PTP head speaks on supply chain management at TOC Asia
Schednet
MOHD Sidik Shaik Osman, CEO of Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Malaysia, presented a paper entitled "Supply Chain Management Techniques in Transshipment Hubs" during the sixth annual Terminal Operators Conference (TOC) Asia 2002.
The three-day conference and exhibition, held in Kuala Lumpur on February 19-21, is one of the world's main events for port and terminal operators and their equipment and services suppliers. Last year's TOC Asia 2001 was held in Hong Kong with the participation of 500 senior executives from leading ports and terminals, shipping lines, logistics firms, crane manufacturers, third party players, IT companies, solution providers and financial institutions from 40 countries.
In his presentation this year, Mohd Sidik explained how the shift in customer needs has significantly increased supply chain complexity thus requiring a dramatic change in the supply chain relationship between customers and logistics players. He said that the traditional key success factors in the supply chain management have also changed from the provision of efficiency, reliability and speed to responsiveness, global service offering and flexibility.
The success of players depends on how fast they respond to changing needs, their ability to provide and cater to global needs, and flexibility in catering to ever more challenging customer requirements. Mohd Sidik used as an example PTP premising the development of its distribution park on these concepts, which, he claimed, explained PTP's ability to offer main lines a growing hinterland from which to capture additional cargo.
Mohd Sidik said that a hub's role in the supply chain has developed into a critical node given its position as a supply chain centre. The role has gained greater prominence given the trends towards the transshipment hub, greater shipping frequency for customers and strong growth in transshipment volumes.
Mohd Sidik said that PTP's achievements in crane and vessel productivity in 2001, amid rising volumes, has now given the port the ability to co-operate better with customers on further adding value to their needs. PTP's biggest selling point, he claimed, was its ability to offer high productivity, excellent connectivity in sea, air and land, and offer the provision of land-related services that is able to generate additional cargo for shipping lines.