Breaking stereotypes: Kruti Jobanputra is setting an example for women in the field of logistics

There is no force equal to a woman determined to rise. Kruti Jobanputra, director, JWC Logistics Park Private Limited and JWR Logistics Private Limited, epitomises this, making waves in a domain that has conventionally belonged to men.

Breaking through stereotypes, Jobanputra has displayed a sharp eye for organising and implementing complex operations, which has helped the company meet the requirements of its customers and corporations.

Her choice of vocation can largely be attributed to the legacy of her father Lalit Jobanputra, the founder director whose inspiration and mentoring acquainted her with the nuances and intricacies of the logistics business. Familiar consolidation also came from her mother Rita Jobanputra, an entrepreneur involved in the export of newspapers and magazines.


“Behind every successful man is a woman, but behind the success of this lady is a man called Lalit Jobanputra,” she said.

The young business leader considers her father her inspiration and her family as her support system. “They have encouraged me to take independent decisions while guiding me towards them,” she said.

Investing in the future
To prepare for her future role in business, Jobanputra competed her Bachelors of Management Studies and followed it up with an MBA from the SP Jain Institute of Management. “My style of management is heavily influenced by my parents although both have distinctly different personalities and work in different service industries,” she said. “To me, it was an all encompassing education that catalysed me to develop a vision of my own. My mantra is team building, leadership and to bring about new concepts and ideas in the system.”

Jobanputra’s entry into the family business has had two remarkable outcomes: First, she was able to introduce innovative systems that propelled the company. Second, the improvement in gender ratio. At a time when women working in the logistics sector were alien to people’s ethos, she was instrumental in bringing in 20 women at the executive level and 50 at the junior level.

Making her mark
Despite her taxing schedules, Jobanputra has managed to make time for her passion for driving and travelling. Participating in car rallies, good food, ghazals and film songs help shake off the drudgery of routine life.

Having treaded an off-beat track, Jobanputra has confronted many challenges with resilience and composure. She expertly handled the rigours of a male-dominated profession without losing sight of her social commitments. The trait to give back to society also comes from her family, which runs an old-age home.

Jobanputra has also received awards and represented the logistics industry on key platforms like the Bhandarkar Shipping Awards, EXIM India Awards, Daily Shipping Awards and the inaugural edition of JNCHDPD Awards 2016 - 17.

She was invited by IIM Ahmedabad to participate in a weekly program on logistics, and also for a family management program. While all this will happen next year, Jobanputra is now focusing on boosting the group’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

“CSR has been an integral part of the way the group has been doing its business since inception,” she said. “Initiatives like Jobanputra Charitable Trust and Anand Ashram at Vajreshwari; Shri Sadguru Seva Sangh Trust at Chitrakoot and Anandpur have played a key role in bettering the lives of communities and society at large. It has also enabled us to fulfil our commitment to be a socially responsible corporate citizen.”

Jobanputra’s business acumen can be easily understood since the JWC family has virtually revolutionised logistics in the country. The JWC Group born in 2004, created the JWC Logistics Park Pvt Ltd. Spread over 51 acres, about 25 acres have been developed as container freight station (CFS), with an infrastructure to handle over 9,000 TEUs per month. The balance land is dedicated for DPD, 3PL activities.

JWR Logistics Pvt Ltd, which was incorporated in 2010, is spread over 96 acres of land at Panvel and is developed as CFS for LCL shipments.

JWL Cold Store, incorporated in 2014, is a state-ofthe-art cold storage. It has a capacity of over 15,000 pallet positions with temperature ranging from +25 degrees to -25 degrees.