We spoke to Tipu Salahuddin, Operations Director for Koura’s Fluorochemicals Division about global operations and managing a day across very different time zones.
What does your role entail?
As Operations Director, I manage a number of Koura’s sites around the globe in Louisiana, Japan, Runcorn, Mexico and India. I ensure that operations run smoothly across these sites and are constantly finding the most innovative ways to work.
How long have you been in the role for?
I’ve been with Koura for seven years. However, I’ve held various roles in the chemical industry for twenty years.
What is a regular workday like for you?
Usually, they start extremely early as I join the morning briefing with the Japan site from Koura’s Runcorn base via Skype. From there, I have a strong cup of coffee and complete the day-to-day tasks until I join the Louisiana site in the afternoon for their morning briefing.
Around the meetings with the sites, I focus on people-related matters. From talent recruitment to health and safety procedures, I make sure we’re getting the most out of the hard-working people in our company and providing the highest quality working environment for them.
What’s your favourite part of the job?
I’m a problem solver, and operations can be a bit of a puzzle at times. I enjoy solving the challenges in my role covering aspects such as safety, engineering, maintenance, new projects and environmental compliance.
As a people person, I also enjoy providing my colleagues with the tools to develop through on and off the job training and coaching. It’s a pleasure to see them grow professionally over time and gives me a lot of job satisfaction.
How has your job changed since you started?
Unfortunately, we’ve had to shut down some plants over the years. My job has been particularly challenging when this happens as I try and keep any adverse impact of these plant closure as low as possible on our people and remaining operating assets.
Finally, what will you be looking forward to this year?
While it’s not scheduled for release this year, seeing our new medical propellant in the development stages is very exciting. It’s a huge innovation in the metered-dose inhaler industry and will have a huge impact on sustainability.