Sky Land Brokerage enters its 39th year in the transportation business promising more dynamic, efficient and cost-friendly operations.
To achieve these goals, it is banking on the forging of more network partnerships with international agents, automation of operations, and investments in a new warehouse and additional hauling units.
All these will help Sky Land Brokerage achieve sales growth (in terms of transactions) of 10-15%, outstripping the 7-10% increase projected for the freight forwarding industry.
“We expect to duplicate if not surpass (our sales) this year,” Sky Land president Dominador De Guzman told PortCalls.
Such bullishness is also anchored on a positive economic outlook for 2008, helped along by the relative political calm before the next presidential elections which are still two years down the road, he said.
The issue of trust
Looking back, De Guzman attributes the company’s success in the last 38 years on trust. “Our clients entrusted to us their cargo worth millions of pesos, even dollars. They trust that we will give their cargo the attention it deserves. And we give that service plus more. To us, our clients are more than our customers. They are our partners, our friend, our family,” he said.
“Most of our new clients are referrals from satisfied customers. Regardless of the nationality of our client we make sure that we maintain that level of trust and we will continue to build on that trust to weather yet another 39 years in the business,” De Guzman vowed.
“Our clients can look forward to a more dynamic Sky Land as we enter our 39th year in the business, with the strengthening of our network partnership with our international agents. We can offer more services from point-to-point. We will have more flavor to offer,” he said.
Tough 2007
Last year was a tough year for Sky Land Brokerage as it weathered the effects of a strong peso, the shift to electronic lodgment of entries at the Bureau of Customs (BOC), and high fuel and labor costs.
Still, the company managed to post double-digit growth through a series of cost-reducing measures. These include a timely preventive maintenance program that helped ensure the efficient use of vehicles, in the process mitigating higher fuel expenses.
“The strengthening of the peso can easily wipe out your earnings overnight. We cannot do anything about that. The best that we did was find innovative ways to make our dollars work for us like finding better rates for them in the market,” De Guzman said.
“The shift to electronic lodgment by the BOC, on the other hand, had its growing pains both at the BOC and from our end. This meant that our computer units had to be upgraded to meet the requirement and this entailed additional costs. But since we have been one of the pioneers of the SGL (super green lane) system, our staff was quick to adapt to this new setup. Hopefully, we will be able to see the full benefit of this new system soon,” he added.
And with high labor costs, the company found ways to maximize labor assets by improving workforce productivity. These measures included the simple purchase of motorcycles for messengers, making them more mobile at the same time reducing transportation costs.
Highlights
Over the years, Sky Land Brokerage has grown into a respected customs brokerage and freight forwarding company. In 2007, it emerged as the top customs broker at the Manila International Container Port, a distinction it never hopes to let go of in the coming years. The company placed 9th and 8th in the top in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
But most of all, it prides itself in its participation in nation building through the transport of materials in key infrastructure projects such as the Pantabangan Dam, Magat Dam, Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, Malaya Thermal Power Plant, Calaca II Coal Fired Power Plant, Rehabilitation of Sucat Thermal Power Plant 1, 2 , 3 & 4 and the MRT 2 project. It also handled special projects for the private sector such as for the Coca-Cola bottling plants, San Miguel breweries and Petron refinery.
