JEDDAH, 2 July 2003 — TNT Express has announced two of its latest achievements — a partnership agreement with Baghdad’s largest courier company, IKE Express, to provide door-to-door delivery services to and from Iraq and the recognition of its in-house department, TPG Information Systems (TPG IS), as one of the world’s top technology developers.
“We’re the first international express company to link up with an Iraqi national operator since the lifting of UN sanctions and the partnership will provide more reliable services for customers in the region,” Mark Pell, TNT/SAB Express general manager, Saudi Arabia and the GCC, said. “This will help bring vital supplies to the people of Iraq as the country strives to get back to normal. Initially, a great number of consignments are coming from the Kingdom and other parts of the GCC.”
A new daily TNT Express road service from across the border in Amman is now carrying documents, parcels and air freight into Baghdad with operations expected to extend to Basra as well as other Iraqi cities in the next few months.
The recognition of TPG IS comes from Compass Management Consulting, an acknowledged industry leader in operational performance improvement. “The recognition from Compass demonstrates consistently high standards in software development, support and maintenance. It also indicates that TPG IS delivers extremely high levels of productivity and cost-effectiveness to its internal customers.” TPG IS is said to be one of just five organizations out of more than 600 in the application development, support and maintenance section of the Compass Register to achieve the recognition, which is known as “Reference Group status” because it identifies high performance levels for competing companies. “We’ve invested heavily in user-friendly technology solutions and this provides our customers in Saudi Arabia with better streamlined processes and information transparency. From Jeddah to Jubail and Riyadh to Dhahran, our focus is to be totally proactive with our range of online services and use of technology,” he said. “Recognition by Compass sets the highest standards in the world. This recent recognition gives SAB/TNT clients in the Kingdom a competitive edge. It’s of huge benefit to our customers here.”
Pell says TPG IS develops and maintains the IS infrastructure behind a global delivery network linking 20,000 road vehicles and 43 aircraft transporting 700,000 time-sensitive packages every night between nearly 900 TNT depots and sorting hubs, including the operation in Saudi Arabia. During a rigorous three-month investigation, Compass measured the quality, speed and cost of TNT’s development services, including a representative sample of its 1,254 software projects that equate to 175 man years of work and the expenditure incurred. Compass consultants interviewed several of TPG IS’ most important internal customers who required programs including “Skymaster” and “Roadmaster” software designed to schedule the nightly arrival and departure times of 20,000 trucks and 43 aircraft, the “Cash Credits” report that was developed to measure the revenue of the business on a daily basis by monitoring the number of packages moved and the revenue generated and the world family of products that enable customers to use all the services provided by TNT through the Internet from a PC or directly linked with their own systems.
Richard Grafham, director IS Professional Services for TNT Express, said: “We’re delighted that Compass has selected us as part of its highly regarded reference group. Our IS infrastructure and customer information technology products are becoming increasingly important in making TNT Express faster and more reliable than the competition.” Martin Tennant, senior consultant, Compass Management Consulting, added: “All express delivery companies are reliant on their IT, and TNT Express has channeled significant resources into developing solutions that meet the individual needs of diverse operations and different countries around the world.
