Beng Hui Marine Electrical Pte Ltd: ISO 22301 Boosts Business Resilience

With an inventory worth S$30 million across 30,000 SKUs, BHM carries a wide portfolio of premium technically-certified marine grade electrical products such as marine cables, lighting systems and marine electrical consumables from internationally renowned brand partners.

Beng Hui Marine Electrical Pte Ltd

Quick List of Benefits

ISO 22301: Business Continuity Management System

  • Ensure continuity of business operations
  • Protect assets and interests
  • Enhance business resilience
  • Improve processes/systems for efficiency
  • Save time, resources and costs
  • Meet international best practices
  • Meet customer needs
  • Increase credibility

Applicable to: SMEs and MNCs; ISO 22301 is scalable.

No business would have been fully prepared for a global crisis like COVID-19, yet Beng Hui Marine Electrical (BHM) has stayed largely organised – in part due to adopting the International Organisation for Standardisation’s (ISO) standard 22301, which helps companies set up a business continuity management system that addresses disruptions.

BHM, part of the BH Global Group, is a marine and offshore electrical supplier to the shipbuilding, ship repair, onshore and offshore, and oil and gas industries worldwide.

Founded in 1963, BHM has been in the industry for more than 55 years, where it has honed itself as a market leader in marine and offshore electrical supplies. With an inventory worth S$30 million across 30,000 SKUs, BHM carries a wide portfolio of premium technically-certified marine-grade electrical products such as marine cables, lighting systems and marine electrical consumables from internationally renowned brand partners.

The company supports a varied clientele – including ship chandlers, ship owners, ship-management companies, system integrators, shipyards and fabrication contractors – in their daily new-build, repair and retrofitting projects. These, and, holding a high-value inventory mean that BHM must at all times ensure the continuity of its operations and supply chain capabilities, to which the company must assess possible risks of a disruption, ways to respond and the resources needed for recovery, which are comprehensively covered in ISO 22301.

“Initially, we did not know how to kick-start our business continuity planning or implement ISO 22301. In the earlier years, this standard was generally uncommon,” said Mr Vincent Lim, Chairman of BHM. “Through this implementation, we have learnt and adopted the best business continuity practices from various industries. Our business is currently more resilient in times of crisis.”

 

Resilient Supply Chain, Enhanced Credibility

Beng Hui Marine Electrical Pte Ltd

 

Through ISO 22301, BHM has strengthened its business resilience by relooking at its supply chain process to identify risks, diversify resources and put contingency plans in place.

For example, BHM has both primary and secondary trusted sources of supply. It taps into this pool of reliable suppliers and shares with them its business continuity practices – one of which is the use of their warehouses as alternative spaces to ensure clients and projects receive continued supplies no matter the circumstance. 

By collaborating with different vendors to service their clients, BHM seeks to ensure an uninterrupted supply of goods. The company has since gained a reputation among its clients for being able to supply reliably and quickly globally within seven days, even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision to adopt ISO 22301 has therefore raised BHM’s reputation as a reliable supplier. This gives it a competitive edge over its competitors, which helps in expanding BHM’s customer base, as it gains trust from its existing clients.

 

Operational Efficiencies – Powered by Digitalisation
 

Beng Hui Marine Electrical Pte Ltd

 

Through ISO 22301, BHM has also identified its warehouse as an integral asset. To safeguard it as part of its business continuity management plan, BHM established a warehouse management system (WMS).

BHM Logistics Director Mr Johnny Lim said, “We had to carry out a different set of risk assessments for our warehouse, including introducing safety measurements, proper IT and data infrastructure and a disaster recovery plan, which are all part of enhancing our business resilience.”

The ISO 22301 journey then led the company to embark on Industry 4.0 transformation, which references ISO 9001 on Quality Management Systems, to enhance the WMS’ Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and automate manual processes. 

In mid-2017, BHM started digitalising its WMS with an ERP system that was driven by a customised barcoding and tracking technology. Coupled with the combined use of handheld devices and digital process-monitoring dashboards, the company is able to manage its inventory even more accurately, where real-time data is now readily available.

With these enhancements, the logistics department successfully reduced its operating costs by $500,000 annually and therefore recovered the cost of the upgrades done to the warehouse within three months. 

Beng Hui Marine Electrical Pte Ltd

 

In addition, the upgraded digital infrastructure boosted BHM’s e-store operations, where real-time inventory data is available to enable direct online purchases. Together with product accuracy from the WMS, BHM is able to supply the right products at the right prices. This enhancement has allowed BHM to continue supporting its customers during the pandemic. 

“Industry 4.0, digitalisation and automation trends are escalating,” said Ms Jasmin Lim, who is BHM’s Business Development Director. “BHM will continue to ride the digitalisation wave – whether in our warehouse management system, IT systems, software or future-scenario planning.”

 

Future Plans

Standards have offered BHM the know-how to establishing robust management systems that operate with resiliency and efficiency, and seeing increased returns in the process – be it in a crisis or not. 

“By achieving ISO certification, we gain added peace of mind,” says Mr Vincent Lim. “Standards are like roadmaps that offer clear, purposeful steps to strengthen our operations.”

Mr Patrick Lim, BHM’s Chief Operating Officer, added, “The adoption of ISO 22301 and the pandemic have proven to us that we have to be prepared at all times, as the world is constantly changing and filled with uncertainties.”

As various standards are often interconnected and it is more cost-effective if they are adopted in bundles, BHM will be rolling out multiple ISO implementations together in a batch to each of its subsidiaries by 2021.

“The BHM management is strongly convinced about and committed to standards,” said Mr Vincent Lim. “We have carried out awareness on standards among our business units. There is no reason not to implement them, as the benefits are aplenty: from maintaining a safe environment to lowering risks and enhancing digitalisation, standards have helped us to evolve into a stronger business (entity).”

Share This

Other News