Since its inception, Asian Lubricants Industry Association (ALIA) has grown from a manufacturer-focused union into a diverse, 100-member-strong association representing the full spectrum of Asia’s lubricants industry. Steve Puckett, its co-founding director, shares insights on the association’s eight-year evolution, its role in advancing global sustainability standards, and the vision ensuring its members continue to thrive
It has been eight years since you co-founded ALIA. What are some of your learnings over this period to ensure this association continues to thrive over the next decade and more?
Since its founding, the aim was for the ALIA, to become the voice of the lubricants industry across Asia. An initiative we felt was overdue and a purpose we knew to be worthwhile. Our sister organisation in the US, which has thrived for many years, was instrumental in advocating for the founding of our association.
The ALIA – originally the Asian Lubricant Manufacturers Union (ALMU) – enjoyed early success, welcoming over 100 businesses across Asia, as member companies large and small. These included international oil majors, national oil companies, SMEs, and suppliers.
One learning has been that, while welcoming all facets of industry participants, ALIA was originally headlined as being focussed on manufacturers, whereas the industry has a varied mix of contributors. Three years in, we realised that this warranted a name change, from ALMU to the Asian Lubricants Industry Association, while maintaining the previous high membership standards that had been established. The name change contributed to our maintaining a strong membership base.
As a fledgling organisation, we were particularly challenged by the Covid pandemic. In order to maintain delivery of our programmes and manage our membership expectations, we needed to be particularly careful with our limited resources, to operate remotely, and grow our digital capability. We emerged from the pandemic stronger and have since continued to grow from strength to strength.
I am assuming your members are from all over Asia, and not just Singapore. How has ALIA adapted its value proposition to keep members engaged who are geographically dispersed?
Our member companies are based throughout Asia, spanning countries at various stages of economic development, with a diverse mix of cultures and languages, and in some instances, applying differing product specifications. This diversity presents a raft of management challenges.
However, Asia is home to half the world’s population and half of the world’s GDP, and our member diversity has added potential for cross-learning and varied business opportunities.
In terms of our value proposition, our member interaction remains in English, and standards of business have a high degree of commonality. We have 11 affiliate members across the globe, comprising various associations and professional bodies from the US, Europe, and China. Our affiliate membership is growing steadily. When we graduate to adapting parts of our value proposition into national languages, it can be expected to bring further growth, and we will need to embrace the increased complexity it will bring.
While our knowledge sharing webinars and our training have continued since the pandemic to be almost entirely virtual, our annual meetings and conference, and our trade exhibition have been held in person in the major centres of Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, and Singapore. These locations have reflected the locational preferences expressed by the majority of member companies each year, but require attendance, which requires time, travel, and expense that some members have been challenged to allocate. Hence, we have sought to add value to our events by combining external briefings and training.
Beyond standard networking, what specific programmes or committees is ALIA utilising to ensure active, sustained engagement across its membership base?
We provide services to support members in growing their business and to further the broader interests of lubricant businesses in the region. We aim to deliver excellence, particularly in member support, technical competence, and advocating for a sustainable future.
While networking is a key driver for attendance at our major events, these events also provide a good degree of knowledge transfer through presentations and workshops. Throughout the year, we hold webinars covering mostly technical learnings and updates. The programmes are initiated by our five working committees: membership and events; sustainability; technology and information; health safety and compliance; and product quality.
To pick sustainability as an example which is less industry specific, we provide the following:
- Promotion of industry best practice and guidance on ethical standards
- Working globally to harmonise product carbon footprint (PCF) and ESG standards
- Driving awareness and investing in sustainability responses
- Sustainability transition support
- Sustainable operating standards
We aspire to provide exceptional value to our members, support their interests to help drive competitiveness and sustainable growth. We strive to provide a networking environment that will foster strong industry cooperation, and we gather and disseminate industry information to promote progress.
Everything we do is guided by a purpose: to deliver real value to members, foster collaboration, and champion a future where Asia’s lubricants industry continues to grow responsibly. The ALIA has come a long way in eight years; there is much still to improve, and we see a long and interesting road ahead.
What is ALIA’s biggest achievement to date, and how has this contributed to the industry at large?
I would like to highlight two notable achievements. Firstly, the recognition we have received as representing the industry in Asia, both regionally and internationally. Secondly, the recognition of the leading position we have achieved as a champion of sustainability.
The ALIA is committed to driving an energy transition that advances the United Nations’ climate initiatives on both a regional and international scale. While lubricants are inherently energy-saving and emissions-reducing in their applications, we have sought to influence the further development of industry ESG standards, and the development of increasingly more sustainable lubricant products. We have promoted awareness of environmental concerns in our operations and provided opportunities for members to engage with sustainability programmes, advancing ESG monitoring. We have also promoted harmonised standards and regulations across Asia for the benefit of consumers, the environment, and the industry as large.
What are some of the challenges you face in running this association?
We have faced several challenges in building and running the association, beyond those arising from the region’s diversity. However, none come to mind that have had consequences of any significance or that were unanticipated.
We have been blessed since inception in having highly experienced industry seniors on both its governing council and as our industry advisors. Further, we have benefitted from a loyal and committed administrative team.
We have also benefitted greatly from the vast industry experience of my co-founder and industry media-veteran Vicky Villena-Denton, who conceived the initial vision for the ALIA and brought together the array of support needed to get the association up and running. Vicky’s deep experience has enabled our annual meetings and conferences, and in recent years, the annual Asian Lubricant Exhibition, to be recognised as industry-leading must-attend events.
I have called on my own depth of experience as an oil industry veteran, and my experience over the past years in leading both professional and business institutions, to structure and guide the growth of the ALIA, and ensure its good governance.
