With more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia is an archipelago with a varied terrain abundant in natural resources and cultural history. Its strategic location and extensive coastline present numerous prospects for trade, tourism, and maritime operations. Rich export potential is provided by the nation's minerals, palm oil, and fisheries, while domestic demand is driven by the country's urbanization and expanding middle class. Indonesia's government programs to enhance connectivity and infrastructure also foster an environment favorable to investment.
Prafulla Kumar Jha, Director of Map Trans Logistic, moved to Indonesia in 2008, seeing the country's untapped potential throughout its enormous archipelago. As many areas remained unreachable because of inadequate infrastructure logistical difficulties were common at the time. Prafulla moved from the Indian automobile industry to the Indonesian shipping industry, arriving in Semarang, Central Java, without any prior shipping expertise and facing a formidable language barrier. He was instrumental in taking the emirates/stx pan ocean/ck line to new heights during his tenure at the company.
Driven by a spirit of entrepreneurship, he started his own business, Map Trans Logistic, in Jakarta in 2020 with just seven workers. The company grew to 224 workers in a very short four years, opening operations in Dubai, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and Saudi Arabia. The company quickly gained notoriety, emerging as one of the top four in the nation, with a focus on agency services, container trading, and running a shipping line.
Fostering Mutual Growth & Trust
"In our agency, where we represented multiple NVOCC principals, I observed a notable lack of transparency between the principals and the agents while I was employed at my prior employer. A trust deficit would frequently result from agents collecting money and neglecting to report it back to the proprietors. Seeing this problem, I set out to create a system that would guarantee total transparency for principals, regardless of their location - in the US, India, Pakistan, or Dubai. We created a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to ensure that any principal we represented could transparently monitor their operations in Indonesia,” conveys Prafulla.
“Since we didn't have a name at first, everyone who joined us did so based on faith. They quickly found that using our approaches increased their profitability by a large margin, from 25 percent to 40 percent. We fostered a sense of partnership rather than merely representation by treating their business as if it were our own. Although we had the option, we decided to put long-term partnerships and top-notch service ahead of short-term gains. As we gained greater recognition, more businesses came to us for assistance. We established a new business with the goal of welcoming more employees and broadening our reach to handle this flood. Because of our dedication to openness and confidence, shipping lines such as Vasi Shipping have chosen to work with us despite our inexperience in bringing their ships to Indonesia,” continues Prafulla.
Our team's unwavering 45 'never say die' attitude, the willingness to tackle obstacles head-on, & focus on the opportunity set us apart
Achieving a monthly export volume of 4,000 to 5,000 TEUs from Jakarta, Surabaya and Belawan the agency has outperformed significant companies such as RCL and Emirates in just one year.
Strategic Approach to Boost Productivity & Innovation
Prafulla focused on strategic adjustments that improved productivity and gave workers more authority to promote creativity and boost the company's adoption of new technologies. The team, which consisted of seven members at first, put in a lot of overtime to handle the unanticipated development of the business. They introduced online platforms and real-time software to track operations and productivity after realizing the need for improved processes. This made it possible for them to efficiently manage workloads and guarantee that every team member's potential was maximized.
The implementation of a real-time tracking system facilitated the company's ability to oversee employee productivity, oversee paperwork, and optimize operations throughout several nations. Sales people could now commit to clients right away without having to wait for management permission because of this system's ability to make decisions quickly. A flexible and customer-focused strategy helped set the company apart from its competitors due to empowered staff members who felt appreciated and independent.
The Way Ahead
Prafulla plans to significantly expand over the next four to five years with a goal of operating in 15 countries including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, China, Vietnam, and Thailand. The plan includes creating a strong team and creating cutting-edge products to assist regional exporters, with an emphasis on South Asia and the Middle East. The organization aims to foster collaborations that go beyond standard transactional ties by connecting local exporters with global buyers through the establishment of offices in strategic places, such as the Middle East. This strategy aids clients in growing their companies, cutting expenses, and lessening market swings. Prafulla aims to have a workforce of 2,000 workers in the future to ensure seamless operations.
Prafulla Kumar Jha, Director
Prafulla holds a Master's degree in Electronics from the National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur and has served as General Manager at Emirates Shipping Agency Indonesia, Emirates Shipping/STX Pan Ocean/ck line, enhancing operational efficiency. He is skilled in Operations Management, Freight, Business Development, Supply Chain Management, and Transportation Management.
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