MABUA HARLEY-DAVIDSON
JOURNEY IN INDONESIAThe existence of PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson as a representative of Harley-Davidson Motor Company ( HDMC ) as well as authorized dealer in Indonesia, was recorded for the first time in Indonesia on 13th June 1997, as a result of an initiative of two friends : Soetikno Soedarjo and ( the late ) Bambang Pramono Sungkono.
The Economic crisis that happened in Indonesia did not decrease the spirit of the founders of PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson who had wisely took a small shop house on Jalan Fatmawati No. 14 – Cipete, South Jakarta, to be made into an office and also a showroom for authorized dealer of Harley-Davidson in Indonesia. After going through a nine years period, Mabua was able to move to a new location on Jalan TB Simatupang 19, South Jakarta, in April 2006.
( The late ) Bambang Pramono Sungkono, a man who has a hobby was everything about big motorcycles, was appointed the President Director of PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson. He started his authorized dealer of “American Iron Horse” with the support from 31 employees. Meanwhile, Soetikno Soedarjo as the biggest stock-holder was appointed as the president commissioner. Undeniably, it was not the right time to start a new business, because our loved country was having a big crash not only in economic and politics but also Indonesian physical and psychological state. How come it would not? At that very moment the biggest economic fluctuation in the history of Indonesian occurred. Rupiah exchange rate dropped off against all foreign currencies, especially Rupiah exchange rate against US Dollar. It could be imagined how difficult it was for PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson to start its business in Indonesia.
Only by the spirit, willingness, pray and also support of “brotherhood” among the friends who are fans of big motorcycles, especially Harley-Davidson, are various efforts and sacrifices were conducted to develop the population of Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Indonesia. Even based on the confidence that the existence of authorized dealer in Jakarta is not adequate, it was decided to have one more dealer in Bali, the island of gods, namely PT. Dewata Harley-Davidson.
PT. Dewata Harley-Davidson officially started its operation on 17th September 2000 with 15 employees and ( the late ) Tony Pramoediarso, as the President Director, taking the same place as it is today, on Jalan By Pass Ngurah Ray 120 AB, Bali – Indonesia. Therefore, the existence of authorized dealer of Harley-Davidson in Indonesia has been completed with two dealership, thus, enabling them to provide after sale services to all Harley-Davidson lovers in Jawa – Bali areas.
The history of Harley-Davidson in Indonesia recorded by both dealerships has shown a promising development, despite the low purchasing power of Indonesian people after it had been devastated by the economic crisis, and has not yet fully recovered.
Once again the history of Harley-Davidson in Indonesia was tested. A big test struck the two dealerships. First, it happened on Friday, 11th October 2002. At the time, the President Director of PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson, Mr. Bambang Pramono Sungkono had a heart attack on his way to his office, and the driver immediately took him to the closest hospital, that was Pertamina Pusat Hospital.
Men propose, but God disposes. The big motorcycle community had to let go of Mr. Bambang Pramono Sungkono forever. The feeling of loss was reflected when hundreds big motorcycles took his body to his graveyard in TPU karet bivak. Three weeks later, a second trial occurred again when Mr. Toni Pramoediarso, the President Director of PT. Dewata Harley-Davidson, also died after Mr. Bambang Pramono Sungkono.
Right at the time, Mr. Soetikno Soedarjo took over the dealership lead of Harley-Davidson in Indonesia and collectively did the job with the help from Djonnie Rahmat ( who, at the time, was still holding the position of General Manager Suara Pembaruan Newspaper ), Mr. Willy Tjondrodiputero as general manager of PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson and Jeffrey Mesakh as general manager of PT. Dewata Harley-Davidson.
After going through a lot of considerations and also the support from HDMC ( Harley-Davidson Motor Company ), Mr. Soetikno Soedarjo, on 1st December 2002, officially elected Mr. Djonnie Rahmat as the President Director of both dealership of Harley-Davidson in Indonesia. For, Soetikno Soedarjo, Djonnie Rahmat was not someone new he had just met, but he was a strong and credible business partner in other business fields that have lasted since 1988 until today.
Having the experience as an entrepreneur who has succeeded in businesses that have a relation with international scale foreign companies, and as the owner of many units of Harley-Davidson motorcycles who actively assisted the social activities of ( the late ) Bambang Pramono Sungkono, Djonnie Rahmat continued the life of two dealership under one new policy that was join the two dealership under one leadership.
Therefore, the organization structures of the two dealership were changed into one dealer of Harley-Davidson in Indonesia. Willy Tjondrodiputero was appointed as the GM Country Sales & Marketing and Jeffrey Mesakh as GM Country Operations.
As an owner of Harley-Davidson motorcycle, Djonnie Rahmat often placed himself as a customer in the employees view at Mabua Harley-Davidson, and regularly did a deep discussion together with his staff to find out what kind of services need to be given to customers in order to reach customer satisfaction and also to improve the company that now has become his main responsibility.
Another important thing that is worth noticing as a turning point in the development of both dealerships is an internal workshop entitled “Why Do We Have to Change” on 16th March 2003, located at a club house in Rancamaya Golf Country Club. This workshop was held to reinforce the working spirit that had loosened after the death of Mr. Bambang Pramono Sungkono and Tony Pramoediarso, as well as the effort to increase the moral of the employees who, at the time, seemed to lose direction and working spirit.
A positive result, through the workshop, a spirit of awakening and changing towards a better condition was created. The well-known words at the time were : Survival and Recovery ( the business was under the condition of having loss and a fund injection from the stockholders was required ). The new of Mabua Harley-Davidson and Dewata Harley-Davidson ( the desire to replace the old paradigm with a new one ), Competitive Edge ( the importance of possessing something reliable to win a competition ), Open Road Ahead ( existence of opportunity, a challenge that ought to be turned into an opportunity ), This is Our Trip ( a statement to maintain togetherness between the leader and the entire employees ).
“What we pack & who we take along, and where we plan to go is all up to us. Staying No. 1 is much harder than becoming No. 1, because we must lead or lose. Our focus is on getting and keeping customers.”
That is the slogan that Djonnie Rahmat tried to plant among the entire employees and management of PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson and PT. Dewata Harley-Davidson, that the journey they were going through was a trip with no end, full of challenges and tests. Moreover, it was not a mere useless journey when they did it with a high spirit in performing every task.
On the journey of Harley-Davidson in Indonesia, PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson and Dewata Harley-Davidson noted a significant increase of the level of growth of the sales of the motorcycles recorded in the year 2002 was 121 units, in 2003 there were 222 units, in 2004 it was 231 units, and in 2005 there were 334 Harley-Davidson motorcycles units. In 2006, the management's target was to release 350 Harley-Davidson units of motorcycles.
On 15th June 2001, PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson was noted for prestigious achievements as the only one authorized dealer of Harley-Davidson in the world that was permitted to do the CKD system ( Completely Knock Down ). To maintain the quality of the motorcycles produced through these CKD systems, PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson conducted an intensive training for the youths, all technicians it possessed, and technicians who had graduated from various workshops held by HDMC ( Harley-Davidson Motor Company ). HDMC, in fact, applied a technical audit implementation every year to test the eligibility of the system and the quality of the CKD procedure, with an intention of maintaining the satisfaction of all customers of PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson and Dewata Harley-Davidson. In May 2006, PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson has finished CKD production of the 1000th motorcycle of Harley-Davidson in Indonesia. This proves that Indonesian technicians can work professionally in re-assembling the Harley-Davidson motorcycle which is so prided upon in the country it originated.
As the only authorized dealer of Harley-Davidson in Indonesia, both of the dealership continuously improved the quality of their service to its customers. By making the dealer as one stop shopping for Harley-Davidson motorcycles and also its user, PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson and PT. Dewata Harley-Davidson existed with a set of complete service starting from Harley-Davidson motorcycle collection, supplies of spare parts and accessories, and also miscellaneous collection of Harley-Davidson general merchandise, rental of Harley-Davidson motorcycles and also an excellent after sales service in both of the dealerships.
As a part of continuous quality improvement efforts, various ways were conducted to enable them to maintain the continuity of guarantee of customer satisfaction. At the mid of 2004, PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson successfully attained the ISO certificate of 9001:2000 and in the following year, the same status was obtained by PT. Dewata Harley-Davidson.
In November 2005, PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson launched the program of membership loyalty, that is MHD Preferred Card and also information service on line for 24 hours concerning its products, the latest information regarding and other information, through website with the address of http://www.harley-davidson-jakarta.com
As a form of commitment, PT. Mabua Harley-Davidson and PT. Dewata Harley-Davidson will continue to be productive to give support in order that Harley-Davidson motorcycle population in Indonesia will continue to increase and the activity of big motor riding become part of lifestyle
