The Sarawak firm that turned machine signals into business success

Kinsajasa Sdn Bhd’s headquarters in Miri, Sarawak.

By PETRONAS

Beneath the industrial hum of Malaysia’s energy backbone—where steel meets salt air, and machinery quietly powers cities, offshore platforms, and refineries—there exists a lesser-seen story of growth.

It is not told in dramatic oil booms or headline-grabbing discoveries, but in the patient, technical evolution of companies that learned to read the language of machines.

One such story belongs to Kinsajasa Sdn Bhd, a Miri-based engineering services firm that began in 1999 as a modest trading outfit supplying valves, flanges, and industrial consumables to major oil and gas players.

At the time, its workforce numbered fewer than ten. Its ambitions, however, were already quietly larger than its footprint.

Today, more than two decades later, Kinsajasa stands as a specialist in condition-based monitoring (CBM), asset integrity, and rotating equipment reliability. Its reach has extended across Sarawak, Sabah, and Peninsular Malaysia, with eyes now turning towards regional expansion in Southeast Asia.

The transformation of Kinsajasa is inseparable from the journey of its Managing Director, Abdul Karim Ali. A mechanical engineer by training from Kuching, he spent 32 years with a multinational oil and gas company before retiring in 2015.

By 2019, he had returned to the industry, this time not within a multinational corporation, but at the technical helm of a growing local enterprise. In 2024, he assumed the role of Managing Director, guiding the company through its current phase of consolidation and expansion.

Abdul Karim in an exclusive interview at Kinsajasa’s headquarters in Miri, Sarawak.

Learning to listen to machines

“We realised early that trading alone would not sustain long-term growth in the oil and gas sector,” Abdul Karim reflected. “What we needed was exposure to real operating environments where technical standards matter every day.”

That exposure, he said, came significantly through working with PETRONAS and its ecosystem of operating companies. For Kinsajasa, PETRONAS was not just a client, but an early benchmark for discipline, structure, and technical expectation.

“We were still a small company then,” he said. “But PETRONAS pushed us to think differently. The requirements were strict and the expectations were high. That experience shaped how we built our internal systems later.”

That relationship marked a turning point.

Kinsajasa shifted from being a supplier of industrial components to becoming a guardian of machinery health. CBM, in essence, is the practice of listening to machines such as turbines, compressors, and pumps, detecting subtle changes in vibration, temperature, and performance before failure occurs.

In an industry where downtime can cost millions, this foresight is not just valuable: it is critical.

Over time, Kinsajasa expanded its CBM expertise beyond rotating equipment into electrical systems, piping, and structural integrity assessments.

The philosophy evolved from isolated monitoring to a holistic view of asset health, ensuring reliability, minimising loss of containment, and aligning with stringent health, safety and environment (HSE) and process safety standards.

A valve that does not seal properly, a pipeline that slowly weakens, a compressor that drifts out of balance. Each is a silent risk. Kinsajasa’s role is to surface these risks early, translating data into decisions that protect both production and people.

Left pic: A Kinsajasa specialist conducting vibration analysis on a firewater pump to detect early signs of equipment degradation. Right pic: Close-up of vibration data acquisition on a wellhead pipeline, supporting proactive structural integrity and asset management.

A partnership that shaped capability

Looking back, Kinsajasa’s first CBM contract dates to 2008 with PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd, laying the foundation for what would become a long-standing technical relationship.

A major milestone followed in 2015, when the company was recognised under PETRONAS’ Vendor Development Programme (VDP), a six-year initiative that strengthened its capabilities and structure.

Recognition has continued to accumulate. In 2024, its lube oil laboratory in Miri achieved ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, affirming its analytical precision in oil condition testing. The following year, the company received ENEOS’s Best HSE Achievement Award for its performance during a turnaround campaign.

Kinsajasa also holds ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certifications, a set of standards that shape how it operates in high-risk industrial environments where safety and precision are inseparable.

Kinsajasa’s lube oil laboratory opened in 2022, enabling faster turnaround times for critical oil and gas decision-making.

In recent years, the company has begun expanding beyond traditional CBM boundaries. It now integrates wireless sensor technologies that reduce operational costs while enabling real-time equipment monitoring.

Partnerships have also extended into mechanical maintenance, firefighting equipment services, and gas detection systems. This diversification reflects a broader industry shift towards digitalisation and integrated asset management.

“For us, the VDP programme was a structured learning curve,” Abdul Karim said. “It gave us discipline in how we manage projects, how we develop people, and how we align with industry standards. More importantly, it gave us confidence that a local Sarawak company could operate at a much higher technical level.”

Yet the challenges remain persistent. The oil and gas sector is shaped by fluctuating prices and tightening cost pressures. For companies like Kinsajasa, survival depends on operational efficiency as much as technical capability.

Competition for skilled labour is also intensifying, with larger firms often able to offer more attractive remuneration packages. To navigate this, Kinsajasa has leaned into internal capability building by investing in training, competency assessments, and continuous development programmes.

“In order for us to move far into the future and grow the business, we are looking at PETRONAS and the Sarawak government to support local Sarawakian companies.”

Two Kinsajasa specialists align on inspection requirements before carrying out a technical assessment at an offshore platform.

Culture of engineering and balance

Despite its technical intensity, Kinsajasa’s company culture carries an unexpectedly human rhythm. Employees participate in badminton games, pickleball sessions, marathons, and community “gotong-royong” activities that keep the workplace grounded.

It is a reminder that even in high-stakes industrial environments, work-life balance is not an afterthought but part of a broader safety and wellbeing philosophy.

Today, Kinsajasa employs 54 staff, of whom 88 per cent are Sarawakian and 76 per cent Bumiputera. Around 80 per cent are technical personnel, reflecting the company’s strong engineering orientation. Women make up 24 per cent of the workforce, underscoring its commitment to diversity in a traditionally male-dominated field.

From its headquarters in Miri, with operational offices in Bintulu and a warehouse presence in Labuan since 2016, Kinsajasa supports 18 active contracts across 11 clients, including engagements in Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.

The growing interest from partners in Vietnam, Brunei, and Singapore reflects increasing regional recognition of Kinsajasa’s CBM capabilities.

Despite these opportunities, Abdul Karim believes continued support for local vendors remains crucial to sustaining long-term growth and competitiveness.

“In order for us to move far into the future and grow the business, we are looking at PETRONAS and the Sarawak government to support local Sarawakian companies,” he said.

The company is also exploring overseas ventures, positioning itself within a wider Southeast Asian industrial services ecosystem.

Kinsajasa organises regular housekeeping activities to strengthen teamwork, discipline and a shared sense of responsibility.

The quiet future of industrial reliability

In many ways, Kinsajasa’s story mirrors the evolution of Malaysia’s energy services sector itself—from trading-based beginnings to increasingly sophisticated, technology-driven operations.

But it is also a story rooted in something more enduring: the slow, disciplined work of building capability in places where it was once absent.

And like the machinery it monitors, its strength lies not in sudden motion, but in steady, measured performance, quietly ensuring that the systems powering modern life continue to operate reliably. — DayakDaily