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Friday March 29, 2024

TCS to open 100 new centres in 2018

By Shahid Shah
March 07, 2018

KARACHI: TCS Holdings, a group of 14 companies including TCS logistics, has announced to expand its business by 100 more express centres in 2018 to 1,000 centres.

President and Chief Executive Officer, TCS Holdings, MA Mannan, in an interview at his office told The News that currently, TCS has 900 express centres while 100 more centres will be added in the current year.

TCS and its subsidiary yayvo.com are handling tickets of Pakistan Super League (PSL) this year. “TCS, under an agreement with Pakistan Cricket Board, will handle tickets of all cricket matches for next three years. We will also check and verify the tickets at the stadium,” he said.

Talking about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a long term opportunity for the development in the country, he said they, as TCS were at the right place at the right time.

He was of the view that through CPEC, Pakistan was becoming a centre stage for logistics’ growth in the region. “We see it as a pillar of logistics. This is our core business,” he said. “TCS will play its part to support the logistics boom.”

TCS, which handles several businesses, has now become famous for e-commerce, not only through its own subsidiary yayvo.com but also for providing services to other companies in warehousing and logistics. “Around four years back, there was no department of e-commerce in TCS, now there is a division,” Mannan said.

He said that TCS gave the first priority to their customers and even yayvo.com was launched looking at their demand. “Currently, more than 50 percent orders on yayvo.com come from the rural areas. People of these areas had either to come to cities for shopping or used to pay higher amounts of transportation,” he said. “Majority areas of Pakistan are covered by TCS. In some areas, we go to the nearest TCS office and customers are informed about their parcels.”

When one talks about the logistics, customers’ needs could be out of the country, he said, so recently TCS came into alliance with UPS, the biggest international service. “Now, one can send and receive parcels to anywhere in the world,” he said.

TCS is also handling warehouse business of around 15,000 companies that include SMEs to medium and large sized companies. They are also provided warehousing through its Supply Chain Advisory. “We meet with the companies and discuss their business plan and give suggestions,” he said. “We have partnerships with government, banks, and private sector, etc.”

The company is handling products of other companies at 10 warehouses in the country. Unfortunately, a fire erupted in a warehouse in Korangi, Karachi recently, due to a short circuit. “All goods were covered under insurance and settlement is underway,” he said.

Besides handling small and large parcels within the country, TCS has announced it handled export and import of its customers as well. “We are working with importers and exporters,” Mannan said. “Since few years, we have been investing in digital devices. Now, customers can track their shipments in real time. They can select best routes of transportation.”

TCS Hazir is a platform, where anybody can order anything within the country at anytime. TCS will buy it and deliver as quickly as possible. Besides, one can chose their own purchase and delivery time. “Sending and receiving is possible within hours,” he said.

The TCS president did not provide any investment data because of citing competition in the market, but said their focus was investing in the technology. They have introduced handheld electronic devices, so that time and accuracy could be maintained.

He said they have continued their investment on innovation and logistics, trainings. TCS Holdings is providing jobs to 13,000 people across the country.

Sidelining any chance of listing of TCS in the Pakistan Stocks Exchange, Mannan said companies usually go for listing to generate funds, while TCS did not need it at this time. “We have no plan for that,” he said.