Sep-Oct-2nd issue Final Draft

Cover Story
NAFL REVIEW
T
he shipping business may seem
to be in crisis, especially with
Hanjin Shipping, a South Korean
container line, recently filing for
bankruptcy and leaving 66 ships loaded with
goods worth $14.5 billion stranded at sea.
Moreover, 11 of the 12 biggest shipping
companies have announced huge losses for
the past quarter. Experts warn that the
industry may face losses of as much as $10
billion this year on revenues of $170 billion.
Despite the bleak outlook for the global
industry, Dubai has been defying the odds
and investing to further improve its
infrastructure to be always ahead of
competition. With the government's investorfriendly
policies and support for small and
medium-sized enterprises, a lot of homegrown
companies have managed to grow
beyond their boundaries and found
themselves in direct competition with even
centuries-old global players.
Established in August 1989 through the vision
and efforts of Muhammed Rafiq, Al Sharqi
Shipping today spans multiple continents
including Asia and Africa. The growth over the
years that has spurned such a success is a
testament to the attributes of the company's
motto: “Helping you grow; Helping our
customers grow; Helping our staff grow;
Helping our shareholders grow; and helping
the community which we are part of grow”.
Currently, the innovative logistics service
provideroffers customs clearance, freight
forwarding and other logistics services,
including onward transportation of goods
from ports in Sharjah and Jebel Ali throughout
the UAE, where it has a fleet of 18 trucks,
three side loaders and 48 trailers. Alongside
its offices in Dubai and Sharjah, the company
has subsidiaries in Pakistan and in Tanzania.
Interestingly, Al Sharqi Shipping alsoboasts
one of the best customer retention rates in
the market with many of their customers with
them since their humble beginnings. With the
trust of their customers, the company has
expandedits range of services to encompass
all avenues of freight forwarding, logistics
and NVOCC operations.
Growth even during crises
Al Sharqi Shipping's office in Bur Dubai
buzzes with action and the positive energy is
easily felt with the first step into the office's
open-space environment. As NAFL Review
team recently paid a visit to find out more
about the reasons behind the family-owned
company's success, the young and energetic
business development director Atif Rafiq
explained that they are not deterred by the
tough market conditions and strongly
believes that these are the best times in
which to make investments.
“Al Sharqi was borne out of necessity.
Our father, Muhammed
Rafiq, arrived in the UAE in 1974
and worked for a rival firm until
1989 when a recession hit and he
lost his job. At that time, he had
two options - either go back to his
hometown or to stay in the country
and set up on his own back.”
Then, Mr Rafiq had decided to hold on and set
up his own business, which continues to
grow until today. The company has survived
several recessions since, and is still making
investments in tough times. IT infrastructure
is one of the areas the management has been
paying a lot of attention to.
“We have always bought the most number of
trucks when therewas a recession. In 2009,
when the whole market was going down, we
were buying trucks because prices were
cheaper,” remarked Kashif Rafiq, the
company's general manager and Atif's elder
brother.
Utilizing technology at all levels
Kashif is currently overseeing the installation
of a new, US$60,000 enterprise resource
planning (ERP) software system from the USbased
Netsuite, which the company plans to
use as part of an ongoing drive to digitize
most of its activities and provide customers
with real-time information over deliveries.
“The whole industry is changing. For
example, we are providing all of our drivers
with a tablet and a printer. Please note that
they are not always highly-educated people.
They actually do not even know how to use a
smartphone. But, we found out that once you
trust and give them certain privileges, they
feel motivated and start working from it,”
added Atif.
The tablets provided to the drivers are now
are used for a range of tasks from producing
delivery notes and securing signatures to
dealing with problems over deliveries or
vehicles. The drivers also use various
applications such as Google Talk and
WhatsApp. In case an issue arises with
adelivery, the driver immediately takes a
picture of the problem and sends to the head
office. Thus, the head office does not need to
dispatch a guy all the way just to inspect the
truck or container. This has proven to be time
and cost-saving for the company.
“If a lorry breaks down, they can transmit the
details of the problem over one of the popular
applications. We have a mechanic who can
see what is happening and can troubleshoot
on the spot,” explained Atif.
The company has grown from a handful of
clients for whom Muhammed used to work at
the old Deira port into a company with offices
in Dubai, Sharjah, Faisalabad, Karachi and
Dar es Salaam.
“From a small office in Deira with
one chair and a secretary, we are
now in three countries with five
offices and a workforce of 100-
plus,” said Atif.Three younger
brothers, Asif, 25, Wasif, 24, and
Sadaf, 22, also work at the firm
and are at various stages of
c o m p l e t i n g t h e t w o - y e a r
rotational training programaimed
at ensuring they completely
understand the business.
07 / Sep-Oct 2016