“We refuse to treat our customers as only numbers”, says World Express Logistics (WEL) Managing Director, Martin Fenech.

Sitting down with WhosWho.mt to discuss WEL, one of Malta's leading freight forwarding and logistics companies, its philosophy, and history, Mr Fenech explained that despite everything that has changed over the company’s decades in operation (including the three and a bit he has spent there), one particularly important thing has remained consistent.

Its philosophy towards customers has remained constant, he says.

“We like to have a one-to-one relationship with our customers.”

"As long as the customer is happy, we're ready to go the extra mile. Sometimes, we offer a tailor-made service and looks like we're making a loss in terms of time and effort, but if it augments our business relationship with our customer, in the long run, we believe it is always a gain.

“However, we don’t consider our customers as a number or a quantity on a database or a balance sheet. We act as the logistics and shipping departments of our clients, their business partners. We seek to grow and thrive with them in their success.  We take pride in this.

"We keep track of all shipments and keep our customers informed, so they don’t need to call us to enquire about shipping statuses and they can remain productive while still hands on with real-time updated information in hand."

Though its philosophy has remained the same, the company has evolved enormously in terms of its operations, offering air, sea, and road freight, as well as customs clearance, warehousing, documentation, and express courier services.

It has also introduced “new systems and new procedures”, Mr Fenech enthusiastically explains, in its continuous drive to always be at the forefront in its industry.

‘As part of this commitment, the company is ISO 9001:2015 certified, so that whatever it does, it does according to international standards and processes, and everything is documented”, Mr Fenech explains.

Along the way, WEL also became a member of various world-renowned Logistics Networks, ensuring it has appropriate partners across the world in any country needed to satisfy customers’ requirements.

Mr Fenech’s role at the company has also changed, he proudly explains. He looks back gratefully also at his personal growth within the A&Co Group (mother company for WEL) which has been his second home since joining over 22 years ago.

Around five years after he joined, the Group sponsored his studies, so that he was able to take a role at WEL right at its inception. In these studies, he received several important specialised qualifications, including those required to transport air cargo and movement of dangerous goods cargo.

He has worked with WEL in various departments, across all modes of transportation, “except obviously trains, because Malta doesn’t have a railway network”, Mr Fenech jokes.

He’s held his most recent position as Managing Director for over three years, he says, “and the journey continues”.

As things stand, the company offers a number of tailored services to clients.

For example, it provides one prominent semi-conductor company with ‘just-in-time’ services, better known as 3PL or Supplier Managed Inventory, offering multiple raw material deliveries daily, whilst importing these from other continents.

“We then store the materials and deliver it in piecemeal, according to the manufacturer's production requirements – a supply chain service from door to door”, Mr Fenech explains.

When he first joined the company, Mr Fenech was involved in the warehousing service, and since then, it has become like his baby, he reflects.

Over his career at WEL he left the warehousing behind to take on different roles, but in his Managing Director position, the function is now back under his portfolio, and he says he’s proud of how the company uniquely offers the service.

“We’ve been awarded various certifications and received numerous commendations from our clients for our service”, he asserts, “and I feel proud that we pass each year with over 97 percentage points from our clients’ internal audits, which they conduct at our own facilities.”

“As such, we look forward to offering more of this business to existing and new clients alike”.

Looking to the future, Mr Fenech explains the company has several projects underway.

Notably, it is trying to regain its strong market position in the North African markets, which dwindled down due to the crises in Libya.

“We’re working on developing this business again”, he explains.

“We still do airfreight, courier and ship container loads to Tripoli and beyond, taking valuable consumables and medicines amongst other items, and we still take care of logistics and have a courier service, however this is only a fraction of what we were doing a decade ago, before the uprising”, the Managing Director says.

Now the company is focused on developing its network and contacts in the region to help it regain this business, and Mr Fenech expects its marketing strategy – to be released next year – to include points on the North African re-expansion.