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!
