Warehouse upgrade facilitates efficient handling

A period of consolidation and focusing on the basics, which includes the training of staff and the upscaling of the image of the company, is paying off for NAC2000 and its customers. The company was the first in Zambia to acquire Third Country EU Aviation Security Validated Regulated Agents (RA3) certification, a supplychain security initiative of the European Union. Its operations in Lusaka have been certified, with certification for NAC2000 Ndola pending. “This means that our clients are able to export directly into the European Union out of Lusaka or Ndola without their cargo having to be security checked at another airport,” says managing director Jonathan Lewis. Systems have been upgraded through a Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-sponsored Kaizen programme. NAC2000 is the only airfreight company selected to receive support through the initiative. “The difference we have seen is that we continue doing what we have always been doing – but only better,” says Lewis. A related development is the remodelling of the company’s reception area at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport. “The entrance is now more inviting and fit for purpose. “At the same time we have made our warehouse more fit for purpose,” he says. New racking has been installed in the warehouse, which opens up directly onto the main apron at the airport. As the ground handler for most of the international airlines using Lusaka and Ndola, NAC2000 offers importers, exporters and their agents fast and efficient service. The company also has a dedicated purpose-built cold storage warehouse alongside the runway in Lusaka, as well as cold storage facilities under construction at the airport in Ndola. Demand for cold storage has grown with the opening of malls and chain stores in the Zambian capital and Copperbelt. Airfreight comes into its own when shops have to refill shelves with perishables such as yoghurt before the next consignment arrives by road, he says. NAC2000 also provides a clearing service for road freight at all the country’s main border posts. Now in its 16th year and with a period of consolidation behind it NAC2000 is able to take on more challenges for its clients, he says. “The advantage for customers is that when they talk to us they talk directly to management. We can make decisions quickly,” he says. CAPTION Pictured in the modernised NAC2000 warehouse are (left) Faith Saime and Jonathan Lewis. Faith is wearing the new NAC2000 uniform.