Westports Proves As Top Five Container Terminal In The World

By Zaharin Mat Noor PORT KLANG (Selangor, Malaysia), 8 Dis (Bernama) -- Since its inception in 1994, Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Westports) has been continuously gathering accolades for its impeccable services and performances. Some of the significant recognitions received by Westports are Best Employer Awards, International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) Gold Awards for IT and Best-in-class achievement for Productivity, Customer Services, Terminal Practices, ISO 14001 Certification and Corporate Social Responsibility. One of Westports' greatest achievements is setting a new world record in terms of vessel productivity - Westports managed to complete 734 moves over a vessel in one hour with a 9-crane deployment. Currently Westports' market share in Port Klang is about 70 per cent with Northport taking the remaining 30 per cent. Westports' Chief Executive Officer, Ruben Emir Gnanalingam, told Bernama how the company managed to win these awards. WESTPORTS' CULTURE True to its tagline: "Proven Trusted Friendly", Westports corporate culture is well nurtured along these key words. "What make us better than others is the fact that we have a strong organisational culture," said Ruben. Westports' culture focuses on three key criteria. The first area is "Performance" where everyone is focused on productivity. The second area is "Innovation" where Westports always encourages all their employees to come up with new and innovative ideas, irrespective of what level in the organisation they are. The third area is "family" and everyone at Westports treats each other like their own family. "As far as we are concerned all of us at Westports are a family, you treat and respect each other like you do in a family. The way you treat the person next to you is the same way you treat your brother, your sister or any other family members," added Ruben. CUSTOMER AND CUSTOMER’S SATISFACTION This is an area that Westports has excelled at. "I think our key deliverable to the customer, besides being friendly, is fast turnaround of their vessels. That is one of the key things that we want to keep doing, bring in their vessel very fast and take it out very fast". "As Tony Fernandes of Air Asia said, "Aeroplanes are design to fly", similarly, vessels are suppose to sail. The longer they are at a port, the more time they waste, and as a result, we need to have a quick turnaround," said Ruben. This has been proven when Westports achieved a world record in term of vessel productivity that is to complete 734 moves on one vessel in one hour. The terminal average for container productivity is now at 35 moves per hour. Customers can also expect flexibility from Westports in the way it handles its customer's needs, especially during the recent global slowdown and for any special requests. In case of any emergency, Westports’ response to its customers is immediate and there will always be someone to handle their problems. There is a hand phone that can be reached 24 hours (designed as a hotline) to handle any of the customer’s emergency needs. "For emergency cases, there is a number to call and all our customers know this number. Anything other than that, the response will typically be within 24 hours" added Ruben. For day to day issues or enquiries, Westport has a call centre set up to handle any customer queries. This ensures that the customers get the immediate attention needed. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) Westports acknowledges that IT is very crucial to its business and it is an integral part of Westports’ core business. In the last two to three years, Westports has already spent over RM70 million (US$22.91 million) on IT infrastructure and equipments. Bulk of cost was due to Westports embarking on SAP system and e-portal programme. As of now, interaction with all Westports' customers or anybody who deals with Westports are done online and this system has been developed in-house. Even though IT is a crucial component of the business, Westport does not rush into buying anything off the shelf. Westport usually waits for a system to mature and most of the bugs in the programme were sorted before embarking on it. This will also ensure what is being deployed by Westports is a lot simpler to adapt and user friendly. All the current systems have been well-planned and studied thoroughly for a long time before Westports actually embarked on it. "We do not invest in IT for the sake of having IT in our organisation; it must show clear returns of investment," stressed Ruben. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) Westports believes charity starts at home. Since Westports considers Pulau Indah (an island off the west coast of Selangor, Malaysia) as its home, most of the CSR initiatives are carried out in this area. For the past 17 years, Westports has been involved in CSR activities. These initiatives are aimed at eradicating poverty. Westports provides support to families who are living in poverty, and it gives allowances to orphans. Westports is also involved in enhancing the security and safety of the vicinity. Currently, Westports’ security department employs over 300 staff, who are part of Westports’ workforce (4,000 staff). In the last four to five years, Westports has increased the number of patrol cars that patrol around Pulau Indah’s hotspots. Regular patrolling around these hotspots has resulted in lower crime rates. The patrolling has also helped in managing traffic during peak hours. Westports is also focusing on enhancing the education system. Since English is important in today’s world, Westports has chosen to impart communication skills to the society. Westports also supports sports, and it has chosen to provide basketball training to sports enthusiasts in the society. Other CSR initiatives include helping the underprivileged, supporting poor students and helping sick patients. Westports spends over RM2 million (US$654,771) every year on CSR programmes and activities. HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) "Westports has received all kind of awards, but we are extremely proud of our HR awards. We have received a few times from the Human Resources Ministry on HR and how we manage and retain our people," said Ruben. This shows how Westports really values their manpower and give them its utmost focus and priority. Westports hires people from all backgrounds and of all qualification. Currently, 4,000 people are employed in Westports, and this figure is expected to grow to 4,500 by year 2014. All the employees are Malaysians which comprises of 10 per cent are executives and 90 per cent are non-executives. Majority of the employees have been provided in-house training. Many of the managers at Westports started as planners or in operations before they became managers. When asked regarding the turnover rate, Ruben clarified that the first month is crucial since this is the period when an employee will decide if the job suits them or not. After a month, those who choose to stay with Westports continue to be a part of the Westports' family for a long time. This is reflected in Westports ‘long service’ awards, as many of the award recipients have been with the company since its inception. In terms of the turnover rate, Westports agrees that salary plays an important role, because ports in the Middle East usually offer higher salaries. As a result, some of the Westports’ employees have moved to the Middle East. However, according to Ruben, Westports produces quality workers that are being sought after by ports all around the world. As a result, Westports has a good network of friends all around the world. Westports is a multicargo port which handles all types of cargoes in containers, break bulk, drybulk, liquid bulk, vehicles and other conventional cargoes. -- BERNAMA