Jebsen & Jessen Group Services wins Team of the Year at the Malaysia Management Excellence Awards

One of Asia’s most venerable industrial conglomerates, with businesses spanning distribution, engineering and manufacturing in 10 ASEAN countries, continues to rise above the challenges of the pandemic through exemplary resilience and collaboration.

Jebsen & Jessen Group Services Sdn Bhd, also known as The Hub, is the regional shared service centre of Jebsen & Jessen Group. They have recently clinched the Team of the Year award in the Business Services category of the Malaysia Management Excellence Awards – a testament to their commitment to accelerating business-wide teamwork and collaboration. 

The awards programme, presented by Singapore Business Review, aims to honour and recognise outstanding leaders, individuals and teams who have made exceptional contributions towards their companies’ success.

Formally incorporated in 1963, Jebsen & Jessen Group’s five core regional business units include cable technology, ingredients, life sciences, packaging, and technology. With over 2,000 employees, the Group has operational entities located in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, through a network spanning 31 locations, as well as 10 manufacturing facilities. 

Having identified several optimisation opportunities to further streamline processes and improve strategic alignment, Jebsen & Jessen Group moved into the next phase of transformation with the vision of housing all transactional finance services under one roof. This would allow the Group to improve business support by establishing RBU-specific finance business partners, enable the more efficient use of existing systems and processes, as well as professionalise the centralised Treasury. 

Located in Shah Alam, Malaysia, The Hub began operations in April 2020 during the unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges, the migration of all their key markets in eight countries was completed within 18 months without delay.

On top of meeting the migration goals, The Hub also achieved amazing results in their KPI metrics when compared to their competitors, as the company began to focus more on quality to address underlying data integrity issues. The Hub managers also accelerated the creation of a Service Management branch within the team to start monthly engagement sessions that not only displayed KPIs but also served as a platform to discuss issues and areas for improvement. 

The Group also started an online communication forum called The Hub Roadshows, on which anyone from the business units could learn about The Hub’s processes and frequently asked questions –  forming the basis for their online information centre.

The diversity of the management team, which comprises individuals of different nationalities, shared service centre experts, and a business trained expert, has led to a beautifully balanced management team that has been the key to the seamless transition into The Hub. 

“The implementation of The Hub has enabled us to better leverage our significant investment in systems, applications, and products (SAP), by facilitating consistent above-market process standards, increasing efficiency by minimising variations, and supporting the Finance team in achieving the vision of ‘Finance as a Business Partner’. With even better clarity and a sharper focus on our goals as a Group, we move together in greater solidarity to stay ahead of market practices amid today’s challenges,” said Viktor Leendertz, Chief Financial Officer at Jebsen & Jessen Group.

"For over 50 years, we have grown our business and shifted with the times. This strategic transformation is invaluable as part of our commitment to continuously align ourselves and further advance the Group’s development. I would like to thank the team for their dedication and hard work in bringing this vision to life,” said Heinrich Jessen, Chairman of Jebsen & Jessen Group.

As the migrations progress into the other markets, The Hub continues to be agile and aggressive in expanding its portfolio to other areas. The multiple times that the Hub changed and tweaked its strategy, and yet delivered all and more of its promises, are a true reflection of how an agile team works together. Rising to every challenge with resilience and good humour, the management team celebrates the wins with the wider Hub group through town halls and fun activities like TikTok challenges. The Hub has set big waves of transformation into motion for Jebsen & Jessen, and will continue to advance and build their centre of excellence.