Established Year 1997
Hi-Tech Lubricants was formed as an Association of Person (AOP) in March, 1997 to market imported lubricants in Pakistan. These Lubricants were imported from YU Kong Ltd (Now known as SK Lubricants Ltd.), South Korea in sealed cartons. During the early days Hi-Tech Lubricants established its own distribution in Lahore and shaped a sales team to educate the local market on the use of synthetic lubricants.
Pakistan's Lubricant market during the late 90’s was predominantly a Mid/Low tier market with less understanding on API/SAE grades. Lubricant was sold on the basis of color and brand. There was no differentiation in application for Passenger car Motor Oil (PCMO), Diesel Engine Oil (DEO) and Motorcycle Oil (MCO). There was no door-to-door delivery mechanism to facilitate the retailers, while resellers used to buy lubricants from the Oil Marketing Company’s (OMC) Warehouses.
Team and Distribution Expansion Year 2000
After gaining 3 years of experience in Lahore and surrounding areas, Hi-Tech Lubricants felt confident in expanding its team and distribution Network to different regions. Two more offices (Islamabad & Karachi) were established and simultaneous hiring was done to create a sales force to handle local operations of the regions. Central, North and South regions were controlled by Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi offices respectively.
Creating a robust and efficient distribution network across three regions was a huge challenge. Moreover setting up a team in three different regions handling numerous cities and towns was even a bigger task. It was a big Ask for an unknown brand backed by a young company to be competing against the industry giants.
However, Hi-Tech Lubricant’s management with focus and hard work achieved its milestones while facing its challenges with effective controls. New door-to-door delivery systems were introduced to lubricant retailers and were offered credit on product deliveries. Education was given to the resellers and end customers on lubricant grade/applications. All mediums were used to educate the user and seller of lubricants on lubricant grade/application. The sales team played a vital role in creating ZIC as a premium lubricant household name in Pakistan.
By the end of year 2006 Hi-Tech Lubricants had gained 16% market share of the premium passenger car market whilst maintaining a comprehensive distribution network across Pakistan.
Joint Venture Year 2007
In 2007 Hi-Tech Lubricants went into a tri-party joint venture between SK Lubricants, South Korea and Pertamina, an Indonesian State Oil company. The key attribute of this joint venture was to market and distribute Pertamina’s Group I mineral base lubricants in Pakistan.
New distributors across Pakistan were established and separate sales force hired. Hi-Tech made sure that both products synthetic and mineral were distributed via different channels and teams. This was done to keep the focus of old and new product sales intact while having a healthy competition between teams.
In order to introduce the new product, a very comprehensive media plan was formulated. All forms of advertising mediums like TV, Radio, Outdoor, Print, Cable, etc. were used. Hi-Tech Lubricants won several awards in Sales/Marketing presented in multiple annual sales conferences held by Pertamina in Indonesia. It was a successful joint venture between three partners and created a long lasting bond for all engaged.
Corporate Social Responsibility Year 2010
A trust was established in the year 2010 by the name of “Sabara Hamida Trust”. The title of the trust was created keeping in mind the names of the company’s founding member’s mothers. This trust was established with the vision to give back to the society, a contribution from the company’s earnings. A school named “ILMGAH SCHOOL” was initiated under the umbrella of the trust. The objective behind establishing this school was to provide Standard English medium education based on merit to children of less fortunate areas.
The school’s curriculum is set at par to any other private school in the country with full access to free uniform, books, stationary and meals every day. The company believes that educating the younger generation and making them better human beings is its success. The motive was simple “a brighter child today is a brighter Pakistan tomorrow.”
ISO Certified Year 2010
In 2016 Hi Tech Lubricants became an ISO certified company and delivered as per 9001:2015 quality standards. Hi Tech Lubricants followed structured principles to engage with the customers, sold the product and retained brand sustainability. The channels for Supply Chain and Sales became risk free with more than 400 dedicated field force & support team offering satisfaction at the doorstep of customers.
Public Limited Year 2011
In 2011 Hi-Tech Lubricants partnership (AOP) was bought over by Hi-Tech (PVT) Limited and converted into a Public Unlisted corporate. During the past decade, the law and order situation in the country was a nightmare. There was a complete halt to new business investment whether it was local or foreign (DFI). Businesses relocated to other countries due to political instability and security threats. There was an enormous flight of capital outside Pakistan and economic growth was at a standstill.
However, as they say “when the going gets tough the tough gets going”, Hi-Tech lubricants used this time to convert this economic threat into an opportunity, capitalizing on themarket potential to the fullest. The company maintained a continuous growth in business and benefited from this economic slow down
Blending Plant Year 2013
The idea of setting up a state of the art blending plant in Pakistan was conceived in 2013. Stone laying ceremony was conducted by senior vice president of SK Lubricants along with the board of directors of Hi-Tech Lubricants Limited.
The main reason behind setting up a plant in Pakistan was to reduce the cost of lubricants to end customer and create different avenues for marketing. It was decided to produce HDPE bottle/Cap for Lubricants on this plant and local filling by importing finished product in bulk.
This started a new era for Hi-Tech Lubricants Limited converting from a trading unit to manufacturing concern. During that year a lot of effort went into planning, designing, procuring and establishing the right mix for local manufacturing.
Oracle Financial Implementation Year 2014
To follow the best practices of the industry and standards adopted by leading organization of the world, the company implemented oracle financials to their core business operations resulting in enhanced performance and becoming a major player in Pakistan’s Lubricant industry.
It was a seamless conversion from an in-house developed ERP to a world’s leading brand of database management system. Oracle helped in creating departments for core operational needs while minimizing conflict of interest between departmental tasks.
Current Situation Year 2015
By the grace of All Mighty Allah the most gracious and the most merciful, hi-tech lubricants is on the edge of becoming a public listed company. The blending plant will be operational by 3rd quarter of this year to produce HDPE package and filling. The plant will manufacture high quality products locally using foreign machinery
This achievement can only be credited to the hard working people of the company backed by the vision of its management with the idea of “CAN DO BEST”. It was a pure team effort and hard work that paid handsome dividends in the end. Yes! There were days and months where natural calamities took its course of action, but consistent struggle for excellence kept the team going.
2015 brings with it greater challenges in forward and backward integration as per the expansion plans. HTLL plans to further increase the efforts to achieve its goals in top and bottom lines. With the belief in “CAN DO BEST” HTLL is always ready to strive for brilliance.
Future Outlook
The future of Hi Tech Lubricants Limited is bright and will shine like a rising star. The shareholders will enjoy high returns on their investments and will be smiling all the way. The expansion plans are aligned with the management’s vision of leveraging the brand equity to grow many folds. In backward integration, plant production will insure right product is delivered in time with enough storage to facilitate growth.
This new facility will open new avenues to market HTLLs products and will help to penetrate in Industrial/OEM concerns. The state of the art production plant will enable the supply of Lubricants to Government sector with having the stigma removed of not being indigenous. Local production will also cater to the needs of end customers and will be able to produce packages they desire.
Hi-TechI t are also expanding our current bottle manufacturing by adding 10 Liters/20 Liters Jerry Can and 200 Liters Plastic Drum production. Simultaneously new filling lines will be added to fill these packages. Total quality management system will be installed in place so that quality is maintained at every stage of storage and filling. Hence, a full fledge international standard lab is going to be established which will insure product quality to meet API/SAE Standards.
HI-tech Lubricants LTDs forward integration will enable the products to be sold directly to the end customer with loyalty programs to benefit users. A three tier model will be introduced based on retail outlets across Pakistan. This one stop shop model will enhance the company reach and provide a wide variety of products available to its valued customers.
ZIC products have been awarded consumer choice award for the last consecutive 3 years by the consumer association of Pakistan. We believe that investing now in Hi-Tech Lubricants Limited as a shareholder will be a prudent selection. Our growth rate of top line from the last 5 years has been at an average rate of 24% and a consistent bottom line increase every year. With consistent increase in our top line and earnings, Hi-Tech Lubricants Limited Share will be a leading hybrid share on the stock exchange. Our shareholders will not only enjoy capital gains but also dividend income.