East Coast Freight Forwarders, one of the leading logistic service-provider in Sarawak and long regarded for its high level of service quality and efficiency, celebrated its 26th Annual Staff Dinner recently.

More than 300 staff together with their family members gathered at The Regency Rajah Court Hotel for a night of fun, good food and celebration at this annual event on the 3rd May 2008.

East Coast’s Managing Director, Mr. Michael Tan, in his welcoming address, commended the staff for their dedication, teamwork and commitment which has brought about several milestone achievements for East Coast in 2007, the first being the certification to both ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Systems and ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management System in November 2007.

According to Mr. Tan, “certification to both ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 benchmarks East Coast’s performance both in terms of Quality and Environmental Management to international standards, providing accountability to our customers and employees in terms of quality service and a safe working environment respectively.”

He also reiterated that whilst ISO certification demonstrates East Coast’s ability to consistently provide quality service that meets regulatory and world-class standards, it also increased customer expectations in terms of service and environmental responsibility. Hence it is critical that all staff be focused and consistently up-hold the policies and principles of an ISO-certified Company. He also called upon all staff to actively participate in all the briefings, training and drills conducted by the Company Human Resource Department to enhance not only their ISO-related but also work-related knowledge and skills.

The successful implementation of its new accounting software, the Microsoft Great Plain, which is integrated into the Company’s Cargo Management System, is also another achievement whereby on-line tracking and reports are made available. This provides greater visibility to customers in terms of their shipments.

On a more sober note, Mr. Tan reminded staff that they have to rise up to the challenges of a globalised economy and rapid technological advances, particularly in the logistics industry. In order to remain competitive, efficient and productive, staff has to continually improve themselves, to be knowledgeable, skillful and innovative and at the same time, stay customer-orientated.

Guests were entertained to a variety of dance and song performances by invited artistes. Besides games and staff performances, the program of the night also included lucky draws and the Best Dressed Female and Male Award.

The highlight of the evening was the Employee of the Year Award 2007 which was awarded to Ms Ho Ling Ling from the Ocean Freight Division. The Employee of the Year Award is given in recognition of staff who had demonstrated outstanding work performance, teamwork and continual commitment to the quality standards set by the Company.