Expert Details
Machinery: Water & Wastewater Systems, Pumps & Valves, and Rotating Equipment Aftermarket
ID: 739660
Lebanon
Prior to this role, Expert served as the head of the service department at SOMECO, a Lebanon-based construction equipment company that was an agent of Scania trucks, Case excavators, and Atlas Copco compressors. Before that, he held a similar position for seven years at SIDIA, the exclusive agent of Peugeot and Citroen cars in Lebanon.
Throughout his career, Expert has honed skills in leadership, strategic thinking, communication, discipline, resilience, change management, and customer-centricity. These skills have been invaluable in adhering to corporate values and living by them on a personal level. He hold a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP). Currently, he is an independent consultant providing advisory services to prominent multinational corporations and investors in the mechanical industry. He has a proven track record of achieving success for his clients and providing valuable insights that drive growth and profitability.
Expert's specialty areas include centrifugal and positive displacement pumps, water and wastewater systems, valves, fittings, and couplings, as well as instrumentation, actuation, pipes, district cooling, aftermarket of rotating equipment, MRO.
He is also a Middle East expert, having served there for 20 years.
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 2000 | Degree: MBA | Subject: Management | Institution: ESCP Europe |
| Year: 1991 | Degree: Bachelor | Subject: Mechanical Engineering | Institution: American University of Beirut |
| Year: 1986 | Degree: Bachelor | Subject: Maths | Institution: Beirut University College |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2001 to 2021 | Employer: KSB | Title: CEO | Department: |
Responsibilities:Expert has been CEO and Board member for over 20 years. In this capacity, he has led a performance-driven organization of over 200 employees, with 11 direct reports, over $50 million P&L, and $93 million in Country Order Booking. The company has achieved 14% CAGR with double digit (%) net profit.In this role, Expert designed a focused 5-year strategy map and rolled out best-in-class strategy execution by translating strategy into priorities, defining KPI's, and aligning with initiatives prior to cascading deliverables across all organization levels. Expert has implemented new operating structure in line with the formulated strategy and the updated business model; targeted 15% EBITDA growth rate (YoY) for the next 5 years, among other key grown initiatives; rolled forecast budgets on quarterly basis; and deployed a vertically oriented and market-driven KAM matrix in Water & Wastewater, Construction, General Industry, O&G, Energy and Mining sectors to ensure optimum market coverage. Among other major achievements, Expert has established a strategic relationship with MEWA, NWC, SWCC, SEC, MAADEN, Saudi Aramco, SABIC and key ministries. He has also rolled out a new CRM system (C4C); promoted customer centricity by targeting 80% customer satisfaction index (CSI) in 2021 (achieved 76% in 2019) to retain and enhance customer loyalty; and lobbied and maintained strong relations with prequalification communities in Giga projects (NEOM, Red Sea, Al Qiddiya, Amaala) in order to prescribe the KSB specs at early project stage. Expert has identified TAM&SAM for niche markets (such as UL/FM firefighting sets, TARSHID/ESCO energy-saving projects) and set ambitious SOM (market share %) targets for the sales team after conducting a comprehensive competition SWOT analysis. Among other numerous achievements, he has pushed for priority localizations, submitted business plans to comply with content regulations, maximized IKTVA and LCGPA scores, and submitted a 5-year investment plan at the board level. Expert has developed and introduced new products, complied with international industry norms, implemented operational excellence, and initiated digital transformation projects. He has also adopted best industrial practices by integrating engineering tool 3D NX CAD to SAP to pertain to localization strategies. He has achieved ISO 9001 in 2015 and is currently targeting ISO 14001 certification through QHSE internal team; has positioned company services as a main revenue streams; set SMART metrics to improve EBITDA; and accredited the service workshop (2021). Throughout this time, Expert has developed and encouraged a culture of high-performance national talents to enhance localization -- and built out succession planning, and set career paths, using a SAP module for human resources. Expert enhanced the employee engagement initiatives after targeting EES score of 75% (vs. 66% in 2020). He also implemented cost optimization and stabilization -- manpower cost, COGS, and OH's -- through efficient restructuring and operating expenses rationalization of 23% in 2020. He coached and led the credit and collections team to minimize receivable days, provide stable cashflow and ROCE, and effectively implement credit and risk policy. He negotiated with banks in 2016 and fully refunded loans in <60 months with quarterly payments. Among other accomplishments, he mitigated FX exposure by initiating a hedging facility with the banks. He also signed SLA's with local partners for non-core activities -- e.g., IT, Legal, and Audit. He also organized 2 major in-house events: Hosting the German Minister of Economics & Technology for a plant tour, accompanied by senior German officials; and, in 2018, inaugurating the plant's expansion by the German ambassador. Both events were heavily covered by international as well as local media. Throughout this role, Expert has attended 39 Board Meetings (BM), 40 Regional Meetings (RM), 32 Executive Committee Meetings (EXCOM), and 8 International Management Meetings (IMM). |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1998 to 2001 | Employer: Various: | Title: Service Director and Sole Agent | Department: |
Responsibilities:For several years, Expert served as Sole Agent of SCANIA Trucks, CASE Excavators, POCLAIN Cranes, MANITOU Handling Equipment and ATLAS COPCO Compressors.In his role as Service Director, he completed the following key achievements: • Increased Sales by 32% by developing the dealer network • Improved service center productivity by 18% through restructuring • Rolled out the spare parts pricing to increase EBITDA |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1991 to 1998 | Employer: Peugeot and Citroen Cars | Title: Exclusive Agent and After Sales Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:In his role as Exclusive Agent and After Sales Manager of Peugeot and Citroen Cars, Expert's key achievements included the following:• Led a team of 28 technicians/advisors with responsibility for annual budgets of up to $5 million • Optimized inventory by over 20% • Maintained excellent relationship with customers |
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International Experience
| Years | Country / Region | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Years: 1991 to 2001 | Country / Region: Lebanon | Summary: After Sales Director |
| Years: 2001 to 2021 | Country / Region: Saudi Arabia | Summary: CEO KSB Saudi Arabia |
Language Skills
| Language | Proficiency |
|---|---|
| English | Advanced |
| French | Native |
| Arabic | Native |
Fields of Expertise
rotating machinery, oil and gas industry, apparel industry, mechanical engineering, automotive market, business leadership, corporate leadership, senior leadership, executive leadership, leadership, leadership development, strategic management, strategic innovation, mechanical integrity, change management, Change Management and Business Development, water system, wastewater system, water valve, valve, fitting (device), coupling, instrumentation (equipment), pipe, actuation, district cooling, rotating equipment aftermarket, MRO, Centrifugal and positive displacement pumps