Mr. Rashid Iqbal, Sr. Manager Sales ELV at IMS Engineering (Pvt) Ltd
IMS Engineering Pvt Ltd is a renowned company in the Pakistani and international market dealing with all kinds of automation and control systems which are required in a building including HVAC control, Fire alarm system, Access control, Gas detection system, Audio intercom system, CCTV systems, water and gas metering systems.
IMS Engineering is the independent business entity of HAQ HOLDINGS and has the distinction of being the longest running partner of Schneider Electric in Pakistan. The company has recently acquired the manufacturing facility of Schneider electric located in Karachi to promote local assembling/manufacturing of parts and decrease the imports into the country.
Mr. Rashid Iqbal, Sr. Manager Sales ELV at IMS Engineering (Pvt) Ltd during a recent exclusive conversation with Engineering Post said that in the recently acquired manufacturing facility, all products will be made according to licence from Schneider Electric. “Only the ownership has changed all other activities will remain the same for now. In the start we will continue manufacturing what was being built but further on we plan to diversify the product range being manufactured. After further discussion with the principal we plan to integrate more products into local manufacturing so that the imports can be minimised and local industry can flourish,” he said.
IMS Engineering has collaborations with renowned brands from all over the world including Schneider Electric, ABB, Honeywell (for Fire Alarm, CCTV), KELE and ACI. IMS is the exclusive representatives of Barcol Air and Diehl metering systems in Pakistan. In contrast to many local companies IMS Engineering Pvt Ltd employs a large number of engineers to directly supervise the work being done from manufacturing to commissioning. Currently the company has more than 500 employees out of which around hundred are engineers certified to work on products of Schneider Electric. As is required by almost all new facilities IMS Engineering Pvt Ltd plans to offer a one window solution for all kinds of remote monitoring facilities including SCADA and other facilities for products of Schneider Electric.
IMS Engineering Pvt Ltd has a strong network with Head office and Manufacturing facility in Karachi while Regional offices at Lahore, Islamabad, Dubai and a new office at Istanbul Turkey. IMS Engineering has also acquired the Heavy Electrical Complex Hattar and wants to utilise the full potential of the entity At HEC they now have access to equipment with the ability to manufacture power transformers. The company plans to start in-house manufacturing in such a way as to make it export oriented and also to fulfil the demands of local market.
Schneider Electric is known for having several distributors but IMS Engineering is a specialized channel partner for Schneider as their employees and engineers are trained and certified by Schneider Electric to work according to their specifications for their products. Considering the strong distribution network of IMS Engineering in the country and the huge number of qualified employees under their command, Schneider Electric considered them as a worthy successor when they were selling their manufacturing facility in Pakistan.
During the exclusive conversation Mr. Rashid Iqbal revealed that IMS Engineering has recently started a training programme to ensure that the new engineers are trained according to the standards of Schneider Electric “We believe that the ultimate solution is the localisation of products and local manufacturing at our certified facility so the imports can be substantially reduced and the prices can be more competitive with the local and Chinese products. But all this will be finalised after consultations with the principal i.e Schneider Electric,” he added.
