APAC Insider November

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

Leadership in the Asia Pacific - Australia

DebtCol: Debt Down Under Page 14 Chief Fluid Systems Hosing Support Page 17 A Stellar Service Page 19 Patten Robins: Putting People First Page 32

Pioneers in Technology Solutions Michael Bouari explains how the company’s TABS system has helped to change the shipping/port and logistics industry.

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

Editor’sNote Welcome to the November edition of APAC Insider Magazine, which features the latest comments, updates and developments across the Asia Pacific region.

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In this issue, we explore a variety of support services in the APAC region. Many companies are achieving great success whilst expanding their business overseas to bigger, international markets. One such example is Lendingkart Group whose long term goal is to reach out to every single SME in need for working capital credit and bring a difference to their business in India.

Legal companies in the region are also going from strength to strength. Patten Robins Lawyers, a Melbourne-based consultation firm, has a wide range of services to cater for its client base. The company takes on a wide number of cases which has helped them to maximise their presence across the market.

Finally, we give you all the latest news from the region.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

Matt Lewis, Editor Phone: +44 (0) 203 725 6842 Email: matthew.lewis@ai-globalmedia.com Website: www.apacinsider.com

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Contents News 4. Rycal Group Expands into APAC Region with Offices in Singapore and China 5. Linode Opens Second Tokyo Datacenter 6. Omixon and TBG Form Partnership for Asia Pacific 8. New Appointment Signals Conferma’s Aim to Boost Development in the APAC Market

Software & Technology

10. 1-Stop Connections: The Port to Success 14. DebtCol: Debt Down Under

Support Services

16. High Quality Recruitment Outcomes 17. Hosing Support 19. A Stellar Service 24. Achieve Your Career Dreams – STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD! 26. IATA Hit the Bulls Eye 28. Lendingkart Group: Loans Made Simple 30. Leader in Aged Residential Care

Legal

32. Putting People First

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

news

Rycal Group Expands into APAC Region with Offices in Singapore and China

Commercial property investment experts add industry veteran Richard Seow as Vice President to lead operations in APAC.

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Rycal Group, a leading global sustainable land and property investment firm, has announced it has expanded into the Asia Pacific (APAC) region with new offices in Singapore and Shanghai, China. The company has also hired Richard Seow, an industry veteran with experience in real estate investment within APAC, as Vice President to lead both offices.

Seow joins Rycal Group with more than 15 years of business development and sales experience in real estate investment within the APAC region, and brings with him an extensive business network throughout China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and Australia. He holds an MBA in International Business and an Engineering degree from California State University.

“I am excited to join Rycal Group and to begin working with such an established team of real estate and property experts,” said Richard Seow, Vice President, Rycal Group. “Rycal Group has a fantastic portfolio of product offerings well suited for investors around the globe. I look forward to the opportunity to lead operations in the APAC, a region I know well, and to leverage my expertise to help the Company continue its growth worldwide.”

The expansion into APAC will allow Rycal Group to reach an affluent market seeking out alternative investments, particularly in China, where investors spent $300B on U.S. real estate from 2010 to 2015 alone. The Company will aggressively establish its foothold within the region by working directly with brokers and clients to market its commercial properties in the U.S., while also conducting road shows and launching new products.

“We are proud to open our new offices in Singapore and China, and to expand the Rycal

footprint into the eastern hemisphere. We identified the APAC region as being important to the growth of our Company and look forward to working with investors there to diversify their portfolios and begin investing in real estate,” said Simon Calton, founder and CEO, Rycal Group.

“We are also thrilled to have Richard join Rycal to lead our expansion efforts in the APAC region.

His vast experience in real estate throughout Asia and beyond will be a tremendous asset to our Company moving forward.”

The new office locations are: Shanghai No. 688 West Nanjing Road, 16/F, Unit 1601 Henderson 688 Square, Jing’an District Shanghai 200041, China Phone: 8621 2283 5059 Singapore 3 Temasek Avenue Centennial Tower #34-00 Singapore 039190 Phone: 65 6549 7255 The offices in Singapore and Shanghai will further bolster Rycal Group’s global presence, as the Company already has locations in Europe (England) and the United States. For more information on Rycal Group or its portfolio of products, visit www.rycalgroup.com.

About Rycal Group Rycal Group was established in 2010 with the aim of offering sustainable land and property investment opportunities from around the globe.

Its Directors have more than 35 years’ combined experience in property investment, finance, and residential construction. For more information, visit www.rycalgroup.com, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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news

Linode Opens Second Tokyo Datacenter

Cloud-hosting provider Linode has opened a second datacenter in Tokyo, its third datacenter in Asia and ninth worldwide.

Linode designed “Tokyo 2” to meet the growing needs of customers in the Asia-Pacific region, complementing existing datacenters in Tokyo and Singapore. Features of Linode’s Tokyo 2 datacenter include: Robust connectivity using a blend of transit providers and settlement-free peers allowing for the highest possible bandwidth and lowest latency to destinations local and abroad, including excellent throughput to China.

KVM hypervisor, giving clients access to all Linode plan sizes, including the 2G for $10 per month plan, as well as free upgrades.

Doubled RAM, SSD servers and mass availability upgrade over Tokyo 1.

Demand for Linodes is extremely high in Tokyo. This second datacenter ensures the availability of Linodes to current and future customers for a very long time.

Clients utilizing Tokyo 1 can open a support ticket to have their Linodes migrated to the new datacenter seamlessly and quickly.

Brett Kaplan, Linode’s datacenter operations manager, explained that his team took the time to research and select the best colocation facility, transit providers, hardware and software for this world-class datacenter. “It took a while,” said Kaplan, “but we came up with something that will exceed our customers’ expectations.”

“Tokyo 2 represents a significant investment in the needs of the developers, entrepreneurs and businesses who choose Linode as their cloud service provider,” said Linode CEO Christopher Aker. “We are continuously striving to provide the best possible uptime, bandwidth, processing power, security, affordability and customer service for our clients. Tokyo 2 will have it all.”

About Linode Linode is a leading cloud hosting provider founded in 2003. Today the company boasts more than 400,000 customers worldwide with nine data centers total – four in the US, two in Europe and three in Asia.

Subscribers can create a cloud server with Linode in under a minute for as low as $10 per month. Users can then dynamically scale their environments to meet business demands – paying for only what they use, with no long-term commitments.

BuiltWith.com ranks Linode in the top 15 largest web-hosting providers. CloudHarmony.com reports Linode exceeds a 99.99 percent average for service availability while WPress.io and Cloud66 found Linode’s performance fastest among competitors.

For more information on Linode, please visit linode. com.

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

news

Omixon and TBG Form Partnership for Asia Pacific

Omixon announce an exclusive distribution and support partnership for the Asia Pacific region, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.

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Global molecular diagnostics company Omixon, headquartered in Budapest with US offices in Cambridge, MA, and TBG Biotechnology Corp.

(TBG) headquartered in Taiwan announce an Exclusive Distribution and Support Partnership for the Asia Pacific region, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. TBG will be the exclusive distributor of Omixon’s world leading Holotype HLA product for HLA typing by NGS. “With a common goal of driving adoption of NGS for HLA typing in the Asia Pacific markets, TBG and their extended network of distributors is the ideal partner for the Asia Pacific region to distribute Holotype HLA,” says Dr. Peter Meintjes, Chief Commercial Officer at Omixon. Additionally, “TBG’s automated liquid handling instrument, the DX-A provides a high quality, low cost solution perfectly tailored to the market dynamics of the region.”

TBG’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Willy Hsu notes that “Omixon’s Holotype HLA has emerged as the dominant global player in HLA typing by NGS, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to bring this exciting technology to our existing customers”. TBG and Omixon have successfully optimized Holotype HLA on TBG’s DX-A Automation System and are currently completing a multi-site customer validation program to ensure reproducibility and repeatability of the liquid handling automation.

With the addition of TBG, Omixon’s distributor network covers 15 countries/territories outside of the markets in which they sell Holotype HLA directly. Nora Nagy, Market Development Manager at Omixon notes that “Our distributors have played and continue to play an important part in Omixon’s ability to spread Holotype HLA to every corner of the globe. We are delighted to be working with such a highly skilled and motivated sales and technical support partner as TBG.”

TBG is an international molecular diagnostic solutions provider and has developed a dominant presence in nearly all Asia-Pacific countries within the verticals in which they provide products.

“Having established our presence in most major markets in the Asia Pacific Region, our priority is the ongoing expansion of our product portfolio in diagnostics, specifically intending to acquire technologies that can disrupt on price and quality,” notes Willy Hsu. To join the TBG Partner Network or the Omixon Distributor Network, please see the relevant contacts from this PR. About Omixon Omixon is a global molecular diagnostics company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary, with US offices in Cambridge, MA that commercializes disruptive technologies for clinical and research laboratories.

Omixon’s flagship product, Holotype HLA™, is the world’s leading NGSbased HLA genotyping product that delivers the most accurate high-resolution HLA genotyping available, and is used in more than 20 hospitals worldwide. Omixon’s research software, HLA Explore™ analyzes data from any sequencing technology and determines HLA genotypes from Whole Exome/Genome Sequencing experiments.

Omixon maintains an active grant-funded research program with a product pipeline focused on preand post-transplantation, and HLA genotyping applications beyond transplantation. For more information, visit www.omixon.com About TBG Diagnostics TBG Diagnostics is a global molecular diagnostic (MDx) company operating in the IVD (in vitro diagnostics) industry. TBG is focused on the development, manufacture and marketing of molecular diagnostic kits, instruments and services.

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TBG Diagnostics is an established brand with a strong presence in the Asian market. From its plant in Xiamen, China it develops and manufactures: • Nucleic Acid Test (NAT) products • HLA typing reagents based on NAT technologies • Automation systems for NAT operations • IVD-related NAT kits and services Products distributed to more than 22 countries.

Major hospital and laboratory clients in USA, Taiwan, Germany, Portugal, China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Operating in the rapidly growing IVD market - US$53 billion in 2013 and expected to reach US$74.7 billion by 2020 (This is huge to say we operate in the IVD market. More realistically, we operate in the MDx market which is growing from 10% ($6Bn USD) to 25.2% ($25Bn USD) of total IVD market share by 2024.) Targeting further growth in China - fastest growing MDx market at CAGR of 27.9%. Extensive research and development pipeline targeting products for oncology, infectious diseases, transplants, transfusions, pharmacogenetics, autoimmune diseases and genetic diseases.

APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

news

New Appointment Signals Conferma’s Aim to Boost Development in the APAC Market

Conferma, the leading provider of virtual card technology, has announced the appointment of corporate travel expert Desmond Chong as Director of Business Development, South East Asia.

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As part of Conferma’s global strategy for further expansion of corporate virtual payment solutions, Desmond will be committed to developing Conferma`s growing virtual card issuing ecosystem in APAC. The opportunities are immense as the Asia-Pacific region is the fastest-growing in the world for corporate travel. By 2025, corporate travel spending in Asia-Pacific will more than double to $900 billion from the current $400 billion and will make up half of the global total.

Chong will be based in Southeast Asia’s economic powerhouse and a flagship of corporate travel, data consolidation and financial technology – Singapore. This is a key market with a highly developed understanding of the benefits of virtual card technology for corporate travel. It has been estimated that more than half of all corporate travellers in the region already use their mobile devices to manage travel on the move, including destination research and booking management.

Desmond comes to the post with a highly impressive track record of over 20 years in business travel. He has held senior positions with American Express Global Business Travel and Abacus International, delivering top-line and margin growth by strengthening global TMC and GDS relationships regionally, developing new solutions and ventures and driving product adoption across APAC. “We are proud to welcome Desmond as a key member of Conferma’s global team.” Said Simon Barker, Conferma CEO. “His business development expertise in the corporate travel industry and history of developing partnerships and initiatives in the APAC business payments space will be exceptionally valuable.”

shared: “Having worked with Conferma powered virtual cards at American Express Global Business Travel, I was consistently impressed with the functionality of their technology and the professionalism of their leadership team. I’m excited to be joining a company whose payments technology is ubiquitous, simple and yet meets the increasingly sophisticated demands of the savvy corporate traveller in the APAC region.”

About Conferma Conferma is a leading FinTech company specialising in Virtual Card technology. A global company, managing transactions in 96 currencies in 193 countries, Conferma is headquartered in Manchester, having been founded by CEO Simon Barker in 2005.

With 80% of Buying Business Travel’s Top 50 TMCs using Conferma, it is an industry standard for corporate travel payment. Conferma’s Virtual Card technology is mainly about simplifying overcomplicated processes in Travel and Expense (T&E) payments. It is the gateway between commercial card issuers and the travel community.

Conferma’s many established travel partners include all three Global Distribution Systems (GDS), Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport; leading corporate Travel Management Companies (TMCs) such as CWT, HRG, AMEX GBTA; online booking tools and other booking technology providers.

Part of Conferma’s ecosystem are all major card schemes, American Express, Diners, MasterCard and Visa, and over 20 commercial card issuers globally including Barclaycard, Bank of America and Citi.

Web address: www.conferma.com

Desmond Chong, Director of Business Development, South East Asia for Conferma

TERMINAL APPOINTMENT BOOKING SYSTEM

The Terminal Appointment Booking System, or TABS, is an electronic platform for booking containers in the major international ports of Manila.

TABS is a collaborative solution from the Manila government and supply-chain stakeholders, in partnership with Australia’s 1-Stop Connections Pty Ltd. (1-Stop), in response to the truck ban and road policies that were introduced by the local government in 2014 to combat the congestion in Manila.

With TABS in place at both the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) and Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) terminals, a more organized in- and out-flow of containerized cargoes from both terminals is expected for a more efficient and productive Philippine supply-chain.

Ph: 1300 881 055

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Email: sales@1-stop.com

How will you benefit from TABS? You will be able to plan for appropriate resources due to predictable volume and schedule.

There will be reduced queues at the port since there will be enough yard resources to serve all trucks within their appointment window.

Experience a managed and consistent flow of trucks spread throughout a 24-by-7 period.

It’s a proactive alternative to counterproductive truck bans.

Find real time information on container statuses.

Check information anywhere on your mobile device via the App.

www.1-stop.com

APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

Software & Technology

1-Stop Connections: The Port to Success

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1-Stop Connections is a pioneering, international leader in integrated solutions for the port community. Michael Bouari explains how the firm has helped to change the shipping/port and logistics industry, with the implementation of their TABS system. stablished in 2002, 1-Stop Connections are the world leaders in improving and automating business processes and delivery technology solutions, that connect and maximise the utilisation of assets in the port community. Their services reach the wider sea-freight community and their customers include shipping lines, freight forwarders, customs brokers, 3PL’s trucking companies, rail operators, importers and exporters. 1-Stop helps stakeholders to move import and export cargo more efficiently and is the provider of choice in ports across the globe.

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As an innovative firm, 1-Stop is determined to listen and look for ways to improve customer experiences.

Michael Bouari, CEO of 1-Stop Connections gives us an interesting insight into the firm’s business strategy and their creative and dynamic vision for the future of their products.

“There is a distinct focus on improving productivity for the movement of freight. We have world leading products and are pushing them into overseas markets, whilst also extending our solution offering further down the supply chain, to make the import and export process simple and seamless. We are commercially proactive

and work hard to create sustainable solutions.”

Michael describes what approach 1-Stop takes when working with clients, whilst also sharing how the company’s key principles improve the client experience.

“We have solutions that are used by international companies such as DP World, DHL and Maersk to government authorities and trucking companies, freight forwarders, importers, exporters etc. Our approach is to understand the client’s business, their pain points, business challenges, inefficiencies, then assist them with solutions that address those challenges. Also, all of our solutions generally have business impact on efficiency which means it is not just a solution that one business benefits from, but rather that business and its many customers and suppliers!

“Our people are our asset and the team is highly engaged in helping us achieve our goals and implement our strategy. We aim to keep the user experience simple for clients by connecting business and systems. Ultimately, we want businesses to use one system or have one user experience for carrying out all their work. Our goal is always system to system solutions, unless of course, you do not have a system

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Software & Technology

and then you can use our system end to end. We collaborate with our customers, the community and our employees to develop solutions that are practical.

Another key principle that aids the client experience, is that we pride ourselves on being inefficiency hunters and problem solvers. We hunt inefficient processes and look to improve them, with productivity solutions.

By finding new ways to run clients’ day to day business, we reduce running costs and increase revenue.”

Along with his knowledge and experience, Michael highlights some key areas which he believes have made him and his company award winning.

“Firstly, by having an engaged team, we can have a clear vision which the team buys into. We consistently engage with one another on what we are doing each day, which brings us closer to that vision. Our continuous improvement and our ability to be solution focused and adaptable is another area which makes us award winning. Our attitude and culture of wanting to be better every day as an individual and as a company translates into happy customers and growth within our people. When navigating a strategy, idea or initiative into unchartered waters, I have a good ability to break down the task through my natural intuition. This makes the solution manageable for the team and provides assistance as required. Finally, having a positive attitude every day will rub off onto the rest of the team.”

1-Stop Connections listens to their customers, takes swift action that benefits them and innovates which has helped the company become a trusted leader and service provider that their customers rely on. The company is continually improving and innovating what they do and constantly work with customers to ensure their products services their needs. Despite success, there are always challenges for any business to deal with. Michael explains that the main stumbling block across the APAC region is the change in technology.

“Embracing technology in the freight and logistics industries across Asia has been a challenge as technology in that industry has its challenges. It is a fragmented industry which is accustomed to using paper and cash. It is a cultural change management exercise that once the solutions are introduced, they eventually become heavily dependent on.” In a competitive environment, Michael describes another challenge that 1-Stop continues to face. “Providing a great customer experience and having value added solutions has kept the competition away. The next phase of that is continuous improvement and innovation.”

The APAC region has benefitted from a new system which 1-Stop Connections has implemented. The Terminal Appointment Booking System (TABS) was installed in September 2015. The system officially went into soft launch in October 2015 at both the international port terminals in Manila, Manila

International Container Terminal (MICT) and Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI). During the soft launch, there were 1,540 registered companies to use TABS, 93% were active and 50% participated. A soft launch was used by the industry so they had time to get used to the system and to modify processes to get the most from it. Michael explains how the process for implementing the system was relatively easy.

“From February 2016, the full implementation of TABS and its associated rules were officially employed and endorsed by the 17 mayors of Manila which meant that if you had a TABS booking, you had a truck ban exemption through metro Manila. This was a huge win for the import and export community which allowed the industry to be productive 24 hours of the day.

As of September 2016, there are 2,400 registered companies using TABS. “The system we implemented was ‘out of the box’ with multiple standard interfaces. Our system can speak to the Philippines port community using web, XML, flat file, FTP and web services etc. Due to the immediate challenges, they needed something quickly, so we were able to install our ‘out of the box’ solution. This showed flexibility to meet the port’s needs, with the view that they can embrace the change management over time.

It was a very smooth implementation.

“There are over 240 customisable settings in the standard product. We have installed only four out of the 15 modules available in the TABS component of the PCS. The other modules will be implemented as the market matures and as the business protocols change.

“Soon after the implementation, they required a means for handling online payments which is another component of our PCS. We had a payment gateway already so we were able to enhance it to meet the needs of the Philippines port community in a short time frame - two months to be exact.”

Before TABS, there was no system in place. To import/ export cargo, someone had to go to the terminals to pay, then to the shipping line to pay. After this, they had to get a manual gate pass and find a freight forwarder that was available during the time the manual gate pass was valid for. The drivers then had to join the queue with other trucks to pick up their container. While some of these steps are still in place, there is now no need to get a manual gate pass. Companies simply book their spot in the TABS system, arrange payment via the virtual payment system and get their driver to pick up the cargo during the booking time.

Import dwell times were eight to 16 days on the wharf, which was reduced to four days after the new system was implemented. In the first month, volumes were up 18% with the same equipment and labour. In June 2016, volumes increased to 44%.

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

Software & Technology

Other stats which highlight the difference between pre and post TABS include: • Truck dwell time was 130 mins with 48% served within two hours, now the dwell time is 100 mins with 72% served within two hours • Number of trucks in was 2,609, now 2,483 • Number of containers served was 2,900, now the number is 3,191 • Trucks trips was one per 24 hours, now two or more per 24 hours • The load factor was one per trip, now it’s one each way with 60% of trucks carrying two.

Michael explains that this was the first contract that 1-Stop Connections had in the Philippines, but this is just the beginning of their journey in the implementation of the PCS in the Philippines, with the view that there will be more components of their PCS to be rolled out over the coming years. There is more to do at MICT and ATI.

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“As only four of the 15 modules for one component (TABS) have been installed, we are working with the port community to implement more of the 1-Stop PCS components and stream line the manual to automated business processes as the market matures and realises the benefits our PCS brings. There are always ways to improve our systems and the way things are done. We are an innovative and collaborative company that is always looking at new technology and improving the port communities around the world.”

By studying the market and technology trends, 1-Stop applies proven models from other industries and adapts them to their own.

“Of course, we have a really smart team that is always looking for new ways to solve inefficient processes though innovative solutions that we build, implement and refine. In the industry, we monitor the shipping and logistics industries and can see the industry suffering. That makes our purpose even more important as we assist these business in reducing costs and increasing revenue. Also, we monitor technology trends such as Big Data, cloud, IoT, automation and can see the change to a decentralised approach for managing information and running optimisation tools across many data sources to yield dynamic suggestions to the end user.”

“Our main goal is to make life simple and productive for any stakeholder in the import and export process. I can easily say that this industry has been left behind in comparison to other industries, such as banking who have embraced technology from the outset. Whilst we have made significant inroads in our current markets, we understand that many ports around the world are lagging behind and are crying out for solutions such as ours. Our solutions will allow you to do more with less!”

See more about Manila’s story here: h t t p s : / / w w w. 1 - s t o p . b i z / n e w s / m a n i l a philippines-mict-and-ati/ Company: 1-Stop Connections Name: Michael Bouari Email: info@1-stop.com Web Address: www.1-stop.com Telephone: 1300 881 055 (Australia), +61 2 9588 8900 (International)

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Software & Technology Hospitality

Leadership in the Asia Pacific - Australia

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

Software & Technology

DebtCol: Debt Down Under

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DebtCol helps collection agents and law firms to collect debt faster through its innovative software solutions. We invited Managing Director Sandy Barrett to talk us through how the firm achieve this. stablished in 1999, DebtCol is a software provider specialising in debt recovery software solutions which help collection agents and law firms to collect debt faster.

The whole debt collection process including litigation, repossessions, process serving, field investigation and online database searching is covered in a single application that has been proven to be successful and is used daily by more than 1600 users.

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Having spent 17 years listening to client feedback, DebtCol has been able to ensure that its software is practical and easy to use by anyone familiar with the debt collection process. Faster collection means better client service, which is a huge competitive advantage, and as Sandy explains, providing this is what drives his company.

“Here at DebtCol we continuously strive for quality and excellence, so that we can be the best at what we do. This comes from a genuine willingness to support our clients and our staff because we care about them. This drives us to be consistently competitive with a will to win.

“In order to achieve this we are constantly aiming to stay ahead of industry changes so our software can be adapted to suit. Integrating with other third party software products and

sites gives our users productivity gains so focus on smart integrations is a key to our business strategy.

“By concentrating on small agencies between one and 30 people, we can confidently provide the best solutions within our means.

We provide software specifically designed for small collection agencies and currently service more than 1600 users across Australia.”

The company, which serves a wide range of clients including professional debt collectors, process servers, repossession agents and law firms specialising in debt recovery, communicates closely with clients right from the very start of the process in order to better understand their business strategy and dovetail the software to suit their needs. It is this personalised, client focused approach which sets the firm apart alongside its constant innovative and technological expertise, according to Sandy, who has previously managed a collection agency and worked in the field for over 25 years.

“Providing affordable yet state-of-the-art solutions is what differentiates DebtCol from its competitors. Utilising the cloud to host the software for our customers is one way we could help the industry save money. The greatest challenge we had when we first

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Software & Technology

Australian Business Awards Winner

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introduced this was overcoming mostly fearbased objections to cloud hosting. Creating a trusted brand and partnering with an ISO accredited hosting company has gone a long way to overcoming this challenge and ensuring that we rejuvenate the way the industry supplies debt collection software.

“In addition, our after-sales service is second to none. From on boarding through training, setup, configuration and tailoring, we are always actively involved in our client’s success, because ultimately their success means our success.”

Looking to the future, Sandy is eager to emphasise that DebtCol’s focus will remain firmly on providing the most up to date software which meets the ever evolving needs of its clients.

“Going forward our continuing aim is to provide current and meaningful software to the industry, with a greater focus on

software integrations, as this is a trend we are seeing throughout the software industry and something which will benefit our clients.

“The debt collection market is constantly changing, and we are keen to offer our clients solutions which will help them to remain at the forefront of these developments. Being a software provider, it is our job to ensure we are always educating ourselves in the latest technologies to ensure we provide solutions that are current. For example, compliance with ACCC/ASIC guidelines is one of the latest key issues for our clients which our software has scope to assist with handling.”

Company: DebtCol Software Pty Ltd Name: Sandy Barrett Email: sandy@debtcol.com.au Web Address: www.debtcol.com.au Address: Level 4, 45 William Street Melbourne Victoria Australia 3000 Telephone: 1300 765 609

APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

Support Services

High Quality Recruitment Outcomes

Australian Business Awards Best for Warehouse Recruitment

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Infront Staffing provides labour hire and recruitment services to the warehousing and industrial sectors, in the Sydney area of Australia and is fast becoming a leading container unpack provider. One of the company’s founders, Marc Parche speaks to us about how the company aims to be a leader in the industry. ounded in 2005, Infront Staffing has provided labour hire and permanent recruitment solutions primarily to the warehousing and constructions industries in the Sydney metro area. We are a family owned business directed by founding members Roger Johnson and Marc Parche. We also provide specialised crews for the packing and unpacking of containers and have recently expanded our container operation from the Sydney area to Brisbane and Melbourne, now servicing the Eastern seaboard of Australia.

Our Sydney office team consists of seven staff, while we run a weekly payroll of up to 100 casual staff within the labour hire component of our business. We also manage multiple crews, unloading high volumes of containers every week.

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Marc Parche, describes the clients that Infront works with. “Our clients are very much blue collar, based largely from within the transport and logistics/warehousing and construction segments. Our approach is always to ensure a close relationship is developed with our client contacts through regular communication and delivering on our service commitment. We ensure we are contactable at all times and pride ourselves on response and turnaround times in the event that a client has a last minute request or is not 100% satisfied.”

In a competitive environment, Infront acknowledges that there are challenges which they have faced. Despite these challenges, Marc believes that the company is still the best place to come to for a successful outcome.

“Remaining competitive on price is always a challenge. For that reason, we often find competitors approaching our clients and undercutting us on rates. While we always endeavour to provide the best possible rates to our clients, we find that highlighting to them the advantages of providing consistent, high quality outcomes which increase efficiency, does provide a more cost effective outcome overall.”

Infront’s aim is to become a front runner in the container unpacking market. They have worked hard over the past year to enter the markets in Brisbane and Melbourne and look forward to seeing this develop in the next few years, with the possibility of expanding into other states.

Company: Infront Staffing Name: Marc Parche Email: info@infrontstaffing.com Web Address: www.infrontstaffing.com Address: Level 2, 283-285 Clarence Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 Telephone: 02 8252 7565

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Support Services

Hosing Support

Australian Business Awards - Best for MIL Spec Products

Based in Sydney, Australia, Chief Fluid Systems offers on-site and in house services for surveying, inspection, assembly, testing, tagging and certification of hose assemblies. hief Fluid Systems was founded in 2010 by Glen Haddon, who has over 30 years of industry experience. As a 100% family owned business, we specialise in all manner of hose manufacture and testing, providing support to defence and industrial customers.

We work with our hose OEMs to provide the best products and solutions available. Our hose testing capabilities are substantial, our in-house test rigs test hoses up to 65,000 psi and our portable on site trailer tests hoses up to 60,000 psi.

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Our principles are simple - to strive to be the best at what we do. We have a small, energetic team who have the reputation for being experts in the industry. We are dedicated to providing unequalled service, and our industry knowledge, customer focus and responsiveness sets us apart from our competitors.

Our clients range from the government, in particular, the Royal Australian Navy, government contractors and industrial clients. When undertaking a new project, we ensure our staff, suppliers and equipment are up to the challenge and resourced accordingly. We listen to our customers, ensuring our decisions meet their changing needs.

Initially, our challenges included being perceived by the industry as just another start-up company however this perception was short lived. We have proven that you do not need to have a massive workforce or presence to service clients effectively. Rather, we believe you simply need

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well trained, talented and dedicated staff and the ability to think outside the box to get things done.

In December 2015, we moved into our new HQ, which is equipped with the most modern machinery necessary to service our clients.

Other improvements include our new website which launched this month. We are constantly looking to bring in new suppliers and products to enhance and complement our business, whilst also investing in the latest security, technology, equipment and tooling available.

Company: Chief Fluid Systems Name: Glen Haddon Email: admin@chieffluidsystems.com.au Web Address: www.chieffluidsystems.com.au Address: 42/85-115 Alfred Rd, Chipping Norton, Sydney, 2170, Australia Telephone: 0061 02 9726 8008

APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

AllBright lAw Offices Established in 1999 11, 12/F, Shanghai Tower, No.501, Yincheng Middle Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 200120, P.R.China Tel: +86 21 2051 1000 Fax: +86 21 2051 1999 Website: www. allbrightlaw.com Managing partner: Wu Mingde Partners: 408

Lawyers: 1417

Key areas of practice: Corporate and Commercial, Securities and Capital Markets, Banking and Financing, Real Estate and Construction, Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property, International Trade, Special Areas

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We are one of the leading full-service Chinese law firms in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”).

As a national law firm headquartered in Shanghai, we provide a comprehensive range of high quality legal services to both domestic and international clients from our eighteen offices, respectively in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Hefei, Jinan, Nanchang, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Tianjin, Taiyuan, Xiamen, Zhengzhou and Hong Kong.

While size is only one of many indicators of the success and resourcefulness of a law firm, we certainly lead in this respect among our peers in Shanghai. We are the largest law firm based in Shanghai (and in the whole Eastern China region).

We have approximately 1417 registered lawyers (including approximately 408 partners and senior consultants). Aside from our regular working language of Chinese (Mandarin and major dialects), many of our lawyers are also fluent in English, Japanese, French, German, and other major languages, and many are also admitted in international jurisdictions. Our partners and senior consultants came to the firm from diverse professional and personal backgrounds. Many transactional lawyers have practiced for years in top international law firms and/or in leading multinational companies. A number of our litigators once were judges and prosecutors, and many are active arbitrators. We also have access to a strong network of former government officials and legislators. Supported by a large team of translators and legal assistants, our professionals have undertaken many complex and high profile transactions, and have won many landmark cases.

Our lawyers have played critical roles in advising the government on, and actually drafting, many of the core Chinese laws and regulations involved in our daily practices today, and were involved in drafting several international treaties concerning international investment, trade and other forms of economic cooperation.

Our practitioners possess a wealth of first-hand experience and legal expertise in providing effective solutions to the most complex of legal issues regarding the application of laws and regulations, governmental approval and legal procedures.

www.apacinsider.com

Stellar Service Leadership in the Asia Pacific - Australia

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Special APAC Insider Supplement

APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

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A Stellar Service

Stellar is Australia’s leading business process and contact centre solutions provider, supporting the needs of customers with both onshore and offshore services.

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the most awarded business process outsourcer in the industry, Stellar Asia Pacific has gone from strength to strength. The business opened its first contact centre in Australia in 1998, and now the company has a footprint across Australia, the Philippines, Europe and the USA. As technology capabilities grew Stellar expanded their reach, and today they are experts on the end-to-end customer journey across multiple channels. As the leading provider of sales, service and business process outsourcing in Australia, Stellar is proud to have supported product growth and revenue generation for some of Australia’s most recognisable brands.

The company’s differentiation stems from their approach to strategic partnership, focus on operational excellence, and a culture of transparency.

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Melissa Hamilton, CEO of Stellar Asia Pacific, talks to us about how the company works with clients to achieve success, Stellar’s unique business culture and how Stellar has adapted to changes in the industry.

Stellar takes a collaborative approach with their clients, working in partnership to discover what is best for their business. They then collaborate with suppliers to plan, design, and deliver services and solutions that exceed the expectations of their clients and their customers. Melissa

explains what steps Stellar takes to ensure that their clients and customers are satisfied.

“Whether a client wants to sell more and increase their market share, adopt self-service automation strategies or drive stronger customer loyalty and advocacy – we put their customer at the core of everything we do.

“We firmly believe in tailoring a solution to suit our clients’ specific customer goals. We employ the right channel, or mix of channels – including voice, social media, web chat, and virtual agents.

Our back-of-house operations are in safe hands with our shared services team. And throughout all of this, our customer insights programs can harness feedback directly from the voice of the customer.”

Stellar’s consulting branch Stellar Evolve was established to customer-led innovation and transformation for our clients. Stellar Evolve combines Tier 1 consulting experience with operational expertise to offer practical solutions that provide business value.

Melissa continues, “We have clients of all sizes and across all industries. We are proud to be the most trusted contact centre provider for government organisations – alongside telco, travel and transportation, utilities, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, entertainment, tourism, education, aged care and non-for-profit.

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Leadership

“We lead our clients on a journey. Every client is different, and while our industry and vertical expertise will put us in good stead for knowing what to do, there’s still a discovery in finding out what makes their customers special.”

The culture that Stellar adheres to makes them unique in their industry. Founded on Open Book Management (OBM) principles, the company has always ensured that people are an essential part of the company’s success. OBM creates links between client contractual outcomes and agent performance, and is the reason that Stellar confidently guarantees performance. Melissa describes Stellar’s ongoing strategy and how staff are vital to their business.

“Our core principle is that we are ‘passionate about people, passionate about customers’. When working with clients, we always put their customer first and look at how we can transform that experience.

“We educate our staff to understand our clients’ industry, why they have chosen to partner with us and what they want to achieve. At Stellar, we enable our staff to track and understand their performance, rewarding them through our unique profit-share program. Since we opened our doors, we have paid over 35% of our EBIT to our people. This direct line of sight between each client’s core business drivers and our employees’ rewards empowers our teams, creating ownership and pride in the outcomes we deliver together.”

The Open Book Management (OBM) principles Stellar uses helps them to provide two key outcomes: • Better outcomes for clients – exceeding product sales targets, reducing overall operating costs and achieving industry leading NPS results for clients • Better outcomes for employees – better retention, participation in a company-wide profit sharing scheme and a clear ability to contribute and grow.

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

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This culture differentiates Stellar from the other providers in the market. By being passionate about their employees as well as their customers, Stellar has thrived. This principle only makes the company stronger, as Melissa clarifies: “Culture is our core, and it cannot change. People need to come first in business – empowering people makes our company stronger. At the essence, everyone wants to do a good job and know they are valued, and everyone has room to grow and learn. Open Book Management culture promotes the free flow of communication in both directions, and sometimes the best thing to do is to just listen.”

Since the company began, Melissa has nurtured her passion for the OBM culture throughout Stellar.

“I believe in setting high standards and striving for excellence, while also understanding that mistakes happen, and the best solution is to just fix them quickly. I have a genuine interest in our people and what matters to them. First and foremost, this is a people business. Being engaged and interested in what they need is essential.

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“Keeping communication simple, honest and truthful is a huge priority. To be any leader in any role you need to explain the ‘why’, and ask your team ‘how’. I trust my team and my people to do the right thing, and they always deliver. I firmly believe leadership is a behaviour, not a position.”

The industry which Stellar operates in has seen a significant shift in recent years towards digital interactions with customers. Many leading researchers with contact centre expertise, including Gartner and Dimension Data, have had to adapt to this change. Melissa explains what Stellar has done to face this challenge. “Digital disruption in customer interactions has required us to launch a broad range of digital offerings including webchat and social media services, along with providing consulting services to assist companies with customer strategy and operational improvements.

We have seen some great successes in our ability to assist clients with their digital transformation journey – across travel and transportation, government, utilities and retail industries.”

“While taking on new challenges – whether it’s technology, markets, or new solutions — two things remain critical and are the backbone of our ability to respond and adapt. Firstly, it’s about keeping our focus on our people and OBM approach. Secondly, it’s making the customer the core of what we do. In short, it’s all about keeping our mission front and foremost … ‘passionate about people, passionate about customers’.”

Stellar keeps up to date with technology in the industry and invests in new innovative solutions.

The company researches the best technology for

each client, to keep ahead of changing consumer expectations, as Melissa explains: “Our innovation is ongoing, with investment in a transformation program to integrate a wide variety of digital channels into our offering. We continue to invest in our own in-house workflow management and workload distribution solutions, believing in the quality of what we have built.

“To prove how much we believe in staying ahead of the curve, we have piloted with clients to trial new technology solutions, taking the financial risk on ourselves. In addition, we make sure we are doing the best thing for the customer, by taking realtime data from multiple sources to get a complete picture of customer behaviour and expectations.

Our speech analytics programs take sentiment from the voice of the customer to understand if what we’re doing is working – leading to improved business metrics across customer churn, sales yield, and improved customer advocacy.”

Stellar is currently experiencing very strong growth within the Australian market. Melissa explains that to build on this growth , the company will continue to adapt to change and will hire employees who can communicate with clients on complex issues.

“The biggest change for our business over the next five years is mostly likely to be the increased emphasis on digital and automated interactions, and these will become increasingly the expectation from customers across all industries.

“As automation increases, our industry will need to have “super resolvers” – frontline employees with the skill level and empowerment to handle complex problems. Stellar will also continue to broaden our offering of products, starting with our recent launch into shared services offerings – including financial and HR services.”

Stellar’s future is in safe hands, especially with a dedicated CEO such as Melissa at the helm. “A lifelong passion for people gives me the drive to take care of our clients, their customers and our team. It’s not hard to stay motivated and positive when you love what you do – the people here are magical, and my life is full of laughter.”

With Melissa’s passion for her staff, clients and customers, Stellar can look forward to a bright and prosperous future.

Company: Stellar Name: Melissa Hamilton Web Address: www.stellarbpo.com.au Address: Como Level 4, 650 Chapel Street, South Yarra, 3141, Australia Telephone: ASIA PACIFIC 1300 133 799 UK/EUROPE +44 1294 225 300 NORTH AMERICA +1 214 540 9722

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Leadership

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

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Achieve Your Career Dreams – STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD! Australian Business Awards - Best CV & Selection Criteria Consultant (Western Australia)

CV/Selection Criteria Consultant, Mandy Forwell has achieved tremendous success in Western Australia. Over the years, Mandy has built up a strong client base, assisting people from diverse backgrounds and varying professional levels.

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ituated in the tranquil hills of Perth, Western Australia, you will find the services of Mandy Forwell, CV/ Selection Criteria Consultant. For those who are seeking advice, help and assistance in compiling their Resume / Curriculum Vitae, Mandy thrives in welcoming each client, making them feel relaxed and creating an environment in which they feel free to share their career story.

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Drawing alongside each unique individual, implementing strategic interview techniques and offering advice, compassion, confidentiality, direction and focus, Mandy is able to obtain key information relevant to the targeted job application, compile documentation to the highest standard, work through the night when required, go above and beyond expectations to achieve objectives, and deliver high quality service, workmanship and professionalism.

Highly experienced and known for her successful results in compiling simple and complex statements addressing Selection Criteria for government positions within Australia, Mandy compiles indepth submissions for over 22 government departments. For over ten years, she has operated her consultancy business, establishing a solid clientele base and gaining a strong reputation in offering services that exceed the norm. Valuing each person as unique and individual, she offers empathy, compassion, quality-time, honour and respect. Through exceptional levels of integrity and honesty, Mandy delivers “old fashioned service” which her clients tell her is rarely experienced today.

In this difficult economic climate, Mandy draws from

her counselling/teaching background to provide encouragement, vision and renewed hope where needed.

While educating five children from birth to tertiary level, under the scrutiny of the Education Department, Mandy has used her transferable administrative/teaching skills to run workshops, seminars, programs, community and family support groups. Due to educating all her children full-time at home for 23 years, and unable to gain outside employment due to these 24/7 demands, she decided to start her own business from scratch in 2005. From small beginnings, Mandy has successfully built a reputation for being thorough, accommodating, prompt, professional and an expert in her field.

With the extreme downturn in the West Australian job market, low employee morale and less job opportunities available, Mandy believes it is essential to provide exemplary service which exceeds expectation; ensure that the client feels valued, and provide a personal service which inspires, motivates, encourages and builds fresh purpose, wellbeing and self-esteem. To see others succeed, embrace life, grow in confidence and achieve their dreams, makes her job incredibly satisfying and worthwhile.

Company: MANDY FORWELL CV/SELECTION CRITERIA CONSULTANT Name: MANDY FORWELL Email: forwell@aapt.net.au Web Address: www.mandyforwell.com.au Address: Mundaring, Western Australia, WA 6081 Telephone: (08) 9295 2639

A new online tech solution for insurance

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fast, simple & greater choice Ensurance have developed innovated global leading IT platforms, providing insurance products through digital channels.

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Real time quotes from multiple Insurers & choice of insurance cover options.

The Ensurance online system gives fast, simple, reliable, insurance products & services.

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Complete online system from quick quote to pay, bind & full documentation suite.

Ensurance enables financial institutions to own digital insurance solutions without the heavy capital investment required to build the infrastructure

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Value for money Ensurance has a wide range of insurance products from internationally recognised brands, giving high levels of expertise & support, ensuring that clients get the best policy at the right price.

Ensurance Limited Level 2, 2 Glen Street, Milsons Point, NSW 2061, Australia PO Box 523, Milsons Point, NSW 1565, Australia

www.ensurance.com.au

ASX CODE: ENA | ABN: 80 148 142 634

APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

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IATA Hit the Bulls Eye The Institute of Access Training Australia (IATA) provides an extensive range of access audits, appraisals, research and evaluation projects, consultations, advisory and access training services across Australia. Ms. Joe Manton talks to us about what they have achieved in the industry.

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ince 1993, IATA has become a leader in universal access to the built and outdoor environment and is a vital service to the Australian consultancy industry.

The team at IATA consists of highly experienced and qualified professionals who work to support clients in meeting their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and other related legislation and standards, whilst also maximising the benefits and opportunities of an ‘access for all’ approach’ to planning, developing, building, reviewing and upgrading all elements of the built and outdoor environment.

In this engaging interview, Ms. Joe Manton, Director of IATA speaks to about The Access Institute Brand and what it means for clients.

As a qualified trainer and assessor, accredited access consultant and industry expert, Joe is an experienced professional who has helped grow the brand of IATA along with a dedicated group of staff. Firstly, Joe gives us a brief overview of the company and what they are all about.

“Our team members have extensive expertise in all areas of universal access work and have been recognised through a variety of awards over a number of years. We have undertaken extensive work on a wide variety of access improvement projects for a diverse number of organisations across Australia and overseas. This work includes both social and technical access projects. We have provided services to many hundreds of organisations including local councils, state and commonwealth government agencies and many other businesses and community based organisations across Australia.

“We are flexible, creative and innovative in our approach and work with clients to achieve maximum access improvements and outcomes.

We are highly competent project managers

with extensive experience in social planning, community engagement and community development processes. In addition, we provide high quality access advice and undertake projects relating to access issues in the built environment relating to buildings and facilities, streetscapes, playgrounds, open space, businesses, events, services, communications and publications. We work collaboratively with clients to deliver high level, effective, relevant, sustainable outcomes which will support universal access.”

Access Institute is the only Registered Training organisation in Australia providing qualifications in access to the built environment. We can also provide similar courses in other countries.

The cornerstone of the Access Institute business is the company’s brand. It is the embodiment of the physical and emotional aspects of Access Institute; from their course material, trainers and presenters and training venues to the interpretations and associations held by the Access Institute organisation, right through to their clients.

Joe explains that by having a cohesive and consistent brand this increases and strengthens Access Institute visibility, reputation and awareness to all audiences. Branding is the process of creating and managing the associations that generate images and feelings about our brand.

The brand associations IATA creates are transmitted as signals – these signals must align with the Strategy and its central element, the Brand Essence. They must communicate to the market what is different and relevant about Access Institute. Joe explains, “branding is about signals – the signals our people, our partners and marketers use to determine what Access Institute stands for.

These signals create the associations that create the brand in the mind of the marketplace.

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Support Services “Truly great brands are the result of great branding. The more focused and aligned the brand application, the more effective and positive the associations will be. The Access Institute brand signals must be carefully and responsibly maintained. The signals ultimately make the biggest impact when building the perception of the Access Institute Brand. It’s about creating people that love the Access Institute Brand.

“The aim is to create the brand positioning, ‘Creating exceptional opportunities’ where Access Institute provides nationally recognised qualifications and training delivering knowledge, skills and confidence that promote leadership and professional respect. In achieving this, we will have created a strong emotional connection that will equate to long-term success for the brand. To accomplish the ‘Brand Positioning’, controlling the Access Institute Brand across all Touch Points is critical. Touch Points are all the points where our audience comes into contact with the brand.

“The brand and our reputation are built in the mind of the market place. This is achieved by creating positive and motivating images, emotions and associations at each touch point that are consistent in delivery. These touch points ultimately build a clear, focused image for Access Institute. Everybody, every decision, every day.”

IATA’s brand aims to serve both the primary and secondary client. The primary client consists of

Australian Business Awards (Best Universal Access Consultants)

professionals, organisations and government requiring nationally recognised qualifications, education and training for the Access Industry.

Whilst the secondary client are students seeking to be part of an emerging and developing industry where they can create a secure professional future with qualifications that are respected professionally.

In the future, IATA has a strong desire to expand their market and revenue by launching their own online education and training courses. Under the success of Joe and a new brand, IATA can look forward to a bright future.

Joe is an Accredited Access Consultant and Fellow of the Association of Consultants in Access Australia (ACAA), was inaugural Convenor of the Victorian Access Consultants Network (VACN), past Vice President of ACAA, a member of the Australian Institute of Training and Development (AITD) and Board member of the Centre for Universal Design Australia (CUDA). Joe is a highly regarded industry expert and pioneer and has been recognised for her work.

Company: IATA Name: Ms. Joe Manton Email: info@accessinstitute.com.au Web Address: www.accessinstitute.com.au Address: P.O. Box 255, North Melbourne, Victoria, 3051, Australia Telephone: +61 419134849

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

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Lendingkart Group: Loans Made Simple

Deal of the Year 2016 in India

Lendingkart Group is a technology focused Group offering a wide range of easy to access loan options. We caught up with CEO and Co-Founder Harshvardhan Lunia to learn more about how the Group supports clients through its service offering.

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endingkart Group NBFC specializes in providing collateral-free loans to SMEs, without tedious processes and delayed delivery of readily available cash, using analytics and big data scoring to evaluate a potential borrower’s business. The group’s NBFC focusses on the current year’s cash flows and business growth only.

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Whilst most NBFCs lend only against collaterals, insurance, liquid assets etc. and do not underwrite actual credit risks in the present, Lendingkart Group does not require the loan seeker to fill up long and cumbersome forms. Instead, they source the data itself from public and private sources and APIs, and the loan approval decision is taken within four hours of submitting documents and loan disbursal within 72 hours from the time of application, making the process significantly easier for the applicant. It is this applicant focus which sets the group apart, as Harshvardhan outlines.

“At Lendingkart Group, we aim to make working capital finance available at the fingertips of entrepreneurs, so that they can focus on business instead of worrying about the gaps in their cash-flows.

Borrowers just need to visit at www.lendingkart.com and apply for loan. They will then need to submit minimum documents that Group’s NBFC verifies using their proprietary knowledge to do credit scoring with the help of algorithms.

“Therefore, unlike banks and other NBFCs, we do not focus on vendor’s old records (past financial

statements and income tax returns) to evaluate the credit risk profile of a potential client. Instead we focus on their current year’s cash flows and business growth, so that our information is completely up to date and clients with previously poor records are still able to receive a loan easily and through a straightforward process.”

Alongside this, the group operates a WISH principle: • W stands for ‘Without human intervention’: SME owners and vendors do not wish to travel to banks and apply for loan and then wait for it to get approved which usually takes from a week to few months. They look for a better system where the entire process can be performed online and be done away with any human component • I for ‘Instant Decisions’: SMEs do not tend to keep any inventory and need money on immediate basis. If they fail to meet demand, they will be subjected to opportunity loss • S for ‘Simple Processes’: Vendors and Owners are ‘non-finance’ people who do not want to get involved into cumbersome, incomprehensible procedures; • H for ‘Hyper-flexibility’: Flexible with time and amount- loan for one or two months, rather than a perpetual loan, with a flexible EMI as well.

As well as providing strong client support and flexible solutions, in order to remain efficient and at the forefront of the latest industry innovations, Lendingkart Group has developed technological tools based on analytics and big data to evaluate

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Support Services the lenders’ clients’ business. There is enough data available to determine a customer’s intent to pay back a loan such as service and product quality, financial health of his business, and the ability to survive competition. The process ensures that the lender’s clients do not have to fill exhaustive forms as the data could be scraped from public and private sources, APIs, etc. This innovation ensures the firm’s effectiveness whilst also supporting clients, according to Harshvardhan, who is clearly very proud of the group’s technological offering.

“Lendingkart Group NBFC is a technology driven SME financing company that leverages the very latest technology to serve the credit starved community of India. The NBFC assesses financial health, comparative market performance, social reliability and compliance practices to determine the credit worthiness of SMEs. The Group Company has identified different variables and algorithms which assists the lenders in credit score calculation. These variables could be gathered from various online/ offline footprints of vendors for an accurate evaluation.

Those algorithms use over 2200 + raw data points to facilitate the lenders to generate a lending decision almost instantaneously resulting in loan approval within four hours of submitting documents and loan disbursal within 72 hours from the time of application.

“Having said this, we are also cautious of the potential cyber threat that can hamper our technological process. To tackle that, the IT environment is set up on AWS, which provides, by default, the protection from unauthorized access from unrecognized IP addresses. Separate dedicated environments have been created internally to protect production environment from development/testing activities.

Databases and application servers have been set up in clusters rather than single hosts to improve the availability and disaster recovery. Firewall is enabled at the AWS level to protect from cyber-attacks. We also ensure IP whitelisting of any external services/ data partners as well as a secured channel for data communication over the network.

Overall we are following security standards for internet technology by ensuring secured communication channel between client (browsers) and servers.

Wherever possible, the key information for the customer has been encrypted and stored/ processed.

Application access is controlled through Basic Authentication and all the reads are re-authenticated even if originated from the same source.”

Considering the current credit deficit situation in India, the market is big enough for traditional institutions and alternate lenders to co-exist and work together towards financial inclusion in the country.

Lendingkart Group do not see banks and large NBFCs as competitors, but rather as partners in their ongoing vision. Harshvardhan outlines what makes the firm the best possible financial partner for SMEs.

“Lendingkart Group NBFC’s completely online and hassle-free process makes it the preferred financing partner for SMEs. In our last 2 years of lending journey, we have learnt that SMEs wants loans that are easily accessible, require limited paperwork, have no middleman intervention and are available instantly whenever required to capitalize on a good business opportunity. Keeping these requirements in mind, our product is designed to cater to all financial needs of SMEs, thereby easing their financial woes. The Group NBFC has carved out a niche for itself in the sub Rs. 10 lacs short term loan market. All our loans are instant; simple; flexible and are disbursed digitally to SMEs, giving us an edge in terms of customer experience.”

With a vast credit market, India is currently a great place for firms such as Lendingkart Group, and the future looks bright for the group, as Harshvardhan concludes.

“India has a massive credit starved market where there are many small business owners who are denied financing despite being credit worthy. Therefore, Lendingkart Group’s long term goal is to reach out to every single SME who is in need for working capital credit and bring a difference in their business. Our aim is to touch every nook and corner of the country and ensure no SME is left underserved.”

Company: Lendingkart Group Name: Harshvardhan Lunia Email: harsh@lendingkart.com Web Address: https://lendingkart.com/ Address: 301-302 Primate, Opp. Mother Milk Palace, Near Judges’ Bunglow Cross Roads, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad – 380054, India.

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

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Leader in Aged Residential Care

‘Best Boutique’ Aged Care

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Located in Waratah, Maroba is a boutique facility offering a variety of services ranging from residential aged care, respite, independent living units and soon to be developed aged-care high-rise apartments. We contacted CEO Viv Allanson to find out more about their services and its plans for the future. aroba was established in 1954 in an old maternity cottage in Mayfield offering ten rooms for elderly widows and spinsters. In 1960, a parcel of land was granted in Waratah where Maroba has grown from its initial ten beds to 155 aged care beds and 23 retirement villas providing accommodation and care for seniors from all walks of life. We continue to be operated by the Islington Baptist Church, proudly maintaining its independence as a truly local service.

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Once you’ve arrived, you won’t want to leave as we offer all styles of aged care to suit you and your needs over time. Residents at Maroba experience a strong sense of community, high-quality care services and a wide range of social and connecting opportunities. We work with seniors both when they are well and active and when their health and physical capacity has declined.

The leadership team here strive to provide excellence in service delivery through a strong commitment to transformational leadership.

We are funded primarily by the Commonwealth Government along with a contribution by each resident in the form of a daily care fee and if they have the means to contribute to their accommodation costs they will pay the published price by way of a residential accommodation deposit or a daily accommodation payment.

With regards to our key principles, we focus on building relationships rather than a reputation which has given us a sense of accountability and therefore the opportunity to enrich lives through love, respect and dignity.

If we empower and develop our staff, they enhance their skills and are able to provide the best quality care to our residents. Our staff go above and beyond their position descriptions in caring for the residents and Maroba aims to reward our team in many different ways. It’s the passion and dedication to their job which has seen the company recognised for its achievements today.

One of our key credentials which helps differentiate ourselves from our competitors is our ability to commit to local business and support our micro and macro economy through engaging local businesses and paying our bills on time, every time to ensure continuity of great service to our residents. Perhaps of more importance is our CEO Viv Allanson who leads on many fronts and contributes to the aged care landscape at local, national and International levels as she serves on various boards and forums.

Maroba is well known in the sector as an early adopter so we are always looking for innovative cost effective systems that will enhance resident outcomes and employee job satisfaction. When an innovation comes to our attention or we seek out a

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Support Services atmosphere where we get to work. This approach has supported low turnover and strong interest in working at Maroba.

At present the policy shift to consumer directed care is driving great change within the region as we all look to how we can further set ourselves apart from the competition once the consumer controls the funding. This policy is currently being rolled out in the community setting and is soon to be rolled out in the residential setting.

The role of the carer is one of constant giving, but aged-care nurses are not acknowledged enough for their role in caring for the elderly.

Each week Maroba is privileged to have a range of volunteers attending various activities at the facility, including church services, beauty care, bingo, arts and crafts, music therapy, exercised programs and more.

particular technology, we establish a project team to research the offering and report back. If deemed suitable to our environment and the business case stacks up for the board, then we press go and proceed with purchase and implementation.

When undertaking new projects, the senior leadership team work closely with the board to develop project parameters and identify potential project partners eg. architects and engineering teams for our apartment project. Once engaged the appropriate team is selected and works closely with all stakeholders to get to the next stage of board decision making.

Maroba follows trends through our peak body and various industry forums. The biggest issue trending at present is the shift of power and funding to the consumer, without big thinkers and extreme consumer engagement we would be left behind.

So Maroba is on the front foot and riding this wave of change.

The key to our future, in a very competitive market, is to continue to grow our brand and grow our services and accommodation offerings.

Planning for expansion into community care and development of 51 apartments for retirement living within our Waratah campus will compliment and strengthen current service offerings.

Workforce planning in the industry has been particularly challenging as pay rates in our sector are not competitive so we always strive to create a desirable home for seniors in a family

As we recently celebrated Carers’ Week, Maroba would like to acknowledge and thank the staff, volunteers and families for their ongoing contributions and commitment to enhancing the lives of the residents. Without their dedication, the Maroba family would not be complete. Our residential aged care community has been thriving for 60 years and we’d welcome others to join us and add their life experience and skills to our residents’ rich tapestry.

As an award winning company, we believe our built environment tells the story of our vision and values and emphasises the transparency of our operations and business model. Nothing is ever hidden at Maroba.

Going forward, Maroba aspires to continue to be regarded as a major influence within the region, not only in the aged care sector but within the education and business sector and community generally. Opportunities arise regularly for Maroba’s people to be the voice on a variety of issues from aged care to sustainability and lots in between. The “Braeside” apartments are our next project, along with planning for community services, they will run as parallel projects with a designated, care and building team to see these important projects through.

Company: Maroba Name: Viv Allanson Email: viv@maroba.com.au Web Address: www.maroba.com.au Address: 58 Edith St, Waratah. NSW 2291 Telephone: 0249350300 or 0411030070

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

Legal

Putting People First There are often times in everybody’s lives when legal advice is sought, and it is always an advantage to have the help of legal professionals that care. Patten Robins Lawyers, a Melbournebased consultation firm, have a wide range of departments to cater for all legal needs of its customer base. These comprise family, property and commercial clients, with a particular expertise in appeals. Customer service, high-level expertise and reasonable rates are the cornerstones of business practice at Patten Robins. he company’s aim, in essence, is to provide clients with personable interactions and high-level results that match their clients’ business objectives. This gives Patten Robins a truly individual identity that has proven well suited to not only attracting new clients, but also encouraging them to seek the services of the firm repeatedly, and foster long-lasting relationships.

Rather than picking and choosing the easiest or strongest cases, Patten Robins opts instead to take on as wide a caseload as they can conceivably manage, and then deal with each case accurately, according to their merits. By maximising their presence across the market in this fashion, Patten Robins has been able to achieve great success both in their hometown of Melbourne and throughout Australia.

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Conveyancing represents a major facet in the Patten Robins’ operation - Patten Robins Lawyers’ team of highly experienced solicitors and conveyancers are available to help with all stages of Australian and international property transactions, whether a client is buying or selling a home, unit, vacant block, strata title, commercial real estate or rural property.

Patten Robins Melbourne works closely with the rest of the companies that make up the Patten Robins Group International, drawing upon their full resources so as to provide full-service products for their clients. For instance, in the past, notable firms such as DCL Finance, Viewhill Property Services and Penguin Owners Corporation Management have worked together with Patten Robins’ property law and conveyancing department to legalise and finance a client’s purchase, then manage their property maintenance and owners’ corporation. This process has worked seamlessly in the past when providing these clients – and many more– with unprecedented levels of services that speak volumes to the firm’s professionalism and gravitas within their industry.

There is no doubt that the pace of change in adaptation of new technologies have led to explosive developments in the company as well as the wider industry. There is a much higher demand now for good intellectual property expertise, including copyright and patent law, which Patten Robins is eager to capitalise on.

Additionally, the ability of new technology to quicken the pace of business allows Patten Robins to expand its appeal to a wider range of customers through reduced rates for their services. The existence of three large separate support companies for the handling of its software, computers and telephony systems, not only ensures that the company maintains its robust reliability for its clients, but also so that the company is in a stronger position to continue evolving in pace with new technology. This drive to constantly seek input from all clients and staff is how Patten Robins sees technology as a way to better serve their company goals and purpose. To them, efficiency in this aspect is a crucial step towards the end goal of providing more efficient costings for their clients.

Saving on costs is vital to any litigation; government departments and individuals alike are always focused on achieving quality results without incurring unnecessary costs. Patten Robins are, if anything, just as dedicated to this objective, if not more so.

The firm will often employ solicitor advocates for in a wide range of Court and tribunal appearances, including matters in the superior Courts. Where barristers are required, however, Patten Robins will seek appropriate instructions from the client and brief a member of Counsel carefully selected for the particular case.

“We have to make sure that we are in constant contact with all other elements of the legal industry,” comments Anthony Murdoch, Director. “We make sure that we support our barrister, pier and judicial relationships all year round. It can become very easy

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Legal to just wait until the next Christmas party to catch up with our connections, but we feel that keeping in touch with the wider industry, and really working out what changes they are experiencing, will keep us better informed as a firm.”

There is certainly merit to this idea – Patten Robins has been growing rapidly, and more than ever before over the last six months, according to Murdoch. This high focus on client relationships and their ongoing development, even months after their services are no longer required, has made Patten Robins a real force for positive change in the industry, and this assists them in moving forward when it comes to fostering new relationships, the majority of which come on a referral basis.

“We work with a wide range of clients,” Murdoch continues. “My own personal reward comes from working with clients that find themselves in seemingly difficult or impossible situations, in order to help them to improve their life, and help them to work towards what is important for them.” This new client focus is always based around working out what the client is seeking, rather than what the firm is seeking to accomplish through them – to Murdoch, this is the fundamental understanding of high-quality legal services, especially where long-lasting client relations are concerned. “There is no point in providing advice on a course of action that might be termed as the ‘usual course’, but which doesn’t achieve the goal of the particular client.”

This spirit of fair, impartial and fully supportive legal representation is further underpinned in Patten Robins’ history with criminal law: the outcome of a court case might be life-changing, so Murdoch and Patten Robins make themselves on hand to give a defendant the best possible chance, whether this is through one of the firm’s traffic lawyers or criminal defence lawyers.

“We will advise you of your rights, prepare you for your court appearance, and explain the court procedures so you understand what’s happening. We regularly appear in court, and we will defend your case clearly and strongly to give you the best possible outcome.”

Individually, then, Patten Robins has most certainly forged a unique presence in their respective industry, one that is proving increasingly popular with a wide and growing clientele. The prospect of competition, Murdoch says, is therefore not something that the legal professionals at Patten Robins really allow themselves to be distracted by. “Rather, we will try and work with neighbouring and rival firms to provide a better service overall for the community and the client base. Occasionally, of course, there may be certain direct rivalries from a new firm in the market, but Murdoch has found that by sticking to the company’s principles and identifying as a firm first and foremost, is what gives Patten Robins the result that they need in order to continue helping clients to the best of their ability.”

This leads Murdoch to discuss the key attributes that make Patten Robins such a market leader in this regard, and why he, as a Director has been able to accomplish this. “Our aim is to provide clients with personable interactions and high-level results that match their objectives,” he recites. “We always find ourselves aiming for the highest level of customer service; clients need to know that they can have open and frequent communication with their lawyers, without fear of paying exorbitant legal fees. Therefore, our strategy is definitively customer service-based, whilst keeping the level of expertise at a very high level.”

Anthony Murdoch is admitted to both the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of the Commonwealth of Australia; he achieved a number of qualifications in law and business to support this credential: these include a Bachelor of Laws, a Bachelor of Commerce, a Master of Laws in Global Business Law (Upper First Class Honours), Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (ANU), Certificate III Front Line Management and Certificate IV Finance and Mortgage Broking. On top of this, he is also member of the Credit and Investments Ombudsman, and is an Accredited Mortgage Broker.

Combined with his experience in Courts throughout Victoria in prosecution, summary crime, Supreme Court appeals and general appellate litigation, Anthony consistently achieves the same sort of highlevel results on both sides of the bar table that he aims to deliver to his clients on a daily basis.

Anthony has developed a specific ability in litigation management and advocacy, which he transmits with zeal and passion to the running of operation of Patten Robins Lawyers. With their high level of expertise and excellent customer service, Patten Robins Lawyers is going from strength to strength and can look forward to a bright and prosperous future.

Company: Patten Robins Lawyers Name: Anthony Murdoch, Director Email: melbourne@pattenrobins.com.au Web Address: www.plaw.com.au Address: PRG Building, 62 – 64 Doncaster Road, Balwyn North, Melbourne VIC 3104 Telephone: 03 9859 5455

PATTEN ROBINS Lawyers

Australian Business Awards – Best Law Firm

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

Legal

Best Employment Law Firm 2016 Australia

McDonald Murholme is the leading employment law firm for employees based in Victoria and South Australia. Managing Director Mr Alan McDonald talks us through the firm and how it came to achieve its current success.

Donald Murholme practices almost exclusively in employment law – being the only plaintiff law firm in Melbourne to do so on a substantial scale, employing 11 dedicated employment law experts for the purpose.

Alongside this innovative structure, job satisfaction is also key to ensuring that clients get the very best from the practice’s staff. Mr McDonald outlines the most rewarding aspects of the firm’s work and how it aims to ensure its professionals are always at the top of their game.

The firm has been dedicated to allowing employees access to the employment laws within Australia, aiming to provide sound legal advice and strategy to make the laws work for employees when confronted with a better resourced and more powerful employer.

As such, its employees are skilled and very experienced in dispute resolution, to the benefit of both employees and employers.

“The legal sector provides a framework for the orderly resolution of a wide range of disputes which inevitably occur in the business and wider community. Within this framework, one can be creative and innovative in the ways and means of resolving disputes with a raft of laws, often in conflict with each other, providing a challenging backdrop.

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It is the firm’s innovative structure which ensures that clients receive the very best level of service from its employees. Each Lawyer has a unique team of support staff, ensuring all the needs of the client are met. Each Lawyer is supported by a Junior Lawyer and an Administration Assistant, as well as a team of communications staff who act as a liaison between the Lawyer and Client.

This structure ensures that each client receives a highly personalised service. From the first appointment the prospective client is introduced to a member of the communications team who briefly explains the process of their claim and the steps moving forward. The Communications Assistant remains in contact with the client on a regular basis.

This overcomes the common problem where busy lawyers do not spend sufficient time understanding the client’s perspective on how the case is proceeding. This perspective is well understood by a professionally trained Communications Assistant, rather than a PA to the Lawyer.

“It is rewarding to enable employees to utilise these laws to fight a better resourced employer. McDonald Murholme prides itself on providing expert legal advice and guidance for employees from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, with some of the most rewarding results coming from those cases fought for a client on a lower income. Overall, here at McDonald Murholme we are unashamedly innovative and entrepreneurial in what we do. Our employee training programs are constant and well advanced.”

All of the firm’s recruitment is done in-house, as the firm feel that existing staff members are in a better position to decide on new employees as they live and breathe the company values. “Our recruitment is led by our General Manager and Senior Law Clerk who have experience in human resources,” adds Mr McDonald. “To ensure that we attract the best talent, it is vital we look after our existing talent.

We endeavour to provide a fantastic workplace where employees enjoy the work they do and get recognised for it.”

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Legal The firm’s overall mission is to focus on fairness no matter what socio-economic background the client comes from and is dedicated to innovation in the practice of law.

of the most common issues seen in Australian workplaces. Many clients utilise this website to empower themselves with some initial knowledge and revert back to McDonald Murholme when required.

To achieve this, McDonald Murholme is also passionate about spreading the word of employee rights in the workplace through awareness campaigns and partnerships with various non-forprofit organisations such as Beyond Blue and tertiary institutions such as Monash University. Mr McDonald proudly outlines how the firm has provided insight to the wider industry recently in order to share its wealth of experience and knowledge.

Within the wider legal industry currently, the largest of the law firms have felt the pressure to amalgamate with larger overseas law firms. This has disempowered and frustrated many local lawyers, who feel that they are working for large international corporates with less say over their own personal futures.

“In the last year, commentary provided by McDonald Murholme has featured in two front page articles in The Age newspaper – which has been syndicated across many other Fairfax publications such as the Sydney Morning Herald, again demonstrating the authority of the commentary from McDonald Murholme’s solicitors.

“Notably, McDonald Murholme has also been called upon a number of times by the Australian Financial Review and The Australian, to comment on various issues facing the legal industry – such as the issues being faced by other legal practices.”

In addition, McDonald Murholme prides itself in being a leader in the employment law field by not only assisting clients but also educating the public through its free online resource: Employment Law Online (ELO) (www.employmentlawonline.com.au).

ELO is structured in a question and answer style format, which provides easy to read access to some

Not all of the global mergers have been successful and even those deemed a success have not delivered substantial increases in incomes for Australian lawyers.

“Some mid-sized law firms have expanded strongly while a few of the very small law firms have gone out of business altogether,” states Mr McDonald. “This combined has created valuable business opportunity for our firm to consistently grow at a rate of more than 25% per annum over recent years.”

Looking to the future, McDonald Murholme is eager to capitalise on this growth, and as such has recently expanded to South Australia, opening an office in the Adelaide CBD. This venture has allowed South Australian residents to access experienced employment lawyers who are able to provide legal advice and strategy to make these laws work for them.

Ultimately, McDonald Murholme is focussed on outcomes and has a well-known reputation for doing so. It will meet the market as required in terms of pursuing a claim to its best outcome, even if doing so means offering a very competitive price.

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APAC Insider Magazine / November 2016

Legal

Best Patent Law Firm 2016 - Japan

ONDA TECHNO Intl. Patent Attorneys is a market leading Japanese law firm specialising in IP law. We invited President and Patent Attorney Makoto Onda to talk us through the firm and how it has achieved its long standing success.

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stablished in 1968 ONDA TECHNO is a full service intellectual property firm supporting clients around the world from its offices in Gifu (a suburb of Nagoya), Tokyo, Osaka, Shanghai, and Taipei.

The firm has extensive experience in IP prosecution and litigation, which is highlighted by the fact that it was ranked number four for total patent filings (published patents) at the JPO for 2015.

As his opening comment Makoto discusses his firm’s service offering and the means by which it provides the very highest standard of service to clients.

“ONDA TECHNO is one of the top firms in Japan not only for patents but also for total design filings at the JPO. We have filed approximately 15,000 design applications and 2,000 responses to office actions since the establishment of our firm.

Our clients appreciate our strategy for obtaining the broadest design protection possible and for establishing a strong design portfolio.

“As a firm we have 280 employees including 34 patent attorneys, two US patent attorneys, seven Chinese patent attorneys, and over 100 patent engineers in Japan that serve numerous clients worldwide with patent, design, trademark, and search services. We are staffed with highly educated engineers and legal staff. This combination allows us to provide fast, efficient and cost effective service. Further, we have a patent attorney dedicated to search, a qualified search staff, and in-house translators and drawing staff.

Thus, we have a great deal of control over the quality of our services, translations, and drawings.”

Over the years the firm has changed the face of the Asian legal industry, acting as pioneers in a number of areas, as Makoto emphasises.

“ONDA TECHNO was the first Japanese IP firm to establish offices in China and Taiwan. With our offices in Japan, Shanghai and Taipei, we provide our clients with a one-stop shop for IP filings in all three countries. Upon request, we can file applications in China and Taiwan from our Shanghai and Taipei offices.

“Technology is another area in which we are always eager to innovate, and as such we have developed our own software for checking applications before filing with the JPO and for docketing systems and have prevented clerical errors by use of these systems.

“Our security measures include monitoring networks, recordation of operational logs, and restriction of access to our clients’ data. Since Japan is a quake-prone country, ONDA TECHNO regularly stores backed-up data at a remote location and is well prepared for unexpected problems and disasters.

“Further, our IT specialists routinely facilitate the transition to e-billing for our clients, and can accommodate a variety of e-billing systems including CounselLink, Tymetrix, Serengeti Tracker, Ascent, Collaborati and other systems. By being up to date with the very latest technology we are able to ensure that we always offer our clients the very best possible service, which according to our clients, is hard to find.”

By offering an unrivalled service the firm is able to achieve its mission, which Makoto discusses in detail.

“Here at ONDA TECHNO our mission is to provide benefits to our clients by protecting their intellectual property. A patent is issued on excellent technology and brings benefits to our clients. We support our clients to obtain patents, trademarks and designs, and our clients appreciate our quality work. Our work results

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Legal connect development of technology in the world. I believe that all our work supports today’s world, so I feel content and also feel that I am fortunate to work in the patent sector.”

our firm philosophy book, in which numerous examples of the way of work are introduced, with group members from time to time in order to keep the basic standards in mind.”

Staff are also central to the firm’s success, and Makoto believes leadership and constant development are vital to the continued satisfaction of his workforce.

Currently the Japanese IP market is facing a number of changes which will provide Makoto and his firm with a number of opportunities, as he explains.

“At ONDA TECHNO we provide good service thanks to our skilled and dedicated employees.

Our professionals provide the most suitable advice in order to add additional value. To keep up the skill of our engineers, we hold study meetings for both technology and law so that they are constantly improving their skills and enhancing their knowledge.

“Since manufacturing bases have shifted to other Asian countries, the number of orders for filing patent applications has been reduced. On the other hand, manufacturing bases are coming back to Japan due to the possibility of elevating labor costs in Asia, the high reputation for safe products made in Japan, and so on. Thus, I believe that Japan is an important country as a manufacturing base and also has a strong market which will help the overall industry and increase the opportunities for growth for firms such as ours.”

“As President I try to manage the company based on a philosophy of striving to keep of all our members happy both professionally and personally. It is our aim that all workers in our company can enjoy the working environment in our offices. To achieve one of our goals, being the nicest firm in the world, all workers have the service spirit to satisfy our clients’ needs. I also attend all job interviews personally in order to share our philosophy for running the company, and hire people who agree with our firm philosophy.

“Alongside this all members attend morning meetings that are held every Monday and listen to speeches from the president and the chairman.

Members in other offices also attend the meeting via our video conference system. In this way, we share information about our clients, how to avoid mistakes, circumstances and direction of the firm management, results of our work, how we should work for our clients’ satisfaction, and so on, and we therefore follow the same high standard.

We also recite our credo at the beginning of the Monday morning meeting. Further, we read

Looking ahead, Makoto is eager to outline his plans for the future of the firm and the areas he would like it to expand into.

“Moving forward, I would like to continue our activities supporting IP protection in East Asia through the work for Seven Seas IP Group. I would especially like to concentrate on the development of our Chinese and Taiwanese offices. Further, I would like to expand our support to clients by establishing a good relationship with agents in ASEAN countries. These aims will provide us with numerous exciting opportunities which we look forward to taking advantage of.”

Company: ONDA TECHNO Intl. Patent Attys.

Address: 12-1, Omiya-cho 2-chome, Gifu city, 5008731, Japan Phone: 81-58-265-9124 Fax: 81-58-266-8069 Website: https://www.ondatechno.com

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A nsiderac Readership

China 29,827

Japan 23,861

South Korea 3,692

Pakistan 4,353

Taiwan 4,031 Philippines 2,580 Singapore 10,480 Thailand 2,580 Malaysia 11,125

India 23,378

Sri Lanka 1,499

Indonesia 4,676

Australia 36,276 Other 1,740

New Zealand 1,129

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