Features
Mercury Rising
With good contacts in the business, a former bookkeeper grows his customs brokerage venture into one of the country's top 10 logistics companies
By Marie Anne Fajardo
Mercury Freight International Inc., which started as a customs brokerage and cargo consolidator in 1987, is now one of the country's top 10 logistics companies servicing Asian destinations, and is also one of the top 20 most competitive companies serving global destinations. It also runs an international freight forwarder and licensed customs brokerage company, "K" Line Air Service Philippines Inc., in joint venture with "K" Line Air Service Ltd. of Japan.
The founder-owner of Mercury Freight is Bayani Coching, a former bookkeeper who used to manage Bell Brokerage Inc., the logistics arm of the Smith Bell Group of Companies, way back in the 1970s and early 1980s. "It was in Bell Brokerage that I learned about freight forwarding and cargo handling and how to run the different aspects of the business. That working experience gave me the confidence to set up my own company."
Having been trained and exposed to global logistics, Coching decided to put up an international brokerage firm instead of just a domestic one. He was certain that he could make a go of it because of the good network of contacts he had developed with key foreign agents while working with Bell Brokerage. But to secure good projects from overseas, he partnered with a friend who had important business connections in various foreign countries. Together, Coching and his silent partner put up Mercury Freight in 1987 and bagged its first major project: handling the cargo requirements of a US$26-million housing project at Clark Air Base in Angeles City. "My friend trusted me because he knew I had the experience in handling these kinds of projects," Coching recalls.
Mercury Freight got started with advanced funding from its client, a major American construction firm, but its first year of operation—especially during the first six months—proved to be very difficult. "Making the business viable didn't happen so easily," Coching says. "We were incurring so much in expenses before the revenues could come in."
After running Mercury Freight for 20 years, however, Coching now knows the business like the back of his hand. He has developed ways to achieve economies of scale in moving cargo for clients, and has learned to hire additional manpower only if absolutely necessary. In particular, since he found out that most companies have fixed timetables for shipping their goods, Coching knows that clients now routinely use sea freight instead of air freight as long as they can comfortably meet their production schedules. It is only when companies with tight production schedules need to send goods very urgently that they exercise the air freight option, which Mercury Freight also offers.
In 1989, the company undertook an expansion program. "I used the profits from our first cargo handling project to move to a bigger office location," says Coching. Today, Mercury Freight currently employs a total of 200 people at its main office in Parañaque City and in its provincial offices in various parts of the country, and Coching sees to it that they are properly trained for their respective jobs through various training programs and workshops.
In 1990, Coching established its joint venture with "K" Line Air Service Ltd. of Japan, which he had served when he was still an agent of the Smith Bell Group of Companies. He decided to go into the joint venture with "K" Line Air Service to compliment the logistics business of Mercury Freight, which until that time was limited to sea freight transport. "I was flattered that they wanted to work with me again," he recalls.
The founder-owner of Mercury Freight is Bayani Coching, a former bookkeeper who used to manage Bell Brokerage Inc., the logistics arm of the Smith Bell Group of Companies, way back in the 1970s and early 1980s. "It was in Bell Brokerage that I learned about freight forwarding and cargo handling and how to run the different aspects of the business. That working experience gave me the confidence to set up my own company."
Having been trained and exposed to global logistics, Coching decided to put up an international brokerage firm instead of just a domestic one. He was certain that he could make a go of it because of the good network of contacts he had developed with key foreign agents while working with Bell Brokerage. But to secure good projects from overseas, he partnered with a friend who had important business connections in various foreign countries. Together, Coching and his silent partner put up Mercury Freight in 1987 and bagged its first major project: handling the cargo requirements of a US$26-million housing project at Clark Air Base in Angeles City. "My friend trusted me because he knew I had the experience in handling these kinds of projects," Coching recalls.
Mercury Freight got started with advanced funding from its client, a major American construction firm, but its first year of operation—especially during the first six months—proved to be very difficult. "Making the business viable didn't happen so easily," Coching says. "We were incurring so much in expenses before the revenues could come in."
After running Mercury Freight for 20 years, however, Coching now knows the business like the back of his hand. He has developed ways to achieve economies of scale in moving cargo for clients, and has learned to hire additional manpower only if absolutely necessary. In particular, since he found out that most companies have fixed timetables for shipping their goods, Coching knows that clients now routinely use sea freight instead of air freight as long as they can comfortably meet their production schedules. It is only when companies with tight production schedules need to send goods very urgently that they exercise the air freight option, which Mercury Freight also offers.
In 1989, the company undertook an expansion program. "I used the profits from our first cargo handling project to move to a bigger office location," says Coching. Today, Mercury Freight currently employs a total of 200 people at its main office in Parañaque City and in its provincial offices in various parts of the country, and Coching sees to it that they are properly trained for their respective jobs through various training programs and workshops.
In 1990, Coching established its joint venture with "K" Line Air Service Ltd. of Japan, which he had served when he was still an agent of the Smith Bell Group of Companies. He decided to go into the joint venture with "K" Line Air Service to compliment the logistics business of Mercury Freight, which until that time was limited to sea freight transport. "I was flattered that they wanted to work with me again," he recalls.
