Poetry in motion: Teng Seen Khoo

If you have something that moves within the automotive or industrial sector, then there’s a good chance there’s a Gates component for it. But it doesn’t just move; it works. And if it’s a replacement component, it probably works better. As a portfolio company of Blackstone and a leading global manufacturer of power transmission belts and fluid power products, Gates has long contributed critical components, systems and services for specialist clients the world over. The company’s mission is to continually enhance the science of motion performance to improve productivity and reduce total cost of ownership.  

Like a perfectly metered and considered piece of prose, a Gates component aims to always fit perfectly within the flow of its clients’ needs and operations, whether it be first fit or replacement applications for its target sectors — namely, construction, agriculture, energy, transportation, and automotive. Its tagline, ‘Gates: Powering progress’, makes it clear that not only is this a company set on meeting client needs, but also in helping them to set the market trends rather than follow them. 

To engineer Gates’s continued growth and quality requires a mind especially equipped for building — not just leading — the company’s products, quality control, clientele and reputation. In a region as innovative and competitive as East Asia, this is especially  so, and it’s fortunate then that Teng Seen ‘TS’ Khoo, former software consultant and new-business transformation enthusiast, decided to interview for the role of president for the region one fateful day in January 2016. 

"I enjoy opportunities to architect and transform companies through new programs and initiatives. That’s what attracted me to Gates — its history of innovation and its continually renewed ambition." – Teng Seen Khoo

"I realised many years ago that I’m actually a builder by nature," he says. "I’m not as interested in maintaining a business. When the dust is settled and everything is working well, I get a bit bored. I’d much prefer to continually build a business. I enjoy opportunities to architect and transform companies through new programs and initiatives. That’s what attracted me to Gates — its history of innovation and its continually renewed ambition." 

Throughout his career across various industries, TS has effectively built, grown and transformed businesses in a constantly changing and dynamic environment. He now puts this mentality to good use by leading the commercial teams as president for Gates East Asia operations, comprising five zones: Japan, Korea, South East Asia, Australia and India. Aside from his remit to drive demand for new and retained orders, and improve customer service, logistics, and warehousing, TS will help lead the evolution of Gates into a truly global and customer-centric organisation.

"Our CEO, Ivo Jurek, clearly articulated his ambition for Gates, and listening to him during my interview made me a very strong believer in its success. I was looking forward then, and I’m looking forward now, to being part of his team and the exciting journey ahead," says TS. "This will be the 4th business transformation role in my career, though Gates has already established a really strong foundation over the past 40 years in the region, with a very impressive list of global clients and offerings. I see many opportunities for us to continue investing in growth and leveraging on our expanding product portfolio to drive new markets and segments." 

Before joining Gates, TS was formerly the vice-president Sales, East Asia, at the global electrical firm Eaton, prior to which he spent almost 8 years with Schneider Electric as vice-president, East Asia. But look back to the start of his career and TS was a software specialist working in management and consultancy across regional IT software industries in the US and Asia. "I began my career back as a computer programmer with an SMB manufacturer in Malaysia, and then I joined a US-based ERP [enterprise resource planning] company as a manufacturing consultant." In this role, he moved to Tokyo for 18 months to build a local consulting practice, together with the support of a team of expats from Singapore, the US and Canada. Here he experienced for the first time his love of building up both businesses and people. 

"I really love working with talent, stretching people beyond their own limits and helping them believe they’re capable of much more," he says. "Over the past 18 years, I’ve always measured my success based on the number of people I work with who continue to grow on their own, well after they’re no longer working as a team. That’s what I love most about my job — seeing people grow." His efforts saw him promoted to director of consulting, before he moved into a senior director role for client services with another firm in Singapore that covered all of APAC.

"I was in the software space for about 14 years, leading the service business including sales and operations, but I decided to make a change," says TS. He then joined a US-based electric power company, American Power Conversion — later acquired by Schneider Electric — as the APAC head of services and general manager. "I must say it was a steep learning curve changing industries, but I enjoy venturing out of my comfort zone. It’s helped me gain a lot of valuable leadership experience, and I’ve had to adapt to different cultures and build strong teams and aggressive goals within them."

Looking ahead, Gates will be pursuing a range of new growth initiatives, ranging from refining the quality and variety of products, streamlining customer service, and focusing on globalisation to cater to customer expansion, while still maintaining regional excellence. TS says it has an advantage in utilising strong long-term supplier relationships, as well as its parent company’s strengths in the market. "We have the opportunity to experience rapid growth with our Blackstone partnership. They see us as a long-term investment horizon, and we’re compelled to transform and globalise our business," he says. 

"Many of our customers have gone global themselves and are asking for integrated and connected customer experiences from design, procurement, manufacturing and supply chain," he adds. "My role here is now formulating strategies and execution plans; directing these multidisciplinary teams — of which some are local, some are regional, some are global — while also working simultaneously as one global function, in a way that aligns our strategy not only with what customers need today but also what they need tomorrow." 

The company is also looking to launch an exclusive retail distribution program to market a series of fluid power products and services around the world. "We want to bring our global knowledge base and expertise closer to our customers by launching new digital retail tools, and by acquiring a strong local network of partners to deliver the same quality we’re known for," TS says. "On top of that we’re looking to simplify customer engagement models and utilising a lot of new digital tools. This is a very vital part of us being able to plan global and have consistency but also be able to execute locally."

Though industry trends are forever challenging Gates to keep pace with demand, TS says this is what makes the job interesting, and he believes that Gates’s long history of operation shows it’s a business that’s resilient and agile. "Gates has been around for well over 100 years, but it’s really important for us to be a future-looking organisation. Innovation is a key part of what keeps us ahead of our competition, and helps us to understand and anticipate our customer needs in advance," TS says. "We have a very strong foundation in R&D and many programs that help us address the changing business environment by markets and regions, in what is a very diverse business."