Kalmar Asia Pacific Region was crowned Grand Winner 2008 at the Asia Pacific Business Excellence Standard (APBEST) awards in February. This was the first time that Kalmar Asia Pacific Region had participated in these awards.
Kalmar Asia Pacific Region was also named Best Logistics Company in the Asia Pacific and also carried off two individual awards. Ken Loh, president of Kalmar Asia Pacific Region, was named APBEST Strategist Of The Year, and Eugene Che, senior TQM manager, was named APBEST KPI Achievement Driver Of The Year.
Ken Loh said: “It was a proud moment for me and my team when we received these prestigious awards. Kalmar stood out as a clear winner for best business practice, with our holistic approach to our business, from our mission statement to our organization structure, coupled with processes that ensure achievement of our goals.
“Although the examination process takes about a year, culminating in interviews with senior managers from Kalmar Asia Pacific Region, these awards actually acknowledge that we have worked for many years to ensure that we apply only the very best business practices.”
APBEST was founded to enable companies in the Asia Pacific region to achieve business excellence, providing benchmarks for management and organizational excellence. Organizations are evaluated to assess their performance in leadership, customer focus, people management, process management, social responsibility and overall business results.
The APBEST judges are well qualified and with extensive experience as Business Excellence Assessors in Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific.
The judges' commendations recognized that Ken Loh’s business strategy, based on partnerships delivering total customer satisfaction, reflected the dynamics and culture of the Asia pacific business environment. Ken’s holistic approach was acknowledged as being effective in such diverse business conditions. Eugene Che’s contribution, inculcating a culture of quality throughout the organization, was commended for achieving change management in different and diverse Asian cultures.
Kalmar was commended for its strong leadership, a key ingredient in achieving the awards. The judges also praised Kalmar’s well-integrated logistics concept, connecting its supply chains from around the world, as a good example of a company embracing globalization.
