Dubai's total non-oil foreign trade, including direct, free zone and customs is set to change radically in an attempt to increase efficiency significantly.
The Business Excellence Center (BEC), a corporate department of Dubai World, and innovative supply chain e-hub Dubai Trade today announced their landmark initiative to optimize the supply chain processes for Dubai, and to continually improve services while reducing cost.
Under an agreement signed by Mr. Abdulquader Obaid Ali, Director, Group Internal Audit and Business Excellence and Mr. Mahmood Al Bastaki, Director, Dubai Trade, BEC will assess the current scenario of the procedures and processes involved in trade operations to, from and through Dubai. BEC and Dubai Trade will work together to design and implement a new process that will optimise the Supply Chain.
The improved system is expected to increase total productivity by 25 percent leading up to a potential cost saving of up to 30 per cent. The initiative is also expected to reduce lead time from 13 days to a mere 4 days and result in a potential Return on Investment in excess of 1:10. The vastly improved trade model will encompass multiple modes of trade - air, land, and sea - covering import, export, re-export and transhipment.
Speaking about the agreement, Mr. Jamal Majid Bin Thaniah, Vice Chairman, Dubai World, and Group CEO, Port & Free Zone World said: “Ease and efficiency of operations are of paramount importance to businesses and we intend to invest considerable time and resources to provide just that. This strategic initiative not only marks our commitment to our stakeholders and traders but also helps enhance Dubai‘s position as a facilitator of trade.”
Mr. Abdulquader Obaid Ali: “The Business Excellence Center (BEC) employs its know-how and expertise to the benefit of group companies in their business excellence journey. The re-engineered process will better serve the interests of all stakeholders, and enhance the competitive advantage of Dubai.”
“Our intense and accelerated re-engineering methodology uses a wide array of tools drawing from the disciplines of Information Technology, Six Sigma and Kaizen,” he added.
Mr. Mahmood Al Bastaki, Director, Dubai Trade, said: “This exercise is a direct result of our customer-centric approach to providing service. Since Dubai Trade is a new concept aimed at simplifying transactions across the long supply chain, it is imperative that we continually adapt to changing dynamics and re-engineer the process for the benefit of all and regularly assess our performances at periodic intervals.”
Dubai Trade combines all electronic services provided by DP World, Dubai Customs, DMCC, and Economic Zones World at one highly user-friendly portal, bringing together the entire supply chain, including traders, freight forwarders, haulers, shipping lines, shipping agents, and financial institutions.