“In addition, with the truck bans andnumber coding, there is more demandfor transportation providers,” saysVincente Dinglasan, president of IDSPhilippines. Friends call him “Jess.” Heexpects outsourcing would continue tobe the trend for most companies.Through information technology(IT), data are readily availableplus improvements in the country’sinfrastructure would resultin operations being increasinglycentralised compared to 15 yearsago when it was a competitive advantageto have as many branchesas possible across the country,”says Dinglasan.
“Today, having too many stockkeeping points could lead to inefficiencyand waste with wrongproducts in the wrong place.”The clamour for better serviceat lower cost is a major challengefor most companies in the industry.”The continuing increase inlabour and fuel costs makes thisa very tough challenge. Workingsmarter, increasing or improvingefficiency and productivity,controlling costs are some of themeasures we have found usefulin addressing these challenges,”says Dinglasan.
Fortunately, IDS can count onthe full support of its parent Li& Fung based in Hong Kong, arecognised global leader in supplychain management.
“In other words, because IDS is aregional player, the local unit can,whenever necessary, tap the region’spool of experts anytime it needs to, tohelp address any issue or problem thatmay crop up in the country.”
The Group is also proactive in thesense that what happens in one countryand its possible impact on other countries,are always in the radar screen ofthe region.
Dinglasan notes that the performanceof each country’s business unitagainst the pre-agreed key performanceindicators (KPI’s) is monitored closelyand bench-marked so that best practicesare identified and transferred acrosscountries. He believes that informationtechnology helps give it a competitiveadvantage, hence this area receives a lotof attention from the company.
While the big consolidators suchas DHL, UPS or TNT operate moreas freight providers, IDS on the otherhand is a solutions provider. Dinglasanadmits that these freight forwarders are a threat to IDS in the future. “Inour company, logistics used to be asupport function to sales and marketing.Li & Fung made logistics a frontend service offering when it acquiredZuellig Inchcape back in 1999.” He sayslogistics has since grown substantially asa separate profit centre in its own right.IDS is thus able to offer both sales andmarketing services and logistics servicesto the market. Prospective customersare free to select which services theywish to avail of.
In the service business, IDS dependson its people to deliver the service thatit promised. “It is very true that ourpeople are our greatest asset. I seemyself as very strongly people-oriented.One of our corporate values is respect.As a company we strongly believe thatwe need to respect the dignity of ourpeople,” says Dinglasan.
“We empower them by training themso they can deliver the service expected by our customers, whether they be ourclients or our trade customers. In ourbusiness we cannot help but be handson.We deal with customers face toface. It’s a people business. There’sno other way.” For Dinglasan to be asuccessful and effective CEO,he must have the basic managementand leadership skills;however, these in themselvesare not enough, he or she mustalso have that human touch, ahuman heart. Otherwise he isno better than a machine.
He defines success as whenyou believe you have accomplishedwhat you had set out todo, in terms of your family, yourwork, your country. As a person,Dinglasan is not the flashy type.”I would rather focus my effortson delivering results. I care forthe people who work for me andcan be tough but fair.”
He likes to work on developingstrategy and at the sametime go out in the field and seefor himself what’s going on. “Ilearned a lot that way.”
He recently received an awardfrom San Beda. “Receiving theBedan award humbled me; Iwish my mom was still alive,she had sacrificed a lot for mybrother and me, as we wentthrough our schooling in SanBeda at Mendiola in Manila.”
All his life had been drivenby the desire to excel, win, and comeup on top. “I’ve learned through theyears that life is a mix of successes andfailures but the important lesson isthat one has to bounce back from hisfailures and one’s failures thus becomehis source of strength for the strugglethat follows.”
IDS is a member of the Hong KongbasedLi & Fung Group, a global leaderin supply chain management. In thePhilippines, IDS has two legal entities:IDS Logistics (Philippines), Inc. andIDS Marketing (Philippines), Inc.
IDS Logistics is focused on providingthird party logistics services to anumber of leading brand owners inthe Philippines such as Unilever, PhilipMorris, Kraft, Avon, Kimberly Clark,L’Oreal, Monde Nissin, Timex, Jollibeeand Watsons.
IDS Marketing is the sales andmarketing and distribution arm of IDSGroup in the Philippines. Both arewholly owned subsidiaries of the Li &Fung Group.
