Bernard Wong Chun Nam

Managing Director

Panaflo Controls Pte Ltd

2014

Asia's Leading SMEs

Bernard Wong Chun Nam

Asia's Leading SMEs

2014

Managing Director

Panaflo Controls Pte Ltd

ABOUT bernard

“The company embarked on the journey of “Business Excellence”. This framework, an integrated leadership and management system that describes the elements essential to sustainable organisational excellence, is used to assess and improve any aspect of an organisation, including leadership, strategy and planning, people, information and knowledge, safety, service delivery, product quality and bottom-line results.”

“The first hurdle or obstacle for any entrepreneur is to find the first anchor staff that is willing to take the first difficult step on the journey of building up the company with you. Fortunately for me, I have good people who have been with me since I first started the company. The same people who worked with me since even before the company started,” said Bernard Wong, Managing Director of Panaflo Controls.

This 47 -year-old Singaporean has 24 years experience in Flow Controls. Wong’s philosophy is simple: “When you don’t succeed the first time, try again.” That is exactly what he did. When a Dutch MNC was under financial distress and was forced to diversify its operations, Wong left and established Panaflo Controls Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company that he established in 2004.

In 2007, it became a 100 percent subsidiary of Pantech Holdings and has grown from a three-person operation to 20 staff. Its average annual turnover has increased from less than a million to over $20 million. The ISO-certified company specialises in providing flow control solutions such as valves and controls to the marine, petrochemical, chemical, oil and gas industries. It supplies and services complete flow control systems for some of the largest marine and offshore industries throughout Asia.

“Our Vision is to be an international leader in the provision of total solutions for piping systems and flow controls. To meet the challenges ahead and to fulfill the growing expectations of the market, we shall always stay ahead through technology, innovative ideas and a knowledge-driven system. Central to achieving all this is the development and engagement of our people, building our capabilities through learning and growth and customer-driven quality. The valve distribution industry in Asia is in its infancy compared with the European and American counterparts and Panaflo is positioned to be a market leader.”

Wong says that he owes his company’s success to his staff and believes a systematic approach is needed to ensure that people can learn and grow in the company. “Knowledge will be the key driver and people are our greatest asset,” he emphasised.

The company embarked on the journey of “Business Excellence”. This Framework, an integrated leadership and management system that describes the elements essential to sustainable organisational excellence, is used to assess and improve any aspect of an organisation, including leadership, strategy and planning, people, information and knowledge, safety, service delivery, product quality and bottom-line results.

“I want to inspire, induct and involve my staff with the success of the company and also plan for the future ahead. Training and developing our human capital allows us to prepare them for the future.”

What does he see as important characteristics of an entrepreneur? “The entrepreneur is also an innovator – a generator of new ideas and business processes. Management skill and strong team-building abilities and leadership are essential qualities of an entrepreneur.”