Johannesburg, 08 March 2019 – At an awards ceremony in Johannesburg on 11 February, Bidvest Panalpina Logistics (BPL), one of South Africa’s largest logistics outfits, won the PMR Diamond award for the second year in a row, scoring 4.18 out of a possible total of 5.

The awards, which celebrate excellence, are researched by consultancy and research company PMR.africa with South African exporters and importers, who are asked to give a score to participating companies from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) across a range of 17 attributes, including proactive communication, risk management of products being transported and value-added solutions up and down the supply chain.

Marius Geyer, general manager of operations of BPL, says, “Receiving the top accolade assures our clients that they’re dealing with the best logistics company in South Africa but it’s also a challenge for BPL to maintain the top position, and this ensures that we maintain and improve our service levels continually.”

As thrilled as BPL is with having received the award, it’s also a learning opportunity.

“For us, this award is a measure of how we compare with our opposition in the market,” says Geyer.

“Knowing how we score on the various elements assists us to continually work on the areas where we don’t score as well as we’d like. The end result is continued client satisfaction.”

For instance, over the last year BPL has really focused on developing staff and attracting top candidates.

“Nothing beats having knowledgeable and experienced staff when it comes to adding value to our clients,” says Geyer. “We’ve seen marked improvements in certain areas we identified, and the feedback from our clients confirms we’re on the right track.”

Johan Hattingh, CEO of PMR.africa, says, “Through the awards we want to acknowledge excellence and set a benchmark for others to aspire to. We also want to create an opportunity for companies and institutions whereby a team or division can be recognised for all their hard work. After all, there’s a successful team behind each successful and highly rated company and institution.”