Managing Director & CEO KSB Pumps Pakistan

Blurb:

Mohammad Masud Akhtar, a Certified Director of Corportae Governance, has been the Managing Director and CEO of KSB Pumps  since 2006. He is M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, USA. Mr Akhtar has a diversified professional experience of 30 years in management, sales and marketing, and production and operations. He has worked on various senior management positions in renowned multinational companies to help them in increasing profitability and growth. He is a member of Board of Directors of Technology Up-gradation and Skill Development Company and Lahore Stock Exchange. He is also a member of Board of Governors of National Management Foundation, LUMS and Vice President of Pakistan Foundry Association. He is also Director of Pakistan German Business Forum and the Chairman of PGBF Northern Chapter.

We have developed several innovative solutions tailored for Pakistani market: installing solar-powered pumps which will help farmers to save power costs and to rely less on national grid; using pumps as turbines to generate electricity which has tremendous future potential in micro hydel power generation; setting up pumps for oil and gas applications conforming to latest API standards; and opeing service workshops which will enable us to handle repair and maintenance of non-KSB products.

The impact of the employees in building a customer culture is becoming a key issue for those who want to maintain a competitive advantage. At KSB, not only do we continually take feedback from our customers about our products, services and employees, but we are also using state of the art CRM tools to manage our customer relationships and expectations.

Evolve: What is the secret of KSB Pumps' continuous and consistent growth in Pakistan?

MMA: I have always believed that the collaboration and empowerment of our people is central to KSB’s ability to not just sustain its growth but also to diversify its product range and to expand its market reach. This is only made possible by having an engaged workforce and (what I like to call) a “magnetic culture”. Together they can improve both individual and collective performance, leading to innovation that creates a sustainable competitive advantage. 

Evolve: How do you manage a rapidly growing company while focusing on operations?

MMA: Any organization would find it a challenge to grow unless there is a collective goal that its employees believe in and want to accomplish. A goal that enables them to have a unified focus. As a company we believe in transparent communication and in holding ourselves accountable where necessary. Having said that, I feel fortunate to have some very talented and self-driven people in my team who make it seem simple.  As our business grows, different problems and opportunities emerge that demand different solutions. On the other hand, it is important to keep up with the market requirements, to plan ahead and to remain dynamic enough to adapt as per requirement.

Evolve: Looking at the future, what new developments can we expect from KSB Pumps?

MMA: If there is one thing that keeps us ahead of the game, it is innovation. We are in an amazing era of digital ‘miracles’ where the possibilities are endless. We aim to provide high quality, innovative and world-class solutions to our customers. 

Keeping in view the market dynamics and infrastructure challenges like energy crisis, we have developed several innovative solutions tailored for Pakistani market. One of them is solar-powered pump which will help farmers to save power costs and to rely less on national grid. Another initiative with successful pilot installations is using pumps as turbines to generate electricity which has tremendous future potential in micro hydel power generation. Pumps for oil and gas applications conforming to latest API standards is another addition to local portfolio. Another important opening is our service workshop which enables us to handle repair and maintenance of non-KSB products, thus, helping our customers in optimizing their operational expenses.

Evolve: How do you look at the industry and its cuurent market trends?

MMA: The technology at play in today’s market has made geographical boundaries redundant along with making customers more knowledgeable, thus, presenting a more challenging and competitive market for the vendors. More and more customers are looking for energy efficient products and innovative solutions to improve their operational expenses. 

Evolve: What is the importance of values in sustaining a company? Can values repel change?

MMA: As a company we strongly believe in living by our values: trust, honesty, responsibility, professionalism and appreciation are the values in which we believe. The overall interest of the company and its customers is the foremost priority of every member of KSB. I believe that a strong value system acts as a galvanizing factor in sustaining business success and delivering a customer oriented experience. 

Evolve: What is the kind of culture that you have maintained in KSB Pumps? And how would you throw light in its significance? 

MMA: Culture is like the DNA of the organization. At KSB, our culture is driven by our core values and shared belief of delivering a world-class customer experience. Ideally, the work culture should retain its importance irrespective of the hierarchy of employees and making better working habits a part of the work culture. An inability to do so means an organization can lose the grip on the attributes that define its identity or marketplace success. We achieve this by creating system to measure adherence to processes, using effective leadership and, most importantly, involving employees through interaction as well as through rewards and recognition. 

Evolve: How do you prevent mistakes and practise damage control?

MMA: Anyone can make mistake, no matter how well-trained and highly-motivated he is. However, in the workplace, the consequences of such human failure can be severe. There is no easy way of mitigating human error. At KSB, we have worked hard to create a culture of openness around the reporting of incidents so we can identify, in advance, certain areas where errors are more likely to occur. Pinpointing problem areas also means that we can target our response and help in keeping organization ahead of the error-accident curve. Our company is ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and ISO 18000 certified and compliance to these systems minimizes mistakes and potential damages.

Evolve: How do you build a successful customer base?

MMA: In today’s competitive market, there can be few organizations that do not desire to be customer-focused, and even fewer that do not recognize how important employees are in delivering this. The impact of the employees in building a customer culture is becoming a key issue for those who want to maintain a competitive advantage. At KSB, not only do we continually take feedback from our customers about our products, services and employees, but we are also using state of the art CRM tools to manage our customer relationships and expectations. 

Evolve: Where so you see KSB Pumps in next 10 years?

MMA: In addition to retaining its leadership position in core business of Pumps, valves and service in Pakistan, we would like to diversify and grow into system business for further growth. We would also like to work with government to discourage business in informal sector that do not pay taxes.