By Cecelia Alphonsus
Chief Editor
Media Selangor
Recently, KDEB Waste Management Sdn Bhd (KDEBWM) was named Smart Waste Solutions Company of the Year 2018 by Frost & Sullivan. They will be honoured amongst other top Malaysian firms at the 14th annual Malaysia Excellence Awards banquet which will be held on 26th June 2018.
Mr. Hazmi Yusof, Senior Vice President and Malaysia Managing Director at Frost & Sullivan said that the award recipients have demonstrated exemplary achievements in the local market. The award puts the spotlight on firms that are driving innovation, striving for excellence and creating a positive change in the economy by recognizing best-in-class products, companies and individuals.
At the helm of KDEBWM is Managing Director, Ramli Mohd Tahir who has steered Selangor’s premier smart waste solutions company to outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation and customer service.
Speaking to Selangor Journal recently, Ramli said that never before in the history of the industry has a company invested so much in capital expenditure. “We have invested more than RM100 million in asset development. This is something that has never been done before in this industry.”
KDEBWM, wholly owned by Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated (MBI), was appointed Project Management Company (PMC) by the State Government of Selangor on March 2016 to manage domestic waste collection and public cleansing for Klang Municipal Council (MPK), as a pilot project for seven years, with effect from 1 July 2016.
“We have been entrusted with a grant and fully supported by the state government to keep Selangor clean. It is not my money, it is the tax-payers money and I owe it to them to make sure that we deliver on their expectations.”
Ramli approached the challenge of smart waste management by going back to the basics of economies of scale and utilizing technology to ensure that he created a business model that works efficiently and effectively.
“It is like managing a sports team,” says Ramli “if they are given the right equipment, the best shoes for performance, the right training and coaching, there is no reason why they cannot succeed.”
Similarly, with KDEBWM, Ramli realized that capital expenditure was necessary to equip the company with sufficient compactors and roros that are needed to service each area. Each of these lorries were then installed with an automatic vehicle locater system and CCTV which is tagged to their Centralised Command Centre.
“Micro-management is necessary in this business. Technology helps us manage our operators and service our customers better. Each lorry is given a route that we can track at our command centre so if we receive a complaint that garbage has not been collected from a certain area, we can see if the operator by-passed the area in question.”
“If we receive a complaint before 12 noon, I see no reason why we cannot resolve it within the day itself. With our tracking system and on-the-ground personnel in each area we are able to respond to issues faster.”
For Ramli, economies of scale are about ensuring that for each local council that he services, it is first carved up into manageable areas. He identifies where the wet markets, pasar malams, high-density residential and commercial areas are and divides them into equal areas which are then tendered out to different operators. Each operator then manages one compactor or roro where the waste collected is optimal to the tonnage capacity of the compactor servicing the area. This is to ensure the lorries are not overworked.
This, Ramli believes is key to ensure that public funds are utilized in the best possible way and to create more businesses in the waste management industry.
“We are basically a project management company, not a monopoly. Our aim is to ensure that the local economy is stimulated by creating more business owners in this industry. We invest in purchasing the compactors, we process the permits and when we handover the compactors to the operators, I have already pre-signed a transfer of ownership of the compactor to the operator which comes into effect after 5 years,” – Ramli Mohd Tahir
This sense of empowerment and ownership is one of the key factors that drive operators to perform according to the standards and procedures set by KDEBWM. For many, it is a golden opportunity as on their own, they have neither the funds nor the credit worthiness to invest in the capital expenditure needed to be a player in the waste management industry.
These machines are their bread and butter and they adhere to the stringent maintenance regime imposed by KDEBWM to ensure that they are always road-worthy and performing at optimum level.
“Every 6 months, we arrange with Puspakom to inspect our vehicles so they do not pose as a hazard to road users or the environment. Some local councils that are not under us, just repaint their old lorries but not KDEBWM, we make sure that our vehicles are in tip-top condition and don’t leave a trail of waste water on the roads.”
Currently KDEBWM has 300 operators which is likely to double by year end as they take over more local councils.
For Ramli, he attributes the success of KDEBWM so far to the philosophy of getting to the root cause of a problem and finding the right solution for it, even if it means convincing people to do what was never done before and to change how the industry is managed.
