Just over a year ago, the Sri Lankan organization of Militzer & Münch took up operations at the port of Colombo. Despite the country’s difficult internal situation, the company keeps growing, with especially sea freight developing very well. In order to offer even better service to their customers, the team optimized the company’s IT. What’s more, Militzer & Münch Sri Lanka is now a member of FFSI, the global transportation network.

Militzer & Münch has been operating in the island nation in the Indian Ocean since 2015 – initially via a delegation office. The growing importance of Sri Lanka as a logistics hub on the Maritime Silk Road in South Asia and the expansion of the port of Colombo led to Militzer & Münch founding its own logistics company there in June 2018.

Successful in The Sea Freight Segment

Operating from the office at the port of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, the team works for a wide range of industry sectors. “Beside tea and coconut fibers, also air plane tires, raw material for textiles, electronic devices and laboratory equipment are among the goods we mainly transport”, says Dilum Stembo, Managing Director M&M Militzer & Münch (Pvt) Ltd. “In 2018, sea freight accounted for far more than half our transports.”

First Multimodal Transport

Most shipments are sent to Europe or the CIS countries. A CIS country was also the destination of Militzer & Münch Sri Lanka’s first multimodal transport. In July the team in Colombo handled a shipment from Thailand via the Russian port of Vostochny to Uzbekistan, in cooperation with sister company InterRail. The freight: about 23 tons of steam activated carbon, which Militzer & Münch transported in a 40’ high cube container. The transit time was 55 days. Additionally the team handled the transport of another two 40’ high cube containers with about 56 tons of coco fiber from Colombo to Tashkent – this could turn into a regular order for the Militzer & Münch team.

Part of The Network

In May 2019, Militzer & Münch Sri Lanka joined FFSI (Feta Freight Systems International), a transportation network within the Far East Transportation Association (FETA). “The FFSI membership offers us vast opportunities to cooperate with qualified transport companies”, says Dilum Stembo. “As part of the network, we hope to be able to further develop our business. Moreover, we and also our customers profit from a wider geographic coverage. Apart from the advantages that come with the membership, being part of FFSI also constitutes a high distinction for us, as the network only accepts the best transport companies as members.”

Customers Benefit From New IT

Continuous improvement of processes is part of the growth strategy of Militzer & Münch Sri Lanka. “It motivates us to always define new potential for optimization”, Dilum Stembo says. Recently, the team replaced the TA (transport administration) system. “The new system is much better adapted to Sri Lankan standards – it allows us to work in a more efficient way, to offer our customers even better service, and to continue growing in the market”, Dilum Stembo explains.