Buoyed by collaborations
Businessman builds successful logistics enterprise by working with others
SUNSHIP Sdn Bhd managing director Low Pooi Choon, 66, understands the power of partnerships.
Even in its early days as a sole agent for shipping companies, Low knew that one cannot do everything on his or her own; we need to leverage on one another’s expertise, he says.
Sunship, a one-stop logistics services provider involved in shipping, port representation, warehousing, car marshalling yard, distribution and others, is a fine example of how far collaborations can shape a company.
From a humble staff strength of 10 in 1993 when he first started the company in a rented office in Subang, it has 330 employees today.
In 2016, they achieved a revenue of RM210mil.
Low even won Male Entrepreneur of the Year at the Star Outstanding Business Awards 2016.
“By complementing, not competing, we were able to grow the business,” says Low.
Low’s business is all about collaborating with various players in the logistics industry, from port author- ities to ship owners and clients.
Today, their clients are from various industries, including automotive, steel and heavy machineries, all of which require solutions to move heavy machinery, steel rods, cars and other large items. Low’s company is tasked to move items that could weigh up to 100 tonnes.
When Low started his company, they were only doing shipping for clients in the timber industry.
“But through our smart partnership and joint ventures, we had the strength of over 40,000 staff around the world to make things happen for our clients in other industries,” he says.
For Low, collaborating with various partners who owned the right assets was more important than owning more ships or trucks.
Being able to work with others also helped Low’s company stay afloat during the dark days of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.
Many logistics services providers were affected, especially those involved with the containerised cargo segment. Back then, shipping companies were cutting jobs and scaling down, as was the Scottish shipping agency Low was with before he ventured out on his own.
Low notes that the containerised cargo segment has been facing intense competition since the early 1990s.
“That segment requires more manpower as there are many customers in that segment and it also involves a lot of paperwork. When we stopped our business in the containerised cargo segment and focused on the non-containerised cargo segment, we managed to reduce our overhead cost which helped us stay afloat during those times.
“You need a large battalion of people to venture into the containerised cargo area. Hence, we don’t go into that segment. Instead, we refer our clients with such needs to our partners who have such economies of scale,” says Low.
Low, who has been in the global logistics industry since 1973, has come a long way in seeing his idea of an integrated global logistics system materialised through his company.
“When I decided to start the business, I already visualised the need for customers to ship cargoes all over the world, be it by air or sea. But they would also need other services, from trucking to warehousing,” he says.
These movements involved non-containerised or bulk cargo, which Low says command a higher margin but also involve more complexity.
“We have to find our own niche market and we stopped doing the containerised cargo business after three years of establishment,” he says.
It also occurred to Low that he needed to turn his operations into a one-stop centre to differentiate his services from the others. But that is a lot of work to do for just 10 staff!
As Rome was not built in a day, neither was Low’s logistic network.
Throughout the years, he adhered to good business principles, which made him a magnet for similar minded business people who wanted to grow their businesses the right way.
“Honesty, integrity and transparency. We honour our promises and we turn down requests that we cannot do. It is not about closing the sale today, it is about long-term commitments,” Low says.
To reinforce his beliefs at the operational level, Sunship practises what Low terms as the 4As – Always be Available for the clients, Anytime, Anywhere.
“It doesn’t matter if it is at night or a public holiday, we are just a call away. For emails, our standard operating procedure is that ship owners get a reply from us within 24 hours,” he adds.
He emphasises that the logistics industry is a people-centric business where it is not about how much resources you have but rather, how much you understand your clients and then pool resources together to support your clients.
“When we started the business, we didn’t have that many people. Hence we carefully analysed what the customers needed. Then we build our business around what they need,” Low says.
Low’s early customers were those he had served while working for others. He had built a good reputation in the logistics industry and it seemed natural for these clients to come directly to him upon learning that Low was now on his own.
Having a good reputation has cemented many a partnership for Sunship.
For instance, a Japanese automotive company, which was looking for a trusted partner to expand in Southeast-Asia, seeked them out in 2008 to form a joint venture (JV).
“We were their shipping agents in Malaysia for over 20 years and when they wanted to establish a vehicle transit centre in Malaysia, they looked for us,” Low says.
This JV opened up another business opportunity for Sunship in the car marshalling yard service segment.
“We need to keep the cars safe before they are being sent to their distributors in other countries. We adapt to their high standards where they only accept 0.005% of defects on the vehicles. This means
no scratches, not even hairline scratch,” Low says.
Training is arranged for the staff so that they are able to meet the brand owners’ high standards. This include training their staff to handle the loading and unloading of the cars.
“This is one of those cases where we can’t do protective covering for the whole car. No accidents are acceptable. Brand owners will only accept manufacturing defects, which is beyond our control,” Low says.
Subsequently, Sunship also offered this service to nine other car brands.
The vehicles come from all over the world, including Japan, Germany, Indonesia and Thailand before they are shipped to their intended destinations.
Through his career, Low has also learnt that long-term partnerships are also birthed out of giving someone else a hand.
In 1993, they helped a French logistic company to understand the local logistics scenario and culture.
A year later, when the French company wanted to expand their presence in Asia and needed a strong partner in Malaysia, naturally they looked for Low.
“We were able to offer greater diversity of services such as shipping more variety of products and to more countries compared to previously,” he says.
The French company has over 600 offices in 102 countries. With this partnership, Sunship will be able to leverage on their logistics network to grow.
“They are able to provide us global information on market trends which helps us to shape our sales strategy,” he says.
All these connections made over the years, says Low, have helped to smoothen Sunship’s global trade and goods are moved more efficiently. It has also helped the company sail through in times of emergency.
But Low knows that in every collaboration, there is a give and take. And Low has never held back whenever a situation calls for a helping hand.
“We have helped ships to dock during emergency when they caught fire. We have also assisted in sending a dead body of the ship’s captain back to the widow on short notice. Our phones can never be switched off as emergencies can happen anytime,” Low concludes.