As the world braves the challenging times in the wake of Covid-10 outbreak, NAQEL Express, one of the largest domestic logistics service providers in Saudi Arabia, is playing its part in supporting the logistics requirements of the key sectors in the kingdom.

The logistics major is striving hard to support the country in successfully containing the Covid-19 outbreak by working closely with the Ministry of Health and various hospitals and pharmacies across the kingdom.  

NAQEL is firmly committed to its ‘Logistics with Care’ philosophy when reaching out to its thousands of customers in the region and beyond, ensuring to meet their specific logistics needs even in the current crisis, it said.

“‘Logistics with Care’ is in the heart of everything we do at NAQEL. Our deep-rooted commitment and care for our customers is reflected in all our actions. We are equally focused in taking utmost care of our employees. We strongly believe that ‘satisfied employees’ will deliver ‘satisfied customers’,” said Adnan Al Mazrooa, Deputy CEO, NAQEL Express.

INITIAL RESPONSE

According to the company, when the Covid-19 was first detected in China and prior to its spread in Saudi Arabia, NAQEL took prudent actions to ensure all goods ordered imported from China were fully sanitised through the use of special UV Screening machines installed in its airport facilities.

“In spite of the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaration that the likelihood of catching the virus through the package is extremely low, NAQEL implemented this initiative to ensure complete peace of mind for our valued customers,” said Dmitry Trubkin, Network Operations Director, e-Commerce Division, NAQEL Express.

However, as the first Covid-19 case was detected in the kingdom, NAQEL unleashed its BCP (Business Continuity Planning) procedures and guidelines across all its facilities. Initially, an awareness campaign was carried out in order to ensure all its employees are aware of its policies and guidelines. Further, NAQEL’s call centre and its 120 plus female call centre agents, which play an important role in serving its customers, were taken care of.

“In a prudent measure we made arrangements for all the female customer service agents to work from home. We proactively implemented ‘work from home’ culture for all our women staff in February when the outbreak had still not reached an alarming level. Emergency response by NAQEL employees in China inspired us to take this action,” he said.

As soon as WHO declared Covid-19 as a pandemic, NAQEL, as reflected in its business contingency procedures, implemented temperature check in all its facilities. Additionally, hand wash, sanitisation and social distancing procedures were strictly implemented across all NAQEL facilities and dedicated quarantine accommodation was created in all the key cities across the kingdom.

Also, NAQEL ensured strict compliance with the Ministry Of Health and WHO guidelines. All couriers and front-line staff were provided with personal protective supplies in order to ensure full safety and hygiene.

WORKING CLOSELY WITH MOH

In order to effectively combat the cases of Covid-19 outbreak, NAQEL’s Pharma division joined hands with the Ministry of Health to offer its services in transporting test samples of patients suspected of Covid-19 from hospitals to dedicated testing labs.

“In spite of the partial lock-down, NAQEL’s customer service team and front-line delivery personnel continued to deliver uninterrupted services to all its customers. Before the partial lock-down all female staff was already operating from home with absolutely no compromise in our service levels,” the spokesperson said.

NAQEL has been serving thousands of customers in the oil and gas sector especially in the Eastern Province. The company’s vast delivery network with over 3,500 trucks and operational staff ensured uninterrupted service for its customers.

NAQEL extended its services to a number of major hospitals across the kingdom in distributing medicines and other essential supplies from hospitals and pharmacies. The company also extended its service of using its ‘My Pharma’ app to request smooth and timely pickup and delivery of medicines.

MANAGING FULL LOCK-DOWN

During the full lock-down, NAQEL extended its delivery services to ensure timely of delivery of goods and essential supplies from stores to individual homes. The company said it launched its ‘Stores to Homes’ services in order to ensure residents can stay home completely safe and sound. The service was extended to the delivery of furniture, electronic goods and groceries, as well, it added.

Under this service, customer’s online orders were processed by NAQEL’s e-commerce division and delivered to their homes. “We are witnessing huge volume of shipments imported from around the world. Our staff at all the airport facilities are tirelessly working round- the-clock to ensure timely clearance of both low value and high value shipments,” said Engineer Ammar Al Harbi, Head of Customs Clearance & Gateways.

“In spite of the full lock down, we ensure ‘life is business as usual’ for the countrymen and they safely receive their purchases,” he added.

As per the kingdom’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), NAQEL emerged as the leading courier company in Saudi Arabia with lowest percentage of complaints of total shipments processed.

Meanwhile, NAQEL said it continues to pursue its strategy to serve its customers and continuously invest in expanding its facilities and developing its valued employees. Further, in order to support both Saudi national and expats from companies poorly affected by the lock-down, NAQEL is continuing to hire people from those companies using the Government’s ‘ajeer’ initiative.

“We will continue to serve our country and the community to defeat the Covid virus fearlessly. We look forward to join hands with various other institutions in the kingdom to fight the pandemic together successfully and leave no stone unturned,” Al Harbi concluded.