Al Squor is a company based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with a primary mission of selling cars through retail system. The company is a family-owned business and has its headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Al Squor is considered a leader in the car retailing industry. It has survived the financial crisis in 2008 and its financial standing is stable now (“Decypha: Al Squor Gallery Profile” par. 1).
Car retail is different from car dealership. In car retailing, a private firm purchases cars from manufacturers and sells them as in selling finished goods. Al Squor imports cars from the United States and retails them in its branches in Jeddah. The United States is one of the largest exporters of cars in the world. Our company has used this opportunity and has imported a large number of cars. We are now the number one car retailer in Jeddah.
My job in this company involves logistics, which focuses on car storage. My logistics job involves handling and managing supplies and materials, and this means I handle quite a number of cars and corresponding materials and supplies. I manage the stockpiling, the record of the supplies, and control the input and output of the logistics of the company.
Logistics involves resources of the company. My job is handling of cars from the time they arrive at our facility. Our headquarters in Jeddah has a large area for cars, and for me it is a challenge how to stockpile them in such a way that cars are easy for storage and display for customers to observe and scrutinize. I also provide a catalogue for cars, newly arrived ones and those which are the favourite of buyers from here and abroad.
Logistics emphasizes resources and supplies. I take care of both forward and reverse logistics. Forward logistics means new products coming in for the company to sell to customers; reverse logistics is the other way around.
Our company also purchase used cars, which refers to reverse logistics; thus, we take care of recycling, waste disposal and management of these materials that should be in conformity to environmental preservation. Fleischmann (Lee 11) stresses that reverse logistics refers to all activities about products that may not be usable by the user anymore, but usable in the market.
Used cars and equipment are strictly regulated in the United States and Europe, particularly the European Union (Lee 11). While being challenged with these restrictions, our company tries to be concerned of the sources of cost reductions, since restrictions add costs to our operating expenses. In Jeddah, however, since Al Squor has been involved in this business for quite some time now, they know how to deal with restrictions, and its system has standard operating procedures in place.
Forward logistics is more on new cars. The company purchases and sell popularly branded cars and new entrants to the industry. Popular brands, such as the Japanese Toyota, the American brands Ford and General Motors, are some of the cars we promote to the general public. Saudi market for cars is still growing, but increasing at a rather fast pace since we have a growing market for cars.
New cars are generally transacted in our headquarters in Jeddah. The flow of this particular segment starts with our U.S. transactions, which go to ports, and to our Jeddah headquarters. We are a primary retailer in Saudi Arabia, so we have direct contact with manufacturers in the U.S. This means the process flows from wholesale to retail – we buy volumes of cars and sell them directly to our customers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, via our stores. Al Squor has several stores in Jeddah.
There is a growing market in this sector as Saudi customers have enjoyed the oil boom, and oil is inexpensive, despite the recent oil price volatility which has affected the Saudi market for cars. However, Saudi customers and their penchant for cars have inspired our company and its people to provide brands that correspond to the Saudi taste. This taste refers to popular brands, while new brands (e.g. Korean cars) are not left behind. Saudi Arabia is involved in international trade with the United States and countries in Europe, and with any country that wants to have business with the country. This is a free market, and this gives our company the leverage to conduct business with the rest of the world.
Logistics further leads us to how the company manages its thousands of products, which gives a great challenge. As a Co-op Consultant, I was immediately assigned in the logistics department. Yes, I am proud to state that I rose from the ranks, since I began as a low-rank employee, until I managed to learn the ropes, so to speak. The company supports career improvement, and I’ve seen many of Al Squor employees climb the corporate ladder and the successes they have.
Reflection
Being in this job for quite some time now, I can see that the company is profit-oriented; but I feel I have a job of providing quality management and quality work-life for my co-employees in the logistics department. For while this is a profit-oriented business, I see to it that I also emphasize work-life balance for the people under me. This means that I have to attend to their needs, while at the same time we focus on raising profit for the firm.
For me, logistics is a very challenging job. I’m just proud to say that the company entrusted me with such a difficult but inspiring job, and thankful to them for giving me that opportunity. Right now, I’m still involved with logistics. The company, I think, is growing at a rather fast pace. This company will survive the harsh realities of the oil-price volatility that has plunged some of the big construction firms and oil companies in Saudi Arabia. This new challenge has put our company into a different stage in its life as a firm. But this is not to say that we will not survive the challenge; in fact, we are passing through that stage as a company that has encountered the oil price challenge.
Despite the negative feeling I have – sometimes – about company, I still feel I am indebted to it, since I have attained success in my career and personal life. In fact, in my constant interaction with most of my co-employees, they express their feelings of envy in my job. Not everyone, they would say, had the chance to be assigned with the logistics section – as a Coop Consultant – of our company. When you are in the logistics department, you have the opportunity of being “a supply man,” or someone who is never drained of resources. For me, it is only a part of my job, and I never have had the thinking of adding any thought of wrong doing. I am proud of my personal background and how I have reached this far. I also recommend this job for future Co-op Consultants so that they will have a beautiful experience that can be a lifetime source of income and career.
Works Cited
Decypha: Al Squor Gallery Profile 2016. Web. 29 Aug. 2016.
Lee, Yong Joo. “Integrated Forward-Reverse Logistics System Design: An Empirical Investigation”. PhD thesis, Washington State University, 2009. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Web. 27 Aug. 2016.
