Malaysia

Over three decades ago, MASkargo was established to manage the delivery of cargo around the world via the route network of Malaysia Airlines, the country's flagship carrier. From its modest beginnings with a capacity of 30,000 tons to its annual handling of more than a million tons of cargo today, MASKargo has evolved with the times and continues to strive to attune its services to meet and anticipate its clients' needs.

Located on the grounds of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, MASkargo maintains its fully computerized and mechanized Advanced Cargo Center (ACC) there. A 108-acre complex with over 90,000 square meters of processing area, the facility is capable of handling up to 3 million tons of cargo per year.

The past several months have been marked by crucial changes to the company's operations. One of the most important has been the refining and improvement of handling procedures and the streamlining and repositioning of staff in order to raise efficiency.

J.J. Ong, Malaysia Airlines' senior general manager - Cargo

Also, management has placed a greater focus on increasing the value of its human resources by recognizing star performers among its employees. Consequently, tangible improvements in performance have been evident.

In the past 18 months, mishandling claims have gone down by 85 percent. The company's complaints department actually had to be closed down due to a lack of cases to handle.

Not surprisingly, the industry has begun to sit up and take notice. In the first quarter of the year, Cargonews Asia nominated MASkargo for "Best Air Cargo Carrier in Asia" for its 2003 Asia Freight & Supply Chain Awards.

The considerable turnaround has been due in no small part to the efforts of its senior general manager, J J Ong. Along with the rest of MASKargo's management, he realized the need to transform the company's reputation by making what he calls "dramatic changes brought about by some very tough decisions."

Today, standards are constantly being elevated at MASkargo. "We try very hard to make sure our facility ticks like a clock. We have seen a 96 percent improvement in performance," says Ong. "Now I've told the boys to improve on that further, to raise the bar. To make a long story short, we are ready to be a serious player in the market. More importantly, the customers believe in us as well."

In line with its current drive towards enhancing customer service, MASkargo has been promoting the use of its web site specifically its online shipment tracking and flight schedule information system. With quick, economical access to information and updates, some in real-time, clients can map and monitor the movement of their cargo from anywhere in the world.

In addition, MASkargo recently launched its Priority Business Center to cater to preferred clients. Benefits of membership include extra service guarantees such as express queues and the advantage of being able to bring in goods up to just 2 hours before departure time. At present, the select members of the Priority Business Center make up 55 percent of MASkargo's total business.

"We have identified the clients who we felt we could grow with in the next five years and earmarked them. These are the people that we want to work with," Ong stresses.

In fact, the concept of growing along with the customer is one of the company's guiding principles. "We encourage our local customers to have a more global perspective by supporting their activities to help develop businesses outside our shores," he adds. "When they grow, we grow with them. Some of these companies grow 20 to 30 percent. Last year, Malaysia's economy grew about 5 percent while we grew 17 percent both in revenue and tonnage."

Another integral part of the MASkargo strategy is to develop Malaysian brands that the company feels it can "groom". "We give them more attention, hold them by the hand, and give them the tools to grow internationally and to develop as regional brands outside of Malaysian," Ong explains. "We don?t just do this to be magnanimous, it also helps us grow. The potential benefit for us is huge even if it takes five to 10 years. If they grow big, the spin-off is that we benefit as well."

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