MOL IN Port Elizabeth is taking the initiative in tackling the skills shortage facing the freight forwarding industry around the country. The Port Elizabeth branch has three staff on learnerships as part of its focus on the development of people, says commercial manager Lance Peterson. Learners spend four hours a day studying – two in company time and two in their own time, he says. They will qualify with a shipping diploma. MOL in Port Elizabeth has also identified and assigned mentors for trainees. The key for a successful mentorship programme is to find the “right fit” between mentor and trainee, says Peterson. There is a growing need for the skills in order to handle the additional work flowing into the MOL offices in Port Elizabeth. This growth has led to the restructuring of the way the company does business. One of the biggest changes has been to get everyone involved in a project around the same table as soon as possible. This enables the different role-players to get to know each other and to iron out problems and to ensure that the logistics chain is unbroken, says Peterson. While MOL and its suppliers have the right systems in place, they cannot overcome physical problems such as the shortage of space out of South America, where there is waiting period of up to two months, he says. Volumes to the Far East are, however, “relatively balanced and haven’t reached a peak yet”. MOL has a “one hundred per cent track record in delivering freight to the East and established routes into China as well,” he says.
