Banking on high-tech speciality lubricants
WHEN Lum King Pak first opened his commodity trading firm in 1976, little did he imagine that Tecsia would eventually be an internationally renowned brand synonymous with quality speciality lubricants. His modest operation based in Goldhill Shopping Centre initially supplied a wide variety of products ranging from grains to apparel and even confectionery. But seeing a potential in the supply of speciality lubricants, Mr Lum seized the opportunity and changed his business model a year later.
Unlike conventional oils, speciality lubricants are formulated to withstand extreme machine conditions. "As global production levels increased and technology became more advanced, I believed that speciality lubricants would replace conventional oils and be in high demand," recalls Mr Lum. The shift in focus to synthetic lubricants resulted in a period of rapid growth from the 1980s, and Tecsia Trading was officially renamed Tecsia Lubricants in 2002.
Over the years, Tecsia has successfully formed partnerships with various lubricant brand names. This has allowed the firm to supply to a broad spectrum of industries, ranging from offshore, aviation, military and petrochemicals, to sugar mill, food processing, steel and cement mills, and even consumer products.
It is no surprise that such a diverse portfolio of clients demands extensive knowledge in each of these industries. Tecsia subscribes to a culture of learning, where the company motivates its employees to share itsknowledge and experiences with one another. Furthermore, it creates an environment conducive to the diversity in employees' personalities, educational qualifications and skills. The company believes that this promotes creativity and the injection of fresh ideas into the business.
It also emphasises staff development, investing heavily in training through both in-house and external courses. Tecsia prides itself as the only Singapore-based lubricant supplier whose engineers are certified by the National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI), an international lubrication trade association. Its engineers are also accredited under the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, which certifies individuals who demonstrate broad-based expertise in critical areas of lubrication technology.
Tecsia's efforts to be environmentally responsible in the areas of stockholding, blending and customised packing of speciality lubricants also led to the company's achievement of the ISO 14001:2004 (Environmental) Certification.
Its waste management system adopts a process-based approach that has effectively streamlined waste management procedures.
A pillar of Tecsia's value proposition is its stringent quality management. It takes a holistic approach, marrying the company's vision, mission and objectives with its daily operations. Tecsia was awarded the ISO 9001 (Quality) Certification in 2002.
Not only are customers of Tecsia assured of the highest product quality, they also receive value-added services. This is another facet of the company's unique value proposition - the provision of complete lubrication solutions.
The value-added services are delivered by the company's team of certified lubrication specialists who engage clients directly, visiting its site and providing timely recommendations. This gives clients the assurance of an appropriate fit between their needs and the products received.
Tecsia also maintains a state-of-the-art laboratory in its Mandai Estate headquarters, enabling it to conduct lubrication audits and analyses of clients' samples within a very short time. This has allowed Tecsia to gain a better understanding of the types of lubricants that are suitable for its clients' needs. In addition, the laboratory is well-equipped to produce sample lubricants mixed specifically to clients' needs, providing effective and customised solutions.
"We are selling a service, a trust," says Mr Sim. This statement exemplifies Tecsia's attitude towards its business, its partners and its customers. One of Tecsia's key successes lies in customer relationship management. The company endeavours to establish an interpersonal relationship with each of its customers. It takes proactive steps to get to know its customers through networking events or company visits.
The company believes that a huge part of capturing the attention of customers is to remove the communication barrier and to respect cultures. Hence, employees are encouraged to pick up the languages of their foreign customers and show appreciation of their cultural norms to better communicate with them.
Tecsia believes that a deep understanding of targeting consumers' needs and goals is an indispensable preceding step to maximise customer satisfaction. To gain insights into the underlying consumer motivation and needs, Tecsia's sales and technical teams actively gather direct feedback from both current and potential consumers, as well as periodically conducting follow-up inspections on clients' machinery status during on-site visits.
Understanding the need for reliability and customisation, Tecsia acquired Tacbecon, a Dutch lubricant brand with more than 20 years of history in 2008. This has enabled Tecsia to offer a wider array of products, to cater to all of its customers' needs, while reinforcing the high quality control standards that the company prides itself in.
Currently, Tecsia produces its Tacbecon brand of products at its US plant, and offers this brand of lubricant to a number of industries. For instance, about 60 per cent of its customers in the Thai Sugar Mill industry have chosen to use Tacbecon. Additionally, Tacbecon is distributed to other Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Apart from supplying through its partners, the one-stop lubricants solutions provider ventured beyond the Singapore headquarters in 2005, with the opening of its first regional office in Thailand. This expansion was critical to Tecsia's business model, as it enabled the company to better serve its customers in a timelier manner.
In 2011, Tecsia Lubricants established a presence at Sampoerna Strategies Square in Jakarta, Indonesia. Plans for geographical expansion across Asia are in the pipelines, as Tecsia aims to establish a stronghold in the South-east Asian market while venturing into other Asian countries.
The writers are students at NUS Business School
