The container shipping arm of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) said that it will move from the current geographically-organised structure to a functional one. The functions will be in the areas of trade, commercial, operations, procurement and planning & strategy.
“The container shipping industry is undergoing profound changes, characterized by low growth and intense competition. We recognize there is a need for APL to respond more quickly to the market and to our customers,” said Kenneth Glenn, president of APL.
“We are pushing ahead with our strategy to sharpen our competitive edge through cost efficiency and organizational agility while building on our strong reputation for service quality,” Glenn said in a statement.
“APL has significantly improved its cost position through operational efficiencies, as well as the continuing introduction of large fuel-efficient ships and the return of expensive chartered tonnage. We want to now take our speed of decision-making, market responsiveness and cost management to the next level by adopting a function-led management approach.”
APL said its approach is derived from a broad and in-depth study of its current business model and roadmap, as well as feedback from extensive customer engagement.
It added that as part of the realignment, the role of current regional and country leads will be organised into commercial and operations functional leads.
APL has also formed a new leadership team effective 10 February 2014. Members of the new team are Peter Jongepier, chief commercial officer; Calvin Leong, chief trade officer; Nathaniel Seeds, chief operations officer; and Jason Wong, chief procurement officer.
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