A rapidly blooming service based
industry, moving and packing services are now occupying a place of
prominence in the corporate as well as domestic sector. With the advent
of ICE age (information, communication and entertainment), the
conventional geographic boundaries have diffused and relocation has
become a way of life. Across the world, more and more people are moving
within national as well as international regions and that too more
frequently than ever before.
This shift in lifestyle has added fuel to the growth and advancement of
the moving and packing sector. Wholly dedicated to the consulting,
packing, loading, unloading, unpacking rearranging and settling
services, this sector has especially witnessed an impressive horizontal
as well as vertical progress in the last few years.
At official as well as personal level, moving and packing services are
now getting their share of attention and budget allocation. Outsourcing
of relocation services and search of the right packing & freight
forwarding company through internet is also gaining momentum.
Not only the companies now a days have a dedicated relocation division,
but they also have different domestic and international relocation
policies; both for employee relocation or office relocation. Some of the
important considerations while framing such a policy are tax
considerations, leave time, allowances for permanent storage, inter
cultural and language training etc.
Along with the moving and packing services, there are many allied
services that are now offered by the industry players. Some of these are
insurance, car transportation, pet carrier, warehousing, courier
service, crating service, rental assistance etc. The entire moving and
packing process is carefully chalked out and then executed. An
additional facility of tracking the goods in transit is provided to the
client.
Of all the services offered to the client, an industry survey revealed
that in selecting the "right carrier", the level of service is
of chief importance among decision-makers (89% rate it "critically
important"), and regardless of company size, "scheduling"
is more critically important than "Price". Other factors that
are important are claim processing speed, reputation of the carrier
company etc.
From an aquarium or precious jewelery to electronic goods and kitchen
ware, every single household good is carefully packed and moved. Similar
is the case for office items; like files, cabinets, computers etc and
industrial goods like heavy machinery, tools etc.
An extensive mover's and packer's network now covers all the major
cities and towns, at national as well as international level. There is a
multi- mode transportation model where in the cargo services are offered
and movement is done via land, rail and air routes. The laws governing
these relocation services vary from place to place and are different for
moving persons and companies.
What started around a decade back as "helping friends in
relocating themselves and their families in an alien destination"
is currently around a Rs 500 crore (US$120 mn) industry that is growing
in double digits!
