Dennis Tan Khoon Yau

Assistant Operations Manager

Dennis graduated in Bachelor of Business (Honours) in International Business from University Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) 2018

"Even though it’s important that we achieve our KPIs, safety is still the priority."

Upon graduating from university in 2018, I signed up for LF Logistics now Maersk Omnichannel Fulfilment business Management Trainee programme. The programme lasted 18 months, and I was excited that I was able to join one of the largest Fast-Moving Consumer Good (FMCG) Distribution Centres (DC).

Throughout the programme, I was exposed to, and guided on, material flow from manufacturer to end consumer in a mega DC that totalled one million square feet. The experience taught me how to manage flow efficiently by means of system, time, people and cost.

“You will retain customers if you understand what they want” was what I taught throughout the time, and this motivated me to design and customise processes that suited individual customers, rather than implementing a standard process for all.

After the programme, I was assigned to take care of an e-commerce fulfilment centre. There, I was attached to a mentor, who guided me on how to build up a fulfilment centre from scratch. Since then, I’ve been attached to this department, and am currently taking care of it.

8:00AM

The day shift starts as the night shift ends. Fulfilment requirements fluctuating daily in an e-commerce business is the norm. Hence, short discussions on alignment of job scopes and priorities are important to us. This ensures that the team executes and completes tasks within limited resources, and the shift in charge is on the same page.

10:00AM

This is usually the time when I “sneak out” from behind my desk and go to the operations ground to inspect things and ensure everything is moving as expected. Even though it’s important that we achieve our KPIs, safety is still the priority.

During my walkabout, I ensure that there are no nasty surprises and also get input from ground staff to improve ideas and solutions regarding the current standard of work (SOW).

12:00PM

I have a large group of teammates who are each tasked in different roles. So, during lunch, I make it a point to eat with different teammates from different roles to get an idea of their challenges, as well as how things are going. We also use this time to exchange thoughts and ideas on how we can improve processes.

1:00PM

Upon completion of all my day-to-day tasks in the first half of the day, I look into forward planning (for the next quarter) and project updates on our fulfilment centre in the afternoon.

As volume grows yearly, we need to ensure that our processes achieve the intended capacity. Planning, discussion and on-site trial viability by vendors help us improve existing processes and reduce cost.

4:00PM

During customer meetings, it’s important that we give our customers a sense of security. Moreover, it’s important that I have the knowledge of our processes and data on hand, so that I can help our customers manage their expectations.

If there’s a higher demand, or offer of assistance from our customer, then we’ll discuss possible outcomes with them. This typically smooths and reduces any tension with our customers, and we can work towards an achievable and agreeable goal.

6:00PM

Before I wrap up at the end of my shift, I’ll gather with my teammate and discuss the challenges and day’s performance with them. This will then inform my decisions regarding my plans on my subsequent shift.

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Maersk Singapore

Dennis Tan Khoon Yau

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