Bryan Lim
7-min read // Automotive & Logistics
As the second-generation leader of BHS Kinetic, CEO Bryan Lim discusses his success in redesigning the business, international expansion and the importance of innovation.
As the second-generation leader of BHS Kinetic, CEO Bryan Lim discusses his success in redesigning the business, international expansion and the importance of innovation.
For nearly 50 years, trucks bearing the BHS Kinetic (BHS) logo have been a common sight around Singapore’s ports and industrial estates. Providing reliable first and last-mile domestic transportation, packing, building and specialized warehousing services, BHS has been a vital partner supporting Singapore’s growth and success.
With many clients in the semiconductor industry, BHS handles highly sensitive and delicate equipment used to create everything from smartphones to life-saving medical equipment. But it’s impossible to pigeonhole the company, given its wide range of clients in sectors including life sciences, aviation, construction and more, all entrusting BHS to deliver goods and equipment in all forms and sizes.
For example, it was also responsible for the in-land transportation of two of Singapore’s best-loved residents, Jia Jia and Kai Kai, two giant pandas who delight visitors at Singapore’s River Wonders attraction.
“If we don’t change, we’ll be stuck and jettisoned by other players who are competitive and nimble.”
Following an education in mechanical engineering and a career in the family business, Bryan Lim became CEO in 2018, bringing with him a determination to reshape the company.
“At that time BHS had a thriving business, but I was not content to sit on my laurels,” he says. “I have an entrepreneurial mindset, so I’m always thinking about what else we can do for ourselves, our clients and our employees.
“Our challenges are quite unique, because you don’t see a lot of family businesses breaking their legacies. This is a journey that not many people go through, but I see it as a blessing that I get to guide the company through this transformation journey.”
Hard lessons
As for many companies, the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenging time for BHS, but what made things even tougher is that many of its employees were on the frontline, where proximity and contact with other people was unavoidable. And although the pandemic inevitably meant that certain employees were unavailable for periods of time, deliveries still needed to be made.
“During this time, we were forced to think a lot about business continuity,” Lim says. “In a family run business, things are often lean and everyone wears multiple hats, but we quickly realized this had to change. In logistics there’s the concept of just-in-time, well we had to change our thinking to ‘just-in-case’.”
The spark of change had been ignited, but BHS still needed to maintain its operations while dealing with supply chain disruptions, work absences and the immense stress everybody felt while working during this period. So, to show solidarity with the company’s frontline workers, the leadership team made a point of working onsite, 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday.
“Some people may think leadership is the reason for this company’s success, but I think that’s just one small part,” Lim says. “In my opinion, it’s due to the hard work of our frontliners. In June 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, I announced to the entire company, ‘We are nothing without you guys’, and promised never to retrench anybody for the next two years.
“We value our people more than anything else and it’s crucial we are responsible and accountable for them. That’s how we move forward, because without our people, there is no company.”
As the pandemic subsided, Lim held onto the lessons learned and began reshaping the company.
“In 2021, I started onboarding new people from outside the family who are interested in our growth and transformation journey,” he recalls. “AIGF, a private equity investor sponsored by the Mitsubishi Corporation, came on board as an investor and we made significant changes to our board of directors. We got new experienced talent specialized in finance, communications and HR. I brought on people who can lead and I introduced a performance-driven culture.
“Some people believe that if nothing is wrong, why change? But as we’ve learned over recent years, if we don’t change, we’ll be stuck and jettisoned by other players who are competitive and nimble. So we need to be agile in terms of our resource allocation and our ability to meet customer requirements.”
New horizons
With the injection of new talent and investment, BHS set its sights on growing beyond Singapore.
“You can have the best marketing capabilities in the world, but if you can’t serve the customer and help them become successful, you’ll probably only last a few months,” Lim says. “This is why our focus is now on internationalization.”
Since 2023, BHS has set up offices in Malaysia, Netherlands, Taiwan and the United States in response to strong customer demand in locations with thriving advanced manufacturing sectors.
“We’ve been working for many of the same companies for decades, and as they grew, we grew with them. We’re looking at a triangle of locations between the United States, Europe and South-East Asia. We plan to open one new office per year, maybe two.”
“Our people are very innovative and that helps us stay ahead. You don’t see a lot of family businesses investing in projects that may fail.”
In addition to expanding its locations, BHS is also looking at broadening its range of services, Lim reveals.
“Innovation has always been a part of our DNA and we’re now looking at developing new services, so customers can talk to us about their manufacturing, digital and logistical requirements all together,” he says.
For example, it recently launched a new service that can create a highly precise digital model of a client’s factory, accurate to a level of 2.5 millimeters. With this digital model, BHS and its clients can redesign factory layouts and visualize different options with ease. The company has also been experimenting with robotics to improve certain labor-intensive services, particularly in space management.
“Our people are very innovative and that helps us stay ahead. We have been driving the concept of innovation-at-its-core into the culture across the company,” he acknowledges. “For example, we’ve recently been developing lots of our own digital solutions to improve the customer experience at various touchpoints.
“We were initially looking for off-the-shelf solutions but we found them too basic, so we’ve been creating our own solutions.
“The most important aspect of innovation is the ability to be able to take risks. While our innovations in areas like robotics may cannibalize parts of our business, they will also help us outperform our competitors.”
BHS is also looking to reduce its carbon emissions since its emissions count toward those of its customers, part of scope three emissions in the value chain. Two years ago, the company installed solar panels on top of its Singapore HQ, generating 300 kilowatts of solar energy at peak times.
“We are looking into more efficient ways of using ventilation instead of air-conditioning, battery storage systems for renewable energy, and digital analytics to determine the carbon emissions of journeys made at different times of day,” Lim explains.
“We want to be recognized as a company that works hard for its customers and proudly flies the Singapore flag globally.”
“If we can show customers that a truck traveling at 1pm will emit more emissions while it sits in lunchtime traffic compared to a journey at 3pm, we’ll be able to incentivize better decisions through data.”
BHS credits its success to the long-term partnerships it has with many of its suppliers including Utek Engineering, Aison and Alzon.
“We value suppliers who can work with us to control costs and better serve our customers,” Lim says. “We also strongly believe in ethics and morals and ensure that our long-term partners have the same.”
Growing together
As BHS grows its number of locations and services, it is focused on growing its internal talent. Besides the benefits it provides in terms of business continuity, there are also more opportunities for its employees to specialize in particular areas or more into supervisory roles.
“Our philosophy is, when we start helping people grow, more people join us,” Lim says. “I want everybody who works with us to find their voice and have a channel to share their ideas, which is why we are very open to innovation. We will listen, take on the best ideas, and identify the greatness in our team.
“We want to be recognized as a company that works hard for its customers and proudly flies the Singapore flag globally. We want to make sure that whenever customers need us, we’ll be there, both now and in the years to come.”
Resource Link: https://digitalmag.theceomagazine.com/bryan-lim/?r=asia
