Having recently marked his 30th Anniversary at TotalEnergies, Kia-Huat Loh is now playing a leading role in Lubmarine’s Customer Operations and Services team in Singapore.
Here he explains more about his role within the team, their drive for customer service excellence and the pivotal role that Lubmarine’s TUAS Processing plant plays in their local and global operations.
We understand you have just celebrated your 30th Anniversary in TotalEnergies, but can you let us know how you came to your latest role?
I am really proud to have been part of the TotalEnergies family for 30 years – which I celebrated in April. I use the word family, as that really is how I see it. Not only within our team here in Singapore but as a global business which Lubmarine is.
Originally from Malaysia, after graduating from college, I specialized in logistics and warehousing and started my first professional role in 1990 with a Japanese Oil company as a junior involved in production planning and processing of raw materials.
In 1993 – I started working for Elf. The organization was a lean business and as a result we got to work and experience many facets of the business, which saw us liaising with customers, purchasing additives and packaging materials. We would also be involved in planning customer orders into the production schedules and be booking shipping to load and deliver the order to the customer.
It was very much a multi-tasking job, which enabled me to gain a lot of experience and understanding of the many different aspects of the business.
After the merger between Elf and TotalFina (as TotalEnergies was known at the time) in 2000, I integrated into the Total structure.
Between 2001 and 2012 I worked in a number of supply chain and logistics roles including Planning, Shipping and Logistics and Warehousing within the Inland division.
In 2013, I was assigned a new challenge as a lead in Customer Services, which was a new area for me but one that I really enjoyed.
When we moved into our brand new TUAS plant in 2015 I was assigned to logistics operations in addition to customer services within the Logistics and Customer Service team.
In 2016 I was then focused on logistics for Inland and Marine, before fully joining Lubmarine in 2020, to help support and strengthen the customer services and operations aspect of the business here in Singapore.
Can you tell us about your role?
It’s a multi-functional working closely with our clients – ship owners, operators and traders – both those responsible for the transiting of vessels in and through Singapore as well as our Singapore shipping customers who require Lube Oil deliveries no matter where they are in the world.
Planning is an absolutely critical part of this job and we are extremely busy – with our team managing the process of over 5,000 orders here in Singapore annually– whether at anchorage or at terminal.
When I joined the team in 2020, this was a completely new role for me which appeared to be complex and diversified.
As a person I have a positive mindset and I am always eager to learn more and I spent about 6 months putting a real focus on understanding the operations side of our business so I could fully embrace the role and ensure I was making a positive impact.
What was a major benefit to me in getting up to speed were my team who are highly experienced and who were really able to support my steep learning curve.
On a day-to-day basis, the role involves us working very closely with our customers to understand and anticipate their needs, understand their delivery requirements – whether they are at anchorage or terminal, know quantities and timings and oversee all of the mechanics around the ordering and successful delivery of their lubricants.
We need to be 100% sure of order fulfillment and delivery – this is the main challenge that we face. Our customers expect no mistakes, so we have to be very focused and capable and that is where the quality of our team comes in.
Meeting the customers’ expectations is vital.
Singapore is a highly strategic location in the Asia Pacific shipping region and certainly a vital one within the Lubmarine network. As a result our customers expect to be able to get everything they need, where and when they need it, so we have to make sure we are delivering first class products and service at all times.
As a result our team is always active – to ensure that whenever a customer needs us – we are there for them.
Our people here are highly experienced – fully committed to deliver the levels of service we need to keep and grow our customer base and this is what makes Lubmarine different – the customer proximity – this sets us apart I believe.
Having the TUAS plant where we are based in Singapore also really provides us with an advantage.
Can you tell us a little more about the TUAS plant and its capabilities?
Our TUAS production and blending plant is responsible for 30-40% of Lubmarine products worldwide and approximately 95% of product volume for our customers in this region – so it is a highly important plant.
The advantage for our team here is that we can plan and create a really efficient process for our customers – this gives us an edge. It is a highly flexible and efficient plant enabling us to meet any last minute orders.
We also have our own private shared jetty in SLP (Singapore Lube Park), which we use to directly supply our barges before they deliver to customers at anchorage – in addition to being the landing spot for the delivery of raw materials, which again gives us a market advantage.
In addition the TUAS plant has plenty of production growth capacity also. As TotalEnergies’ largest blending plant, with an annual design production capacity of 310,000 metric tons, TUAS enables us to meet future increasing shipping flows through the area, as demand is growing.
It is a critical component in the business operations.
Delivering lubricants at sea must come with its own delivery challenges.
Barges are essential for our deliveries to clients at anchorage so safety is a critical part of our business. Transport and operations in an offshore business means we have to remain vigilant for safety at all times. Before, during and after supply – safety is at the heart of what we do.
This is important for our associate partners in their operations, our direct staff and our customers and their staff.
So safety discussions and processes are very important.
The energy transition in the shipping industry is a growing topic – Is this something your customers are talking to you about?
Absolutely – there is a lot of discussion about the future! This is a key topic that is on our customers’ minds.
They are talking about battery power, biofuels, and future low emissions fuels. So we have to think about forward planning.
We have to be planning today for tomorrow – and we are.
As the shipping industry increasingly moves to new types of fuels, new vessels and new solutions - we are looking at more products designed to meet those future needs.
An example of this is our Talusia HD 40 product, which we recently launched which is designed for slow speed 2-stroke engines running on Low Sulfur fuels with up to 0.5% sulfur content and recommended for use in Mark 9 and higher and Dual Fuel 2-stroke marine diesel engines from MAN Energy Solutions. The product is Category II approved by MAN ES.
Another new product is Aurelia FE – a new marine lubricant specifically designed with performance features to enhance a vessel’s fuel economy.
So this is undoubtedly going to be a growing area of the business as we design lubricant products to meet new fuels solutions.
When you are not at work what do you like to do?
Family life is very important to me. I am married with two sons who are both studying – one in University and one in College. They want to study abroad so this is going to be a challenge at some point – as we are a close family.
I like to keep myself fit with sports and also love spending time with my wife and cooking for my family. Healthy body and mind is important. We work hard so it is important to look after myself and maintain that balance in life.
I love listening to music and in particular jazz music.
We also try to contribute back to society so where we can and like to do community volunteering – environmental and to support children in the local community in need.