Echo Li is PSG Asia’s product management and marketing director. She has been in the pump industry for 18 years, working for companies based all over the world.
Li started her career working for a rotary lobe pump company based in Germany as a sales specialist and marketing manager. The company was establishing itself in China at the time. Since then, Li has worked for pump companies Boerger, Graco and Ingersoll Rand and has been at PSG since January 2019.
“My fascination with this industry began during my first job after graduating from college and has continued to this day,” Li said. “In the past almost 20 years, I have experienced the evolution of the traditional machinery industry in China, participated in various projects under different cultural backgrounds and experienced the transformation of different roles and positions. I’ve also experienced market changes and the uncertainty of the economic environment. Overall, it has been a very interesting and exciting experience.”
Li’s responsibilities have increased over the past decade, starting with a promotion to overseeing hygienic products in the Asia Pacific region.
“I became responsible for the localization and transfer of industrial pump product lines, earned a promotion to oversee several high growth markets and took part in acquisition and merger projects,” Li said. “In general, the expanding responsibilities and increasingly complex market environment brought me constant challenges. Through those challenges, my intelligence, experience and perspective have grown. All these efforts and experiences have allowed me to bring more value to the company, which serves as a driving force for me to keep improving.”
Li answered more questions from Pumps & Systems about her career.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part is new product development. For the life cycle management of traditional industrial products, the technology and product update iterations are particularly important and certainly the most challenging and controversial. In my opinion, new product development is very interesting. It extends the life of the product, deepens the team’s cohesiveness and provides momentum for the company’s long-term development. In this process, we need to consider the research on the market and customers, the setting of target products and the formulation of promotion strategies. At the same time, the successful completion of the project hinges on the cooperation of multiple teams. The development phase is also a great experience, as there are so many ideas and concepts discussed between our colleagues.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
I prefer to view each challenge as a unique experience. For me at this stage, the biggest challenge is mainly uncontrollable external factors. Those factors are constantly changing, creating more uncertain external environments, especially after COVID-19. The pandemic created changes in market demand, industry trends and policies. In this new environment, we need to have more flexible strategies and implementation mechanisms, while constantly adjusting our goals and product configurations to ensure we can continuously adapt to changes in the environment. Of course, this means we must have higher standards for our market judgment and efficiency.
What is your advice to college students or young professionals who are new to the industry?
Based on my experience and perception, I have three things. The first is to believe in the compound interest of time and try to continue to focus on what you think is interesting and valuable. The second is to always keep the important things in mind. Long-term solutions often appear after you fully understand something. The third is to enjoy the process of creation. Creation is not only about creating new technologies but also about creating new models, new methods and new processes. In this rapidly changing environment, enjoying the process of creation will make our life experience better and the value presentation higher.
Drew Champlin, Pumps & Systems