Around March 2020 - the end of 2021, the Covid pandemic gave impact on the logistics service industry both in terms of performance and financially, which caused several companies to close down/go bankrupt; activities didn’t work normally, then how the business could survive. And in early 2022, the logistics business started to move to the recovery stage, some had even experienced significant growth at the end of 2022.

After the pandemic, now logistics services need to prepare themselves again to face competition among other competitors, even with those who are already digitally based (startup company). So the company must be observant in seeing market opportunities, demands and needs from customers. Logistics service companies must be able to provide quality services at competitive costs and excellent service, so as to foster loyalty.

PT Artha Cakra Logistik (ACL), which was established in 2018, is a future-oriented logistics service company. Therefore, companies must be oriented towards the desires of their clients, not solely for profit, bearing in mind that clients are now increasingly critical of their needs and desires.

“We are always challenged and gain valuable experience in every logistics delivery we handle. Starting from domestic to international logistics delivery, we deliver customer goods with full commitment and responsibility to their destination. We have successfully covered almost all of Indonesia and almost 5 continents,” said Muhamad Arief (Arief), President Director of PT Artha Cakra Logistik, to Cargo Times exclusively at the ground handling warehouse, Cargo Area of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CKG).

DOC Delivery

In the second week of March 2023, Cargo Times had the exclusive opportunity covering Artha Cakra Logistik’s activities in delivering Live Animals in the form of Day Old Chicks (DOC) to Makassar, South Sulawesi. Accompanied directly by Arief, who gave a brief explanation of the DOC transportation process from farming to flying by plane.

“Initially the temperature trucks carrying DOC came to the cargo warehouse at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Cargo Terminal (pict. 1). Then the DOC box was temporarily placed in the Warehouse (pict. 2). While waiting for loading, in the body of the chartered aircraft, the poles were modified to support and align the DOC box (pict. 3). After completing the preparations on the plane, back to the warehouse, the DOC box was transferred to the cargo dolly (pict. 4), pulled by a tractor (pict. 5), brought to the apron (pict. 6), then loaded into the body of the aircraft by a conveyor/lifter car (pict. 7). Box arranged by ground handling staff in a room that had been modified. Then check again, all the security. After it is deemed clear, then the plane departed for the intended destination (pict. 8).”

Arief continued, pre-flight preparations and handling when DOCs arrive at their destination (cage) must be carefully and optimally planned, because it involves the DOC’s durability. If it is possible to transport DOC for a maximum of 3 - 4 hours, the sooner they arrive at the cage the better.

“Since this type of Live Animal is also related to time-sensitive types of cargo and the role of maintained temperature. So it’s the same as perishable cargo.”

Artha Cakra Logistik has received a contract of DOC shipments from PT Charoen Pokphand Indonesia (CPI) for 1 year to all domestic and international destinations. DOC shipments must be made by airfreighters. So there would be around 20-25 flights in a year, and the rhythm depends on demand from the domestic regions. “So there will be a delay for about 1 week, so that the brood hens can incubate the eggs, and then the DOC can be delivered to the destination regions, such as Medan, Aceh, Dili, Papua, to export to Singapore.”

When Cargo Times asked about how to get a job order during the pandemic period, the Artha Cakra Logistik President Director said that during the covid pandemic, many airlines did not operate so that plenty of goods piled up. “That was the moment of a new business opportunity for Artha Cakra Logistik. We negotiated with the goods’ owners to deliver the goods to the destination addresses. Since then, we have a Charter Flight team. Thankfully all delayed deliveries have been accomplished since 2020.”

For information, the first export of chicken carcass and processed chicken products from CPI, which was entrusted to Artha Cakra Logistik, were transported by sea transportation on July 13, 2022, from Indonesia to Singapore. “Meanwhile, the initial export of DOC shipments was 85,850 DOC FS layers, sent forth on Monday 28 November 2022 from Juanda Airport in Surabaya to Singapore,” said Arief.

“Moving Without Limits”

Artha Cakra Logistik’s mission is to make domestic and international shipments easier with monitoring and 2-way communication between the company and the client. “Therefore, we always innovate and evolve in customer service, always up-to-date on business development trends, so then we will not only be a well-regarded logistics company, but we also want our customers and partners to grow and develop together,” explained Arief, or familiarly called Pak Ajo.

Even though there are many logistics solutions that can be done for clients, Artha Cakra Logistik always provides an efficient, practical, integrated, and transparent freight management solution. “We have a motto “Moving Without Limits”, which basically means that we are ready to send at any time. Not limited to air only, but can be sea and land transportation, or a combination of these 3 modes. Including administrative matters related to customs,” he said.

Apart from that, continued Arief, Artha Cakra Logistik was established not as a logistics company that specifically handles Live Animals, as has been running until now. “There are still other logistics service solution products that we provide to clients. And we do them professionally together with our team, both for domestic and international shipments using the right various modes of transportation.”

The following are products from logistics service solutions and additional information about the advantages of each product that were conveyed by the Artha Cakra Logistik leaders to Cargo Times:

1. Airfreight

2. Seafreight

3. Consolidation

4. In-land Transportation

5. Custom Clearance

6. Project Logistics

7. Charter Operation

8. Warehouse Management

9. Mover

Human Power

Regarding human power, even though there were several work orders that involved many people and the length of the bureaucracy, it turned out that the number of human power in Artha Cakra Logistik was not that many. How could that be ? It turns out that Artha Cakra Logistik applies the motto “Small is Beauty”, meaning it doesn’t involve a lot of human resources. “In Artha Cakra Logistik there are 15 employees, supported by the sales department with 10 people. The important thing is to be able to cover all the work properly, and also to do it in partnership with relevant stakeholders to work together,” Arief concluded.