< PreviousFEATURE | SUPPLY CHAIN AND COVID-19 40JULY-AUGUST 2020 | LOGISTICS MIDDLE EASTwww.logisticsmiddleeast.com The logistics and maritime industry has been resilient to the ill effects of coronavirus mainly since the sector was classified as an essential services provider. Stakeholders such as ports, logistics service providers, companies in the supply chain and suppliers who support businesses were swung into action in one way or another. In the months leading up to outbreak of the pandemic business was booming across various sectors with deals being signed on a daily basis across the GCC. Jens O. Floe, chief executive officer of the Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) said his firm enjoyed a “positive experience over the last 12 months”, it was RSGT’s best year-to-date. Floe adds: “We completed a new concession with the government to the tune of US$1.7bn to develop the northern part of the Jeddah Port. We are in the early stage of development and Covid-19 has led to a slight delay but we remain on course. The new concession also allowed us to acquire a neighbouring container terminal. In every way that led us to a major expansion of our activities in April.” RSGT also increased its investments in technology ever since the spread of the pandemic and work from home orders were issued. This allowed its customers to have all its services via e-portals. Floe says this has led to drive efficiencies up in the logistics industry. “Digitalisation has been growing faster for RSGT in the last three months than they have for the last year. We are happy with the steps we have taken in this direction.” Meanwhile, over the last 12 months Jeddah-based LogiPoint were busy signing “one deal after another with the likes of Amazon and Aramex”, according to its chief executive officer Farooq Sheikh. “Things slowed down since March but even during the last three months we have continued to perform, and hit the mark. The supply chain was announced as one of the essential industries and we were not affected much with the lockdown,” Sheikh tells Logistics ME. LogiPoint, a logistics service provider established by SISCO and Xenel Group, deals with a wide range of clients from blue chip companies to SMEs. Many of its clients operate in The pandemic forced the entire supply chain to rethink strategies and business practices, planning for the future has never been more important especially when operations need to run smoothly for the essential service provider RESTARTING THE SUPPLY CHAIN: SAUDI LogiPoint’s Jeddah-based facilities is brimming with activities.RESTARTING THE SUPPLY | FEATURE 41LOGISTICS MIDDLE EAST | JULY-AUGUST 2020www.logisticsmiddleeast.com By 2023, the expanded RSGT, covering an area of 1.5 million square meters, will have increased annual container throughput capacity to 5.2 million TEUs. LogiPoint provided its clients, especially small and medium businesses with deferments and waivers of fees to soften the blow. the retail sector and were affected in varied proportions. On the other hand, LogiPoint’s major FMCG clients had strong balance sheets and did not ask for discounts or waivers. “We tailor-made our solutions to help our broad client base. Some of our customers supported our efforts which shared the burden. That enabled us to sustain operations of some of our small business owners who were expectedly struggling with the closure of the retail segment in the country,” Sheikh says. The steps LogiPoint took to safeguard its clients, that were hit severely by the pandemic, was to ensure cargo wasn’t misplaced; they provided clients with deferments and waivers of fees, and offered storage space free of charge. This allowed them to store good which were already in-transit. “At the end of the day we are a business and have a host of expenses of our own, but we helped them wherever we could. Through the pandemic we have seen that honesty in the business world is well and truly alive,” adds Sheikh. Looking ahead Floe wants to ensure RSGTs employees are healthy and safe. Through its CSR activities, the firm continues to support local school and marine wildlife with the installation of a coral reef. On the supply chain front, RSGT is playing a vital role in Saudi at the moment. Floe says: “We are focused on the seamless service allowing food and medicine delivery into the country. When we look a little further ahead, when we have passed the main crisis around Covid-19, we have a well-defined implementation plan that will allow us to start development of the north end of the port. At the same time, we will continue to invest in our people and technologies.” Sheikh says Covid-19 served as an opportune moment to assess its future plans. “The pandemic forced us to bring our investment plan forward, not defer them. It was a mix and match: certain investments and plans which we were supposed to do 24 months down the road have already been set in motion. We have also started work on our next warehousing complex. The pandemic forced people to rethink their entire supply chain strategy. Now they want to store goods or have a distribution point closer to the point of consumption. All of a sudden we are at a 110% of our warehousing capacity already. We are also expanding our fleet,” Sheikh concludes.THE BACK PAGE | FIVE MINUTE S WITH ... 42JULY-AUGUST 2020 | LOGISTICS MIDDLE EASTwww.logisticsmiddleeast.com THE BACK PAGE | FIVE MINUTE S WITH ... FIVE M I N U TE S WITH ... HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC CHANGED YOUR OPERATIONS? Other than taking the necessary safety measures across our facilities, fortunately, it has been business as usual. Indu Logistics has always adhered to a lean cost structure which has enabled us to reap the benefits of a good market and ensure stability during tougher times. WHAT LONG-TERM EFFECTS WILL COVID-19 HAVE ON THE LOGISTICS INDUSTRY? I believe the effects are yet to come to life, and we should guard ourselves from all sides to face tough times ahead. In an already competitive industry and with Covid-19, everyday seems to bring about a new challenge. Companies that are not primed for changes will definitely face a hit. Covid-19 has shaken all businesses in every single part of the world and to ensure growth during this period, I think it is imperative to take a step back and re-organise certain aspects of the business model. This can be simple measures such as focusing more on e-commerce, or adopting revenue generating services around the HSE side of the business. WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR INDU LOGISTICS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR? This year we inaugurated Indu’s first e-commerce facility. This facility is located in National Industries Park (located in Dubai) and from this location we provide storage, fulfilment and last mile solutions. As e-commerce is a new sector within our portfolio, the team has had to work round the clock to make sure it grows to the potential we planned. So this year is all about managing what we currently have and aggressively growing this new division. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 5 TIPS FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS? It’s important to be conservative and build your reserves when the market is ambitious and invest when the market is cautious. At times you have to take a step back to move forward. Never forget to appreciate your competition — you can learn from their success and failures. Always remember inside each problem lies an opportunity. HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR FREE TIME AND UNWIND WHEN NOT IN THE WORLD OF LOGISTICS? I love spending time with my grandchildren and the lockdown has given me abundant opportunities to be with them which has been great. We also have interests in the world of travel retail, which is an industry that never sleeps. With the recent worldwide lockdown, we need to now look at reinvigorating this sector with an industrious perspective. KISHORE LAKHANI, CHAIRMAN- INDU GROUP, DUBAI KISHORE LAKHANI, CHAIRMAN, INDU GROUPCELEBRATING THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS IN LOGISTICS #LOGMEAwards RETURNING IN NOVEMBER 2020 FOR SPONSORSHIP ENQUIRIES, CONTACT: SANJAY KATHAN Sales Manager Tel: +971 4 444 3377 Mobile: +971 52 421 0698 Email: sanjay.kathan@itp.com FOR ATTENDANCE ENQUIRIES, CONTACT: ANTHONY CHANDRAN Table Sales Executive Tel: +971 4 444 3685 Email: anthony.chandran@itp.com FOR NOMINATION ENQUIRIES, CONTACT: DANIEL FEWTRELL Director of Awards and Marketing Tel: +971 4 444 3684 Email: daniel.fewtrell@itp.com EXHIBITING SPONSORSTRATEGIC SPONSOR CATEGORY SPONSORPLATINUM SPONSORCATEGORY SPONSOR MEDIA PARTNERNext >