News taken from The Star Business Section: LOCAL cleaning specialist Sinar Jernih Sdn Bhd considers international standard certification as the way forward in facing the challenges that Afta (Asean free trade area) will bring, said managing director Mohd Said Osman.He said the company would be more able to handle increased competition in the domestic market with the ISO9002, ISI2020, and ISO14001 certifications.
Mohd Said Osman“We are now ready to face Afta and compete with international cleaning companies that have, similarly, equipped themselves with international standards,” Said told Star Business.He said Sinar Jernih was the only cleaning company in Asia to be certified ISO9002. It was certified ISO14001, the international certification for environment management systems, in February and is now working towards achieving the international Islamic certification, the ISI2020, by August.According to Said, the ISI2020 certification will complement Sinar Jernih’s future plan of establishing a firm footing in the Middle East cleaning services market.With the recognition, Muslim consumers will have a clear conscience when using the company’s services since the set of standards encompasses all aspects of the Muslim way of life.
The company’s strict adherence to international service standards has paid off, judging from the significant inroads it has made in the domestic and overseas markets.It had scored a scoup recently when it was awarded the contract to take over the cleaning services of all 54 hotels under India’s Taj Group, starting from July. In the United Arab Emirates, Sinar Jernih acts as a consultant to the cleaning contractors at the Abu Dhabi international airport.Its notable local projects are the KL International Airport, of which the company is responsible for the cleanliness of five areas, the prime minister’s residence and office, STAR light rail transit and Genting Resort indoor theme park.An agreement with Pantai Medivest Sdn Bhd has resulted in the outsourcing of cleaning functions for all government hospitals in the south of the peninsula and the Pantai group hospitals to the company.Said, a banker by profession, has decided to venture into cleaning services when he discovered the industry’s huge potential.
Initially, he started a small company in Malacca and was involved in minor projects like providing waste service management and cleaning services for small factories, offices and banks.Hard work and perseverance finally paid off in 1995 when he was given the opportunity by Pantai Medivest to provide cleaning services to the Segamat and Batu Pahat government hospitals.Today, the company has 3,000 workers. It registered a pre-tax profit of RM3.5mil on the back of RM35mil in turnover for last year.
Company Strength
Sinar Jernih Sdn Bhd was incorporated on 20 November 1995. Since its inception, Sinar Jernih has expanded its role as a cleaning specialist for environment enhancement to improve the quality of living.With over 26 years of experience, Sinar Jernih has gained recognition as one of the leading in cleaning service provider in Malaysia and certified its services to ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, OHSAS 18001:2007 as well as ISI 2020, a standard under the tenets of Islam.Sinar Jernih provides innovative solutions for its clients. Its portfolio includes airports, aircraft interior cleaning, government & private hospitals, hi-tech commercial and industrial buildings, government buildings, financial institutions, shopping complexes, retail outlets, highway maintenance, rail station/coaches, hotels, etc.Sinar Jernih places prime importance in investments in advanced equipment and technology and highly skilled disciplined taskforce.Today, it boasts a workforce strength of more than 6,400 staff worldwide, which is 5,300 local staff working in Malaysia and 3,700 from them are Malaysian.
Out of 5,300 local staff, 5% are managerial staff, 15% executive and supervision staff and the balance is operatives. All of them have undergone rigorous training in cleaning management techniques.Over the years, Sinar Jernih has recorded an impressive growth and is constantly acquiring new technology and expertise. KLIA, Petronas Twin Tower (KLCC) Government Building, Commercial Buildings, North-South Expressway, Shopping Complexes and Hospital Support Services privatization contracts are our testimony and trademark of the leading operations. Sinar Jernih adopted a positive image to achieve a firm belief among its customers and also to achieve the world class standard.
(News taken from New Straits Times: June 12, 2005)
Former banker Mohd Said’s clarity of vision and single-minded pursuit of cleanliness as a science have allowed his company Sinar Jernih to clean up on the competition.MOHD Said Osman’s professional credentials are rooted in the respectable field of banking and finance. That seems a far cry from what he is doing these days-turning the dirty business of cleaning respectable.
Yet, the two endeavours share one thing in common-big money. Sinar Jernih Sdn Bhd, the company that the affable and down-to-earth former banker co-founded with executive director Lt Col (R) Azmi Ibrahim in 1995, has raked in millions from-well- cleaning up after people and ensuring that their premises and facilities are spotless.FULLY EQUIPPED:
Mohd Said shows off some of the tools of his trade. Managing director Said, 47, doesn’t want to go into specifics about the company but notesthat its operations are manpower-intensive, with wages accounting for 85 per cent of the operating costs.He says profit is about three or four per cent of the turnover, which is probably not as thin a margin as it seems, given that Sinar Jernih has been able to expand exponentially, from a RM6,500 paid-up capital at start-up to RM6.5 million today.
Yes, there is gold to be had in scum-scrubbing, speck-blowing and filth-flushing.The company has also helped to redefine the cleaning services sector, principally through its emphasis on technology, research and development, and training for the staff (with the British Institute of Cleaning Science and Malaysia’s own Centre for Cleaning Science and Technology, or CCST).And then, there is the over RM2 million investment in state-of-the-art equipment.
Happily, all of this has not gone unrecognised. Indeed, Sinar Jernih has pulled way ahead of the pack by earning not one, but three accreditations — ISO 9001 for quality service, ISO 14001 for its 100 per cent environmentally-friendly policies and processes, and ISI 2020, which comes with the distinction of it becoming the first cleaning company in the world to be accredited by the Research Institute of Standards in Islam.And for good measure, “we will obtain another one — the ISO 1801 certificate for health and safety at the workplace — this July”, Said says.
Business-wise, in just 10 years, Sinar Jernih has built up an enviable record for itself. For example, it is synonymous with the cleanliness of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Its capacity to maintain 1,200 lavatories and keep an area of more than 278.7 sq metres squeaky clean is evidenced by the fact that in 2003 KLIA was certified by the International Air Transportation Association as the cleanest airport in the world.But if Said is tight-lipped about the company’s annual turnover, there are sufficient indications as to how well it is doing. Apart from the cleaning and facilities management services contract with Malaysia Airports Bhd for KLIA, it has a similar agreement with Telekom Malaysia Bhd, TimeDotCom Bhd, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd, Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd in respect of the LRT stations, Berjaya Times Square and KLCC Urus Harta.
Then there are the deals with Pantai Medivest Sdn Bhd involving the group’s hospitals as well as the provision of hospital support services in 19 public hospitals in Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor; and likewise, with Faber Medi-Serve Sdn Bhd for 15 public hospitals in Kedah, Perlis and Penang.In addition, the cleanliness of Parcels B and C of Government Office Complex Putrajaya, the Prime Minister’s residence and office, also comes under his company’s charge.The list of clients keeps growing, too, and beyond the nation’s shores as well. So far, Sinar Jernih has secured close to 50 overseas contracts — in India, Brunei, Sri Lanka and more recently, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Its subsidiary, Sinar Jernih (India) Pte Ltd, employs over 2,000 workers, and its clients include the Taj Group of Hotels, Sheraton Oberoi, and the Wockhardt Park Hospital.In Sri Lanka, joint-venture company Sinar Malship Lanka (Pvt) Ltd oversees the cleaning and maintenance of the Majestic City Shopping Complex. In Indonesia, subsidiary PT Sinar Jernih is in the final stages of negotiations with three big companies for facilities management contracts and, in a collaboration with Pantai Medivest, hospital support services.Said is particularly proud of the company’s performance on this front, that it has been able to export its services. “I want Sinar Jernih to be a global brand name in the cleaning service industry,” he declares.Ambitious?
Then again, Sinar Jernih is already described as a cutting-edge techno-cleaner. Robotic as it may sound, the fact remains that the company owes much of its capacity to the deployment of information technology.Its cleaning processes are monitored by an electronic cleaning monitoring system which allows the client to rely on the company’s preventive and corrective methodology to ensure that the premises stay in tip-top condition. Together with a computerised project management system, the company keeps track of all its activities and the quality of services rendered to clients.The crossover from banker to cleaner came from a stray thought. Said wanted a recession-proof business and cleaning seemed a logical candidate.But in the beginning, things were quite tough, though one thing he had going for him was the fact that he was (still is) not aversed to joining his cleaning staff (or cleaning operatives as they are called) on a job by picking up one of the four colour-coded mops or handling the scrubber.At the time, some suppliers had to provide him with credit for up to eight months. But his break eventually came: Sinar Jernih won participation in the vendor development programme of Pantai Medivest, which was awarded the privatisation concession to provide support services to public hospitals in the southern States.Recalling the early days, Said says, “Sinar Jernih is born out of this vendor development programme. We wouldn’t have reached this far if it were not for Pantai Medivest’s commitment to it and our suppliers’ faith in us.”
The scope of the business, according to Said, is boundless. Integrated facilities management services include housekeeping, building maintenance and management, civil and structural maintenance, mechanical and electrical maintenance, lift/elevator maintenance, air-conditioning system services, security services, peripheral services, pest control, waste management, landscaping and nursery services and garbage collection.Housekeeping services cover general and industrial cleaning, high-rise facade cleaning, all kinds of polishing work, all types of carpet and upholstery shampooing and air duct cleaning. Solid waste and clinical waste handling, and hygiene services and supplies, meanwhile, come under environmental and hygiene care services.”We want to be a one-stop centre providing comprehensive cleaning services,” Said says.But like its founder, Sinar Jernih keeps a low profile. Said believes the company should only be visible in the shiny surfaces of its clients’ premises. He is serious. That explains why it is still not unusual to see him crouching on the floor to measure the gloss of a client’s granite flooring with a special meter.A reading of over 80 per cent is required.
Otherwise, it will have to be re-polished, which brings to mind a tale about Sinar Jernih’s job at KLIA. Apparently, the polishing of the floors was so well done that an unexpected issue cropped up — it was pointed out that the mirror-like surfaces posed a threat to the modesty of women in skirts.And by the way, for his own bathroom at home, the boss of Sinar Jernih does all the scrubbing by himself. Wait, there’s more — he makes the bed, airs the pillow and cleans the toilet before he takes his shower each morning, all that before he drives to office — from Bukit Baru, Malacca to Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur.”My wife is very lucky,” he roars with laughter.On a more serious note, Said says he wants to imbue dignity into the profession. “I tell my staff not to be ashamed of being cleaning operatives. But I do get irritated when someone says ‘even my grandmother can clean’. Yes, but to clean well, you need science and technology. It’s not a simple profession and I still run to the CCST for solutions. This white hair is premature, believe me,” he says.Some people might put the success of his business down to luck, but that doesn’t account for the long hours he spent alongside his cleaning staff on the job, the search for and adoption of appropriate cleaning methods that can be mastered even by a semi-literate, the dogged pursuit of tenders in a business field that doesn’t traditionally value technology, and not least, the passion for a pristine environment.