Wednesday 24th February 2020, Colombo: Reinforcing the compliance of its state-of-the-art logistics operation, EFL 3PL, a member of the leading conglomerate Expolanka PLC, became the first logistic company in Sri Lanka to be awarded the SLS 1672:2020 COVID-19 Safety Management Systems Certification from the Sri Lanka Standard Institution (SLSI) for all its fulfillment centers and the Global Freeport. EFL 3PL is a role model for how corporates could manage their operations safely during a crisis, as their methodical approach to problem-solving goes beyond mere compliance, which has distinguished them during the pandemic.
Commenting further, Sammy Akbar – Director – EFL 3PL & Freeport said, “Being proactive has always been second nature to us. On this occasion, we took all the necessary precautions to keep our staff, clients and stakeholders safe, while ensuring business continuity. Our response was to blend technology with process discipline to stay on top of the situation.”
EFL 3PL’s Safety First Policy identified critical operations and personnel, and restructured work arrangements remotely and at the office premises, while non-operational staff continued to operate from home post-lockdown. Risk assessments based on vulnerability and probability considering all operations at EFL 3PL was conducted and a control plan was put into place which consisted of strict workplace guidelines.
Leveraging on advanced technology, EFL 3PL implemented its own home-grown digital dashboard and mobile application, which give the management real-time insights across all facilities on the risk level, number of negative and positive cases, site wise and total number of PCRs and Rapid Antigen tests carried out as well as much more advanced real-time data.
In other measures, daily management meetings, company sponsored accommodation for staff at the height of the pandemic, a bubble strategy where color codes are assigned to teams for visual segregations, and increased testing for COVID-19 on staff and all new recruits were employed. EFL 3PL was most likely the only logistics company that spent the most on PCR and Rapid Antigen testing.
As a company that leverages on technology-backed platforms in its business, EFL 3PL relied on AI-driven crowd mask and temperature detection systems (to detect whether or not a person is wearing a mask); AI driven cameras to detect temperature and mask discipline in groups or queues, instantly notifying management and teams; 3D facility tour and live view options to facilitate external stakeholder visits and cargo unloading and loading procedures were created and shared with customers to communicate to their respective transporters.
Director of EFL 3PL, Sammy’s Akbar further added, “When the going gets tough, our team got going. Unprecedented times require unprecedented action. Among many progressive initiatives taken, this is one more. The team worked extra hard to ensure clients’ supply chains were not interrupted.”
Already, EFL 3PL has a long list of global compliances and certifications. Namely, Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems, ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems, ISO 14064:2006 Greenhouse Gas Accounting & Verification, ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems, LEED Gold, GOTS and BSCI. These certifications demonstrate EFL 3PL’s passion for exceeding customer expectations whilst updating and adhering to the latest and diverse compliance standards.
About EFL 3PL
EFL is a member of Expolanka PLC – a leading conglomerate with interests in logistics, leisure and investments. The company has thrived on overcoming the challenges of operating in limited logistic infrastructure markets, taking its operations to 24 countries, 60+ offices and over 2,300 staff around the world.