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"Engineering
Your Efficiency" 
 n the first issue
of Voicelink we discussed the benefits of the Trading Fund and the
effects of untying. Now a year later, we thought it would be a good
time to give you an update on our activities.
The untying process, which began last year and is continuing over
a four-year period, places us in a competitive environment, modelling
our activities along full commercial principles. "Untied"
customers can choose to use our services or to consider an alternative
supplier. The first phase took place last year when 9 customers,
representing 25% of our business volume, were untied. A further
9 customers, representing another 25%, were untied on 1 August this
year and the remaining 50% will be untied in the next two years.
With some of our major customers being untied in phase 2, there
has certainly been no room for complacency. During the year we made
every effort to improve work practices and provide value-added services
to customers. Some of our key achievements include:
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Last
year, we reported cumulative productivity savings of 12.5%
(31 March 1999) since the establishment of the Trading
Fund in 1996. A further saving of 5% has been generated
since then, bringing total productivity gains at 31 March
2000 to 17.5%. These savings are passed on directly to
customers through price reductions.
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New
business gained far outweighs the limited amount of business
lost, since Phase 1 untying last year. We lost about 1%
of our business in revenue terms but grew more than 5%
in new and existing business.
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More
than 80 works improvement and business process improvement
teams have been hard at work. The resulting improvements
save more than $18 million a year in recurrent costs.
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Through
ongoing initiatives to improve services to customers,
we began offering longer-term Service Level Agreements
at attractive prices. A number of new contracts ranging
from between 3 to 5 years have been agreed with customers.
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Improving
customer services and enhancing productivity and a one-stop
service culture, customer service training is now mandatory
for all 3,000 front line staff.
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 We
are of course very proud of our achievements in the past year. Needless
to say, we are fully aware that we have to stay alert to bring you
better, more comprehensive, cost-effective and efficient services
in the future. Along the way, we are making every effort to ensure
that we help to engineer your efficiency and meet your goals.
Customer Highlights
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A
6-month integrated facilities management pilot scheme
has been completed at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern
Hospital and the results have been presented to the Hospital
Authority. This integrated model provides "one-stop
shop" services with a single point of contact and
responsibility for all the hospital's electrical and mechanical
services.
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Working
in partnership with the Highways Department, an "Advance
Warning System" using remote auto-dialling facilities,
is being installed in Hong Kong's major subways and underpasses.
During the trial, the system improved pedestrian and traffic
flows in bad weather, ensuring easy and unrestricted access
to public areas throughout Hong Kong.
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Acting
as project consultant, we are working with Customs and
Excise Department to install a large-scale X-ray Vehicle
Inspection System capable of scanning container trucks
at the Lok Ma Chau Border crossing. This project will
be completed in 2002.
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 We
recently awarded a Contract to the Holland Institute of
Traffic Technology (HITT) for the replacement and upgrade
of the Marine Department's Vessel Traffic Services System.
Incorporating the latest technology, the new system will
greatly enhance the operational efficiency in the monitoring
and control of marine traffic in Hong Kong's waters.
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The
Airport Sector Division recently won an international
tender, for a three-year contract for the maintenance
of the airport's baggage handling system. The system is
one of the largest and most advanced in the world, capable
of handling over 200,000 items of baggage a day over 24
kilometres of conveyor belt.
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We
completed the "IT in Education" and "Multi-media
Learning Centres" projects for the Education Department
with the fitting out of IT rooms at about 500 schools
and the design and installation of computerised multi-media
learning centres in another 100 schools. We have commenced
similar installations in a further 200 educational institutions.
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One
of our smaller though more complex projects is the conversion
of existing electronic parking meters to accept Mondex,
Visa or Octopus cards. While the technologies are widely
used, the challenge is to ensure that they will work as
effectively in an outdoor and unattended environment.
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