Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has announced a plan to regularly publish what it calls global Key Performance Indicators (KPI) aimed at improving the quality of its containership services. KPI comes on top of the on-time performance percentages for the East-West lanes that the operator already publishes on a quarterly basis. The new indicators covering the three categories of operations, environment and safety will ensure the group’s sustained efforts for service quality enhancement, the announcement said.
It said the KPI and related information will be published and shared by customers at a dedicated website. In addition to the global KPI, MOL is planning to launch regional KPI which will be more specific for and focused on the services required in each region. Initially the regional KPI for the United States will be made available at the same time as the global KPI. Those for other regions will follow in stages. The new initiative, dubbed “Count on MOL”, showcases the group’s renewed commitments for better service quality.
MOL has been working on KPI for more than a year for the dual purposes of defining an objective benchmark to show its service quality and addressing its two main themes – winning shippers’ reliance and cutting the environmental load. It hopes the publication of the two KPIs will help enhance group-wide awareness of the importance of service quality improvement.
The global KPI consists of (1) operations: vessel on-time performance percentages (to be made available in phases for all trunk lanes on a quarterly basis), (2) environment: reduction ratios of CO2, NOx and SOx (to be made available every six months) and (3) safety: number of operational stoppages for more than three consecutive days (to be made available annually).
Many other operators regularly publish their on-time performance rates. But MOL is the first operator to publish indicators on environmental conservation and navigation safety as well.
MOL plans to follow its regional KPI for the U.S. with ones for Asia and Europe. In defining those regional KPIs, it will take into account the different service qualities required in each region, the availability of relevant data and significance of publishing those data. The U.S. regional PKI will cover truck turn time at terminals, lost phone calls and time on calls.
MOL said the global KPI will not be limited to the initially covered items, adding they will be added or deleted as necessary. Toshitaka Sunayama, marketing group leader at MOL’s Liner Service Department, said at a press briefing, “Our aim won’t be met by simply publishing KPI. We will make constant efforts for quality improvement by driving it home across the group.” He said MOL has forged in-house KPI aimed to enhance the operational efficiency, adding, “We’ll work for service quality enhancement by holding to that KPI as well as the global KPI.”
