The logistics team of Kurukshetra'15 is led by Sritharan from M.Sc IT, Humzaa from Geo Informatics, Surenth vignesh from M.Sc IT and Kamachi Srikanth from Industrial Engineering. Following, is an interview with the well co ordinated (they even wore uniform tshirts for the interview) and enthusiastic logistics K!ores of this edition of Kurukshetra.
What is the role of the logistics team?
There are seventeen teams in Kurukshetra, apart from us. We support all the other teams. "Delivery" is a term that is associated with us. If any item needs to be brought to college and delivered, the logistics team takes care of it. Put differently, we can be called the EXECUTION TEAM. If any event or workshop needs to be held, other teams put forth their ideas, they describe the way they need the event to proceed and we execute their plans. We manage the resources. We have the money and the man power. We need to use them wisely. We need to choose the right person to buy from, the right quality, the right quantity and the right price. We have to ensure all the requirements are satisfied and are feasible. Starting from the banner at the main gate to the stalls during those four days, it all comes under logistics.
Why doesn't your team have a girl K!ore?
Logistics involves a lot of ground work. It involves meeting third parties and negotiating terms with them. All these negotiations needn't necessarily happen in the early hours of the day. It requires staying up late to get the job done. It isn't safe for a girl to travel outside to fix a deal at 8 30 in the night. As said, it requires a lot of roaming and on road work. We aren't against having a girl K!ore member but the problem is with our work requirements.
How big is your team?
We do not recruit a lot of people in our team. We have about 10-15 third years and 20 second years. Second years are given the task of on-day delivery. The requirements during the days of Kurukshetra are handled by the second years. We are now training the third years, teaching them the intricacies of every task because they will take up our roles next year. We don't stress the juniors since all the resources we maintain points to money at the end. We can never be too careful.
Every event and workshop held during Kurukshetra will have a different set of demands. How do you approve their requests?
We conduct a review meet for every event and workshop a few weeks prior to K! We get their requirements. Logistics is about event management. Logistics is about asking the right questions. We ask each team to justify their requirements. If their justification sounds reasonable and genuine we approve their requests. We have to look at an object from 5 different dimensions. The money, IR team provides, should be used wisely and that is our main objective.
How do you handle on-day pressure?
It is all about anticipation. We keep buffers. Any event or workshop may need a few extra items than they thought was required. We make sure we have enough for such cases.
What have you learnt, being a part of this team?
The thrill in negotiating with a third party is incomparable. We believe that if you have worked for a year in this team, the outside world is simpler to handle. A shopkeeper may say that his product is the best for the price he quotes. It then becomes our responsibility to convince him in return as to why he should sell it for the price we ask.
What do you think are some of the difficulties in this task?
We don't look at anything as a difficulty. We take it up as a challenge. Convincing a business man is the most challenging. They look at us like we are just students and that they can easily convince us, but we have to prove them wrong. To buy a product, we need to select one right person out of ten. We need to convince those around us that we have chosen the right person. We, as a team, always fight about who will take which department."I will take up the stall work, No, I will take up the T shirt work" - that's how enthusiastic we all are. We think that is what keeps us together and so nothing that comes our way seems difficult.
With only a few days left for K!, what is your team currently working on?
Almost all the work is done. We have made all the arrangements and have planned everything. We will now split the juniors into teams and assign them their tasks. All these days, all they knew about logistics were the fun bike rides. It is only now that they will get a feel of what they are up against.
We, The Guindy times thank you for your time and wish your team the very best.
