Trans Link Solutions Links SANY to the Southern Region of Malaysia
Unique as a privately owned Chinese brand, SANY has been gathering momentum in Malaysia. Trans Link Solutions celebrates their success with the opening of their second workshop.
Standing proudly in the middle of a newly developed business park the second workshop brandishing the SANY logo has recently been officially opened by Trans Link Solutions. As indicated in a previous interview with Asian Trucker,
the brand has a lot of promising potential. Tapping into the southern market, the workshop is located near the Senai airport, serving clients in Johor and beyond. In an exclusive interview with David Lieo Woon Yew, Director, Trans Link Solutions (Southern) Sdn Bhd, we find out all about what customers can expect and whatfurther ambitions Trans Link Solutions has.
A veteran of over 25 years in the shipping and forwarding industry, Lieo jumped onto the opportunity when he was offered to helm the southern branch of Trans Link Solutions. “I believe in the potential of this brand. There are a lot of Chinese brands now pushing into Southeast Asia, but SANY is different.” Lieo is no stranger to the SANY brand as he would handle the imports of their vehicles into Malaysia in his previous job as well as using some in the haulage operations of his past employer. “From my experience there I know that these trucks are very reliable and value for the money.”
Trans Link Solutions headquarters is located in Port Klang. Covering the market around Northport and Westport, the next strategic location to put a flag was Johor. Here, too, transportation revolves around two major ports. Furthermore, a lot of cross border transportation is conducted from bases and depots in Johor. To add to that, a vibrant sand and granite transportation sector is always demanding powerful trucks to move their goods. Other applications the SANY trucks are suited for according to him are timber transport and ISO Tanks.
Therefore, the initial line-up of SANY trucks sold in Johor includes prime movers in 4×2, 6×2 and 6×4 configuration as well as tipper trucks. “And we are just a moment away from also offering electric trucks,” Lieo proclaimed.
The attraction in the brand, as Lieo puts it, is in the fact that the company is not state-owned, like so many others. “SANY is a privately held company. Which makes the very independent in their decision making and approach to market needs,” he said. According to him, SANY re-invests a substantial amount of their profits back into research and development. Up to ten percent of profits will be ploughed back into their R&D, making it one of the most innovative brands in the market.
Taking the lead from there, Trans Link Solutions also decided to be different: the workshop is dedicated to SANY, although the truck population is currently very small and thus there is plenty of capacity. The premises have been modelled using the SANY brand guidebook and would be exactly as how a SANY-owned workshop looks. “We have already sold a number of trucks. However, it will now take a whilebefore they come back for their first services.”
Ready to take service and maintenance jobs, the workshop boasts a total of seven bays, ready and poised. As soon as the vehicle population has grown, Lieo also expects to be tapping directly into the IT infrastructure of the principle. Citing this level of support, it is the reason why the management has decided not to become a multi-brand operation. Spare parts are also on hand already and the supply chain has been secured via the main office in Port Klang. Parts required for service and repairs can be sent to Johor within 24 hours, ensuring that customers do not have to face pro-longed downtimes.
Meanwhile, Lieo also mused about how Chinese trucks have developed over thepast 20 years. What we have come to know when they first launched have been vehicles that were rather basic and oftentimes very closely resembling trucks of European brands. “You can say that they have been largely dependent on copying others, however that has changed.” Through joint ventures and a focus on in-house research and development, the Chinese automotive market has drastically changed over the past 20 years though. Chinese truck makers have learned to exploit some of the advantages they have. For instance, the sheer size of the country allows them to harvest data from thousands of trucks driving really long distances and thus, racking up tremendous milage.
Where Lieo admittedly sees a slight disadvantage though for the Chinese brands is the consideration of a complete package. In terms of offering tools, support and service beyond the actual hardware, the European brands would still have an upper hand according to him. However, he sees that the Chinese brands are catching up on this as well, with SANY being one of them making it an effort to provide value-add support to their customers. Though, in Lieo’s view, Chinese OEMs could still be a little bit bolder in carving out their respective niches, making a name for hemselves: “Think of safety and there is only one truck brand that you will think of. This is where the Chinese still need to be a little bolder in their communications.” One area where Chinese truck brands may need to ramp up their efforts is ESG, whereby this is a focus for many of the European truck makers. Lieo is confident though that this is on the agenda of SANY and their peers.
As a message to the market, Lieo asked for customers to come forward to give the SANY trucks a try. “We may be a new brand in the truck segment, however, SANY has a long-standing track record in other segments in Malaysia. For instance, it is a household name in port operations. We know SANY from our work with them importing their vehicles and we made that bold move. Why not follow us in this?”