,basedonwhichseveralshipmentswillbeadded
ontoaRunSheetthatwillbehandedovertotheFE(FieldEngineer)alongwiththeshipmentsin
a vehicle to get those shipments delivered to the customers.
DH: Delivery Hub
NDD: Next Day Delivery
SDD: Same Day Delivery
MH: Mother Hub
FC: Fulfillment Center
eKL : EKart Logistics. Rebranding of FKL (Flipkart Logistics)
OFD: Our For Delivery
OFP: Out For Pickup
WSR : W S Retail
FSN: Flipkart Serial Number
CMS: Catalog Management System
OMS: Order Management System
FS: Fulfillment System
PE: Promise Engine
FKL: Flipkart Logistics
3PL: 3rd Party logistics
FSD: Flipkart Self Delivery
TMS: Transport Management system
COD: Cash on Delivery
POS: Point of Sale
FLO: Flow of Orders
DG: Dangerous Goods
RTO: Return to Origin
RVP: Reverse pickup
MDM: Mobile Device Management
PS: Product Support
OFD: Out for delivery
NDC: No Due certificate
NDR : Non Delivery Report
NOC: No Objection Certificate
FE: Fulfilment Engine
PE: Promise Engine
LPE: Logistics Promise Engine
LFE: Logistics Fulfilment Engine
SMS: Seller Management System
Two major types of Shipments :
1.WSR (WS Retail)
2.FKMP or Non WSR (FlipKart Market Place)
Which has two subtypes within each :
1.FBF (Fulfilled By Flipkart) (has around 50 sellers including WS Retail)
2.Non – FBF (has around 4900+ sellers)
There are four types of Shipment flows :
1.Forward flow
InforwardflowtheshipmentwillbecreatedintheMotherHub(MH)whichwill
besenttothecorrespondingDeliveryHub(DH)correspondingtothecustomeraddress.From
DHtheRunSheetwillbecreatedforanumberofshipmentsandtheshipmentswillbe
dispatched to the customers through a Field Engineer (FE).
The Forward Flow is achieved by Forward Stations.
2.RVP – Reverse Pickup
RVPispickingtheproduct;orshipmentmustbepickedfromthecustomerforthe
productbeingcancelledbythecustomerforvariousreasons.ForthisaPickUpSheetwillbe
createdinthenearestDHoftheCustomer,aFEtakesthePickUpSheetgoestothecustomer's
address and picks up the product. PickUpSheet is an opposite for RunSheet.
AftergettingtheproductbacktotheDHthePickUpSheetwillbemarkedInactive
andtheshipmentwillbeforwardedtotheMH.ThisprocessisachievedbyeKartLogistics
(EKL).
RVP is achieved by Return stations.
3.RTO – Return To Origin
RTO can be of two types:
i.Approved RTO – achieved by call and confirm
ii.Unapproved RTO – canceling the order at delivery
RTO can happen in any of the following systems:
1.OMS
2.FKL
3.FSD
RTOhandlingcanbedistinguishedintotwomajorwaysdependingonwhenRTO
occurs.
1.RTO before the shipment is OutForDelivery (OFD)
Mark RTO [RTOCreated]
If the shipment is in MH then do Shelf Receive at MH
If the shipment is in DH, send it back to MH [RTOIntransit]
Then do Shelf Receive at MH [RTOConfirmed]
Achieved using Return Stations
2.RTO after the shipment is OFD
Mark RTO [RTOCreated]
If the shipment is delivered [RTOCancel]
If not delivered [RTOIntransit]
Shelf Receive at MH [RTOConfirmed]
4.Replacement
Replacement involves Latching.
LatchingmeanstheShipmentwillinvolvebothIncomingandOutgoingShipments
simultaneously.
Incoming – Incoming Shipment is Created at the DH
Outgoing – Outgoing Shipment is Created at MH then sent to DH
The Runsheet in this case with have the details of both incoming and outgoing shipments.
Forward shipment flows are Explained here with the FlowCharts :
ThedifferencefromWSR–FBFandWSR–NONFBFisthatinFBFtheproductswill
beavailableintheWareHouse(WH)whereasinNONFBFtheproductswontbeinstockfor
which the products will be procured from the Merchants and then sent to customers.
FKMPasdescribedinthepreviousflow,thedifferencehereisthatthesellerhasnotkept
hisstockinourWHbuthe'ssellinghisproductsonourwebsite.Thiskindofshipmentflowis
refereedtoasFKMP–NONFBF,whereinthecustomerplacestheorderinourwebsitewhich
willbeforwardedontosellerdashboard,afterthesellerapprovestheorderourFEwillpickitup
from seller and deliver to the customer following the below represented flowchart.
1.ssh to the machine
example: ssh eklomniscient1.stage.ch.flipkart.com
2.check which services are running
ps aux | grep <application_name>
example: ps aux | grep omni
reference: explainshell.com/explain?cmd=ps+aux+%7C+grep
3.check the log
tail F <path>
example: tail F /var/log/flipkart/supplychain/fkeklomniscent/*.log
Note: To get the current package which is running, use the following
dpkg l | grep <app_name>
example: dpkg l | grep omni
reference: explainshell.com/explain?cmd=dpkg+l+%7C+grep+dpkg