A short biography of Mr. Mohammed Younis
If a man's life is to be judged by obstacles overcome rather than distance achieved, it is fair to say that Mr. Mohammed Younis was a great man. With a lifetime of honesty and hard work he was able to lift his family out of the vicious cycle of poverty that plagues much of the underdeveloped world.
He was born in abject poverty in rural Pakistan November 2nd, 1936 as one of 9 siblings. Mohammed was forced to end his education at a very early age to help support his family. He initially worked as a subcontractor for various surgical instrument companies already in existence in Sialkot and began his lifelong mastery of instrument manufacturing. By 1950, he along with his older brother started Charind Surgical (namesake of their village). Even though this was post-partition days, every instrument produced at that time was marked "Empire" signifying British colonial rule over the subcontinent. The industry was still in its infancy so opportunities were abound for those willing to devote themselves to the trade.
It wasn't until 1959 (age 23) that he first left Pakistan traveling as a laborer to the Maldive Islands. There he worked as a mason and helped build the R.A.F. airfield. This journey must have triggered something deep inside him because he went on to spend the next 45 years of his life overseas.
Shortly after marriage in 1964 he emigrated to the United Kingdom. Initially he worked odd jobs to support his young family including work on the Victoria Line in London's underground. He soon found opportunities in the cutlery & surgical instrument field and worked in such famed cities as Sheffield and Watford. It was in those early days in England that he built relationships (specifically Rocket of London) that would endure a lifetime. Within a few years he became well respected for his work as an instrument repairman and custom instrument manufacturer.
Being the visionary that he was, in 1969 he persuaded his 3 younger brothers to start BMS Industries in Sialkot. With the help of his friends in the UK, he purchased equipment & machinery and sent it to Pakistan. The company grew quickly to become one of the largest and most respected manufacturers in the city. BMS was the ideal Sialkot firm and for over two decades enjoyed a great reputation for hard work, honesty and family cooperation. Concurrently Mohammed started Dawn of London and continued to import surgical instruments from BMS for sale in the UK. As BMS and Dawn of London grew he realized he was competing with those that helped him start his business in England. So for the second time in his life, he decided to emigrate and this time to the United States. There he started Tamsco / Trans American Medical in 1978 and within a few years (summer of 1981) was able to bring over his wife and 5 children.
Tamsco enjoyed excellent growth in the early 1980's as that was the time the market for floor grade instruments boomed. As competition continued to grow in the surgical & dental arenas, Tamsco diversified into the beauty & hardware markets. Mohammed was the first to sell Pakistani shears and implements to the professional beauty industry in the US by exhibiting at IBS NY in 1984. He was also the first to produce razor edge shears in Sialkot in 1987.
Then in 1990 a dispute with one of the brothers led to the eventual dissolution of BMS Industries. This must have been his "annus horriblus" as Mohammed witnessed so many years of hard work come to a sudden halt. Still however from this dark day grew three new family-owned enterprises that continue to support Tamsco well into the 21st century; Trans Pak Industries, Best Brow Industries and his own firm Micro Engineering Co. It was also at this time that Tamsco started exporting to various countries around the world. Tamsco currently enjoys as much export sales as it does domestic US sales.
In business he was honest, hard-working, confident and well liked by all. In many ways he was a pioneer. If he was reserved in his personal life, he was anything but that in his professional life. He would take bold steps to grow his business, produce new products & explore new markets. His greatest quality however would be his utter sense of selflessness. He would help anyone that crossed his path, whether it be a struggling subcontractor looking for business, a wide-eyed exporter looking for opportunity, a business competitor, or even a passerby on the street. Throughout his life and his career he traveled the entire world and only recently returned to his native Pakistan. He passed away on November 7th, 2006 just a few days after his 70th birthday. He was buried in his ancestral village and lay rest beside his own mother and father.
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