He has expertise in various fields within the IT sector such as supply chain management (SCM), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and product management. Looking at his impressive CV, it won’t be wrong to say that he has done a fine balancing act while handling critical and complicated jobs related to both the domains.
At Four Soft Ltd, he is in charge of the pre-sales, marketing and communications departments and closely monitors all the resources at his disposal.
A firm foundation
Mr Umashankar has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Regional Engineering College (REC), Trichy and is an MBA from Xavier Institute of Management (XIM), Bhubaneswar.
A member of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), he has also done his MS from BITS, Pilani.
He also aced the Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) exams conducted by APICS in the US.
Powered by technology
Today, Mr Umashankar is better known as an innovator who has introduced several pioneering IT solutions in the logistics industry. He considers himself lucky to get the opportunity to work in both his preferred fields - IT and logistics – at the same time.
In his own words, “I have been a logistics person from day one. I started my career with Caterpillar India Ltd, handling its logistics, purchase and vendor development functions for 9 years. However, I slowly migrated to the IT side that offered solutions in the same space in which I was a user.”
“I realised that a user could define the software specifics much better than a techie. This knowledge, in turn helped me to move up the value chain in the IT solutions space,” adds Mr Umashankar.
Recommending IT for logistics
Mr Umashankar is of the opinion that in today’s market no logistics firm can sustain its business or expand its operations without deploying enabling IT products and services. “However, implementation and integration of IT systems into the operational framework calls for change in mindset, and increased time and effort from users,” he says.
According to him, adopting the latest technology helps not only to save costs but also to generate additional revenue for any business that has multiple trade partners across geographies.
Guiding the SMEs
Mr Umashankar believes that the right strategy for small and mid-sized logistics players would be to consolidate their operations so as to drive down their costs. “The SME players should opt for those IT vendors that have an understanding of the domain rather than going for big names. Moreover, SME market requirements are best addressed by niche vendors that focus on the transport & logistics (T&L) vertical rather than the manufacturing industry.”
Achievement According to Mr Umashankar, one of the greatest achievements of his career was when he launched a new IT product while working with Netherland-based Baan Company. The product was conceptualised entirely by him and built under his supervision. |
