Standard Time of Import Paperwork Clearance Department for Sustainability Organization Performance in Forwarding Company

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

J. Environ. Treat. Tech.

ISSN: 2309-1185

Journal web link: http://www.jett.dormaj.com

Standard Time of Import Paperwork Clearance

Department for Sustainability Organization

Performance in Forwarding Company

Nor ‘Adilah Mohamad Raazali, Roslina Mohammad*, Norazli Othman and Zuritah A.Kadir

Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54100, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, Kuala Lumpur

Received: 29/10/2019

Accepted: 29/01/2020

Published: 20/02/2020

Abstract

In order to achieve sustainable performance, it was emphasized for an organization for improvement of the standard performance. This

paper attempts to propose a benchmark for the standard time to complete daily paperwork received at a forwarding company by using the

define-measure-analyse-improve-control (DMAIC) approach. Results showed that the import clearance agent required 3 days or more to

clear paperwork for duty or tax confirmation. The impact led to delayed shipment delivery, caused by customer dissatisfaction and company

loss of trusts amongst customers. It was also found that that the number of paperwork received daily was 516, distributed among an average

of 15 employees, from January to April 2018. Each employee received an average of 34 paperwork daily. The amount of paperwork received

by each employee was at alarming level. The time required to complete paperwork for duty/tax confirmation were 3 days or more for most

of the employees, which stood at 62%. Therefore, based on the results of the findings, the proposed benchmark of the standard time for

paperwork clearance should not be more than 1 day to allow for same day delivery to the customers, as per the commitment promised by the

company.

Keywords: DMAIC, Performance, delay, Standard Time, Sustainability

Introduction¹

It starts with the customer calling in to arrange for the pickup

1

of a shipment. The couriers pick up the shipment to the station, to

be consolidated with other shipments, and later loaded onto

flights. During the transit, the originator completes the outbound

declaration, and the inbound clearance begins at the destination.

Once the items arrive at the station and are scanned into the

system, they will be manifested for declaration purposes. All

paperwork received are prepared for declaration and declared via

an online system to Customs. When the flight arrives at the

destination country, the shipments will complete inbound sorting

and the delivery is moved across delivery stations. All shipments

are pre-cleared, except for those missing paperwork, duty and tax

required confirmation, held for inspection, quarantine and etc.,

which will be delivered on the same day.

For shipments which are not cleared, the consignees will be

contacted and informed on the clearance delay regarding their

shipments. Once the information is received, only then are the

shipments continued for declaration, and proceed for the next day

delivery. It is very important that import clearance is completed

before shipments arrive to ensure timely delivery. Import

declaration process flows depend on the shipment’s categories.

Figure 2 shows the import declaration process flow of a freight

forwarding company.

Under United Nation Sustainability Goal Development

number nine [1], “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure”, there

have been reported that efficient transportation services are key

drivers of economic development, and more than 80 per cent of

world merchandise trade by volume is transported by sea, making

maritime transport a critical enabler of trade and globalization. It

was reported that International maritime freight increased by an

estimated 3.7 per cent globally in 2017 and projected growth will

test the capacity of existing maritime transport infrastructure to

support increased freight volumes.

As part of transportation and supply chain industry, the

operation of a freight forwarding company highly relies on

smooth pre-clearance processes to ensure its efficiency and

functionability of the business. Figure 1 shows the general

operation of activities of a freight forwarding company. Freight

forwarding companies move shipments, from documents to high

value items of any sizes, up to tonnes of weights, to and from

various locations around the world. There are two movements

related to shipments; physical packages and paperwork. The red

boxes show the physical movement of the shipments, while the

blue boxes show the paperwork movement.

Corresponding author: Roslina Mohammad, Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54100, Jalan

Sultan Yahya Petra, Kuala Lumpur. Email: mroslina.kl@utm.my.

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

Figure 1: General operation activities of a freight forwarders company

The shipments can be categorized into document, non-

document (below RM500), non-dutiable non-document (RM501-

the SMK, the paperwork is submitted for an E-Declaration

Information (EDI), where the Custom forms are printed for

Customs assessment.

2

000), non-dutiable non-document (above RM2000), dutiable

non-document (above RM500) and non-document (bonded, C8)

shipments The paperwork for shipments under the categories

document, non-document (below RM500) and non-dutiable non-

document (RM501-2000) will be printed from the APAC Core

Clearance System (ACCS) before being submitted for manifest

For C1 shipments, once the information is sufficient for

declaration, it will be declared in the ACCS, and submitted for

EDI. The Custom forms are printed to apply stat 76 (paperwork

submitted for clearance) and brought for Customs assessment. If

the paperwork is cleared for Customs with duty, it will go through

duty confirmation processes, otherwise, it will proceed with

printing of the Customs Official Receipt (COR), insertion into

pouches, and application for stat 65 (shipment release).

and declaration process termination.

shipments under the categories of non-dutiable, non-document

above RM2000), dutiable non-document (above RM500) and

The paperwork for

(

non-document (bonded, C8) will go through formal submission.

The airwaybill (AWB) and commercial invoice (CI) for these

shipments will be printed out and matched before being declared

in the ACCS. Once declared, the information will be downloaded

in the Custom Information System (Sistem Maklumat Kastam –

SMK). Later, the Custom form (C1 or C8) will be printed out and

submitted to Customs. Once cleared, the ACCS will be selected

and the code updated for the process to

end. Figure 3 shows the pre-clearance process flow for dutiable

and non-dutiable non-document shipments. The paperwork will

be retrieved from the ACCS, an application for stat 80 (document

ready for declaration) is submitted, based on the declaration

categories of either C1 or C8. For C8 shipments, once declared in

However, if the paperwork receives Customs instructions for

examination (sample), other government agencies (OGA),

balance sheet, physical examination and confirmation, it will

require further clearance processes. All of these requirements will

be updated using the related scan codes, where the paperwork will

be handed over to CPE (Clearance, Prevent, and Expedite) agents

to notify the recipients on the clearance delay.

Nevertheless, there were also cases where paperwork is not

available in the ACCS or is missing. In such cases, the paperwork

is retrieved from the physical packages once the shipments arrive

at the destination station. Figure 4 shows the pull paperwork

declaration process flow. Basically, the process is almost the same

as the pre-clearance process flow. The exception is that the

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

paperwork is retrieved from the physical packages and passed on

to the Declaration team manually for declaration purposes. If the

paperwork is not available with the packages, the clearance agent

will print out the AWB number from the E-Operations (E-OPS)

system and pass it to the CPE agent to notify the recipients on the

clearance delay.

Start

Ndoc,non-duty

RM2000

Ndoc,duty

>RM500

Shipments

Category

Document

Ndoc,

RM500

Ndoc,non-duty

RM501~RM2000

Ndoc,CB

>

<

Formal

Submission

Formal

Submission

Print Manifest

from ACCS

Print Image

(CI,awb)

Manifest

Submission

Paperwork

Matching

Paperwork

Matching

End

Declare in SMK

Print C8 Form

Declare in ACCS

Declaration

process

CUSTOM software that

generate EDI message to

CUSTOM

Download to

SMK

Submit to

CUSTOM

Print C1 Form

ACCS select code

Update

Submit to

CUSTOM

End

ACCS select code

Update

End

Figure 2: Import Declaration Process Flow

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06

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

Pull/Print from

ACCS

Apply STAT 80

K8

K1

Declare in SMK

Submit EDI

Sufficient

Info

Declaratio

Yes

No

Print

CUSTOMS

Open CONS

Declare in

Customs

ACCS

Assessment

Comment in

EOps

Download to

Coera Declare

Submit EDI

Pass to CPE

Print in Blank

A4

Apply Stat 76

Customs

Assessment

Customs

Cleared

Customs

Instruction

Balance

Sheet

Physical

Examination

Exam

OGA

Confirmation

Nil Duty

Duty

Print COR

Refer to ROD

Process

CONS &

Comment

Open CONS and apply Comment Scan

Pass to Clearance

Pounch

Pass to CPE

Apply Stat 65

Figure 3: Pre-clearance Process Flow

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

AM SHORT

Pull Paperwork

DOCNP

Overages/Shortages

Sort

Print

overage

report

from

Print

DOCNP

shipment

report

FXX K1/K8

Exemption

Declare

Broker

Confirm Eligible

ACCS

from

ACCS

CPE

Pass to

cage team

for broker

delivery

Scan 76 declare

by batched

Check

EOps

Print & submit

for assessment

Call and

revert by

cut off for

noon

Call after

030

paperwork

1

Assessment by noon

for noon shuttle

shuttle

Clear ROD

Review

Exam

Noon

Shuttle

D+1

Print

Comment

Check for:

1

. Escape

2

. Paperwork not pulled

Noon

Shuttle

Pass to

CPE

Clear

File

Figure 4 : Pull Paperwork Declaration Process Flow

A standard time for an employee to complete the daily

contacted on the same day, thus the agents need to keep contacting

them until an update is received. After 5 working days, and if no

update is available, either the paperwork will be abandoned, or

the shipments will be returned to the shipper at their own expense.

paperwork received helps to ensure that the employees are on

track with their daily productivity. However, if the employees

receive too much paperwork, they may lose track of time. The

CPE agent’s job scope involves handling paperwork and being

directly in contact with customers, either via emails, calls or

faxes. If there is insufficient manpower in the Import Clearance

team, CPE will be impacted severely, thus, this affects the

business operations shipments will be delayed due to clearance

issues.

Figure 5 shows the CPE workflow process. It starts from the

point at which the night CPE agents receive the paperwork from

the Declaration team. They will filter the paperwork, which can

be submitted for clearance. The remaining paperwork will be

segregated almost equally to the available CPE agents. The

notification is done while segregating the paperwork at night, up

to 8.00 am the next day. This is to ensure that the customers

receive it at the start of the working period. When the CPE agents

begin their shifts, some customers may already have provided the

necessary updates and paperwork, which can be submitted for

declaration.

Figure 5: CPE Workflow Process

Nevertheless, the CPE agents must contact customers and

obtain updates from the customers latest by 10.30 pm, to ensure

sufficient time is available for the Declaration team to declare the

paperwork, to ensure same day delivery can be performed across

the delivery areas. Sometimes, customers are unable to be

Table 1 shows the average daily productivity. For the total

working days between 18 and 27 working days, an average

between 14 to 17 employees are available daily to handle the total

paperwork, for as many as 7000 to 12000 per month, as shown in

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

Figure 6. As the amount of paperwork received increased from

January to March and remained relatively high until June.

Therefore, it is crucial to identify if the current standard for the

employees to complete their daily paperwork is optimum to

manage this volume. Otherwise, the company will need to take

corrective measures to avoid an unnecessary impact to the

business operations.

measurement of financial, information and material flows. As

reducing cycle time allows quicker feedback to customers, any

delay or failure leads to the failure of the entire business process.

Thus, it is important that cycle time in areas such as sales and

marketing, compliance, product development and quality, is

improved to reduce cost and inventories, hence, increasing

capacity.

An inefficient customs clearance process can hinder trade,

therefore, a smooth and efficient customs clearance process is

very crucial to facilitate an international trade of goods [4]. A

report (Figure 7) from the World Trade Organization (WTO) in

the World Trade Statistics Review 2019[5], showed that the

global manufactured export goods increased from USD 8 trillion

to USD 11 trillion over a period of 10 years, between 2006 and

Table 1: Average Daily Productivity

Total

Paperwork

7150

Total Working

Average Daily

Month

Days

18

Manpower

Productivity

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

16

17

16

14

25

28

27

32

9572

24

11903

27

11598

25

2

016. Agricultural products increased by an average of 5% per

11868

27

year, and fuels and mining products declined by 10%, since 2006.

However, there have bit a little bit slump in year 2017 onwards.

Trade growth in 2018 was weighed down by several factors,

including new tariffs and retaliatory measures affecting widely-

traded goods, weaker global economic growth, volatility in

financial markets and tighter monetary conditions in developed

countries, among others. Consensus estimates have world GDP

growth slowing from 2.9% in 2018 to 2.6% in both 2019 and

11410

25

2

020.

Figure 6: Total Paperwork & Average Manpower of CPE (January-June

017)

2

This research determined if the current employees were able

to complete the daily paperwork clearance and investigate if there

were any requirements for an extra number addition to the

workforce. Wastages, such as staff waiting for instructions,

materials waiting for processes, labour waiting for tools,

defectives raw materials, processes without defined standard

times, etc., are everywhere. Regardless of the risks of the

encounter, businesses should strive to remain updated with the

current methodologies, and technological developments.

Therefore, it is very important for the companies to look for

innovative approaches to improve and optimize their processes to

compete successfully globally, in order to remain competitive [2,

Figure 7: GDP is measured at market exchange rates. Data for 2019 and

2020 are projections

The report shows the importance of efficient customs

clearances for international trade, of which has crucial for many

countries, other than depending on accelerating the integration

pace within the global trading system. Author [6] also mentioned

that the manufacturers face difficulties to export competitively, or

import at a competitive cost, due to inefficient customs clearance

processes or bad dysfunctionalities, which leads to additional

costs, as the trade procedures applicable to goods entering ports

are costly and time-consuming. The report also analyses that fact

that improved trade-related customs services can positively

facilitate international trade due to customs clearance efficiencies.

The issues that caused time delays at customs include, but are

not limited to the lack of reliability and transparency during

inspection and valuation, lack of customs officers, and their

working hour limitations, long and complex process of customs

clearance, shortage of receiving cargo gates and non-automated

procedures and administration of customs processes[4]. To

reduce the competition for similar domestic products, some

countries are reported to have intentionally delayed their customs

3]. In manufacturing, cycle time is defined as the complete period

required in one operation cycle to complete a job, task or function,

from start to finish, or the total time required to produce a product.

One of the key measurement tools used to evaluate the

performance of leading-edge management concepts such as

supply chain management, lean management, just-in-time

management, and enterprise resource planning. Operational

excellence programs also address the variability in cycle times,

raw materials, process operations and product or service quality

[

4] . Many companies have seen that increased costs and cycle

times lead to ineffectiveness to achieve the company’s goals due

to inefficient operational business processes, of which the cycle

time where the resource areas is measured include the

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

clearance, as it will increase transaction costs, especially at the

border, where it affects perishable products such as agricultural

products.

that highly perishable products are highly affected by time delays

that are caused by significant drop in the quality and selling price.

For a medium perishable product, they found that the quality is

affected significantly, as the time delay reduced the product

quality, but do not too much to the point that could reduce the

selling price. For less perishable products, either the quality effect

or the price effect is significant due to less time sensitive

characteristics. It was also found that if a country reduces the time

delays to half, the import of highly perishable products can

increase by around 35%, where medium perishable products can

increase by 15%, which led to significant increase of trade and

social welfare benefits for both importing and exporting

countries. It was suggested that time delays at the border need to

focus on other than trade policy reforms and on traditional

measures, such as tariffs, by accelerating customs clearance

procedures. This enables the countries to promote time-sensitive

products and stimulate international trade transaction volumes, as

well as provide higher quality products to consumers and

exporters, who benefit through higher selling price. Most of the

time, traders suffer the most due to loss of profit, delayed delivery,

loss of business and increased direct and indirect trade transaction

costs.

The product prices will be impaired due to reduced product

quality, thus, giving local products higher prices, as their product

quality is better than imported ones. This issue has caused global

manufactures to be highly dependent on frequent and timely

delivery of raw materials in order to reduce transportation costs

and delivery time. This issue is called “quality effect” where the

product quality severely deteriorates due to time delays during

customs clearance. It later leads to the “price effect” as the selling

price is reduced due to lower product quality. Both consumers and

produces are at a loss and affected by inefficient customs

clearance.

Nevertheless, the characteristics of product trade also

determines the magnitude of the effects. As an example, quality

losses, increased storage and treatment costs, as well as loss of

weight and volume may be applicable to perishable products.

However, for products such as newspaper and magazines, this can

lead to total loss, due to their nature, which needs to be consumed

in a limited time window. The customs clearance delays may not

affect time-sensitive products, but it will still affect the producers

if the consumers change their preferences to choose local products

which have similar characteristics to their products, with a lower

price.

One of the best achievable practices and processes is

benchmarking [6]. Benchmarking standards assists in selecting

suitable systems to be applied. Gijo & Scaria (2014)[8] found that

process capability-related problems are reduced and improved

through the first pass yield with the implementation of Six Sigma

DMAIC methods. Benchmarking allows the organizations to

monitor the business processes, if they are on par with other

industries.

Most research in the pasts investigated the demand of

timeliness and its effects on international trade, where products

that are time-sensitive are imported between nearby countries due

to high transportation costs. In their research, [7] investigated the

time delay’s quality and price effect on the agricultural products

due to highly perishable, and short shelf-life, as the quality and

selling price could be reduced caused by time delays. It was found

Figure 8: Ishikawa Diagram of Logistics Risk

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

In terms of problem solving, there will be many opinions

which need to be captured in order to determine the root cause.

These ideas can be visualized into a cause and effect diagram,

which is also known as a fishbone or Ishikawa diagram. It leads

to more robust solutions, as it helps to explore thoroughly the

issues behind these problems. Author [9] identified and

systematically depicted the correlations between causes and the

logistics risks using the Ishikawa diagram, as shown in Figure 8,

which listed five main possible causes; materials, machine,

manpower, method and environment.

This study used the Ishikawa diagram to identify the causes

that affected the paperwork clearance delay. Once the causes were

identified, the possible solutions were proposed to improve the

performance of the clearance department. Removing wastes and

unnecessary steps from the processes were the main focus of the

lean quality management, where it created a standardized and

stable process to achieve the best quality services by doing the

right things first [9] The 3Ms of lean are Muda (wastes), Muri

cycle time production, where 54% of the overall production cycle

was considered as waste and non-value added [4]. This study

applied the DMAIC method in order to manage waste and

variability that caused paperwork clearance delays. Figure 9

describes further the framework for the research according to the

sequence of work to be accomplished.

2.1 Define phase

The Define phase in this study identified the cause of the

clearance delays using the Ishikawa Diagram as shown in Figure

10. The four main areas include man, machine, method and

materials.

(overburden) and Mura (unevenness), which will be identified in

this study, as it affects the cycle time of the paperwork clearance.

By removing the non-value-added activities in the paperwork

clearance, the process can be standardized and allows for the

efficient business operation of the company.

2

Methodology

This research used the define-measure-analyze-improve-

control (DMAIC) approach, which was adopted for improving the

process capability of the Import Clearance Department. Process

control plays an important role, regardless of the quality

inspection in order to obtain an improved end product, or service

quality. DMAIC consists of a systematic procedure which aims to

achieve sustainable improvements in business processes, and

ultimately in the end products or services [10, 11]. Several

researchers used DMAIC approaches in their researches in an

effort for improving process capability, such as [12] and [13],[14]

and [9].

Figure 10: Ishikawa Diagram – Cause & Effect of Paperwork Clearance

Delay

The 3M model incorporated the value stream mapping (VSM)

to identify the wastes in the Import Clearance team. Steps for

VSM for non-manufacturing processes are shown in Figure 11.

By using the 3M model & VSM, office wastes was identified,

which included: (a) long lead times; (b) work queues; (c) excess

paperwork and redundant approvals; (d) incomplete and

inaccurate information; and (e) complex tracking procedures.

Define

•

Defining the cause of paperwork clearance

delays utilizing the Ishikawa diagram, 3M

model, 5 Why, etc.

2.2 Measure phase

In the measure phase, the data of the amount of paperwork

received was collected and the time required to complete the

paperwork clearance was measured. The data was tabulated for

the analysis as shown in Table 2 and was later consolidated into

Table 3.

Measure

•

Collecting the data of amount paperwork

receive and measuring the time required to

complete paperwork.

Analyse

2

.3 Analyse phase

In analyse phase, analysis was performed, and data was

•

Performing analysis of tabulated data using

Minitab.

tabulated using the Minitab software to identify the actual time

used by the CPE agents to clear paperwork. All factors that

contributed to clearance delay within the department were

identified for rectifications and further improvement.

Improve

•

Proposing improvement of process timeliness.

Control

2

.4 Improvement & Control phase

•

Controlling the amount of reject paerwork.

In the improvement phase, the solutions for the root causes of

clearance delays were proposed. The quality improvement

objective was to reduce the clearance delay by standardizing the

time require to complete paperwork, thus improving process and

service performance. Last but not least, the control phase which

controlled the amount of rejected paperwork, and as the result of

this study, where a proper documentation of the SOP was

Figure 9: Operational Framework

The DMAIC procedure has been adopted worldwide to

improve operation process flows and to reduce rejection by

employing quality control tools [15-17]. Ismail et al., (2014)

applied DMAIC in their study to determine wastage and to reduce

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

recommended by implementing the lean concept. The associated

causes of the clearance delay and corrective action was produced.

Hence, the standard time benchmarking could be revised from

time to time according to the current business operation by

monitoring the critical process parameters, maintaining

documentation and updating information.

Achieve the future

Map the current state

state

•

Decide where

improvement should

be made in the

processes.

• Draft a new process

flow wihtout the

•

Chart and analye the

current flow of data,

resources and effort to

complete the process.

• Implement the new

process flow and

monitor for

redundancies and

inefficiencies of the

original.

improvements.

•

Revise as required.

Identify the value

steam or process to

be mapped

Map the future state

Figure 11: VSM steps for non-manufacturing processes

Table 2: Paperwork Segregation

Date

0

Total Day

Total

ppwk

Ave

Paperwork

Manpower

0

manpower

Date

0

Total Day

Total

ppwk

Ave

Paperwork

Manpower

0

manpower

Date

0

Total Day

Total

ppwk

Paperwork

Manpower

0

Ave

manpower

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2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

Table 3: Average Daily Productivity

Table 4: Total Paperwork Jan – Apr 2018

Average

Daily

Productivity

Jan-

18

Feb-

18

Mar-

18

Apr-

18

Total

Total Working

Days

Average Daily

Manpower

Month

Paperwork

Amount of paperwork 11974 11486 15453

13642

JAN

FEB

MAR

The actual numbers of staff available who actively carried out

paperwork clearance was 17. However, only an average of 14

people were available in January and April 2018, and 16 people

in February and March 2018, as shown in Figure 12. Fewer

number of employees in January was due to the fact that 2

employees were still under maternity leave, and only came back

in February 2018. However, in March 2018, the number of

employees decreased again due to staff resignation and

termination.

3

Results and Discussion

.1 Number of paperwork received monthly

Table 4 shows the number of paperwork received by CPE

agents from January to April 2018. The number of paperwork in

January and February 2018 decreased from 11974 to 11486 due

to less incoming volumes after New Year 2018 and Chinese New

Year. Plus, there were quite a number of public holidays between

January and February, with most of them involving long

weekends. In March 2018, the volume spiked to 15453 as most

companies continued their operations after several weekend

holidays, but decreased to 13642 in April 2018.

Figure 12: Number of paperwork received daily

Figure 13 shows the number of paperwork received and

available manpower daily in January 2018. In average, CPE

agents received a total of 443 paperwork daily to be distributed

among an average of 14 people. They received most paperwork

on Day 1, 5 and 6, which were 448, 495 and 539 respectively,

where it was when the number of employees was the lowest, at 13

people. CPE agents received 35, 38 and 41 paperwork each for

those days. The number of employees were less due to 2 agents

who were still on maternity leave, which left 15 people and a

maximum number of 2 employees who were allowed to take leave

on any given day.

Figure 14 shows the number of paperwork received and

available manpower daily in February 2018. On average, CPE

agents received a total of 483 paperwork daily, to be distributed

among an average of 16 people. They received most paperwork

on Day 1, 5 and 6, which were 527, 519 and 516 respectively,

where it was when the number of employees was almost

maximum, at 16 people, except on Day 5. CPE agents received

33, 35 and 33 paperwork each, for those days. The number of

employees increased due to 2 agents who returned from maternity

leave.

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

Figure 13: Number of paperwork vs manpower January 2018

Figure 15: Number of paperwork vs manpower March 2018

Figure 14: Number of paperwork vs manpower February 2018

Figure 16 shows the number of paperwork received and

available manpower daily in April 2018. On average, CPE agents

received a total of 546 paperwork daily, to be distributed among

an average of 14 people. They received most paperwork on Day

Figure 15 shows the number of paperwork received and

available manpower daily in March 2018. On average, CPE

agents received a total of 572 paperwork daily to be distributed

among an average of 16 people. They received most paperwork

from Day 1 until Day 6, except Day 2, where the daily paperwork

exceeded 550, and the number of employees were mostly 15

people, except on Day 2, at 16. CPE agents received an average

of 38 paperwork daily.

4

, 5 and 6, which was 612, 614 and 554 respectively, where it was

when the number of employees were 15, except on Day 6, at 14

people. CPE agents received 39-40 paperwork for each of those

days. The number of employees decreased to 14 agents due to

termination and resignation.

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2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

submission rates. Nevertheless, declaration time was mostly

subjected to the volume of the submitted paperwork regardless of

the timing for paperwork submission. However, the later the

paperwork submission, the later the paperwork was declared.

Figure 20 shows the average submission and declaration delay

time based on the experience, which proved that employees with

more experience had lesser submission and declaration time.

Employees who had an experience of more than 5 years required

an average of 107 minutes to submit paperwork, followed by 115

minutes by employees with experiences between 3-5 years, and

1

55 minutes for employees who had less than 3 years of

experience.

Percentage of Employees based on Year of

Experience

Figure 16: Number of paperwork vs manpower April 2018

3

.1 Productivity of employees

From the data collected, the researchers were able to identify

31

38

<

3

the daily productivity of the employees as shown in Figure 18.

The productivity of the employees increased with the number of

paperwork received daily, particularly on Day 1, 4, 5 and 6.

However, the main factor that need to be considered was that, on

Day 6, some employees had Saturday off. Therefore, these

employees needed to manage paperwork for both Day 6 and Day

3<years>5

31

>5

1

. Unplanned leave on Mondays caused serious and critical

Figure 17: Percentage of employees based on experience

situations to other employees.

The green line shows the acceptable average total daily

paperwork. The orange line shows an alarming average total daily

paperwork. The red line shows the critical average total daily

paperwork. An average of 20-30 paperwork daily was

manageable for most employees, but more than 40, the employees

struggled for the day.

However, less did not mean better if the employees required

more than 1 hour to submit paperwork, as its delayed the

declaration time, which can take up to 228 minutes or more than

3

hours. The shipment would not be able to be cleared in time for

same day delivery, which leads to customer dissatisfaction and

losses to the company. The current average submission delay time

was 126 per employee, where the declaration delay time at an

average of 154 minutes per paperwork. These caused the

declaration to be completed only by 12.34 pm. There was high

probability of unsuccessful clearance delay for the same day

delivery, as the noon shuttle leaves at 1.00 pm daily.

3

.2 Actual time required to clear paperwork

In order to analyse the time required to clear paperwork, the

employees were classified based on their experience as shown in

Figure 17. From a total of 16 participants, 31% were employees

with experience of more than 5 years, and between 3-5 years,

where the remaining 38% had experience less than 3 years. The

hypothesis at the beginning of the research was that more

experienced employees had less clearance delay time. The time

taken in this research was only for paperwork submitted for

duty/tax confirmation. This was to ensure fairness as the

difficulties were about the same and could be handled by any of

the employees with any work experience.

3

.4 Benchmark of standard time

Table 5 shows the clearance delay time based on experience.

Only 37.5% of the employees cleared the paperwork less than 1

day, where the remaining 62.5% took 3 or more days to clear the

paperwork. This result was for paperwork that only required

duty/tax confirmation. For other paperwork requirements, which

required more complex details, more days are expected.

Therefore, the benchmark for standard time paperwork clearance

is proposed to be not more than 1 day, especially for duty/tax

confirmation.

3

.3 Submission delay time vs declaration delay time

In this research, other than clearance time, submission and

declaration time were identified too as the delay caused delay to

the clearance time as well. The submission delay time was

calculated starting from 9.00 am, as it was the time where most

companies started the business hours. Figure 18 showed that none

of the employees succeed in submitting paperwork less than 60

minutes, or within 1 hour from 9.00 am. Only 62.5% of the

employees submitted the paperwork between 60-120 minutes, or

within 2 hours, where the remaining 37.5% took more than 2

hours for paperwork submission. Subsequently, late submissions

led to more declaration time. Figure 19 also showed that

employees with more experience had better paperwork

Table 5: Clearance delay time (day) based on experience

Max Clearance

Delay (day)

1

3

<3

Years>5

1

4

1

6

4

1

3

8

0

2

3

<Years>5

Years<3

Total

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2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

Figure 18: Submission VS Clearance Delay Time Based on Experience

Figure 19: Daily productivity vs number of paperwork January – April 2018

5

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

led to clearance delays. Employees with more experience required

less clearance time because they had better customer knowledge

and work coordination based on workload. The Machine (printer)

factor contributed to paperwork clearance delays due to the layout

and limitation. There were 2 printers used by CPE agents for

faxing, scanning and printing, shared by a total of 25 employees.

The number of machines should not be an issue, except its

location. The machines were located at the back of the

department, which caused the employees lots of time to fetch

printed paperwork or fax. If an employee spent 30 seconds going

to the printer, the time spent for an average of 30 paperwork was

around 20 minutes, due to non-value-added movement.

Time

minutes)

Ave Submission Time/Day (minutes)

(

Ave Declaration Delay Time/Day (minutes)

2

1

50

00

50

00

228

155

128

115

1

07 107

5

0

>

5

3>E>5

Experience

<3

Figure 20: Average submission & declaration delay time based on

experience

Table 6: Number of employees based on experience in work groups

Group

Experience

Years>5

3>Years>5

Years<3

Years>5

3>Years>5

Years<3

Years>5

3>Years>5

Years<3

Years>5

3>Years>5

Years<3

Number of employees

1

2

0

2

1

2

1

0

1

0

2

G1

G2

G3

G4

G5

Figure 21: Average submission & declaration delay time based on

experience by work group

The Method factor included the paperwork segregation and

frequency of segregation. The CPE agents received return and

fresh paperwork at 8.00 am, 10.00 am, 2.00 pm, 3.00 pm and

Years>5

3>Years>5

Years<3

4

.00pm. The number of paperwork varied and were distributed

based on the number of paperwork received at 8.00 am. If a group

received more numbers in the morning, the fresh segregated

paperwork was distributed accordingly so that the total number of

paperwork received daily by each employee was almost the same.

The employees needed to notify the customers once they received

the paperwork. The issue appeared if the employees were not able

to notify and received updates from the customers within the same

day and were delayed to the next day. The Material factor which

dealt with returned/rejected paperwork affected the clearance

time significantly for the employees. Most of this paperwork was

delayed due to requirements such as SIRIM permits, poison

licenses, etc. These requirements took longer days to obtain from

the customers, as it involved other government agencies. If an

employee had more numbers of returned/rejected paperwork, the

employee still needed to contact the customers on a daily basis for

the update.

As shown in Table 6, the number employees were tabulated

based on the experience in their workgroup. It showed that the

employees were distributed and grouped almost equally based on

the work experience. As shown in Figure 21, the average time of

paperwork submission varied among their workgroup. Group G1

showed the best average submission time, followed by G3 and

G4, compared to G2 and G5, which mostly were due more

number employees with more experience in their work group, as

shown in Figure 22.

3

.5 Causes of paperwork clearance delay

The paperwork clearance can be delayed due to various

reasons. These causes were analysed by utilizing the Ishikawa

Diagram, 5 Whys and the 3M model. Factors for paperwork

clearance delay were illustrated using the Ishikawa diagram as

shown in Figure 23 below. There were 4 factors identified as man,

machine, method and material. The Man factors were contributed

by the number of headcount and their competency based on

employee’s work experience. The lesser the number of the head

count, the more the paperwork received by an employee which

5

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

Figure 22: Maximum clearance delay based on experience by work group

*

-

The delay was due late paperwork submission.

Why was the paperwork submitted late?

*

The submission was delayed as the updates received from

customers were late.

-

Why the customer were updates late?

*

The Customer updates were late as calls made to customers

were late.

-

Why were the calls to the customer late?

*

-

*

The agent spent more time attending to email updates.

Why did the agent spend more time attending to email updates?

Customers replied to the email earlier than the intended calls

were made. From Example A, the researcher concluded that

the agent submitted the paperwork based on the received

email, but spent more time, which caused delays for the

paperwork that required calls to be made.

Figure 23: Ishikawa diagram – Factors for paperwork clearance delay

Example B

Why was the paperwork clearance delayed?

-

Thus, it reduced the time left for fresh paperwork in the day.

The 5 Whys helped to investigate to root cause of clearance

delays:

* The delay was due late paperwork submission for clearance.

- Why was the paperwork submitted late for clearance?

* The clearance agent received the declared paperwork late.

-

Why was the declarant late for clearing the paperwork?

Example A

* The declarant declared paperwork after 11.30am.

- Why did the declarant declare the paperwork after 11.30 am?

-

Why was the paperwork clearance delayed?

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2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 504-520

*

-

Declarant took more time to declare paperwork before 11.30am.

Why did the declarant take more time to declare the paperwork

before 11.30am?

The declarant declared lots of submitted paperwork. From

Example B, the researcher concluded that the clearance delay was

due to the late declaration, as the number of paperwork received

before 11.30 am was too much to handle. The 3M model allowed

the researcher to identify the waste (Muda) in the paperwork

clearance process. There were 3 wastes identifies, defects

(returned/rejected paperwork), waiting (customer update) and

motion (movement from one process to another).

Returned/rejected paperwork consumed much of the agent and

customer’s time. The agents were required to re-notify the

customers on the clearance delay and the customers were required

to validate for missing information. It caused frustration for both

the agents and the customers.

The fastest communication received updates from the

customers via calls/emails followed by fax. Email updates

allowed shorter clearance time, provided the email received was

very early in the morning, and the paperwork was submitted right

away for clearance. Updates via calls as well allowed the agent to

submit the paperwork very early if calls made or received in the

earlier part of the day. However, fax took more time as the agent

only realize later. Nevertheless, regardless which medium of

communication, the most important factor was the time the

updates were received, and paperwork submitted.

Figure 24: Revised SOP for paperwork submission

Aknowledgment

The authors would like to express the greatest appreciation

and utmost gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education,

MyBrain15 MyPhD Ministry of Higher Education, UTM Razak

School of Engineering & Advanced Technology and Universiti

Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for all the support given in making

the study a success. VOT UTM: Q.K130000.2656.16J42.

3

.6 Improvement and Control

For improvement, the researcher proposed that the company

offer training guidelines to the new employees. The current

training is only provided by the senior agents based on their

experience, which is not standardized. Different senior agents

have different ways of working more productively and efficiently.

However, the most important is that the paperwork submission

must have complete information to ensure a smaller number of

reject/returned paperwork, where most of this paperwork belongs

to the least experienced agent.

For improvement and control, the researchers proposed a

revision of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for

paperwork clearance as shown in Figure 24. It ensures that for any

kind of delayed paperwork is submitted with complete

information, thus reducing the amount of reject/returned

paperwork.

Ethical issue

Authors are aware of, and comply with, best practice in

publication ethics specifically with regard to authorship

(

avoidance of guest authorship), dual submission, manipulation

of figures, competing interests and compliance with policies on

research ethics. Authors adhere to publication requirements that

submitted work is original and has not been published elsewhere

in any language.

Competing interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that

would prejudice the impartiality of this scientific work.

4

Conclusion

It was concluded that the number of paperwork received daily

was 516, which was distributed among an average of 15

employees from January until April 2018. Each employee

received an average of 34 paperwork daily. The amount of

paperwork received by each employee was at an alarming level.

It was also concluded that the time required to complete the

paperwork for duty/tax confirmation were 3 days, or more for

most of the employees at 62%. Therefore, based on the results of

the findings, the proposed benchmark of the standard time for

paperwork clearance should not be more than 1 day to allow for

same day delivery to the customers as per the commitment

promised by the company. This proposed benchmark is relevant

due the difficulty level and is the same for all employees.

Clearance should be completed before 12.30 pm to meet the noon

shuttle which leaves at 1.00 pm daily.

Authors’ contribution

All authors of this study have a complete contribution for data

collection, data analyses and manuscript writing

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