From a small freight forwarding company in Bintulu in 1980, Air-Marine Cargo Agency Sdn Bhd has developed exponentially over the years and diversified into various business activities. Today, the Air-Marine Group and its versatile and dynamic fleet of trucks and trailers have become one of the largest Malaysian owned logistic provider companies based in Sarawak.
Air-Marine: Pioneering Total Logistics Solutions
“Bintulu was a fishing village with a population of just 14,000 in the early 70s, before oil and gas reserves were discovered off the coast. The discovery turned Bintulu into a bustling industrial centre that successfully attracted many domestic and overseas investors. Especially the foreign companies, they had to ship in many heavy equipment and machine to their plants. At that time, there was no local transport company that had the expertise to handle this and they had to rely on the heavy machinery transport company from Singapore. Our founder, William Chiew, who had the opportunity to work closely with these companies saw the demand for the service and decided to learn from scratch,” said Executive Director Robert Chiew.
Today, the Group is a leading total logistic solution provider. The services that the company provide include conventional land transport, intermodal container haulage, ultra-heavy cargo transport, over-dimensional cargo haulage, specialised engineered mover services, mobile and crawler cranes rental services, heavy lifting erection and mechanical installation, construction equipment rental, Customs brokerage, freight forwarding, port terminal handling, warehousing, packing and removal as well as portal cabins sales and rental.
“We offer our services to a diverse group of customers throughout the country and also cover Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. To cater for the different transportation needs and requirements, we set up an engineering department to ensure safe and reliable service. In this department, we have a team of relevant experts and professionals who have vast experience to overcome logistical obstacles and challenges, especially in the areas of specialised transportation. For example, to transport heavy and vibration sensitive equipment, they have to use a self-propelled modular transporter that produces less vibration. The self-propelled modular transporter is also used for the loadout of ultra-heavy structures such as Modules, Jackets and Topsides.”
As the Chinese saying goes, ‘Sharpen your tool before tackling a job’; Chiew stressed the importance of continued investment in the right tools, vehicle, machine and equipment, facilities as well as manpower.
The Group has more than 300 prime movers, the majority of which are Volvo. According to him, the company tried almost all of the Continental brands in the market and Volvo outperformed the others in performance, durability and after-sales service.
“Volvo not only set up a service centre behind us, but also flew their engineer all the way from Sweden to help when we encountered problems. All these reflect Volvo’s commitment and efforts in giving customers the support they need to get the most out of the machines,” he added.
To be efficient, Chiew said the company had to be well-equipped. He gave an example; for a project that required 60 trucks, the company would have 100 on stand-by to prepare for emergencies in case something unexpected happened.
“We have our own tyre centre and workshop. This enables us to have better control on preventive maintenance and repairs of our fleet, ensure quality, and save time and costs. Our workshop could also handle corrosion repairs, but for complex and sophisticated work, we would send it back to the manufacturer. For a new vehicle that is under warranty, we would send it back to the manufacturer’s workshop for scheduled maintenance.”
Today’s customers had become more knowledgeable and consequently more demanding, Chiew said. Many of the company’s potential clients would make a visit to its premises before closing a deal. The size of the company’s vehicle fleet, supporting facilities and services such as workshop, service team, 24/7 breakdown assistance and emergency medical response team were some of the important factors in closing sales deals.
“Understanding the requirements of the industry has always been a challenge, but we will try our very best to meet our customer’s requests and needs. We are confident that with our more than 30 years of experience, our Group is able to provide innovative solutions to clients that are value for money. We pride ourselves on our safety, time delivery performance and the wiliness to go the extra mile, delivering a service that our client could trust.”
Driver shortage is the main challenge that the company faces as foreigners are not allowed to take up such a job. In addition, the high entry cost of a commercial driving course and licence has made the younger generation shy away.
“Another challenge is there are always some quiet months in Bintulu. During this period, we would make full use of our drivers to do some packaging works. This was made clear to them when they were recruited.”
With its headquarters in Bintulu, the Group has branch offices in Kuching, Miri, Selangor, Johor and Perak, as well as 3 subsidiaries and 1 associate company.
Air-Marine – 创新整体物流解决方案供应商
从1980年一家民都鲁的小型货运代理公司起家，Air-Marine 货运代理私人有限公司在这些年来发展迅速，并朝业务多元化迈进。今天，Air-Marine集团 和其用途广泛和充满活力的车队及拖车，已经成为大马人所持有，位于沙劳越规模最大的物流供应公司。
“70年代初期，在发现隐藏的石油和天然气以前，民都鲁只是个拥有14，000人口的小小渔村。这个重大发现将它转变成发展蓬勃的工业中心，成功吸引了许多海内外的投资者。尤其是海外公司，他们需要将许多重型机器和设备运到工厂。那个时候，我们必须依靠新加坡的重型机械运输公司，我们的集团创办人William Chiew，有机会与这些公司密切合作。他看到了市场对这项服务的需求，决定从基础学起。”执行董事周顺寿表示。
今天，该集团是个领先的整体物流解决方案供应商。他们所提供的服务包括传统陆路运输、联运集装箱托运、超重型货物运输、超尺寸运输、量身打造的搬运服务、移动式和履带式起重机出租服务、重型举升吊装服务及机械安装、建筑工程设备出租、报关代理、货运代理、港口码头处理、仓库、包装与拆卸，以及龙门吊车架（portal cabin） 销售和出租。
“我们为来自全马各地、新加坡、印尼及菲律宾不同行业的客户提供服务。为了迎合不同运输的需求，我们设立了一个工程部，确保安全和可靠的服务。在这个部门里，我们有一组拥有相关专门知识，经验丰富，能够克服各种物流障碍和挑战，特别是在特殊运输方面的专家。比方说，在运输重型及振动敏感的设备时，我们必须采用振动较低的自推式模块化运输车 。 该自推式模块化运输也用来装运超重型结构如模块、夹克及舷。”
所谓“工欲善其事，必先利其器”，周顺寿强调持续投资于正确的工具、车辆、机械与设备，以及设施的重要性。
该集团拥有超过300辆牵引机，而且都以富豪品牌为主。据他表示，该公司尝试过市场上的其他欧洲品牌，然而他们发现富豪无论是在性能、耐用性及售后服务的表现更胜其他品牌。
“富豪不只是在我们公司后面设立了一家服务中心，在我们碰到困难时，更不惜从瑞典派工程师前来支援。这显示了他们为了让客户能够充分利用和发挥其产品功能所付出的承诺与努力。”他补充。
他说，惟有拥有完善的装备，公司才能运作得更有效率。他举例说，如果一个项目需要60 辆卡车，他们会准备100辆，以备不时之需。
“我们拥有自己的轮胎中心和修车厂，这让我们能够更好地控制车辆的预防性维护和修理，确保品质、节省时间和成本。当卡车必须进行比较精密的维修时，我们则会将它们交给制造商来处理。在保修期内的新车辆，我们也会送到制造商那里进行定期维护。”
他指出，随着客户知识的提升，他们的要求也因此变得愈发苛刻。许多潜在客户一般会到公司来参观后，才会达成交易。公司的车队大小， 支援的设施及服务如修车厂、服务团队、故障救援及紧急医疗应对小组等都是达成交易的重要因素。
“了解行业的需求，一直是个挑战，但是我们会竭尽所能地迎合客户的要求和需要。我们深信凭借着我们的集团在这个行业里的30年丰富经验，我们能够为客户提供创新，物有所值的解决方案。因此，我们为能提供安全，按时交货及愿意为客户多付出一点点的服务而自豪。”
司机的短缺是该公司所面对的主要挑战，因为目前大马政府规定不可采用外国人。此外，高昂的商用车驾驶入门课程收费，也让年轻的一代却步。
“另一个挑战是在民都鲁总有几个月生意会比较淡。这时候，我们就会充分利用司机的时间，让他们处理一些包装工作。当然，我们都会在聘用他们时候把这点说清楚。”
总部设在民都鲁的集团，在古晋、美里、雪兰莪、柔佛及霹雳都有分行，旗下还有3家子公司及1家联盟公司。
