Veni Andrews . . . We have created an alliance
infrastructure
THE SURVIVAL and profitability of the clearing and forwarding industry will largely depend on outsourcing, says Veni Andrew, managing director of El Shaddai Freight.
Her company started out as a courier service, but a move to its present operation as a freight forwarder was made four years ago with a good deal of foresight and the acceptance of challenge.
We made a strategic decision in 1996 to outsource what had been our core activity and we have grown from strength to strength since then. We have created an alliance infrastructure so strong that we are now listed as a top 300 company in South Africa, she says.
Outsourcing to the owner driver and owner agent schemes in which the company has been involved has resulted in high service levels and the development of job creation, she maintains.
We have committed to utilising the opportunity the industry offers to empower the affirmative candidate in participating in the entrepreneurial creativeness our economy needs. We outsourced our local deliveries and collections to local owner drivers and now have a database of more than 4000 owner contractors listed.
We have added to our agency listing 42 independent agencies which have grown from a one-man operation to a minimum of six, thus stimulating job creation. With outsourcing the business risks are shared and all parties take responsibility. In this way outsourced partnering preserves capital expenditure as each partner is responsible for their own setup costs.
The service industry demands cost innovative strategies daily for survival, she says. Involving high overheads by establishing branches of a company all over the world is not only impractical but can leave a courier company with a risk of liquidation.
With our entry into the global arena, outsourcing is an option that lends itself to additional flexiblity, which is essential in improving competitiveness. The general perception is that your success is highly dependent on others, which in turn creates a major risk. But with the correct and practical service levels in place, all fear is eliminated.
The key to success is establishing an understanding of quality service, specified time frames, and pre-defined deliverables or outputs.
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