The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on the supply chain and logistics industry. While some companies are taken aback by the devastation of the pandemic, some are adapting to the crisis and are preparing themselves to cater to the changing market demands. Founded in 2000, Pacific Logistics Group is one of the latter. “We at PLG are always careful to remain diversified, agile, and ready to adapt to new changes,” says Kelvin Lim, Founder and Group Managing Director of Pacific Logistics Group.
Prior to founding PLG, Kelvin had been working in the logistics industry and was familiar with the ebbs and flows of the sector. However, he was often frustrated with the logistics players within the industry being rigid and unaccommodating to their clients. Consequently, together with his wife, Kelvin established PLG with an aim of being a multi-modal freight forwarder, with the ideal of agility and diversity at the core of the business. With services such as warehouse storage management, packing, sandblasting, and even painting and labeling, the company strived to go above and beyond to get the job done.
Alongside these services, Kelvin also developed the dream of allowing its clients and customers to transport their goods anywhere they wanted. As a result, he developed PLG’s mission to connect Asia with the World by building a supply chain. Presently, the company has grown to operate across 20 locations in 11 countries and also owns a huge 700,000 square feet flagship logistics hub located next to Tuas Mega Seaport. It is operating in 6 other lease warehouse sites amounting to total 1.4 million square feet spaces. PLG is also working closely with partners in Yuxinou to provide its freight forwarding solutions across China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
“With our experience, support, and expertise in the area of logistics, freight forwarding, warehousing, value-added services, and e-commerce, PLG connects and mobilizes global and regional markets.”
Multimodal Freight Services
As aforementioned, PLG has created partnerships and connections with several countries around the world to provide its clients with the greatest connectivity possible. It offers multimodal freight services viz. it can transport goods across air, land, and sea routes –which is crucial in times like the current pandemic. The company takes pride in its current venture with Yuxinou Rail Logistics in Chongqing –where it provides rail freight services across the Belt and Road for its clients –making use of the delivery route to help them transport their goods quickly within the shortest possible time. Alongside Yuxinou, PLG has developed valuable partnerships with the Singapore Logistics Association, IATA, Secure Trade Partnership, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, FIATA, bizSAFE Star, etc. and has received several certifications for its top-notch services.
Accommodating the Sudden Demand
When the pandemic hit, PLG was fully prepared to face the global crisis. The company had already experienced the SARS epidemic, where it observed that the need and demand for warehousing and stockpiling options increased dramatically during that period. Thus, it was able to quickly pivot to explore warehousing options to accommodate the sudden demand and need for the stockpiling and essential goods such as food and pharmaceutical goods.
Consequently, to meet the need and demand for storing food and pharmaceutical goods, PLG expanded its number of facilities from 3 to 8. With this expansion, it has been able to specialize directly in cold storage technologies, where it has the facilities as well as trained staff to be able to handle and manage such storage options for its customers. There were several important restrictions and protocols to be followed in the storage of frozen food and pharmaceutical goods. PLG has managed to train itself while building the necessary infrastructure to handle the nation’s needs within a short period of time.
Furthermore, PLG is the only logistics company that is currently involved in pallet manufacturing since the pandemic hit, with all the other logistic players stopping their pallet manufacturing processes. “This may not seem like much, but these materials are crucial for all logistics processes, and it was a service that started out of necessity during the pandemic period where we required the pallets in our packing and storage of food and cargo,” added Kelvin.
“At Pacific Logistics Group, we build lasting partnerships with our cross-border partners to provide a global logistics network for your customers.”
A People Person leading the Way
Being the Founder and Group Managing Director of PLG, Kelvin sets the direction and priorities of the company. He ensures the work is delegated, as well as involves himself in the everyday matters of the company, from logistic processes, to even human resource programs to groom future leaders within the organization.
Kelvin is a people person and one of his great strengths has been to be able to see the talent and gifts of his employees. Moreover, as PLG continues to thrive in spite of the pandemic, Kelvin has not shifted his leadership approach. He has rather used this time to plan for further expansion of PLG’s services and partnerships to continue providing value to its clients.
Ensuring the Normalcy
Being a logistic company that relies fairly on manual work, it was difficult for PLG as only 50 employees were allowed to work physically. However, with the diversification of its service, the company was able to appeal to bring more employees into the building, thereby allowing it to continue operations more normally.
Alongside the operating circumstances, keeping the employees motivated was a major challenge for several companies. PLG, however, didn’t have to do much as it has an already passionate bunch of employees. “The knowledge that we were supporting the government and contributing to efforts to help the nation in the food stockpiling during the COVID-19 pandemic was good enough to keep us going,” asserted Kelvin.
Formulating for the Future
As the APAC region has the largest population of middle-class residents, Kelvin believes the movement of the supply chain in the APAC region should be recovering more quickly in the wake of the pandemic. The pandemic is expected to add further uncertainty within the supply chain and cross border trade movements within the APAC region. However, the necessity for stockpiling and warehousing options will continue to be essential for the near future, thus logistics players that are able to look into these options of stockpiling and warehousing space will be able to survive and thrive over the next few years.
As the construction of the Tuas Megaport in Singapore is underway, PLG has started its most exciting upcoming project, with the building of its flagship building located right next to the Megaport. The company is currently developing the infrastructure and technology to handle the massive volume of cargo coming in through the Tuas Megaport in the near future. Being located right next to the port, PLG aims to assist the nation in the storage of cargo in its facilities, which are expected to be completed by then.
“PLG is one of the pioneers to establish a joint venture with the China Rail Operator to tap on the fast-growing Euro-Asia rail freight services.”
Read Full Issue: The Business APAC Unified Logistics Companies 2020
