Offering solutions for every phase of the supply chain, Speedmark Transportation Lanka (Pvt) Ltd prides itself on a tradition of hard work and exceeding customer expectations, and the Commercial Director of Air and Sea Freight, Sujan Malawana, embodies this in his entire persona and is a constant driving force in the company’s tremendous success.
Starting his education at the prestigious St. Joseph’s College in Colombo, Sujan had the opportunity of attending Stafford International to complete his London A/Ls and he considers himself fortunate to have experienced the different cultural, social and academic environments. He then flew to the Uk to complete his postgraduate studies in business management & HR at the University of Derby. This diverse experience of culture and standards has helped
him in future endeavors and greatly enhanced his skills in people management. He then moved back to Sri Lanka and stepped into an executive position at Speedmark, and although it was the family business there was no favoration, he mentions how his first jobs were stapling documents and working at the warehouses and eventually managed to climb the corporate ladder with his hard work and determination. While at work, he also continued with his education with an MBA from the University of Wales/UK.
This was almost an inevitable outcome as he was constantly enveloped in the world of logistics and freight forwarding from a very early age and it had a major influence on him. When Speedmark Sri Lanka was first established in 1988, the family rented house doubled as a warehouse and he has fond memories of unloading boxes from the cargo trucks with his brother after school.
The post pandemic year was an era of growth for the logistics industry but currently it is facing a gradual decrease both locally and internationally. Locally because there was an economic crisis recovery and many of the manufacturers are struggling and internationally due to the period of recession affecting almost every nation and causing low demand for goods. However, Sujan is optimistic about the future and ensures that by the diversification of their product portfolio Speedmark is able to make ground from sectors where the demand is not dependent on inflation and recession. Freight forwarding organizations cannot afford to only focus on Port to Port and Airport
to Airport as that is soon becoming an obsolete way of thinking as more and more opportunities arise in the industry. 3PL, 4PL and 5PL logistics services along with Multi-Country Consolidations (MCC), Dual transport (Sea to Air and Air to Sea), Green Logistics and Reserve Logistics are a few things that Speedmark is ardently focusing on managed by their own home-grown inhouse IT system known as CIMS.
Speaking on the importance of always having an eye on the global perspective, he stated that “One needs to be well aware of both local and global economics to survive. With the volatility of the market, one needs to know when to grow and where to slow”.
Sujan also understands the importance of stability in the workplace and creating a culture that includes everybody and has been helping the organization maintain these standards for over 35 years. When asked about the importance of managing people he said “We didn’t build a logistics business, we built a team like a family and the family
built the business’’. Speedmark has also been accredited lately as a great place to work consequently, this is a testament to his philosophy and it is quite apparent that the team is content with the culture that they have created within the organization. More than 53% of the employees have been at the company for over a span of 10 years and
the organization has fewer levels of management so that processes are more streamlined and more efficient.
When asked for encouraging notes to the upcoming entrepreneurs of our country, Sujan stated that “Innovation is the key differentiator inSupply Chain Management.” Find a gap and find a solution to that gap, and you will be successful