Flipkart | Inventory Management | Supply chain and distribution

This Presentation will take you to an educational tour of Flipkart's Inventory management and how it supplies its products and shipments to the end consumer.

1. FLIPKART - BY GROUP 2

2. INTRODUCTION Flipkart is an electronic commerce company and among India’s largest online retailers. Reported sales - $12.5million Flipkart initially started with selling books online but has diversified today into a generic e-commerce website, selling CDs/DVDs, mobile phones and electronics. Mission - To provide a memorable online shopping experience to the customers so that they come back again and they use innovative services like 30 day replacement, Cash on Delivery, free shipping, EMI options mainly for electronics and on-time delivery.

3. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT The operations team deals with Supply chain management; from procurement to warehouse management and customer support. Supplier Network: Flipkart has a network of 500 plus distributors and only stocks frequently ordered items. Items with low demand elasticity, fast selling items which have a long shelf life are maintained in inventory. Whereas items with low and unpredictable demand are procured once the customers places the order. Warehouse Management: Flipkart has & major warehouse spread across the Metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai and in the cities of Pune, Bangalore and Noida. They further have smaller regional distribution centers at over 500 locations. Company has tie-ups with more than 15 courier companies like Blue Dart, First Flight etc. to deliver their products and Indian post for areas where courier do not reach.

4. Flipkart’s warehouse management has 3 major steps: Inward Processing Storage Management Outward Processing 

5. Inventory Management : Flipkart uses a Continuous review model. The inventory stocks are replenished when the inventory levels reach Reorder point (ROP). The company employs first in first out(FIFO) method for its inventory management. Under the FIFO method, shipment request is sent to a particular warehouse where the oldest inventory items are shipped first. This model makes sense for electronics since technology becomes obsolete very quickly. Flipkart uses sales to predict the levels of inventory. The warehouses are divided into multiple parts such as inventory, packaging, shipping etc. Stocks are replenished every 24-48 hours and in the back end the company records details of all the transactions. The company has partnered with postal companies for order tracking and reconciliation, Thus the customer is updated about the state of his order via email, website or text messages. If the product needs to be returned, it is done effectively and efficiently due to the companies partnership with the courier companies. In the case of electronics, warranty and after sales service is solely the manufacturer’s responsibility but Flipkart facilitates interaction between supplier and customer.

6. FLIPKART SUPPLY CHAIN FLIPKART ADVANTAGE SHIPMENTS FLIPKART NON-ADVANTAGE SHIPMENTS PRODUCTS ORDERED BY CUSTOMER AVAILABLE AT FLIPKART FULFILLMENT CENTER PRODUCTS ORDERED BY CUSTOMER AVAILABLE AT MARKET PLACE SELLERS REGISTERED WITH FLIPKART

7. FLIPKART ADVANTAGE (FA) SHIPMENTS Customer places order for FA products. Fulfillment center checks for the availability of the product and the picklist is created and assigned to the associate. Packaging is done as per the guidelines and bill label is attached to the same and dispatched to the nearest mother hub.

8. FLIPKART NON-ADVANTAGE(Non-FA) SHIPMENTS Customer places the order for non-FA products. Seller receives the order and packs the product for shipment. First mile team leader creates sheet and assigns executive who goes to the seller location verifies the products and takes it back to the leader. Team leader receives shipment and segregates according to local, zonal, 3PL, National delivery. Back shipments are delivered to the nearest mother hub.

9. SHIPMENTS AT MOTHER HUB Mother hub receives FA shipments from fulfillment centers and Non-FA shipments from first mile hub, Here, shipments are segregated at two levels: Primary segregation: here, shipments are in scanned and segregated in respective station basis delivery. Mumbai Blue Dart Delhi FedEx Bangalore DHL STATION BASIS DELIVERY (Ekart) Station wise Dangerous Goods Same day delivery & Next day delivery 3 PL

10. Secondary segregation: ekart shipments are segregated by destination hub / COC code wise. Shipments are then scanned, weighed and sealed in white bags which are forwarded to line hall. Line hall handovers the bags to transport center team. NDD/SDD/Normal shipments to respective DH DG shipments at respective MH 3PL shipments according to vendors

11. SHIPMENTS AT DELIVERY HUB Delivery hub receives shipment in bags, Shipments are segregated and sorted in pin-code wise/ Route wise. Run sheet is generated and assigned to executives who take the shipments and leave the hub for delivery. Executives complete delivery by handling the shipments to the customers after they(customers) make payment and run sheet updation .

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