Training for the upturn

Downtime due to an overall
drop in freight volumes in the
region as a result of the collapse in
commodity prices is being used by
Manica Namibia to raise the level
of skills within the company and to
improve customer service.
“We have a group-wide customer
service and training drive to ensure
that we are fully prepared when
volumes pick up,” says Patrick
Kohlstaedt, executive director of
Manica Namibia.
Rapid growth of volumes on
the Walvis Bay corridors following
investment in the port, roads, border
crossings and marketing has seen
a parallel rise in the demand for
logistics skills.
This means that the majority of
employees are relatively young and
inexperienced. “As an industry we
tend to expect a newcomer to provide
the same level of service as someone
with 20 years’ experience.”
Having identified the gap,
Manica has invested heavily
in product knowledge and
customer service training, he
says.
Customers are already benefiting
through greater efficiencies,
which contribute to reducing the
overall costs of logistics, he adds.
“Essentially the business has
been reengineered through the
analysis of operating processes
in all divisions to identify waste
and where we add the most value
to the client,” says Kohlstaedt.