Business Review Europe and Middle East - September 2015

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September 2015

Technology The Lone Danger

Marketing

Mind The Skills Gap

Leadership Could You Spot A Snowden

SPECIAL REPORT

JT GROUP Overhauling Connectivity In The Channel Islands

Tech Focus: TECH MAHINDRA

EDITOR’S COMMENT

Unsettled Weather

For The Euro CAN IT BE AUTUMN already? The business scene in

Europe has been clouded thus far by the uncertainty that has hung over the future of the Euro, precipitated by the collapse of the Greek economy. Personally I believe that the currency is robust enough to survive the need to sustain one or even more member states through hard times. The EC’s motivation may be political rather than humanitarian, and as always it’s the people who pay the price, but the political argument is a powerful one.

Our cover story this month charts the continued success of the JT Group, a company which has been responsible for rolling out fibre broadband across Jersey, as well as recently delivering a 4G upgrade for the whole of the Channel Islands.

It has always been a pleasure to work with David Mills, who has seen the office equipment manufacturer Ricoh reinvent itself as a thought leader for business change.

In this issue he considers the opportunities presented by automation. We also look at the advantages and the problems posed by increasing numbers of solitary workers in every sector and, in the financial space, the absolute need for better customer engagement.

Enjoy the summer!

John O’Hanlon Managing Editor John.O’Hanlon@wdmgroup.com 3

Bosgraaf Group offers a total package

Bosgraaf Group’s state-of-the-art systems and service for the production of semihard and hard cheeses, is a result of the company’s extensive experience and innovative technical solutions.

With an unrelenting focus on performance, hygiene and sustainability, Bosgraaf’s bespoke production facilities ensure that an optimal solution is found across the organisation to suit the clients’ needs, including the use of robotics in mould handling and treatment lines.

Bosgraaf specialises in cheese moulding, handling and pressing systems as well as rack brining, treatment and maturation installations.

info@bosgraaf-group.nl www

www.bosgraaf-group.nl

CONTENTS

Features

LEADERSHIP

8

Could You Spot A SNOWDEN?

20

14

TECHNOLOGY The Lone Danger

MARKETING Mind The Skills Gap 5

26

JT Group

CONTENTS

Company Profiles TECHNOLOGY 26 JT Group 48 Tech Mahindra

CONSTRUCTION 62 Conneely Group

SUPPLY CHAIN 76 Ahlers 90 P & O Ferrymasters 102 Henkel

48

Conneely Group

62

Tech Mahindra

114 Kuwait Airways 132 UTL

ENERGY 146 Oman Electricity Transmission Company

MINING 156 Cleveland Potash

EXPLORATION 166 Arabian Drilling Company

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September 2015

Ahlers

76

P & O Ferrymasters

114

102

Henkel

Kuwait Airways

132 UTL

90

156 146

Cleveland Potash Oman Electricity Transmission Company

7

LEADERSHIP

Could Yo

SNOW

Beyond the politics of E the implications for p been a huge wake up

Written by: C h ri Product Marketi About Privile

8

September 2015

ou Spot A

WDEN?

Edward Snowden and privacy, the affair has p call for businesses.

s Pace, Head Of n g , W a l l i x Ta l k s eged Access

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LEADERSHIP HERE IS AN individual who was operating with what was defined as “low-level” access while he took data from inside the organisation.

It’s this aspect that should worry businesses the most. While the fall-out of an “inside job” data breach in most organisations will not attain the kind of non-stop political and media attention that Snowden has, the damage in terms of risk, reputation and revenue can be devastating. Businesses need to reconsider how access to information in controlled and monitored, and it’s useful to understand what factors drive an individual to act against an organisation they’re working inside.

‘Make sure employees are educated in what is acceptable behaviour and what is considered a breach of confidentiality.

Encourage employees to stay vigilant and report suspicious actions’ • Reduced Inhibitions: The individual is able to overcome loyalty, fear, and

A perfect storm There are certain conditions that will allow an insider threat to incubate and eventually result in action against an organisation.

RSA, a longstanding player in the world of information security, has defined these four conditions:

ethical values and rationalise the act.

• Opportunity: Due to lax security protocols and standards, the insider is presented with the opportunity to act.

• Trigger Event: An event occurs, either personal or professional, that causes enough stress to “push” the individual into acting.

• Motive: The motive varies, but often it is financial or arrogance, and generally involves a a disgruntled employee, financial greed, reward, revenge or recognition.

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September 2015

However, translating these into practical, actionable steps to reduce the risk of a breach is another matter.

Here are five key signs to look out for.

COULD YOUT SPOT A SNOWDON

What are the clues?

• Knows information before everyone else If you’ve noticed an employee somehow seems to know what is going on before it is generally announced they should probably be viewed with some suspicion.

That person, or someone near them may be leaking information.

Look for repeat instances of this sort of behaviour and you

may uncover a rogue.

• Unusual working patterns Perhaps they are going in earlier or staying later or logging on at unusual times. You don’t want to discourage workers from showing commitment, but if their workload does not seem to justify the extra hours, it may be time to investigate.

However, watching people every second of the day isn’t practical.

Instead, make sure employees are 11

LEADERSHIP

‘Looking for ways to minimise the risk of a data breach is not about playing a blame game with existing employees. It is about giving people the information they need to do their job, but not more’

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September 2015

COULD YOUT SPOT A SNOWDON

educated in what is acceptable behaviour and what is considered a breach of confidentiality.

Encourage employees to stay vigilant and report suspicious actions. Furthermore, use available technology solutions to help your efforts: you will be able to monitor and record user activity, particularly on high priority systems, which will give you an enormous insight into any obvious changes in user behaviour.

•T hey talk about hacking company systems or colleagues When disgruntled employees start telling colleagues what they could do if they wanted to, then it’s definitely a warning. In many cases, such anecdotes go unreported until it’s too late, but a supportive framework and appropriate training can really help in educating employees about the value in reporting these passive-aggressive threats.

•A ctively hiding what’s on their screen This seems obvious, but let’s consider one particular scenario. As you walk over to a team member’s

desk you notice they’re working on a company system as you get arrive to talk to them they switch that screen. What possible reason could they have for not wanting you to see that? It should definitely be considered a red flag.

• They leave the company angry Disgruntled, exiting employees are a ticking time-bomb. The way to defuse it is to revoke all access to information systems at the point of departure if not earlier, whatever the circumstances of the departure. I am sorry to say that this still does not happen as a matter of routine.

As we all know, prevention is better than cure. Better than revoking privileges once an employee departs is to actively manage the information that your people have access to on an ongoing basis. Most employees are able to access a whole raft of confidential information that is irrelevant to the job they do. Looking for ways to minimise the risk of a data breach is not about playing a blame game with existing employees. It is about giving people the information they need to do their job, but not more.

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MARKETING

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l l i W t? : n o n i t e l s a e re t u q d urtu e k s to n a y l ble t n e na u q e rs u r f t a eade h t r l e s ’ w s rrow n a to omo s t p ve t m e att ap lea g s l l i k

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I K S

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MARKETING FROM SMART TVS to connected thermostats, automation continues to become increasingly prevalent in the home. People want more and more aspects of their lives to ‘just happen’. However, the real impact of automation on the workplace is yet to be fully explored. Increased productivity and reduced costs are touted as the key benefits for businesses. But, naturally, such a sizeable move demands a shift in the skills needed for an organisation to function.

In recent years, the skills shortage has been seen predominantly in IT and cyber security. A recent study

by ISACA shows that 86 per cent of businesses and IT professionals believe there is a substantial shortage of cyber security experts. The implication of this shortage has been that businesses now face an increased risk of attacks, and are far less prepared to mitigate or prevent one: a costly and dangerous position to be in.

However, as the diverse, tech-savvy ‘generation Z’ begins to enter the workplace in the next few years the IT skills and knowledge that are second nature to them will help to combat this.

As a result, a new gap will emerge 16

September 2015

‘Jobs that seem most likely to survive and thrive are those that require flexibility, creativity and social intelligence’ – I A N S T E WA R T

In recent years, the skills shortage has bee

which employers will need to battle.

This will comprise managerial as well as softer skills, which is difficult to fill. Creating strong and effective managers has always been a challenge, with many arguing that it’s something that can’t be taught.

Creating the creative workforce Creativity and social intelligence will become crucial differentiators for many businesses in the future.

MIND THE SKILLS GAP

en seen predominantly in IT and cyber security.

Jobs will increasingly demand skills in creative problem-solving and constructive interaction with others, while being “tech-literate” will become just a standard part of the working world.

It’s inevitable that automation, technology and machines will take on more manual roles, and as a result highly creative jobs will thrive.

In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Future of Work study, sponsored

by Ricoh, Ian Stewart, Chief Economist at professional services firm Deloitte said: “Jobs that seem most likely to survive and thrive are those that require flexibility, creativity and social intelligence.”

It’s believed that automation will allow employees and businesses to strengthen their creative capabilities by freeing-up time in order to undertake more complex tasks. In the research, seven out 17

MARKETING of 10 respondents agreed that: “Businesses have a responsibility to automate labour as much as possible to allow staff to focus on more valuable tasks.” In contrast to this, barely one in 10 thought that companies should resist automation.

Almost 90 per cent of respondents believed that the strength of employee’s human capabilities, such as creativity and communication, were important to the success of a It’s evident that businesses need to harness and adapt their workforces with creativity in mind.

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September 2015

business, and 39 per cent of these believed it was the single most important factor. It’s evident that businesses need to harness and adapt their workforces with creativity in mind.

Evolving role of management A key role for future management will be nurturing talent. Over a third of survey respondents said that managers will need to become more effective at nurturing talent in order

MIND THE SKILLS GAP

to assure their companies’ success.

And with this comes the need to develop a shared sense of culture and purpose in the workplace.

Business management leaders will need to not only think of company strategy, but also consider the importance of developing a creative atmosphere in order to get the most out of staff. In a start-up environment it is far easier to encourage a fresh innovative culture, but more established businesses will generally be slower to adapt.

As a result, these companies may struggle to retain strong talent, and become less competitive compared to rival businesses.

Preventing the future skills gap Developments in technology have changed working patterns and employees expectations of a work/ life balance. This has been seen with the emerging trend of everywhere ergonomics: the interaction between people and design technology, with a more dynamic and mobile workforce appearing. But how will these changes impact the priorities of business executives?

In the research the main priorities

‘In a start-up environment it is far easier to encourage a fresh innovative culture, but more established businesses will generally be slower to adapt’ – D AV I D M I L L S

executives identified were to increase employee productivity and cost control. However, when asked what those priorities should be in three years’ time, employee well-being and advancing employee skills and capabilities topped the list.

The key question is; do we have a generation of leaders who are capable of nurturing future talent?

Can our current leaders inspire and train the wave of generation “Z-ers” entering the workforce, as well as the older existing employees? It is this delicate balance which could be the crux of future business success.

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TECHNOLOGY

The Lone DANGER ANT Telecom’s Managing Director, Paul Smith examines the era of the Lone Danger and uncovers the silver bullet: a smart telecommunications partner

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September 2015

THE LONE DANGER

WHILE MANUFACTURING AND production environments present the most obvious risks to workers that operate alone in remote locations, the welfare of the ‘accidental’ lone worker remains a common corporate oversight. With new legislation imposing fierce criminal penalties on organisations that fail to protect their employees from risk, companies are slowly recognising the need to take serious steps to protect the everyday adventures of all employees working in isolation; however brief their solo engagements may be.

The number of people classified as lone workers is growing rapidly. Some work in hazardous environments such as oil or gas refineries, others work in isolation within manufacturing plants, factories or construction sites. And outside of these, countless employees work alone in high-risk or perilous conditions at unsociable hours. However, while their place of work may be remote, their status as lone workers is often obvious and defined by their job specification. As such, as employers strive to meet their duty of care responsibilities in line with evolving HSE regulations, remote employees and contractors

are increasingly being equipped with lone worker solutions to assure optimal communications throughout the working day. With estimates suggesting there are now more than six million lone workers in the UK, for example, it’s reassuring to know that their safety is being supported by the effective deployment of innovative communications technologies.

But what of the additional millions of employees that, through the course of their everyday routines, are exposed to similar periods of isolation ,yet their vulnerability is disguised by a job description that does not reflect the reality? The workforce is full of ‘accidental’ lone workers whose jobs make them susceptible to the inherent risk of lone working by stealth, but whose employers are oblivious to the potential dangers. A company’s failure to be alerted to an emergency situation and to escalate and respond to it appropriately can have dramatic, potentially fatal, consequences.

With the recent introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter Act, the first prosecution under which related to a lone worker, organisations know that they are ultimately responsible for the safety of all their employees and that 21

TECHNOLOGY their ability to protect lone workers, both atypical and ‘accidental’, is imperative. The penalties for neglect are severe. The maximum punishment is imprisonment, with business owners fully accountable.

The financial repercussions are similarly significant, with fines of up to 10 percent of turnover for companies found in breach. The human costs of a serious, but avoidable incident in the workplace are unquantifiable.

Alarmed? Perhaps you should be.

Literally. Or at the very least some of your employees should be.

Masked identity So what constitutes an accidental lone worker? The answers are variable and range from those involved in the palpably perilous to the seeming trivial. For example, manufacturing environments have clearly defined locations where lone working takes place, but when visitors or site managers journey into these hazardous areas, they too become potential lone workers. Likewise the colleagues who arrive at a production site as a pair but whose activities take them to different locations.

Or the boiler repairman whose 22

September 2015

apprentice leaves him alone with an angry customer whilst he visits the wholesalers for a spare part. In each case, the considerations are simple: what happens if an inadvertent lone worker suffers an accident or incident?

And what systems are in place to alert colleagues and escalate a response?

If the answer is ‘none’, how will anyone know that an emergency situation is unfolding and respond to it quickly and appropriately?

The scenarios are not limited to remote locations. For example, during shift work at unsociable hours a shift coordinator or duty manager may arrive on site half an hour early and leave an hour later, potentially exposing solo staff to unmonitored risk. Conversely, many businesses have staff who arrive early in the morning to beat the rush hour traffic and work alone until colleagues turn up some time later. Similarly, many field-based executives meet at head office at 8am and do not return until close of play, but unless companies have got an effective workflow management tool or constant communication, how do employers know what is happening to their fieldbased workforce in the intervening

THE LONE DANGER

So what constitutes an accidental lone worker? period? In many companies, a continued reliance on primitive paperbased records, electronic calendars or whiteboard day planners provides an inadequate and passive means of tracking employee safety.

Howdy partner The solutions to the problem are out there and are often simple and inexpensive. But given the widespread variability in operational environments, a one-size-fits-all approach to protecting lone workers does not exist. A sensible approach is for senior executives with responsibility for operations or health and safety

to take ownership of the issue, and conduct a collaborative, riskbased audit of common workforce activity to identify needs and areas of exposure. What are the realities of your working environment? What risks are employees exposed to? If something should happen to them, how would you know? Could your business be unconsciously operating with accidental lone workers? Do you know who they are and are you doing enough to protect them?

A knee-jerk response is to look for a product-based solution to the problem. As lone working increases there is a wave of low-cost alarms 23

TECHNOLOGY

The best solutions go beyond an off the shelf product and devices flooding the market. But in the era of the Lone Danger, it’s no surprise that there are cowboys out there offering cheap solutions that are neither fit for purpose nor aligned with real-world business needs. The best solutions go beyond an off-theshelf product. Before going anywhere near procuring a solution, businesses are best advised to identify a trusted telecommunications partner that can conduct the appropriate needs analysis to customise a solution that best fits requirements.

The options are both varied and diverse, comprising tools, systems and methodologies that cover the full gamut of high, medium and 24

September 2015

low-risk environments. For example, organisations are increasingly deploying lone worker tools that align with consumers’ growing appetite for mobile technology, and building solutions that capitalise on the trend towards Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) methodologies. But BYOD is just one of myriad opportunities to create lone worker solutions that reflect the needs of all stakeholders.

It’s only through developing a full understanding of business needs that companies can identify the best-fit solution to suit budget and deliverables. It’s important to seek expert advice. The range of mobile solutions, whether smartphone, radio

THE LONE DANGER

or DECT system, is wide, but not all lone worker tools are compatible with every mobile device operating system.

Seeking the counsel of a trusted telecommunications partner can help businesses review available solutions and make an informed choice.

The benefits of optimal lone worker solutions are considerable. Beyond the obvious advantages of mitigating risk and enhancing employee safety, there are clear efficiency and productivity gains that ultimately yield returns on the bottom line. In some organisations, management has adopted a ‘buddy up’ approach to remote working to reinforce safety.

This is undoubtedly expensive and can damage operational productivity.

Effective lone working systems can certainly help address these inefficiencies. Moreover, a reassured and protected workforce is also a motivated one – and this, once again, can only lead to productivity gains.

However, it’s important to look at the bigger picture. While companies are increasingly deploying lone worker solutions, many make the mistake of looking at the problem in isolation. This is potentially expensive and can become a catalyst

for inefficiency as companies fail to optimise existing technologies.

Investing in a lone worker system is not always necessary; the solution could simply be a case of making existing infrastructure work smarter. This reinforces the value of a good technology partner that can work with a business to understand their safety and efficiency requirements and design an integrated telecommunications strategy that aligns with business needs. A good partner can not only help companies work smarter, it can help them buy smarter too.

Silver bullet And so as UK businesses face up to the reality of the Lone Danger, as well as their duty of care to employees in an increasingly regulated workforce environment, the need to equip both actual and accidental lone workers with the most appropriate systems of communication is considerable.

The silver bullet is that with good advice, the right partner and a full understanding of your real-world workforce environment, businesses can enhance employee safety quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively.

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JT Group:

Overhauling Connectivity In The Channel Islands Written By: Nye Longman Produced By: Danielle Harris

JT GROUP

The small telco has used a unique strategy to secure investment to deliver the latest technology to its customers

J

T is a full service communications provider that has strategically deployed technology and partnered with global experts in order to offer its B2B and BTC customers innovative, competitively priced products and services. It has supported these efforts in recent years by continually investing tens of millions of pounds on upgrading and innovating infrastructure in the Channel Islands.

Notably focussing on two large-scale programmes: Rolling out a 4G LTE/A network and converting every broadband line on the island of Jersey to superfast fibre, through a project known as ‘Gigabit Isles’. This programme has attracted worldwide attention for JT and has placed Jersey 4th in the world for fibre connectivity per head of households connected.

JT provides the Channel Islands with a range of broadband, mobile and fixed telephony services for both personal and business customers

TECHNOLOGY

Operations JT provides the Channel Islands with a range of broadband, mobile and fixed telephony services for both personal and business customers. It also delivers global roaming services on a wholesale basis, as well as enterprise solutions for companies of all sizes, spanning the full range of business verticals.

The company now employs over 500 people spread across 11 offices around the world, serving nearly 1 million subscribers globally.

The company has combined shrewd foresight, with a structure that has enabled it to continuously reinvest in the business, in order to provide its modest customer-base with state-of-the art technology and fulfil its vision of being the partner of choice for global telecoms innovation. A key factor in achieving this has been JT’s commitment to and its nurturing of its strategic partnerships.

The result is that JT today has the type of global reach normally only seen in much larger global telecoms companies and services large multinational organisations. Through being lean, agile and forward thinking, JT offers a flexible and bespoke approach to communications solutions.

Gigabit Isles Currently the company has made significant progress in rolling out its Gigabit Isles fibre-tothe-home project, which will see all broadband lines for consumers and businesses in Jersey and a number in Guernsey gain access to superfast

Key Personnel

Graeme Millar Chief Executive Officer Graeme Millar has a strong track record heading up commercial and marketing across a variety of global and local roles in Western and Central Europe, Russia and the USA. He joined JT in late 2009 as its CEO after a two year stint as Chief Commercial Officer of MTC Russia. He holds a BSc and MSc in Natural Sciences from Magdalen College, Cambridge as well as a postgraduate certificate in Design, Manufacture and Management from Cambridge University’s Engineering Department.

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ZTE is a globally-leading provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, with operations in 160 countries. Founded in 1985, ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges and is China’s largest listed telecoms equipment company.

http://wwwen.zte.com.cn/en/

ZTE initiated M-ICT Strategy in 2014, highlighting "Connects Everything; Reshapes the World".

It includes four areas, Ubiquitous Access, Network Foundation, Services Innovation and Monetizing Business.

The key focus is to help our customers to create strategic advantages.

SUPPLIER PROFILE

ZTE CORPORATION ZTE Corporation is a globally-leading provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions.

With operations in 160 countries, the company is a leader in technology innovation, delivering superior products and business solutions to clients all over the world. Founded in 1985, ZTE is listed on both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges and is China’s largest listed telecoms equipment company. ZTE’s operating revenue for 2014 amounted to GBP 8.1 billion. Offering the industry’s most comprehensive product range and end-to-end solutions, ZTE delivers cuttingedge technology to telecommunications clients in wireless, access & bearer, value-added services, terminals, managed network services, and ICT solutions for enterprises and government agencies. ZTE’s expertise and flexibility in these areas enables our customers globally to achieve business objectives and attain increased competitiveness.

ZTE (UK) LTD, 2nd Floor, Landmark Place, Windsor Road, Slough, SL1 1JL, London, UK Tel: +44(0) 20 3428 2000 Fax: +44(0) 17 5320 6740 Email: zteuk@zte.com.cn

JT GROUP

TECHNOLOGY

fibre-optic broadband coverage. The project presented the company with a challenge; Dave Newbold, Chief Operations and Technology Officer said: “Every premise and business on these islands is different, which means the configuration is also slightly different.

“The customer may well have built a new drive, or covered up the joint box, or hidden the point of entry into the house or business through remodelling or extension. These solutions need to be designed cost effectively and in a customer friendly way; each installation has effectively become its own little project.”

The project has already won many major awards, attracting UK and global recognition; for example it was named FTTH Operator of the Year in 2013. Newbold is proud of the role his company and its partners have played since rollout began in 2012, he said: “Our partner Tilgin provides us with the end Wi-Fi router and the accompanying management system; this has proven to be a very valuable partnership to date.

“Copper wires were not designed for broadband, they are less reliable and where a fibre network enables broadband speeds of 1000 megabits per second, a copper-based network would limit speeds to just 25Mb/s.

“Our Gigabit Isles programme means that we are now in a position to deliver fibre as a standard broadband product, meaning our customers can enjoy a far superior service at the same price. Furthermore, we have injected

Key Personnel

Dave Newbold Chief Operations and Technology Officer Dave Newbold’s position within JT encompasses a wide range of roles since his knowledge and experience are both equally broad. He has worked in a variety of jobs in companies such as BT, Nortel and LIME, not to mention Energis Communications.

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SUPPLIER PROFILE

TAYANA SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS Established in 1999 and headquartered in India’s IT capital Bengaluru.

Tayana Software Solutions (TSS) prides itself in continually developing and delivering software products & solutions for Communication Service Providers globally, while building lasting relationship with all clients who have expressed faith through repeat orders on a sustained basis over years.

Forging partnerships with clients through enhanced quality of experience!

Wide Range of Products TSS enables clients to maximize ROI, improve subscriber retention and enhance offerings seamlessly in the ever-changing technology environment with off-the-shelf and customized products. With a wide range of over 30+ products and solutions including Unified Policy Control and Charging, Mobile Financial Services/Mobile Money, Consolidated Messaging - SMSC, USSD Gateway, OBD, Call Management, Roamers Steering, Telco data BI & Analytics and more.

Global Experience A customer focused, dedicated and technically competent team of engineers, over fifteen years of experience working across geographies and cultures in Africa, Middle East, APAC, Europe, SAARC, has all played a crucial role in a unique, reliable, flexible, cost effective and on-time project management and execution in client’s multi-vendor environment.

JT GROUP

TECHNOLOGY

some smart future-proofing into the network, because all we need to do to up the capacity and throughput is to change the boxes either end of the fibre. In principle we will never need to touch it again; it has a lifespan of over 50 years.”

4G Rollout In 2015 JT was the first network provider in the Channel Islands to deliver live, islandwide 4G coverage across both Jersey and Guernsey. Working in partnership with ZTE, one of the world’s largest telecoms equipment and systems manufacturers, the company has faced the dual challenge of ripping out the old network and subsequently replacing it with the new infrastructure.

Newbold said: “The result is we have a brand new state of the art network, right from the tower antennae and cabling, down to the equipment below the tower and everything back to the exchange, across 180 cell sites in the Channel Islands. Thanks to our choice of partner ZTE, and our £12 million investment we delivered superfast LTE across the islands, ahead of any other local operator, on time and on budget in less than six months from inception to delivery.”

ZTE’s contribution to the rollout cannot be understated, since it actually proved to save the company money, Newbold said: “Interestingly there is a connection between the projects allowing us to make huge cost savings by using the same equipment for both the 4G

“Currently the company has made significant progress in rolling out its Gigabit Isles fibre-to-the-home project, which will see all broadband lines for consumers and businesses in Jersey and a number in Guernsey gain access to superfast fibreoptic broadband coverage” – Graeme Millar, CEO

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Ahead of the Market, Behind the Deal.

NET(net) is a category expert for cost reduction, optimization, and supplier performance management specializing in Information Technology. NET(net) has helped over 2,000 global clients capture in excess of $200 Billion of incremental value since 2002.

W www.netnetweb.com

E info@netnetweb.com

T @ITNegotiator

JT GROUP

TECHNOLOGY

and the fibre implementation programmes.

So building a network not just to deliver 4G now, but to serve our islands for many years to come as new technologies emerge.

Customer Focus It is no accident that JT has been able to maintain its dominance of the telecoms market in the Channel Islands. Alongside this sharp focus on innovation and superior technology, is a clear focus on placing customers’ needs and their experience at the heart of the business. It is this combination which has allowed the group to grow and prosper both on and off island.

JT is a wholly owned entity of the States of Jersey, therefore its shareholder is in fact the Island’s residents themselves. CEO, Graeme

SUPPLIER PROFILE

NET GLOBAL

As a Global IT Optimisation leader, NET(net) has the information, tools, and capabilities you need to stay ahead of the market, by working with us behind the deal. NET(net) maximises the economic and strategic value in your technology agreements, investments, and relationships.

Our team of seasoned professionals averages over 24 years of experience and has both client and supply side expertise in technology, finance, operations, procurement, legal and contract management. We have hundreds of clients around the world in virtually every industry, and we have professionally managed thousands of engagements in the field, resulting in billions of savings and benefits.

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Creation is Everlasting Vitality

Genew Technologies Co. Ltd, established in 2005, is a Next-Generation Network products and total solutions provider, headquartered China with branched offices in the Philippines, Europe (Spain, Ireland, Italy) and the Middle East.

Genew is a innovative provider of communications, access and wireless solutions with a wide range of IMS Core Voice, Messaging, IPPBX, ADSL, GPON, WiFi and Surveillance solutions focus on Telco Companies and also with a complete portfolio for industrial environments as mining and power grid and military applications.

T +86 755 36988868 F +86 755 26619963 francisco.prieto@genew.cn • www.genew.cn F-3, Dazu Creative Building C, NO. 9018, Beihuan Ave, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China. P.R. 518057

JT GROUP

TECHNOLOGY

Millar explained the importance of a return to the shareholder: “The revenues we bring back to the Channel Islands from our efforts off island, allow us to fund our continued investment in making sure that the most advanced technologies are provided to this very small, yet important market.

“When growing a global business, whether it’s wholesale or enterprise, we also have to look after the needs of our local customers first.

We continue to listen to them to understand how we can deliver the best possible service in order to meet and exceed their expectations.

“Furthermore, to our advantage, our core network has capacity for up to three million customers, so we have a wholesale business that looks at exploiting our connectivity and capacity alongside our domestic market. Through

SUPPLIER PROFILE

JT Group’s core network has capacity for up to three million customers, so we have a wholesale business that looks at exploiting our connectivity and capacity alongside our domestic market

GENEW TECHNOLOGIES CO. LTD

Genew Technologies Co., Ltd is a Next-Generation Network products and total solutions provider. Its solutions cover IMS Core Voice Emergency Dispatching, Unified Communication, Optical Networking, xDSL and WiFi Access Video Surveillance, etc. Genew provides OEM and ODM services for partners of world-class telecommunication equipment, as Genew OEM to Huawei, ZTE, Datang Mobile UTStrcom, Nokia-Siemens Networks, Fiberhome etc., and offers turnkey communication solution for Telco Carriers and industrial clients mainly in Mining, National Grid and Military. Genew Dispatch solution is NO. 1 in mining industry in China.

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In today’s era of rising customer expectations, rapid technology advancements and intensified competition, operators need a multidimensional view of customer experience in order to succeed.

With Amdocs, you can differentiate and achieve competitive advantage by: •

Inspiring your customers with innovative services in the hyper-connected world

•

Personalizing and contextualizing every customer interaction

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Service delivery and subscriber management made easy (and profitable) Tilgin´s HGA is a complete and highly flexible gateway software solution for operators and CPE brand owners.

Straight out of the box – or customized to match specific needs – HGA comes with all the features, functions and tools you will need to satisfy both residential and small business customer segments.

tGem is a comprehensive device management platform for multi-vendor device deployment. Much more than just a device provisioning software, tGem offers simplified and intelligent mass management, helpdesk and support as well as proactive and reactive monitoring tools. tGem can seamlessly interface with your OSS/BSS and CRM systems, radically reducing operational cost and boosting revenues.

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JT GROUP the work of our wholesale team our roaming agreements alone (currently exceeding 500) puts us on par with the really big companies.

“We already sell to a number of other large telcos and smaller aggregators for the likes of IOT and M2M services. We pride ourselves on being responsive and our long-standing approach to nurturing and growing our strategic partnerships is central to our evolution.”

For example, partnering with Indian software provider Tayana Software Solutions, has enabled JT to design and build a bespoke SRI platform upon which the success of its wholesale business is based. Partners like these share a flexible and adaptive approach which has been vital to JT in developing innovative products and services to take to market.

The company’s dedication to its customers alongside their input has been built directly

TECHNOLOGY

“We already sell to a number of other large telcos and smaller aggregators for the likes of IOT and M2M services. We pride ourselves on being responsive and our long-standing approach to nurturing and growing our strategic partnerships is central to our evolution” – Graeme Millar, CEO

JT GROUP

“Partnering with Indian software provider Tayana Software Solutions, has enabled JT to design and build a bespoke SRI platform”

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into its business, starting with its IT technology supported by its close partnership with supply chain analysts NetNet. Millar said: “There are fundamental things NetNet bring as a partner which are hard to buy-in. It would be very unlikely to find a single individual with the skillset that we need, so working together with an organisation like NetNet, means we have access to in-depth knowledge and cost savings through benchmarking the deals we make.

“One example of these benefits is that we have worked with them to deploy a new worldclass billing and CRM system. Overhauling an ageing system with the introduction of the Comverse system and thanks to our

TECHNOLOGY

partnership with Amdocs, means we now match much bigger global telcos in terms of functionality of operations, including access to business critical analytics and MI.” Another example of JT’s lean and innovative approach is the fact it has developed its own bespoke billing App for customers, developed and created locally in the Channel Islands. This Apple approved App is an advanced tool for customers providing unrivalled functionality and control for viewing bills, making changes to their account and monitoring real-time usage.

In addition to the partners highlighted, JT’s group of other carefully chosen broad strategic partners remains central to them growing their business and marks a fundamental business choice. Their suite of partners includes leading organisations across key areas like Property Services (using CPS), networks working with Genew as their Fixed Voice Network Provider and the key area of revenue assurance and fraud thanks to their relationship with Haud.

Overall JT’s strategic approach to reinvesting global revenues to fund local projects and leveraging partnerships to deliver them is clearly working. It has undertaken two wide-ranging but necessary projects which will bring massive benefits to the inhabitants and businesses of its main market; the company’s past work has already done so much for its customers; its ongoing and future work has the potential to do so much more. So it seems JT is one to watch.

Company Information INDUSTRY

Telecommunications HEADQUARTERS

St Helier, Jersey FOUNDED

1888 EMPLOYEES

500 REVENUE

Not disclosed PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

JT Group provides the Channel Islands with a variety of telecoms and broadband services and also sells spare capacity wholesale to a roster of global customers.

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TECH MAHINDRA Strengthening Position In The Changing Networking Landscape Written by: Sam Jermy Produced by: Danielle Harris

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The Indian multinational provider has grown exponentially since its inception and has strengthened its position in the network service market with systematic investments in the past few years followed with a substantial acquisition this year

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ech Mahindra is looking forward to further strengthening its position as a world class multinational technology provider, after recently completing the agreement to the $240 million acquisition of Lightbridge Communications Corporation (LCC).

The multibillion dollar Indian company, which turns 30 next year, provides information technology (IT), networking technology solutions and business support services (BPO) to the telecommunications industry Having the acquisition of global network services leader LCC closed in Q4 2015 means the company is in an even better position to capitalise on a market full of explosive growth.

As a result of the acquisition, Kenneth Young who was previously the Chief Executive Officer of LCC, has become the CEO of Tech Mahindra Network Services.

He said: “Over three decades, LCC has grown to become the largest independent provider of wireless engineering services. Bringing LCC into Tech Mahindra will create the industry’s largest network engineering, deployment, and managed services organisation.”

“Having Tech Mahindra’s breadth of services to provide advanced managed network services coupled with its size and scale, will help increase the performance of customers’ ever-evolving networks.”

Ayon Banerjee, who led the acquisition of Lightbridge Communications from Tech

TECHNOLOGY

Key Personnel Bringing LCC into Tech Mahindra will create the industry’s largest network engineering, deployment, and managed services organisation.

Mahindra and who is now Global Sales Head of Tech Mahindra Network Services, said: “Tech Mahindra has been investing significantly in growing its network services business over the past few years and, obviously, the addition of Lightbridge Communications represents a quantum leap in that growth. It combines our considerable expertise and capabilities as one of the world’s largest providers of technology services to the communications industry with those of the world’s largest independent provider of network engineering services. “ Kenneth Young explained the rationale for the LCC acquisition and diversification into multiple verticals like banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), manufacturing and retail. He said: “We now have the ability to offer a wide range of service offerings like enterprise and engineering to current and

Kenneth Young CEO Kenneth Young was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer (of LCC) in August 2008. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Operating Officer. In addition, Young has previously served as Senior Vice President, President of the Americas, and Chief Marketing Officer for the Company.

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T E C H M A H I N D R A LT D

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TECHNOLOGY

future customers, it’s a de-risked business model with balanced exposure across geographies, and utilises Mahindra’s pool of highly experienced, well trained professionals.”

“Integration of the groups is taking place.

We’ll modify the brand and eventually phase out the LCC brand by the end of this year.”

Described by the firm’s CEO as a ‘defining moment’ for the company and the network services sector, the acquisition has subsequently created the largest and most comprehensive provider of technology services to communications service providers.

Changing Networking Landscape The emerging demands of IOT, CEM, and technological advances towards 5G, SON, SDN, NFV on the network side coupled with emerging demands for cloud based services, digital services and a move towards Dev ops and instrumentation on the IT side, has led to shift in the way networks will be built and managed.

Balaji TS, Vice President and Global Solutions and Portfolio Head of Network Services said: “The Telecommunications industry is witnessing unprecedented growth and challenges today and the industry is poised for disruption. There has been a proliferation of ‘smart’ devices and this has resulted in multi-fold increase in data traffic across the world. The content consumption trends have changed drastically and consumers are looking for services anytime and anywhere.

“Over three decades, LCC has grown to become the largest independent provider of wireless engineering services. Bringing LCC into Tech Mahindra will create the industry’s largest network engineering, deployment, and managed services organisation” – Kenneth Young, CEO

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PTMGROUP

PTMGROUP

TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDER SITE ACQUISITION CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT RADIO NETWORK ENGINEERING MAINTENANCE TOWER SHARING SOLUTIONS

M. +32 486 700 881 • pieter@ptm-group.eu • www.ptm-group.eu PTM group BVBA • Pleispark 49 • 9051 Gent • Belgium

India

T E C H M A H I N D R A LT D

TECHNOLOGY

Customer expectations are rising. Enterprises are going ‘Digital’ and seeking services ondemand. With the emerging technologies like SDN and NFV gaining acceptance, the traditional ecosystem of network providers is disrupting, as new players are entering in the market. Besides these new technologies also warrant the need of Network consolidation.

“The traditional model of proprietary appliances is giving way to virtualised network functions executing on industry standard hardware running in a NFV environment. Since the scope extends beyond current OEM supplied technologies, we are expecting a spur in new start-ups providing easy to deploy, scale and manage network functions. Since the operators will need to use their existing legacy networks, we will see a need

SUPPLIER PROFILE

Consumers are looking for services anytime and anywhere

PTM GROUP

PTM GROUP is a multinational telecommunications service provider.

We provide you with full telecommunications service solutions from site acquisition, site deployment, radio network engineering to maintenance. Our in-house engineering teams will support solutions and set quality standards. Our research and development team stands for innovation, continuous improvement and sustainable solutions. Quality and lead times are the key drivers for our success.

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TECH MAHINDRA

Maes Hoogwerkers Height is our passion!

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Specialist in truck-mounted aerial platforms up to 103m Service 24/24 7/7 Site visit free of charge A-Z project follow-up VCA-P certified

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September 2015

Visit us at global4.co.uk

T E C H M A H I N D R A LT D

TECHNOLOGY

of an independent service provider who will help integrate these new network functions with existing physical network elements. Traditional network design, build, validation, verification and operations activities will have a new connotation.”

Balaji explained that if you need to introduce a new service on a monolithic network it will take months before it can be rolled out. Moving forward a lot of these network components are going to get entirely virtualised so that things can be configured ‘on the fly’ because it is all on the cloud and happening with automatic provisioning systems. He further added that: “CEM solutions need to evolve and provide an integrated approach covering not only customer centric operations and front desk handling and optimisation but should also enable proactive service monitoring, fault management and network optimisation. Big data platforms and analytics will play a major role in

Traditional network design, build, validation, verification and operations activities will have a new connotation

Tech Mahindra is expecting a spur in new start-ups providing easy to deploy, scale and manage network functions.

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T E C H M A H I N D R A LT D

Xxxxxxxxxx

Service providers have identified IoT as a key driver for the enhancements of the communication network leading to efforts such as 4G and device to device communications.

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enabling CEM platforms. The need for context specific routing or On the fly traffic prioritisation will lead to increased adoption of SDN.�

Service providers have identified IoT as a key driver for the enhancements of the communication network leading to efforts such as 4G and beyond, as well as device to device communications. IoT offers tremendous potential for industries to benefit from in terms of operational efficiencies, enhancing customer experience and delivering new services.

For example the Railroad / Railways industry could use IoT sensors to keep track of the rail tracks to do preventive maintenance and avoid accidents due to issues with the rail tracks. An exporter of perishable items will be able to track the environmental conditions in which the goods are being transported, the state of the goods

TECHNOLOGY

itself and the time to deliver, thus ensuring quality of service. The telecom service providers can play a pivotal role for such implementations.

Communications between the devices and the backbone systems is a key aspect of IoT. Telcos could offer M2M based connectivity services required. They can further evolve as a M2M service providers to offer various M2M services to the industry and government organisations.

Balaji said: “Enterprises still don’t see a major incentive in implementing IoT on a large-scale, as the perceived return on investment is not attractive compared to the state of current operations. Thus Service providers are not only required to implement solutions, but they are also required to create the business case which will guarantee return on investment. To do this, it becomes very important for the service provider to understand the enterprise domain. “

‘IoT offers tremendous potential for industries to benefit from in terms of operational efficiencies, enhancing customer experience and delivering new services.’

Tech Mahindra’s role in the changing landscape Tech Mahindra was founded in 1986 as a centre of excellence for BT, based out of India where it was doing a lot of work for the company in the BSS/ OSS space. Gradually it augmented its portfolio to provide solutions around networks, mobility, analytics, cloud and security under the umbrella of NMACS . Its client base started expanding, and it started working for other clients in North America . It grew into Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Tech Mahindra goes right down into w w w. t e c h m a h i n d r a . c o m

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TECH MAHINDRA

103,600

The current number of staff employed by Tech Mahindra

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Australia and New Zealand today and operations are a little under $ 4 billion. This consists of both telco and enterprise segments, with telco making up about 53 percent of the business.

Ayon said: “Network services is a huge component of the telco part of the business and we are about 15 percent of the entire company. “ “Today the customers are talking about 5G and small cell. Fortunately for us we made the right bet with LTE about five years ago and we have gained immensely from that. Today we are benefiting from the proliferation of software defined networks and network function virtualisation. Our success depends on the quality of the bets we are making. And the first mover advantage we are gaining through some of these changes.”

Ayon explained that Tech Mahindra is uniquely positioned to address this evolving landscape.

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It has been the leader in providing network and IT solutions and services to telecom service providers and enterprises covering manufacturing, retail, healthcare, banking, travel and logistics, energy and utilities. Its focused competency units on emerging technologies such as SDN, NFV, Cloud, Analytics, M2M, Digital Enterprise Services combined with over two and half decade of telecom and IT services, are helping to augment its services and capabilities, thus providing the impetus for addressing the transformational change. He said: “Our strategy is to go to market with endto-end solutions and to partner with vendors with complementary solution software.”

The acquisition of LCC gives the company an expanded presence in the network engineering and planning services market for network access and core infrastructure. The telecom market is currently undergoing a massive transformation, and the need for consulting, systems integration, and service management skills will drive a significant amount of services spend in the sector.

It seems Tech Mahindra now possesses the combination that can address the industry specifics. Understanding the underpinning technology and enriching the value it delivers to its customers and their end customers is a sure fire way of ensuring the company continues to strengthen.

“I think the merger created something unique in the market place.” concluded Young.

Company Information INDUSTRY

Technology HEADQUARTERS

Maharashtra FOUNDED

1986 EMPLOYEES

103,600 + REVENUE

$3.8 Billion PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Consulting, Digital Transformation, Integrated Engineering, Business Services and Solutions, enabling Enterprises, Associates and the Society to Rise™

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FORGING A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS In The Construction Industry Written by Abigail Phillips Produced by Ben Walshe

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By focusing on people, product, and productivity Conneely Group is achieving unprecedented success in the construction sector

Admirals Quay-Internal

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onneely Group is on a continuous growth plan that is both achievable and sustainable by maintaining its existing client base through offering them best service.

Demonstrating the success of this approach, the firm is targeting a turnover of ÂŁ50 million within the next three years.

Conneely Drylining was established in 1985

by Chairman and CEO Eamon Conneely, and provided drylining, partitioning and plastering services to the construction industry. Over the past 25 years Conneely Group, which is now broken into two sub-divisions Conneely Drylining and Conneely Facades, has developed into highly successful provider of metal stud partitioning, drylining and exterior facades.

The level of commitment and expertise from its skilled management and workforce,

EUROPE

Chelsea Creek

and the unfaltering emphasis on quality has largely attributed to this success.

The company concentrates on its core areas of expertise and consequently has become a specialist in drylining and plastering, lightweight steel framing, screeding, render and cladding. In demonstrating its level of quality and experience, Conneely Group has forged extremely close relationships with the likes of British Gypsum, Metsec, Sto and Eternit, some of the industry’s largest suppliers.

Its expertise and experience in the industry means it is able to successfully complete the

Conneely Group Has Been Awarded An Achilles Building Confidence 5 Star Rating

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www.hadleygroup.com

HadleyFRAME™ and SFS Hadley Steel Framing serves customers worldwide, creating cold roll formed load bearing panel systems as well as infill structural framing solutions from seven manufacturing centres, supplying five continents.

Our in-house structural engineers’ expertise includes 3-D design and detailing, demonstrated by an international portfolio of completed projects for all market sectors.

• Off-site build systems enabling rapid completion of one storey per week on site • Complementary to concrete floor installation improving thermal and acoustic performance • Can eliminate need for “wet-trades” saving cost and time • Shortens time period to completed weathered envelope • More efficient logistics and fit due to off-site planning

Call 0121 555 1385 Email maston@hadleysteelframing.com

/Hadley_Group

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/+HadleyGroupSmethwick

C O N N E E LY G R O U P

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most technically demanding of projects to the highest level of quality. The organisational and site management structure of Conneely Drylining and Conneely Facades enables the company to regularly accept projects on a fast track basis, driving the program on to completion in accordance with its clients’ needs.

At Conneely Group, the emphasis from day one has been on quality, efficiency, and providing its clients with relevant services – this focus has provided the company the springboard from which it will derive future success.

As well as focusing on quality, the company is also passionate about continuous improvement. As Michael Cockerton, finance director at Conneely, explained: “It is a mainstay of our business. We have always encouraged our teams to question

SUPPLIER PROFILE

“We have always encouraged our teams to question the existing strategies and procedures and offer their own way of improving everyday tasks” -M ichael Cockerton, Finance Director

HADLEY STEEL FRAMING

Hadley Steel Framing are part of the Hadley Group, the largest Cold Rolled Section manufacturer in the UK. With factories in UK, Dubai, Thailand and Germany our innovative sections are used in both infill and over-sail application. Our bolted panelised systems enable us to supply premade panels for buildings up to 11 storeys high with the option of joisted or concrete cast floors.

All projects include full design and construction drawings in 2d or full BIM model, accompanied by full PI Warranty and through wall testing with British Gypsum and St Gobain Hadley Steel Framing are the perfect solution for light gauge, rapid build solutions.

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C O N N E E LY G R O U P

University of Hertfordshire

the existing strategies and procedures and offer their own way of improving everyday tasks, ultimately this creates a culture of continuous improvement that we are happy to embrace.”

People management The senior management at Conneely Group recognise that the true value of a company is rooted in its people, and as such the place a huge emphasis on people development. Conneely is recognised as being one of the leading drylining and façade contractors in the south east of England, it has a reputation for quality work and this in itself attracts quality employees, however the company does not stop there. “We have always had good employee retention,” says

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Cockerton. “We recognise that it’s the people that make the business, and we try to ensure that they are supported by senior management along the way so that they can give their best, we expect hard work but in return reward well.”

In the last year, the company has set up Conneely Academy. “Whilst we have invested heavily in training throughout the years we have set this company up to ensure that all employees have the specific training to ensure that they are informed on best practice,” says Cockerton.

Admirals Quay

“We recognise that it’s the people that make the business, and we try to ensure that they are supported by senior management along the way so that they can give their best, we expect hard work but in return reward well.”

–M ichael Cockerton, Finance Director

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Insulated render systems on high rise.... the sky’s the limit with SPSenvirowall SPSenvirowall are market leaders in insulated render systems in the new build high rise residential sector.

Cost effective, easy to install, and certified for use on buildings – whatever the height - the Envirowall TS Rail with EPS is the render system of choice for specifiers and installers on high rise concrete frame constructions.

Call our technical team on 0845 1300 983 for more information or visit us on www.spsenvirowall.co.uk

C O N N E E LY G R O U P

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The company has developed in-house courses that vary from labourers’ specific training to site management training. Courses include site safety awareness to SMSTS, NVQ level 1 to NVQ level 7, Quality training for site managers and supervisors with manufacturers to first aid for office staff. “We ensure the workforce has the knowledge to carry out their work competently,” says Cockerton.

As well as offering a roster of in-house training courses for existing employees, Conneely group also offers graduates an opportunity to work in all the departments of the business during their gap years or provide site based gap years only, depending on how confident the graduate is on their career choice after they complete their degree in construction management.

“Apprentices have one day at college whilst working in their chosen field e.g. Quantity Surveying / Estimating / Accounting etc.

Apprentices work on live projects under the guidance of their line managers and get to be part of the project and the team giving them invaluable experience. They also get to see the results of their efforts, encouraging their continual development within the industry,” Cockerton explains.

Conneely aim to advance a high skilled workforce and the apprentices will be encouraged to continue their studies with the relevant degree to the chosen career. The company also works with training colleges and provides placements over a period of three months to a year - often the apprentices continue to

Conneely Group provides quality training for site managers, supervisors and manufacturers, as well as first aid for office staff

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ADA Fastfix Ltd

Etag are proud to supply

ADA Fastfix are an industry leading supplier of fixings & fastenings to the construction industry

CONNEELY GROUP with top quality construction products

01494 478478

Etag stock a comprehsive range of products such as:

orders@adafastfix.co.uk Unit 10, Merlin Centre Lancaster Road Cressex Business Park High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP12 3QL

All at highly competitive prices! Call today on 0208 691 5794

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Specialist Distributors of Insulation, Dry Lining, Roofing and Ceilings Roofing

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Fire Protection

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Ceilings

External Facades

Flooring

Dry Lining

Follow us on Twitter @minsteronline For more information visit www.minsteronline.co.uk

C O N N E E LY G R O U P

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work with Conneely after their placement.

“Conneely is currently developing content to provide a good entry level into the drylining industry, where we aim to provide actual site content and work placement where individuals work alongside experienced drylining teams in order to help turn unemployed into employment.

We also work alongside the Berkeley group who run a scheme to get unemployed people into employment and we are pleased to have taken on ten through this scheme last year,” says Cockerton.

With an ever-looming skills shortage in the industry, its schemes like this that see Conneely grow and succeed in a tough environment.

Technology and the supply chain Conneely recognises that to be successful it is reliant on the strength of its supply chain and relationships within it. “We have built up great relationships over the years with our supply chain which has helped us sustain our growth. We try to engage with our supply chain early in the tendering process so that they are with us all the way from the pricing of a secured tender through to the awarding of the project,” says Cockerton.

Part of having a robust supply chain is having stable and innovative technology solutions to back it up, particularly in today’s technology driven world where customers and business partners alike expect it. Conneely endeavours to be at the forefront of new techniques and technologies

Plastering - a core skill

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“Prior to embarking on our latest growth plan we invested in an integrated estimating, surveying and accounting system to enable us to take the next big step up.

This system has allowed us to increase our output while maintaining the same levels of quality and efficiency throughout the business” – Michael Cockerton, Finance Director

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within the construction industry. As Cockerton explains, “Over the years we have been early adopters of new drylining and ceiling products, new screeds and new cladding systems. We will always happily engage with our supply chain and customers early in the process if there is value to be added to the project that we can all benefit from, whether that is a decrease in costs or programme length, or an improvement to the environmental and sustainability performance or to the method of working to increase safety levels.

“Prior to embarking on our latest growth plan we invested in an integrated estimating, surveying and accounting system to enable us to take the next big step up. This system

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Company Information

has allowed us to increase our output whilst maintaining the same levels of quality and efficiency throughout the business,” he says.

INDUSTRY

Poised for future growth Conneely is able to complete the most technically demanding projects within tight programme periods to the highest standards of safety and quality due to its unwavering commitment to quality, people, and continuous improvement.

“We offer both the complete internal drylining fit out through to painted finish along with the complete envelope solution reducing the amount of contractors a client has to interface with. Our management systems have been compliant to ISO 9001, 14001 and OHAS 18001 for many years and have recently been successfully reaudited for our three year renewal. Furthermore we are CHAS accredited and Achilles Building confidence 5 star rated,” says Cockerton.

But what does the future hold for the business?

“In five years’ time we would like to see ourselves as one of the top three businesses within our sector of the construction industry. We anticipate achieving this by the continually striving to improve our business practices, training of our staff and workforce, maintaining the excellent customer and supplier relationships and generally by everyone within the business working towards the same goal,” says Cockerton. If its track record is anything to go by, this is certainly achievable.

Construction HEADQUARTERS

Stansted, UK FOUNDED

1985 EMPLOYEES

Not disclosed REVENUE

£38M PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Metal stud partitioning, drylining and exterior facades.

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Photo copyright by Johan Jacobs – C+H

Belgian Logistics Group Ahlers Sets Sail To Reinvent st Itself, 21 Century Style Produced by: Richard Durant

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AHLERS

With a maritime history going back 106 years, Belgian familyowned logistics group Ahlers has a lot to be proud of.

Nevertheless, the company prefers to look forward and is rapidly reinventing itself. Horizontal Collaboration, Value Added Services and Big Data are the new waypoints to make Ahlers and its customers future-proof.

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Ahlers 4.0: starting a new chapter Ahlers originally began operations back in 1909 as a shipping agency in the Port of Antwerp.

Surviving two World Wars, it steadily grew into a major Belgian carrier with its own vessels and afterwards evolved into an international freight forwarder and warehouse provider.

Towards the end of the 20th century, the company had established a solid footprint in Europe but also in emerging markets such as Russia, Ukraine, India and China. Always on the lookout for new opportunities, the latest chapter of the Ahlers history is all about innovation, partnerships and transparency.

Yves Verlinden, Sales Director at Ahlers, said: “Although we have existed for 106 years, the company culture and family owners are constantly challenging us to reinvent ourselves.

What I am seeing today makes me believe we are on the right track in that regard.”

“Logistics and supply chain management are in rapid transformation and some time ago we noticed that the growth of our sales pipeline was slowing down because we failed to capitalise on the new trends that are shaping our highly dynamic industry.

“While many of our services were still based on traditional red ocean business segments such as freight forwarding and warehousing, our customers were starting to ask for more innovative solutions that could help them compete better in their own industries.

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Partnership agreement between Ahlers and Tigro Industries

“We took a radical decision to reinvent our company from the ground up: “Ahlers 4.0” was born. From that day we started looking for innovation partners that we could invite to build mutually beneficial synergies with.”

“It did not take long to find suitable candidates: the first one was an Antwerp University spinoff company called TRI-VIZOR, the second one was a family owned value added logistics service provider by the name of Tigro Industries.

Both companies had Belgian roots but had established a strong European reputation for themselves as innovators and thought leaders in their respective markets. Our thinking was that teaming up with a global player like Ahlers would offer them ample opportunity for accelerated international expansion.”

“With its own offices in 15 countries, Ahlers is

“We took a radical decision to reinvent our company from the ground up: “Ahlers 4.0” was born. From that day we started looking for innovation partners that we could invite to build mutually beneficial synergies with” – Yves Verlinden, Sales Director at Ahlers

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AHLERS

Ahlers high Seveso warehouse in Ghent

perfectly suited to support the growth of smaller partners. We also own 85,000 square metres of warehouses in Belgium, Russia and Ukraine and 16,000 square metres of rented facilities, and we have access to a dense global network of local partners and commercial agents.�

ALTIGRA: a new reference in Value Added Logistics Ahlers already had a long-standing reputation as a logistics partner and freight forwarder for the chemical industry, and in recent years the company has invested heavily in value added logistics services. As such, teaming up with Tigro Industries turned out to be a win-win decision.

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Family owned company Tigro Industries, headquartered in Limburg, started some 30 years ago as a small provider of value added services for local chemical and pharmaceutical customers.

Today, the company is a renowned Belgian player with its own ADR-transport fleet and temperature controlled storage and packing facilities, specifically designed for the sectors that it serves.

Lately, the know-how of Tigro had started to attract the attention of a more international customer base, who asked the company to follow them to emerging markets like India, China and Russia. One of the reasons was that also in these more exotic markets, logistic services complying with Tigro’s Safety, Health, Environment and Quality policy are starting to be in high demand.

This meant there were tangible business opportunities on the horizon for the company.

To accelerate their mutual growth, Tigro Industries and Ahlers set up a joint venture by the name of Altigra™ which will focus on providing high-quality international logistics services for the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food industries.

Through this collaboration Ahlers and Tigro can handle the entire logistics spectrum of solids and liquids for these industries, as well as hazardous chemicals. Other capabilities include: temperature controlled storage, handling products, making formulations, blending products, micronizing products, drying products, repacking products, cleanroom operations, international transportation and local distribution.

900+

Number of staff employed

by Ahlers ‘Through this collaboration Ahlers and Tigro can handle the entire logistics spectrum of solids and liquids for these industries, as well as hazardous chemicals’

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AHLERS

“We believe our customers are looking for a solution that is complete and high-end, and we believe the strength of combining Tigro with Ahlers enables us to cover that complete portfolio of value added services” – Bart Moors, Director at Tigro Industries

1909 The year Ahlers’s operations were founded 82

September 2015

Despite having only been formally established on July 1st 2015, Altigra has already secured business with a Fortune 500 chemical company based in India. Altigra will take care of its product distribution, processing and repackaging while it will also offer freight forwarding services to get the hazardous products to Europe with the highest possible safety and quality standards. Similar projects are already in the sales pipeline but are still covered by non-disclosure agreements.

By pooling expertise and resources together, both partners can work towards the goal of offering international solutions. Bart Moors, Director at Tigro Industries, said: “We believe our customers are looking for a solution that is complete and high-end, and we believe the strength of combining Tigro with Ahlers enables us to cover that complete portfolio of value added services. Our ambition is to work out customised, turnkey solutions for our customers in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors.”

“As an example, two years ago we implemented a warehousing project together with a value added design and packaging solution based on the very specific needs of an end customer with seasonal demand in hygroscopic products.

This is just a snapshot of how we want to delve deeper into every stage of the supply chain and offer customised solutions on the international market. The niche expertise of Tigro combined with Ahlers’ international reputation and contact book will make a powerful match.”

S U P P LY C H A I N

TRI-VIZOR and Cargo Pool™: taking on the Horizontal Collaboration challenge Although Ahlers’ core competencies have for many years centred on traditional freight forwarding and individual supply chain services, the company is not blind to see the fast growing appetite of shippers to share capacity in logistics platforms and communities. This paradigm shift towards so-called “Horizontal Collaboration” requires a radically new way of looking at the logistics market, as well as a complete arsenal of innovative tools and knowhow on the conceptual, technological and legal level. Not something a logistics service provider can easily develop by himself.

Enter TRI-VIZOR. This spin-off company from the University of Antwerp was founded in 2008,

Tigro high Seveso warehouse in Lommel

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Comparted storage

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baptizing itself as the world’s first cross supply chain orchestrator. As a neutral matchmaker, trustee and architect of horizontal collaboration TRI-VIZOR offers all the necessary services to put horizontal collaboration from theory into practice, including an EU antitrust compliant “firewall� enabling competing shippers to collaborate and share capacity without having to share any sensitive data. Although the company is still very small, it has made a big name for itself as global thought leader in this blue ocean market.

Among the unique instruments developed by TRI-VIZOR to enable horizontal collaboration are a large database containing the tradelane information of more than 150 multinational shippers. As a neutral matchmaker, TRI-VIZOR

S U P P LY C H A I N

continuously scans this database for potential transport (co-loading and roundtrip) synergies.

Given the countless number of combinations that exist between different logistics networks, this is truly a Big Data challenge. On a more strategic level, TRI-VIZOR also helps companies to think about their logistics maturity and become more “Future Proof” by benchmarking them with their peers in the context of 20 major supply chain trends and challenges.

A more technical innovation developed

by TRI-VIZOR was a collaborative transport management platform in the cloud, enabling real-time balancing and synchronisation of loads across different shippers and supply chains.

Being an operational and freight forwarding oriented tool, this so-called Collaborative Control Tower will be taken over from TRI-VIZOR by Ahlers and will be further developed and put in the market as an advanced collaborative 4PL solution under the brand name Cargo Pool™.

As a result of this deal, TRI-VIZOR will be able to refocus fully on its role as independent matchmaker and trusted community architect, while Ahlers as an experienced logistics service provider will be able to take care of the operational aspects of horizontal collaboration.

Sven Verstrepen, Founding Partner and Business Development Director at TRI-VIZOR, explained: “To achieve cost reductions and better central visibility of shipments, a growing number of

Repacking of liquids

Clean room operations

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Storage meets intelligence

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AHLERS

S U P P LY C H A I N

shippers are centralising the management of their networks into so-called control towers (4PLs). Despite this trend, it is a well-known fact that the average efficiency of logistics in Europe still reaches barely 43 percent.

“The bundling of freight flows across multiple shippers has proven to be a powerful remedy for this problem, and this is exactly what our solution was built to do. Our collaborative control tower can deliver simultaneous improvements in logistics cost, service level and sustainability, which is in a way the “holy grail” that the industry has been searching for during so many years.

“The Collaborative Control Tower or Cargo Pool™ is a technology platform that enables profitable, real-time synchronisations and combinations of international freight movements across multiple shippers.

Over the past few years, as a supply chain innovator we have developed, tested and successfully validated this platform as a tool to enable horizontal collaboration in limited scale pilot projects. We felt the time was ripe to hand over this technology to a larger player in the market, and Ahlers turned out to be the right partner at the right time. They have the necessary commercial depth and width to bring this solution to the next level.”

Given the mandatory neutrality that a logistics matchmaker and advisor must retain in order to be given access to the freight flow data of a large number of shippers, the partnership between

“By joining forces with TRI-VIZOR and Tigro, we can lift up our service portfolio to an entirely new strategic level, making Ahlers more appealing to our customers and to the industry as a whole. This is for me the key benefit of these partnerships. We are already being recognised in a more positive light by big market players during tendering” – Bert Goethals, Sales Manager at Ahlers

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AHLERS

Storage of small packed products (e.g. pharma)

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TRI-VIZOR and Ahlers is not a joint venture in the traditional sense of the word. The two companies will continue to operate as separate legal entities and with separate management teams. Nevertheless, even after a few months of working together at arm’s length, Ahlers and TRI-VIZOR see many opportunities for crosspollination and mutual business development.

Bert Goethals, Sales Manager at Ahlers, concluded: “By joining forces with TRI-VIZOR and Tigro, we can lift up our service portfolio to an entirely new strategic level, making Ahlers more appealing to our customers and to the industry as a whole. This is for me the key benefit of these partnerships. We are already being recognised in a more positive

S U P P LY C H A I N

Company Information INDUSTRY

Supply Chain HEADQUARTERS

Antwerp FOUNDED

1909 EMPLOYEES

900+

light by big market players during tendering.”

“The Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector and the food logistics industry are an important target market for us. There’s also significant interest from shippers in the chemical, pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Looking forward, we hope to proliferate into the automotive and technology industries at some point in the future too. But at the same time we want to take things one step at a time. Logistics innovation is not an easy game.”

As global shippers are increasingly looking for integration and consolidation of innovative services, the unique blend of qualities that Ahlers is currently bringing together in its partnership strategy, means it should be set for success in the next 100 years of its existence.

REVENUE

USD 222 mio.

PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Ahlers is a family owned international logistic and maritime service provider with headquarters in Antwerp (Belgium).

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Achieving

Supply Chain Efficiency

Across Europe Written by: Nye Longman & Produced by: Richard Durrant

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P & O F E R RY M A S T E R S

The supply chain management specialist has undergone massive changes in order to secure the best savings and service portfolio for its customers

P

&O Ferrymasters (P&OFM) has undergone a complete overhaul over the past few years through restructuring its divisional set up, consolidating operational activity and European offices, as well as rolling out an impressive array of in-house system tools to improve its service offering.

It is clear from these changes that steering the course of a company with annual revenues of some ÂŁ400 million requires a unique balance of both risk awareness and fresh innovation while maintaining the service expectations of customers.

Service Last year P&OFM carried in excess of 518,000 loads, utilising 3,500 transport assets (of which about 2,500 are containers) spread across its 22 European facilities. The company offers solutions to customers seeking to manage their supply chains and logistics both efficiently and

Last year P&OFM’s own assets fleet included some 2,500 containers

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transparently. The company directly employs just over 500 people who all help to provide customers with value added services, supply chain solutions and IT support, as well as various road and intermodal services.

Coordinating such a vast network of operations has never been an easy task; the company has shaken up its commercial, operational and IT functions so that it can become increasingly streamlined, to the extent that its customers are also reaping the benefits.

Managing Director Bas Belder said: “The business has now been consolidated into three main divisions; assets (trailers and intermodal), freight management and contract logistics.

The key benefit of this has been improved support and earlier access to resources.”

Wim Blomme, Director of P&O Ferrymasters’ Intermodal Division added: “The process has enabled us to have greater control and transparency, which ultimately benefits the customer through improved synergy, increased interaction and through speeding up internal processes.”

Across every aspect of the business it is clear that focusing on the needs of the customer has not only become a practical, profitable approach, but also a source of innovative thinking. Having a knowledgeable team with diverse skills including operational excellence, project management and commercial acumen supports this new approach.

Mike Shannon, General Manager of the

Key Personnel

Mike Shannon General Manager Contract Logistics Mike joined the company in 2001 gaining experience in various operational and commercial roles, and was appointed as General Manager Contract Logistics in January 2014. Previously he was in the Royal Air Force working in warehousing and distribution. Mike has a BSc in Transport and Information Management, and an MBA from Canterbury Christ Church University.

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C O M PA N Y N A M E

www.capps.com CAI International, Inc. is one of the world’s leading intermodal freight container & marine equipment leasing / management companies.

CAI International offers a wide range of dry van containers, palletwides, roll trailers, reefers, swap bodies and rail cars.

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CAI can offer all types of lease contracts and direct sale of equipment London

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TRAILERMADE SOLUTIONS

“We know our fleet is well looked after.”

Bas Belder Managing Director P&O Ferrymasters

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S U P P LY C H A I N

Contract Logistics Division said: “I hold regular internal reviews with my team so that we can truly understand what any new challenges are and then plan how to deliver them successfully. Furthermore, by working closer with our customers, the other two P&OFM Divisions and our IT department, we are able to appreciate and act upon our customers’ needs much more effectively.”

This approach is exemplified through the company’s partnership with Tata Steel, whose European Director of Outbound Logistics and Supply Chain Pieter van Tongeren said: “Within our sourcing strategy we aim to work with P&OFM on a partnership basis developing network and supply chain synergy together.

To point out a mutual showcase, P&OFM has done great work in further improving our processes with the meet and greet project.

“This project resulted in securing a standardised control of the flows to and from our warehouses, streamlining the IT systems and effectively using the onsite shipping capacity to meet our customer demands.”

Having secured both reputational and operational effectiveness, the company as a whole decided to further improve the customer experience through placing greater emphasis on commercial excellence.

Processes were mapped out, utilising the expertise of an outside company that exploits organisational psychology to improve working

Streamlining IT systems has helped to meet customer demands

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P & O F E R RY M A S T E R S

Investment in TMS has increased effeciency in supply chain chain management

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practices and drive increases in sales. Bas Belder said: “What we learned from the scan is that we have the skillset available across our teams but do not always use the best tools to aid our relationships with customers.

Since then our focus has been more about opportunity management and how to achieve it. “The new tools make sure that we have a unified approach to customers which means that instead of working in fragmented cells we actively share opportunities with our teams. It means that we can gather expertise from other team members in specific domains; we make sure that we all speak the same language, have the same approach and that team members can contribute more actively throughout the organisation.�

With the better-quality processes P&OFM is

S U P P LY C H A I N

P&OFM’s new tools ensure a unified approach to customers

now able to improve both external and internal communication, seek to surpass expectations and focus on continual improvement strategies with clients and towards the supply chain market in general.

Systems The company’s contract logistics concept aims to further integrate with customers’ IT systems in order to maximise commercial and operational performance. The order process is based on full Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) connection, allowing data to become available as soon as the customer places an order.

P&OFM has invested heavily in its in-house Transportation Management System (TMS),

The company’s contract logistics concept aims to further integrate with customers’ IT systems in order to maximise commercial and operational performance.

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TMS leaves operations personnel free focus on any exceptions and irregularities

which enables orders to flow from receipt to carrier allocation without human intervention and leaves operations personnel free to focus on any exceptions and irregularities. This allows optimum agility in the supply chain, so that transport operations can be planned and executed using the most efficient and most environmentally-friendly mode possible within the delivery requirements.

Based on decades of experience, the TMS system was designed and developed inhouse. It is now widely deployed not only within the P&OFM business but also in bespoke versions that manage a customer’s supply chain in every respect, from load building to

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S U P P LY C H A I N

timeslot management and delivery tracking.

P&OFM IT Director Steve Walters explained how this customer-centred approach had led to improvements in his own department.

He said: “It’s no use inventing things that you think customers are going to like when you’re shut up in an IT department; you have to talk to users, customers and suppliers. You can’t tell the supplier what they are going to do. In practice you get a much better response if you ask them what you think the best way to do it will be. We find it really enjoyable!”

By approaching continuous improvements from the customer side, P&OFM has ensured that technological implementations are not just something that take place in the back office or in certain niche areas. By simultaneously developing both a Supplier and Customer portal, the company was able to adopt a more holistic structure.

Steve Walters explained that the Customer Portal enabled its users to dictate their own level of involvement: “The experience is different for every customer. There are a number of standard reports available but we can tailor it specifically to their requirements; customers can even do their own reporting. We have a very simpleto-use drag and drop query tool which we have trained a number of customers to use.

“Some of our account teams will ask us to set it up for a customer in a particular way; we’ve even linked our web portal to the customer’s

TMS can manage a customer’s supply chain from load building to timeslot management, and delivery tracking

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“As part of its business plan P&OFM launched a dedicated train from Zeebrugge into Curtici, serving the serving Hungarian and Bulgarian markets in conjunction with partner Transmec” - Wim Blomme, Intermodal Director

own web portal so that when their customers make a query on our customer’s website it displays the information directly from us.”

He added: “Although we knew what we were going to do, even for the IT guys it was a surprise to see that by the time our staff arrived in the office in the morning the system had taken the jobs from the customer, calculated who the best supplier was and sent them the job. We were impressed and we wrote it!”

These recent IT investments have now seen enquiries about the TMS itself from outside the business. As a result, P&OFM is currently reviewing its options with the IT systems and where the next opportunity lies.

Solutions As part of its business plan P&OFM launched

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a dedicated train from Zeebrugge into Curtici, serving the serving Hungarian and Bulgarian markets in conjunction with its partner Transmec.

Wim Blomme said this innovative service had been established last year in order to develop into the Balkan area and to expand into new markets.

This new service is complimentary to the weekly dedicated company trains running into Italy from Belgium. It completes the intermodal coverage into Southern Europe since the company also has a large footprint in Iberia with regular high frequency services.

From January 2016, P&OFM will be operating new dedicated company trains from The Netherlands into Italy. These trains will carry both intermodal containers and ‘crane-able’ trailers (Huckepack). Investment over the past 12 months into 450 Huckepack trailers enables the business to serve Polish, Italian and Balkan markets as well as driving a modal shift from road to rail.

It is impressive to see the changes that P&O Ferrymasters has undergone in recent years and it is certainly to the credit of its staff and management team that these have taken place so seamlessly. Having risen to become one of the leading logisticians in Europe, the company could have easily continued business as usual and remained profitable. Deviating from the beaten track was certainly a risk, but one that has proven to be beneficial for both its customers and the company itself.

Company Information INDUSTRY

Supply Chain HEADQUARTERS

United Kingdom, Ipswich FOUNDED

1953 EMPLOYEES

500 REVENUE

£400 million PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Logistics & Transport

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Achieving Global Success With Supply Chain Process Written by: Abigail Phillips Produced by: Richard Durrant

103

HENKEL

How Henkel manages its supply chain for ultimate business outcomes

H

enkel is a global company that works with some of the world’s leading brands and technologies in three core business areas: Laundry and Home Care, Beauty Care and Adhesive Technologies. With more than 140 years of expertise under its belt Henkel is well on its way to achieving its vision to become the world leader in brand management and technology solutions.

Today the company holds dominant market positions both in the consumer and industrial sector and is well known for brands such as Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite to name just a few. Henkel’s vision is to become a global player in each of its brands and technologies.

The Dax-30 company is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany and is proud of its almost 50,000 employees from more than 120 nations worldwide. Henkel has as strong presence in emerging markets.

Putting quality first Since day one, the company has put a great deal of emphasis on quality, and this has truly driven and underpinned its success to date.

“We strive for the very best in everything that we do,” said Johann Seif, International Planning and Logistics. “This applies not only to the products and technologies that we develop for our customers but also to our internal processes.”

The goal to take leading positions in a highly competitive environment is shared by everyone at Henkel, irrespective of the business unit,

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Henkel is the firm behind famous brands such as Persil

function or country in which they work. In order to achieve the company’s ambitious plans it has focused on four strategic priorities: “We will outperform our competition as a globalised company with simplified operations and a highly inspired team.”

As a global player, Henkel has put a lot of time into building a strong foundation for future growth and development. “The basis for our strategy was a detailed analysis of major long-term market trends. We identified three megatrends which will affect our different businesses over the next years: consolidation, emerging markets and speed.

“Consolidation in our supplier, manufacturer and customer base as well as in our

50,000

Number of staff employed

by Henkel

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Complete solutions from the automation experts Siemens supports Henkel’s sustainability strategy: “Do more with fewer resources”

As a globally operating supplier of energyefficient, automated complete solutions for in-house logistics in industrial companies, we offer expert consulting for installation of new systems as well as for modernization of and upgrades to existing warehouses. We supply everything from a single source, and all based on our automation standards.

Henkel in Düsseldorf, Germany, relied on Siemens to provide the equipment for its channel warehouse. This new distribution center will play a crucial role in connecting production

directly to the warehouse (wall to wall), thereby shortening transport routes, reducing environmental pollution, and making retail supply more efficient.

For example, the automated stock removal – supported by coordinated IT processes and automated stacker cranes – will result in approximately 1.5 million fewer forklift movements annually.

As a result, Henkel will see a 20 percent reduction in its ton-kilometer figures.

siemens.com/industrylogistics

SUPPLIER PROFILE

SIEMENS

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 165 years. The company is active in more than 200 countries, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization.

In the logistics area Siemens is a one-stop supplier for customized automated material handling solutions.

Siemens has a longstanding experience in the fields of planning and realisation of new facilities and the extension and modernization of existing installations. From the handling of incoming goods through production and warehousing to picking and material issue – as your automation specialist the Siemens logistics solutions team develops a solution that is ideally tailored to your particular requirements and that will enhance the flexibility and efficiency of your processes and optimize the implementation time and costs for your organization.

The range of custom service, from individual service over emergency service to a full service 24x7x365 completes our comprehensive portfolio.

Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com/industrylogistics

HENKEL

S U P P LY C H A I N

competitive environment will continue. Size will become a critical success factor in the future.

Consequently, we need to grow our businesses.

We expect the shift of growth from mature to emerging markets to continue. As a result, we need to expand our already strong footprint in these markets over the coming years.

“We anticipate highly dynamic market evolution, and faster decision-making by suppliers, customers and competitors. In addition, further digitalisation will lead to changes in our market environment. We therefore need to continue simplifying our processes and increasing our operational excellence,” explained Seif.

Supply chain management How does a company with such a broad clientele remain relevant and achieve ambitious business development aims? “In order to grow, we have to remain mobile as a business,” said Seif. “A huge part of our ongoing strategy is to analyse what to grow in terms of facilities and expertise, and a large part of our strategy in this area is focused on taking our services to the customer.

This is a constant work in progress, but being agile in key to our success. We have a flexible network and despite our size we need to be mobile so we can react to industry changes. At the company we believe that country borders shouldn’t hold us back, and aim to deliver a relevant and consistent service to all our customers, no matter where they are located.”

Henkel has outlined three megatrends going forward

Self believes in a borderless supply chain strategy

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HENKEL

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With global and regional distribution centres inventory and planning is critical to business development. “We need to focus on demand,” said Seif. “However, we also need to be clever about how we run our supply chain operations, for example economies of scale, efficiency and agile processes and systems need to be well thought out and delivered.”

In order to create a more robust supply chain, Henkel has optimised its warehouse operations by using automation not only on the warehouse floor but also from an administrative point of view. It has also simplified workflows and tools and centralised its IT services allowing for greater visibility, less down time and thus greater efficiency.

“We have invested in the supply chain technology to give us complete visibility. We

“How we run our supply chain operations, for example economies of scale, efficiency and agile processes and systems need to be well thought out and delivered” – Johann Seif, International Planning & Logistics

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HENKEL

Automation increasingly plays a part in Henkel processes

look into what we should stock and what we should not to ensure we don’t have too many slow moving products. We believe it’s possible to forecast demand and react to that as much as possible,” he said.

Relying on a team of experts All the technology in the world doesn’t make up for a poor team, so the company has spent a lot of time and effort recruiting a world-leading workforce. “We focus on internal promotions, training and personal development to ensure our people are the best in their field,” said Seif.

“Our ultimate objective is to want to grow from both a product and customer perspective and this would be impossible without people. We back this up where we can with data analysis and technology,” he said.

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Dedicated to sustainability Henkel’s commitment to leadership in sustainability is deeply embedded in its corporate values. Maintaining a balance between economic success, protection of the environment, and social responsibility has been fundamental to the company’s corporate culture for decades.

This approach applies to every business unit and function, and our almost 50,000 employees all over the world have firmly embraced the principles of sustainable development in their daily work and think and act accordingly.

“To maintain this lead in the future, we have developed a long-term sustainability strategy and set a straightforward yet ambitious goal for the year 2030: By this year, all Henkel products and processes should be three times as efficient as they are today,” said Seif.

“This aim addresses one of the central challenges we will face in the future: decoupling growth from resource consumption. Instead, we want to create more value for our customers and consumers, for the communities we operate in, and for our company, while reducing our environmental footprint at the same time.

Achieving more with less: this is the idea at the heart of our sustainability strategy which guides all of our business processes and activities.”

With robust processes, world leading clients, and a focus on sustainability, Henkel is set to deliver its ambitious targets and retain its global reputation for many more years to come.

Company Information INDUSTRY

Supply Chain HEADQUARTERS

Dusseldorf, Germany FOUNDED

1876 EMPLOYEES

50,000 REVENUE

£16.428 billion (2014) PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Brand Managemen, Technological Solutions

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113

Reclaiming National Pride

Implementing technological upgrades as well as an extensive rebrand, the airliner is working hard to win back its commanding market share Written by: Nye Longman Produced by: Dennis Morales

115

K U WA I T A I R WAY S

I

n the face of a decline in its market share, Kuwait Airways is rolling out major changes in order to deliver a renaissance in its fortunes; it has been able to significantly reduce losses while undergoing a substantial rebrand as well as investing KWD16 million in IT infrastructure and the upgrade of its technological support.

Market Share CEO Abdullah Al-Sharhan admitted that his company’s market share was a concern for the management team but, ultimately, he remained confident. He said: “We used to have a share of about 55 percent in the Kuwaiti market but this declined to as low as 18 percent; we have now recovered to a little above 20 percent with the introduction of our new fleet with on-board

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services and new entertainment systems.

“The new personality of the airline is bringing the customers back; a lot of Kuwaitis are still very loyal to the airline, it’s just that we have to make sure we evolve steadily in order to win even more back. What we have recently completed is already having a really positive impact on our market share today.”

“We have also recently gone through a privatisation exercise and have increased our revenues by about KWD20 million during 2014: some of this has been market driven, while some has been achieved through better marketing tactics.”

In the case of this business, the numbers show that the time, money and effort invested in turning the airliner around have not been wasted. Al Sharhan said: “Financial performance has improved; we have cut our losses by 50 percent both in 2013 and 2014 and we hope to finish 2015 with a further cut. Simply, we have improved revenues while cutting costs.”

Kuwait Airways is poised to make gains once the new KAC terminal is constructed at the Kuwait International Airport in 2016, This new terminal has been allocated to the company by the Supreme Council of Aviation in Kuwait, and will be the KAC home until the ultimate T2 Terminal is built in five to six years.

Al-Sharhan said: “We have collaborated with the Civil Aviation Authority of Kuwait, and they have allocated us four gates which is

Abdullah Al-Sharhan, Kuwait Airways CEO

‘Kuwait Airways is poised to make gains once the new KAC terminal is constructed at the Kuwait International Airport in 2016’

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We Always Make You Fly High K U WA I T A I R WAY S

www.alitaliamaintenancesystems.com AMS, thanks to a strong industrial experience gained in the field, is an MRO company continuously refining its services and capabilities in order to face the dynamic challenges of commercial aerospace world.

We are proud to offer a new commercial product, AMS 360°, to increase on-wing performances and lower engine maintenance costs for airlines.

We serve all our clients with reliable, dedicated, flexible expertise, always offering tailored solutions.

We provide value for money and produce the results our clients want and need.

P +39 0665592950 F +39 0665592213 info@ams-engines.it Via Ezio Bevilacqua snc 00054 Fiumicino 1 1 8– Rome M o n -t hItaly 2014

K U WA I T A I R WAY S

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the perfect opportunity to represent Kuwait Airways’ new personality to our customers.”

Operations Kuwait Airways has a fleet of 26 aircraft which provides a crucial link between the East and West; Al-Sharhan added that the airliner was looking to modestly expand into tourist and technology destinations to increase its international coverage. This included flights to Munich, Vienna, Istanbul, Sharm el Sheikh, Bangalore and Ahmedabad in 2015.

Using the latest modern aircraft is a simple but significant part of the company’s ongoing shakeup, Al-Sharhan said: “We are in the process of phasing in new aircraft and phasing out some old aircraft. We are phasing in A320ceo’s and

SUPPLIER PROFILE

Kuwait Airways has a fleet of 26 aircraft which provides a crucial link between East and West

ALITALIA MAINTENANCE SYSTEMS

Alitalia Maintenance Systems S.p.A. - AMS - is a leading Company in Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Services for Engine, A.P.U., Aeronautical Components plants and Aero-derivate power plants, with over 40 years operational experience in the field. We are fully FAA, EASA , CAAC (Chinese Cert.), GCAA (U.A.E. Cert.), DGCAA (Kuwait Cert.) approved and also ISO 9001-2008 and 9110-2005 certified.

AMS is moving in the direction of tailored cost-effective solutions, that can range from leasing to sale, from maintenance to teardown.

We also can provide: Off-On-Wing Maintenance, Asset Management, One Stop Shop Philosophy, Engine Technical Management Training ,Partnership, Engine Web Tracking

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OUR EXPERIENCE DRIVES YOUR EXCELLENCE.

When what matters is finely tuned, everything works.

Iberia’s merger with British Airways has made us stronger. Our technicians have more than 85 years of experience and are experts in their field. With our extended product range and joint resources we can offer you the high quality service that you demand.

StRONgER tOgEthER.

Iberia Maintenance. Commercial Direction.

Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport. La Muñoza. Edificio END. 28042 Madrid.España. Phone: + 34 91 587 48 27 maintenance@iberia.es / www.iberiamaintenance.com British Airways Engineering: Technical Block C - Vanguard Way. Heathrow Airport. Hounslow. TW6 2JA bae@ba.com / web: www.ba-mro.com

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A330-200 aircraft. We are phasing out 8 aircraft by the end of the year, which are A310s and A300s and have signed with airbus for 10 A350-900s and 15 A320 neos to be delivered starting 2019.”

Although replacing old models with newer ones does play a role in the company’s rebranding efforts, it has a more practical application: “Through using new aircraft we have improved schedule integrity this year because the old aircraft were having sudden failures and caused delays and therefore decreased integrity; we have also seen an improvement in dispatch reliability.

“At the same time, we are reviewing our business plan; this will concentrate on the route network requirements and potential new destinations for the next 5 years, based on feasible and viable expansion.”

SUPPLIER PROFILE

“Through using new aircraft we have improved schedule integrity” - Abdullah Al-Sharhan

IBERIA MAINTENANCE

Iberia Maintenance can conduct overhaul work on a variety of engine types including CFM56-5A/-B/-5C/-7B, RB211-535 E4/-C37, and V2500, but also power generation systems, associated accessories and thrust reversers.

Iberia Maintenance has been overhauling CFM56 engines since 1992, covering every version. We deliver the perfect unity of experience and expertise to ensure the utmost reliability of operations.

We are the largest European center for servicing RB211-535 engines and one of Europe’s maintenance providers still growing. Recently, we added V2500 to our portfolio.

All operators can benefit from our component repair and overhaul expertise covering a wide service spectrum of all kind of components.

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Developing strategic relationships has been key to moving the company forward in recent years, and when the pressure mounted as an important delivery deadline approached, has proven to be invaluable. Al-Sharhan said: “Airbus was cooperative throughout the whole process; we went from specification to construction to runway in 9 months. Our engineering, operations, entertainment and content teams were working virtually round the clock to meet the delivery targets of the fleet. Had it not been for the cooperation of all parties, the delivery would not have materialised on time.”

‘Developing strategic relationships has been key to moving the company forward in recent years’

Talent Management Al-Sharhan and his management team recognise that Kuwait Airways employees

SUPPLIER PROFILE

GE AVIATION

GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a worldleading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components and integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings.

Visit our Website (website address): www.ge.com/aviation.

Follow GE Aviation on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GEAviation and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/GEAviation.

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K U WA I T A I R WAY S T +962 6 4451440 F +962 6 4452620 Customer.support@jordanairmotive.com P.O.Box : 39180, Queen Alia Int. Airport, Amman 11104, Jordan

Your Power Partner Jordan Airmotive –JALCO- is an engine MRO facility that was established in 1985 by Royal Jordanian airline in collaboration with Rolls-Royce to provide engine services needed for RJ’s & regional operators.

Jordan Airmotive growth and success was the drive to have the company transfer from a government entity to a private independent one which was concluded in 2006. Currently the company fully services and overhauls

CF6-80C2, CFM56-3 with an enhanced future capability for CFM56-5B in 2016.

Certified by FAA, EASA and many regional and International CAA’s makes the corporate an international player in MRO engine services.

The VIP Specialists

121 Inflight Catering provides worldwide in-flight catering services and is pleased to announce the opening of our new state-ofthe-art facilities at New York’s JFK Airport, including the only dedicated inflight Halal kitchens servicing the New York area

Michele Savino CEO - michele@121group.com Peter DeVito COO - peter@121group.com www.121restaurantgroup.com/inflight

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are some of the most talented and hardest working in their industry; their achievements are frequently recognised through gifts, prizes and awards, rewarding the smallest acts of excellence through to the loftiest efforts.

The company was also recently presented with the opportunity to take part in an exercise which saw many members of its staff engaged across all aspects of the delivery process. Al-Sharhan said: “Employees that took part in this exercise came back with a wealth of experience; they improved their understanding of documentation and technical acceptance, as well as negotiating different aspects of delivery agreements. “It involved employees in both technical and legal aspects; they come back into the Kuwait Airways employees are some of the most talented and hardest working in their industry

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K U WA I T A I R WAY S NOT JUST A PARTS DISTRIBUTOR

Aircraft Parts when and where you need them

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www.avio-diepen.com

V. Kuwait Airways - Quarter page3 .indd 1

8/10/2015 15:51:53

WITH A STRONG PRESENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, GEE IS A GLOBAL COMPANY COMMITTED TO TRANSFORMING AND SUPPORTING THE PASSENGER EXPERIENCE.

CONTENT CONNECTIVITY OPERATIONAL DATA ANALYTICS DIGITAL MEDIA SOLUTIONS

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Continuous quality from start to finish

K U WA I T A I R WAY S

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business and shared these new experiences with other employees. They became technical experts in the aircraft that we use; they even know how the aeroplanes were built.”

“We’ve had proposals from some outsourcing companies to provide similar services. We were approached by some of them but I would not miss out on the opportunity to train my own people and tap into this wealth of knowledge.”

Kuwait Airways also recognises that its future success lies in the youth of the nation and already the company is aiming to capture their interest by offering opportunities to those who wish to get a flavour for how the company operates.

Al-Sharhan said: “As well as supporting youths that do voluntary work for the community, we

Achievements are frequently recognised through gifts,prizes and awards

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T +33 (0)1 74 37 75 69 F +33 (0)1 48 62 57 67 sales@alyzia.com www.alyzia.com

We Specialise in

Redefining Airport Service Experience AISATS (Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited) is a 50:50 joint venture between Air India Limited, and SATS Limited, providing world-class airport services in ground and cargo handling that exceed customers’ expectations. AISATS is ISO 9001:2008 and ISAGO certified.

PASSENGER SERVICES Welcome, check-in, boarding, sales, lost luggage, business lounges RAMP SERVICES Loading, unloading, baggage handling for arrivals and departures, push back and towing of planes, de-icing, snow clearing, cabin cleaning GROUND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Coordination, load sheet, weight and balance

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Mangalore

1101/02, B-Wing Lotus Corporate Park • Goregaon (East) Mumbai - 400063 Maharashtra • India

FREIGHT Transport of freight and mail, packing of palettes airside TRAINING Regulatory and professional training

PASSION Drives us to be a world leader in cabin interior products & systems.

P OW E R Propels us to keep delivering a new best.

B/E Aerospace is the world’s leading manufacturer of interior products for commercial airliners and business jets. We offer the widest variety of products and solutions, with the passion and power to help our global partners take aviation to the next level.

B/E Aerospace World Headquarters 1400 Corporate Center Way, Wellington, FL 33414 beaerospace.com

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bring in high school students on an annual basis and give them uniforms and let them behave like employees as much as possible. For many working for Kuwait Airways is a dream that could very well be achieved in the future.�

Technology Alongside rebranding is a commitment to invest in enhancing technology across the board in order to increase efficiency and deliver a truly world class service to an international customer base. Over the next five years the airline will be upgrading everything from switching, communications systems, wireless internet, various management systems and computers, to laptops, printers and scanners, as well as both

“The business side is being revolutionised and so is the IT side“ - Abdullah Al-Sharhan

Alongside rebranding is a commitment to invest in enhancing technology across the board in order to increase efficiency and deliver a fully world class service

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The company is laying down the framework for a truly international airline

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local and international communications systems.

Al-Sharhan explained: “The business side is being revolutionised and so will the IT side; we are bringing in the latest technological developments, such as revenue management and network planning systems.”

He added: “The revenue management system will let us know exactly where we stand financially; we will know how our destinations and operations are performing through real time reporting. One of the factors that leads to being a leading airline is having automation across the board in most of the departments that we operate and the systems that we use.”

Kuwait Airways is a living example of how the timely implementation of technological solutions can make all the difference for a company looking

S U P P LY C H A I N

Company Information INDUSTRY

Aviation HEADQUARTERS

Kuwait City FOUNDED

1954 EMPLOYEES

5800

to compete globally. It is telling that the company is actualising its desire to become more prudent financially with the relevant IT automation.

In the face of much adversity, the company has tackled its past challenges and is now actively laying down the framework for a truly international airline. Al-Sharhan was confident that his vision and the capabilities of his staff would bring Kuwait Airways into more prosperous territory. He concluded with his calculated strategy for the near future: “Over the next few years we will have the new fleet and the rebranding fully in place. I expect us to have about 30 percent of the Kuwait market share.

I will be increasing destinations, both east and west, and want Kuwait Airways to be the favoured airline for the entire Kuwaiti population.�

REVENUE

$940 million PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Commercial and Tourist Travel

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AWARD WINNING UTL Taking Supply Chains To The Next Level Written by: Sam Jermy Produced by: Richard Durrant

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UTL

The leading provider of logistics, field services and repair solutions has created a virtuous circle that enables companies to operate world-class environmentally friendly operations

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TL has put recycling and energy efficiency at the forefront of its logistical services and as a result has solidified business relationships with various major firms such as Sky, Vodafone and Sainsbury’s.

Its innovative work to create a closed loop in operations has paid dividends in recent months; culminating in winning the Best Business Partnership at the National Recycling Awards 2015 alongside Sky for its work in providing fully integrated service solutions. Together they beat other finalists including Tesco, Waitrose and Biffa.

Gary Winter, Business Development Director at UTL, said: “Everything we do at UTL we really mean, and we have that passion to go the extra mile by creating value in what we do for people.

I met passionate people here when I first joined, and when everyone is motivated by the same goal we are better positioned to continuously improve.”

Much of this ethos comes from parent company Unipart and the ‘Unipart Way’ which is a guiding philosophy to reduce waste or activities which do not add value. Unipart was formed in 1987 to assure the spare parts supply with the demise of British Leyland. Therefore it has a very strong automotive heritage which is why Unipart Logistics division (UL) was formed. The UTL division was also created to apply this supply chain expertise to other sectors such as Mobile, Media and Consumer.

Winter added: “One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure. We try to extract maximum

S U P P LY C H A I N

Key Personnel UTL operations in full flow

value while also achieving the right answer for the planet: we are also trying to achieve the right answer for the bottom line.”

“We are a significant part of an £800 million corporation which means we have the clout of a large international company but deliver the personal care and attention that our customers have come to value enormously.”

Virtuous circle UTL began its key business partnership with Sky as a pure forward logistics service in 2004, encompassing set top boxes, spare parts, warehousing, and a pick, pack and dispatch operation out to the then 650 Sky engineers.

Gary Winter Business Development Director

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Local Pharmacy Local Pharmacy Pharmacy Local

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UTL Today, the company not only supplies all of the above, but every consumable item on the van; even the ladders and the engineer’s work uniform and boots. UTL also sources the entire fleet of vans and converts them for Sky’s needs.

Winter said: “Literally everything that is on the road, bar the engineer, is supplied

by UTL. These days the relationship is unrecognisable from 2004; the heart of it is still a forward logistics operation. Sky services the customer’s needs via the mobile engineers, so we were originally sending them out so they could just do installations and repairs in Sky customers’ homes.

“Nowadays when they finished working on site everything is returned to us; we do a 23-part sortation process. So if there is a broken set top

SUPPLIER PROFILE

S U P P LY C H A I N

350 staff are employed at the Tamworth facility

DPD UK

DPD is the nation’s favourite express parcel carrier, providing a range of delivery services, including home delivery. DPD’s award winning Predict service ensures more, right first time deliveries by advising customers in advance, by text or email, of the hour in which, their parcel will arrive.

If the hour is not convenient, the customer can then use the text or email to rearrange delivery to a neighbour’s property, a local DPD Pickup shop, safe place or to another date. Predict also includes Follow My Parcel, which provides customers with the ability to see their delivery driver’s progress on a map and also provides them with an eventual 15 minute delivery time slot. DPD also offers a Sunday Service providing a full collection and delivery service 7 days a week.

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Leading the way in Smart Logistics

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Tel: 0844 800 5219

Web: www.bybox.com

UTL

S U P P LY C H A I N

box for example, we carry out inspection and diagnostics, full repair and refurbishment, so that box can go out to another customer for reuse.

“We receive these materials from a company called ByBox; they are one of our biggest suppliers and we’ve have had a long and successful relationship with them. Their network of delivery parcel lockers and boxes enables us to send our goods out on the driver’s routes. He or she will collect the shipment and then when they’re finished onsite, they will put what looks like rubbish back in the drop box and it gets sent back to our Baginton distribution centre in the Coventry area.”

UTL began its key business partnership with Sky as a pure forward logistics service in 2004

Efficiency and growth The Baginton B facility, which has won five-star

SUPPLIER PROFILE

BYBOX FIELD SUPPORT LIMITED

ByBox was founded with a simple mission: to solve the problem of having to wait in for parcels. We understand how difficult it is to wait in for parcels, so we created an alternative that works. ByBox provides an end-to-end supply chain solution, including delivery and locker pick-up services, warehouse management technology and technical service solutions.

ByBox’ intelligent locker network is underpinned by its unique supply chain planning software, Thinventory™, allowing customers to see items at every stage of the supply chain.

By using the ByBox solution customers are able to make more intelligent decisions and run a more streamlined and efficient supply chain.

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Intelligent Service & Repair Software

“ Zafire understand what our business needs and respond well to the challenges we put their way” UTL part of the Unipart Group Providing business critical software solutions for over 20 years across 20 countries

Integrated Service Desk

Optimised Resource Planning

Structured Contracts

Inventory Logistics

Total Financial Control

Intelligent Workforce Mobilisation

Workshop and Repair

M2M and Telematics

End-to-End Warranty Processing

Business Intelligence

Contact the Zafire team today +44 (0) 1295 701 810 • smart@zafire.com www.zafire.com/smart

Total Facilities Management Solutions Working in partnership with Unipart Technology Logistics helping them to achieve the 2015 National Recycling Award.

Call us today

01654 711010

It all starts with a free no obligation site survey

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• Zero Landfill • Top rebates paid for all recyclables • Total waste management • Facilities Management • Global Recycling Partnerships • Waste / Recycling Equipment Supply

UTL accreditation from British Safety Council, is where UTL separates every item from cardboard, polythene and cables to circuit boards and other electrical items. In the case of Sky, it approached UTL with the challenge of wishing to be a zero landfill company and asked how Winter’s firm could help it achieve this.

By working together to create an efficient process onsite in Coventry, assisted by facilities management company CHC Waste, the company was able to recycle over 99 percent of all materials and win the Best Business Partnership at the National Recycling Awards 2015. On the mobile side of the business, over 1.8 million devices pass through the workshop and repair process every year and this is managed

by Zafire Group’s SmartService system.

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“CHC Waste was able to recycle over 99 percent of all materials and win the Best Business Partnership at the National Recycling Awards 2015” - Gary Winter Business Development Director UTL separates every item from cardboard, polythene and cables to circuit boards

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The value of GAC Abu Dhabi adds up

Project Logistics Supply Chain Management Sea Freight Air Freight Land Transportation Warehousing & Distribution Ship Spares Logistics Ship Agency Hub Agency

Complete services + global network = your advantage

Bunker Fuels

For nearly half a century, GAC Abu Dhabi’s unique blend of integrated services, global reach and local expertise has helped diverse companies achieve growth and efficiency. Offering a wide range of services from ship agency to offshore support, our flexible and tailored formula focuses on delivering value and results you can measure. We can solve the most complex transportation needs, providing the answers that give your business the advantage.

Offshore Support Rig Moving Operations

See how it adds up for you at gac.com/abudhabi Find us on facebook.com/GACgroup

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EASY STICK SALES

Worldwide Shipbroking Services

Manufacturers & Suppliers Of All Types Of Self Adhesive Labels, Tags, Tapes Including...

Specialist Labelling Solutions Direct Thermal / Transfer Labels Thermal Transfer Ribbons Plain and Multi Colour Labels Price Marking Labels and Machines Direct Thermal / Transfer Printers & Software Short Print Run Bureau Service Artwork, Negative & Plate Service

Shipping Offshore Energy Finance

www.fearnleys.com

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Tel: 0121 377 6005 Fax: 0121 377 7402

Email: john.ralph@easystick.co.uk Suppliers to the Unipart Group for 25 years.

S U P P LY C H A I N

UTL’s capabilities extend far beyond a linear forward logistics service

Winter said: “Every now and then there’s an item we can’t find a new home for. Rope for example; once it’s used it cannot be resold as rope for Health and Safety reasons but we actually pass it on to a charity who makes dog leads out of it and who then sells it to raise funds for their charity. Anything we can’t find a reuse for and have to burn creates energy, and the ash is used to make breeze and cinder blocks in construction. So we’ve really worked hard to close that loop on everything. It is good CSR and a strong commitment to the public to cause as little environmental harm as possible.”

“We started off in quite a modest way where we

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“We started off in quite a modest way where we were doing just one element of the supply chain for companies, then by process of evolution and expansion we ended up doing a far broader range of activities that people typically know us for.”

– Gary Winter, Business Development Director at UTL

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were doing just one element of the supply chain for companies, then by process of evolution and expansion we ended up doing a far broader range of activities that people typically know us for.

Vodafone is certainly one of its substantial contracts and Winter stated UTL is extremely pleased to have successfully worked with the firm for so long and see that relationship expand.

A younger relationship, with supermarket giant Sainsbury’s, has seen a linear forward logistics retail operation from a 350,000 square feet facility in Tamworth, employing around 350 people.

“We just had our contract renewed for a further three years with Sainsbury’s. We’re very excited to hopefully be on a journey with them as well as continuing to do the classic value for money 3PL solutions.” said Winter.

He concluded: “In the past 15 years we have

S U P P LY C H A I N

Company Information INDUSTRY

Supply Chain HEADQUARTERS

West Midlands, UK FOUNDED

2000 EMPLOYEES

seen massive changes and growth throughout the business. The company went through a period of aggressive growth until two or three years ago, now we have a stable customer base and organisation and now we’re organised and ready for another period of growth.

“Discover at 9am, learn at 10am, fix at 11am is the mantra. We’ve probably got best staff retention in the sector because of this high level of engagement. With such a progressive nature on our side, in another two years’ time I’d like to be telling you about three new household names as clients, the retention of our current accounts, and the continuation of accreditation and recognition from third parties for our activities.”

With such a forward-thinking and green way of operating, it would only be appropriate to see UTL continue to flourish.

3,000 REVENUE

£200 million PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Repair, Logistics, Technical call centres, Repair avoidance, Field expertise, End of life management, Repair diagnostics

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Turning Potential Challeng Written by: Sam Jermy Produced by: Richard Thomas

ges Into Opportunities 147

O M A N E L E C T R I C I T Y T R A N S M I S S I O N C O M PA N Y

OETC has invested OMR120 million in infrastructure works to evacuate the power from the power plants in Ibri and Sohar

The firm is investing in its network infrastructure so that it can grow at a similar rate to the country’s economy over the coming years

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T

he Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) has planned an investment program worth an estimated 750 million Omani Rials (OMR) over the next 15 years, to support its 2030 vision that aims to expand infrastructure to meet increasing customer demand.

As part of the new long-term national planning, the company will complete turnkey engineering, procurement and construction projects as part of the multi-million Rial investment, following on from the OMR100 million invested to enhance operations last year.

Dr Adil Al-Busaidi, Asset Management and Planning Manager at OETC, said: “As a

ENERGY

Key Personnel

Eng Ali Said AlHadabi CEO

company we faced an average of 9 percent growth annually over the last decade and that is a lot of effort in terms of planning. Currently we have a load demand of around 5GW and we expect that to be in the range of 16GW in 2030 so investment is essential if we are to provide over three times the existing demand. “Each year we work to increase our capability so we can help deliver more projects, such as the OMR120 million infrastructure works to evacuate the power from the power plants in Ibri and Sohar. Increasing our project delivery capability is essential in order to turn the high demand growth risk into investment

Engineer Ali Al Hadabi has assumed the leadership of Oman Electricity Transmission Company S.A.O.C. since September 2008. During his time, OETC has embarked on a significant capital investment program in the Main Interconnected System, which is the vital lifeline of the Sultanate’s power infrastructure. He is responsible for power transmission business across the north of Oman and the south of Oman.

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O M A N E L E C T R I C I T Y T R A N S M I S S I O N C O M PA N Y construction of 400kV transmission system assets as it allows us to have more output capacity. As part of our vision we will be busy to complete the 400KV backbone for the whole of Oman. We have a vision to have one 400KV linking the North and South and the interior parts. We will have one strong grid and solid infrastructure appearing over the next few years. We want to support overall growth within the country as best we can.”

OETC was established on 1 May 2005 and it is responsible for the building and operating of the transmission network in Oman, and is the licensees under the authority of Government of Oman. It is also in charge of despatching and controlling the overall generation and output of electricity in the country.

Operations In January 2014 OETC took control of the transmission network in the south of Oman, which had previously been operated by a different system operator. As a result the firm had full control of the country’s electricity transmission and a significant platform to build on.

Eng Ali Al-Hadabi, CEO of Oman Electricity Transmission Company, said: “We are also responsible for the international connection to a number of GCC countries and its authorities, this is done through Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Meanwhile we have a number of high-profile corporate customers in Oman connected to

OETC has full control of Oman’s electricity transmission

“Currently we have a load demand of around 5,000 MW and we expect that to be in the range of 16,000 in 2030 so investment is essential if we are to provide over three times the existing demand” – Dr Adil Al-Busaidi, Asset Management and Planning Manager at OETC.

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O M A N E L E C T R I C I T Y T R A N S M I S S I O N C O M PA N Y

OETC connects a number of high profile

the high voltage network; the major Omani airports, industrial customers such as steel and aluminium factories, and the Oman Petroleum Company to name a few.”

“Because we are experiencing a lot of growth in OETC and the country as a whole, we need to maintain the same sort of growth in the network to handle the load increase and ensure we all flourish.”

OETC has also made sure all IT systems have been upgraded to help drive continuous improvement and support the national controlling and communication link to the national network.

corporate customers

Designing, Tower testing & Manufacturing of Galvanized Lattice type steel structures for Overhead transmission Lines and Telecommunications Towers.

EPC construction of Overhead Transmission, Distribution, Substation & underground power cabling works.

T +971 4814 9555.

F +971 4885 7819. contact@gulfjyoti.com www.gulfjyoti.com

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ENERGY

Asset management Al-Hadabi and Al-Busaidi both stressed the need for new ways to strategically deliver projects, because despite the heavy investment throughout the group, if the assets are not managed correctly then it will not have the desired impact on operations.

Al-Hadabi said: “In the last two or three years we have established a strong asset management structure. We do depend on outsourcing a small amount for things like consultants who supervise our work and make sure we carry on looking after the projects that are coming our way.

“This new strategy will really help us to see the requirements of all departments and see the lifecycle of our assets. This relates back to our investment program where we are ensuring that there is a sufficient support network in place.

“We would also like to emphasise the value we place on our excellent staff and engineers.

We take them through rigorous and high-quality training which allows them to look after what we are targeting. We encourage all our engineers to go for extra qualifications and support them; a fulfilled worker is much better equipped to help us achieve our business objectives.”

More than 92 percent of the company’s employees are Omani nationals and most are trained in multiple disciplines. “We want this trend to continue because we believe in the young talent in this country, and hope they will want to work for an employer like OETC. We also want to limit

Dr Adil Al-Busaidi, Asset Management and Planning Manager at OETC.

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O M A N E L E C T R I C I T Y T R A N S M I S S I O N C O M PA N Y

Building a transmission network with high voltages of 400KV is a sizeable job

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September 2015

the amount of outsource activity to certain niche tasks that physically cannot be done in-house; everything else should be done in-house going forward. With this in mind, staff numbers are expected to increase in the coming years.� added Al-Hadabi. OETC has made a successful habit out of building fruitful partner relationships with local service providers and contractors too, and this has further helped maintenance and delivery.

The company management team sees the main challenge going forward as the ongoing efforts to improve the national grid infrastructure. Building a transmission network with high voltages of 400KV is a sizeable job, in terms of implementing new overhead

ENERGY

lines, underground cables and evacuating the power from the new generation stations.

While this is being carried out all network corridors need to remain available at all times as it is important OETC maintains a reliable service to the customer with no deviation in quality or availability.

Al-Hadabi concluded: “We need to execute all these new lines and substations with minimum to the end users, our valued customers, and this is something we are taking very seriously with the governmental authorities and that is the main challenge I can see, we need to tackle that to get the right corridors and build a service fit for the future.

“We are always benchmarking ourselves against the best transmission companies across the world and we try to be constantly challenging ourselves to be the best utilities firm we can be. When we do reports based on our three pillars of reliability, availability and quality we always find the results to be acceptable. But we must not be complacent and stand still.

“We have high standards and have put a big level of expectation of ourselves, and we challenge our employees to make sure we deliver on that expectation.”

With such commitment to its staff, coupled with significant investment plans, the Oman Electricity Transmission Company looks set to bring about further prosperity for itself and facilitate growth for the country’s economy.

Company Information INDUSTRY

Energy HEADQUARTERS

Sultanate of Oman FOUNDED

2005 EMPLOYEES

350 REVENUE

92 milliom OMR (2014) PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Owner and operator of Oman’s main electricity transmission network

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UK

Cleveland Potash

Leading The Way In Europe’s Fertiliser Market Written by: Nye Longman Produced by: James Pepper

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C L E V E L A N D P O TA S H

The fertiliser producer is investing in the production of an exciting new mineral fertiliser from a solid base of operations

I

sreal Chemicals Ltd ICL) UK (previously called Cleveland Potash) is investing close to £90 million to become the first producer in the world to supply farmers with a new polyhalite fertiliser which will supplement its already strong potash and salt offering. At the same time it has made a strong commitment to invest in its staff with a comprehensive training programme to give them the skills needed for the highly-sophisticated mining operations.

Operations Set alongside the North Yorkshire coast, the Boulby mine accounts for roughly half of the UK’s entire potash output and is now leading the world in the production of polyhalite, a unique mineral salt which can be used as a fertilizer.

It is comprised of calcium, magnesium and

The Boulby mine accounts for roughly half of the UK’s entire potash output

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September 2015

MINING

Cleveland Potash has made a strong commitment to invest in its staff

potassium sulphates, each of which is important for crop development, and is low in chlorine which makes it suitable for use with sensitive crops.

Managing Director David Zvida outlined the significance of the geological studies which indicated that more than a billion tons of polyhalite ore are located beneath the potash deposits: “We saw that polyhalite offered an exciting new future for the mine. We have been producing limited amounts over recent years and are now following this up with an investment of £38 million, split between specialist mining equipment, constructing a dedicated crushing and screening plant on the surface and constructing domes for poly-storage at the Tees Dock.

“Immediately after this is completed we

1000 Number of staff employed

by Cleveland Potash

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AMCO is a specialist contractor providing sustainable, multi-disciplinary solutions to the Infrastructure, Environmental and Energy sectors.

Within Infrastructure we operate in the specialist areas of mining services and moving structures, such as lock gates, linkspans and swing bridges. Our Environmental business is focused upon flood defence and water control. In the Energy sector our clients include all the major utilities such as E.ON, SSE and Magnox; for whom we create and maintain assets in nuclear, coal, gas, hydro and wind. With over 1,000 in house staff we deliver nationally but are organised regionally.

‘We add value by combining innovation with commercial awareness’

www.amco-construction.co.uk

C L E V E L A N D P O TA S H

MINING

will be constructing a £45 million granulation plant, aiming to convert up to 50 percent of the final product to a granular form which will open up market opportunities.”

Capitalising on its exclusive access to a unique and potentially revolutionary new fertiliser has not come without risk to the company. Zvida recognised the challenge of persuading some farmers to adopt a new fertiliser after so many decades of potash use, but his confidence in the product shone through when he revealed his goals for future production; the company’s decades of experience in the sector has provided the perfect base for this expansion.

“At the close of 2014, we finished with a total of 130,000 tonnes; this year our efforts have enabled us to budget for 225,000. The plan for

SUPPLIER PROFILE

At the close of 2014, Cleveland Potash finished with a total of 130,000 tonnes

AMCO ENGINEERING

AMCO Engineering provides a diverse range of specialist construction and engineering services, creating and maintaining assets for both public and private sector customers. We specialise in working on live assets; these include rail, power generation, electricity distribution, clean water, flood defence and waterways. Our business relationships are based on trust, mutual respect, best value, whole life costs and continuous improvement. We align our delivery capability to our clients’ culture, values and business needs; our aim is to help them achieve their strategic business objectives.

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C L E V E L A N D P O TA S H 2016 is 400,000 tonnes, 2017, 500,000 tonnes and, in 2018, 600,000 tonnes. This investment will be sufficient to make profit in our five-year years plan, if we want to we can increase the quantities due to the flexibility of our investment; we want to eventually move to 3 million tonnes.”

Cleveland Potash eventually want to move 3 million tonnes per year

Competitive Positioning Even before the discovery and development of its polyhalite reserves Cleveland Potash had an enviable position in the European fertiliser market due in no small part to how the company is structured. As the main UK operator of ICL, the company can directly

Solving Mining’s Toughest Challenges Deep underground, in mines around the world, our machines are hard at work. Joy Global’s proven solutions for performance, reliability and direct service are a few of the reasons why our customers achieve record-setting production and efficiency that reach beyond their expectations.

JoyGlobal.com Joy Global, P&H and Joy are trademarks of Joy Global Inc. or one of its affiliates. © 2015 Joy Global Inc. or one of its affiliates. All rights reserved.

MINING

sell its products to a global audience Zvida explained: “We use ICL’s global marketing and selling unit so we can look at sales of all ICL Potash across the world and we see together how we divide it between customers.

We have a global purchasing and procurement team, as well as a global quality unit and we have been moving towards shared services.

“We feel that we aren’t alone; we have departments that can help us with any issue including finance, marketing HR, quality issues, or procurement.”

Responsible Growth Being part of the ICL group of companies not only provides a distinct advantage for the business as a unit, but also for its individual workers, Zvida said.

“Being part of a group helps some of our team who want progress or want to move to other roles in ICL. It gives them more flexibility and more opportunity, we often relocate people and move them around ICL’s companies. I myself moved from ICL Dead Sea to be the Managing Director of ICL UK.” External Affairs and Security Manager David McLuckie underlines that this flexibility is part of a larger initiative aimed at improving the wellbeing and capabilities of workers at the mine “We have a constant training programme covering every aspect of the work we do. For example we have regular training on new software

Key Personnel

David Zvida Managing Director and General Manager David Zvida joined ICL in 1989 and served in diverse roles at the Dead Sea Works.

In his last role he served as Senior VP of Operations. In this role he was responsible for the overall running and operations of the Sdom site, including potash production and the entire production infrastructure support.

Zvida holds BSc in Chemical Engineering from the Israel Institute of Technology, as well as an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

Zvida started his role as the Managing Director and General Manager of Cleveland Potash Limited (CPL) on September 15th, 2014

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C L E V E L A N D P O TA S H

“We put roughly £140 million into the local economy in terms of goods and services. We did a study where it was proven that we are directly responsible for over 2,500 jobs in the area.”

– David Zvida, Managing Director and General Manager

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September 2015

that makes our jobs faster and easier. Every one of our miners has to undergo refresher training.

“Our approach goes above and beyond most companies, we are constantly upskilling and investing in our people. Indeed we have taken somebody who’s got no qualifications and put them through a university degree.”

With a firm commitment to making a positive environmental impact through its operations, Cleveland Potash goes above and beyond the requirements for its ISO: 14001 accreditation.

Zvida said “We review this with an external audit twice a year. We have a department that takes care of all of our ISOs. Every month we review incidents regarding the environment and safety, following up with

MINING

Company Information INDUSTRY

Mining HEADQUARTERS

Cleveland, UK

clear conclusions and recommendations.

MLuckie emphasised the large-scale socioeconomic impact the company has on the area: “We put roughly £140 million into the local economy in terms of goods and services. We did a study where it was proven that we are directly responsible for over 2,500 jobs in the area.”

The discovery of up to a billion tonnes of polyhalite deposits could not have happened under the watch of a better company; Cleveland Potash has proven through its deft management of its operations that not only does it have the courage to make a serious investment, but is also willing to ensure that the benefits of this find are adequately shared with its employees and the local area.

FOUNDED

Not Disclosed EMPLOYEES

1000 REVENUE

£200 Million PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Potash and Salt Production

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DRILLING FOR SAUDI OIL:

The Arabian Drilling Company Restructuring Plan Written by: John O’Hanlon Produced by: Heykel Ouni

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A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y

The Arabian Drilling Company (ADC) is the workhorse of Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas industry: it is poised for a new era of modernisation, expansion, diversification and transformation driven by Technology and IT

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T

he Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a forward looking country, which is rapidly expanding its economy, for example, by investing in ‘economic cities’ around the country, notably King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) on its western, or Red Sea coast. Saudi Arabia is still heavily dependent on oil whereby 90 percent of its gross national product comes from the country’s oil reserves. The factories and service industries being developed at KAEC and elsewhere will, the Saudis hope, give the country a diversified economy fit for the long term. Extensions to the harbour will place KAEC among the top ten of the world’s largest container ports. Hence the $100 billion the state plans to spend over the next 25 years in creating this brand new megacity will come from one source - oil.

The “hit” that the Saudi economy is taking from low hydrocarbon prices over the last year has been enormous. By the middle of 2014 the country had foreign exchange reserves of $800 billion. It is estimated that if the price of crude stays low these the reserves could fall to $500 billion by 2016. Fortunately oil prices are already trending upwards and Saudi Arabia currently remains third in the world after China and Japan in terms of forex but it clearly needs to look after its one asset.

Oil exploration and extraction in Saudi Arabia is developed and managed by one single company, Saudi Aramco, which operates no fewer than 215 oil and gas rigs. Of these 32 are

E X P L O R AT I O N W O R L D

Above photo, left to right: Eng. Ali Ibrahim Al Naimi, Saudi minister of petroleum and mineral resourses. Mr. Saad Abdulla Saad, ADC Managing Director – Administration.

Mr. Mohammad Yousif Rafie, Chairman of the board of directors of ADC

owned and managed by the Arabian Drilling Company (ADC). Established in 1964 ADC is a joint venture between the Industrialization & Energy Services Company (TAQA) of Saudi Arabia which owns 51 percent and Services Petroliers Schlumberger, the global leader in oilfield services, which owns the remaining 49 percent. The post of Managing Director (MD) is shared by the partners. Saad Abdullah Al Saab, the MD for Administration, has been at ADC for 43 years, while Ihab Hussein Gueneid, a Schlumberger veteran with more than 30 years of experience in the oil industry who came into ADC in March 2014, is Operations Managing Director.

While operations are clearly the province of the latter and governance that of the former, “we

Under the auspices of His Excellency Eng. Ali Ibrahim Al Naimi, Saudi minister of petroleum and mineral recourses, the Arabian Drilling Company celebrated its 50th anniversary on Wednesday 2nd April 2014 at Al-Khobar.

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WHERE YOU NEED US, WHEN YOU NEED US. When drillers invest in capital equipment, they require a dedicated service provider to support them for the life of their equipment. Cameron solves the unique service challenges of our drilling customers through an integrated, comprehensive, global approach. It’s what we call Full Life Cycle Support.

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One example of this commitment is our Cameron Al-Rushaid joint venture facility in Saudi Arabia. With 15 years of experience supporting drilling operations in the Middle East, this facility offers repair, field service, and recertification capabilities for Cameron’s pressure control equipment. Focused on local employment and development, we are proud that more than half of this facility’s workforce comes from the local area.

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SUPPLIER PROFILE

CAMERON

Cameron International Corporation (Cameron) provides flow equipment products, systems and services to global oil, gas, and process industries through three business segments: Drilling and Production Systems (DPS), Valves & Measurement (V&M), and Process Systems (PS). The DPS segment includes businesses that provide systems and equipment used to drill, control pressures, and direct flows of oil and gas wells. The V&M segment includes businesses that provide valves and measurement systems primarily used to control, direct, and measure the flow of oil and gas as they are moved from individual wellheads through flow lines, gathering lines, and transmission systems to refineries, petrochemical plants, and industrial centers for processing. The PS segment includes standard and custom-engineered process packages for the separation and treatment of impurities in produced oil and gas, so they can meet product marketing and pipeline transmission requirements. The company works with drilling contractors, oil & gas producers, pipeline operators, and refiners.

A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y are two sides of the same coin” says Gueneid.

Building over 50 years of experience, ADC provides its clients with safe and cost-effective drilling services through the combination of a well-motivated workforce led by a dedicated management team with the latest modern equipment and pioneering technology. ADC has adopted a very strict and serious policy in regard to quality, health, safety and the environment (QHSE), to the extent that this policy is considered the soul of the company’s operations; onshore, offshore and in its facilities, he emphasises.

Back in 2014 ADC owned 20 rigs and employed 2,000 people. In little over a year that has increased to 32 rigs and 3,500 people.

“Our plan is to reach 60 offshore and landbased rigs by 2017,” he says. These are all

“Our plan is to reach 60 offshore and land-based rigs by 2017” – Mr. Ihab Hussein Gueneid - Managing Director - Operations

Mr. Ihab Hussein Gueneid Managing Director - Operations.

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Proud Partners with Arabian Drilling Company At National Oilwell Varco we have the people, capabilities and vision to serve the needs of a challenging and evolving industry. With facilities strategically located in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, and all over the globe, we are here to help you succeed by providing local equipment and service requirements. We work side-by-side with Arabian Drilling Company as part of their strategic growth plan and look forward to continuing our partnership with them now and in the future.

Visit us at nov.com/land and contact us at rig@nov.com to maximize your success in this challenging industry.

Š 2015 National Oilwell Varco | All Rights Reserved

A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y new-build rigs and custom designed by top rig builders such as NOV, Drillmec, and Keppel.

This way they are guaranteed to meet the needs of ADC’s sole clients, Aramco and Al Khafji Joint Operations (KJO), Aramco’s joint venture with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) in the shared territory between the two countries.

ADC has two offshore rigs and two multipurpose vessels, supported by a highly qualified and experienced staff with KJO in what is called the ‘divided’ region, the resources from which are shared equally between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. As drilling activity picks up the company hopes to expand its footprint in Kuwait, and is starting to tender for direct contracts with KOC. It might not provide a huge level of diversification, but Ihab Gueneid is very keen indeed to give his personnel the opportunity to work in different international environments. Working with different clients and under varying conditions, he says, gives them a more rounded approach to the customer and extends their training opportunities and skills.

An element of diversification would enhance, not dilute, the level of service ADC offers to Aramco. One of ADC’s greatest strengths is the diversity of its workforce, where they recruit and train a multi-national workforce from more than 30 countries worldwide working together and sharing common objectives. Continuing commitment to hire, train and retain a skilled base of local talent was reflected in a Saudisation rate of 70 percent

ADC opperates 32 rigs and manages 3,500 people

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A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y

Solids Control SHAKERS AND SCREENS

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Choose the dual-motion MONGOOSE PRO† shaker which is engineered for operational flexibility, or the MD-2† dual-deck shaker for high-capacity, high-efficiency operations. In advanced applications such as wellbore strengthening material recovery, or for offshore operations, the compact high-capacity MD-3† triple-deck shaker is the ideal choice.

Together with our patented DURAFLO† composite screen, our portfolio improves your solids control performance while reducing costs.

miswaco.com/solidscontrol 176 September 2015 † Mark of M-I L.L.C.

MD-2

MD-3

A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y considering a total workforce of 3,500 employees.

So Saudi Aramco shall always be the principal focus of ADC. Saudi Aramco has grown its fleet at an accelerated rate. In 2012 Aramco had 142 oil and gas rigs, today it has 215, and if hydrocarbon prices continue to recover this could go up to 250 by next year. Regionally the same thing is happening, Gueneid points out.

Kuwait already has more than 90, but plans to grow to 180. All this naturally depends on global oil prices, but it illustrates an exciting and dynamic market for an oilfield services company like Schlumberger, and a drilling contractor like ADC. Schlumberger’s involvement with ADC makes sense – after all, the oil or gas rig is the platform for all the services that bring value to the operation. But growth at ADC is not merely

215

The current number of operational oil and gas rigs that Arabian Drilling Company manages

ADC has set a financial target for 2017 to grow by more than $1.0 billion

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WireCo WorldGroup速 is the world leader in manufacturing, engineering and distributing wire rope, assemblies, high tensile synthetic rope products and high-quality engineered products for oil and gas drilling, exploration, and subsea applications. Our products meet the most exacting standards and our technical support is the best in the industry. We have manufacturing and distribution locations strategically located throughout the world.

Union, a WireCo WorldGroup brand, is the premier wire rope for drilling applications. We understand the oilfield market. Utilizing the latest metallurgical practices and unique design capabilities enables us to continue to innovate and provide the most cost effective line of oilfield ropes in the world.

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A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y

a matter of increasing the rig count. In financial terms, the target for 2017 is to be more than $1.0 billion. A strategy of this order calls for a radical transformation internally. There is nothing wrong with the systems and structures ADC has been operating with to date, he hastens to assert, on the contrary this is a strong business with excellent governance standards, which will only serve to make the modernisation programme he is leading more robust. “Right now we are creating what we are calling the ‘New ADC’. This involves overhauling the company’s structure, modernising our business systems, and getting our various functions from HR, training, supply chain, HSE, Technical and finance right through to the project and operations departments to work seamlessly together.”

A naming ceremony was organised on 8th June 2013 in Singapore at the time of delivery of ArabDrill-50 (AD50) from Keppel FELS shipyard Singapore.

The ceremony was attended by Mr Mohamed Yousuf Rafie, Chairman, ADC’s Board of Directors and ADC Board Members.

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OFSAT ARABIA (L.L.C.), is a company exclusively geared to serve the oil industry and has specialised over the past three decades, in providing onshore rig moving services and general off-road transportation services.

Email : Telephone : Facsimilie : P.O.Box 6878, P.O.Box 20074,

ofsatsa1@ofsatarabia.sa + 966 13 881 2111 + 966 13 881 1991 Dammam 31452, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Al-Khobar 31952, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y At the heart of this transformation is the creating of a new IT department, tasked with the implementation of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Till now ADC has worked with a JD Edwards legacy ERP platform that acted as a repository for all the data the company needed to make strategic and day-today management systems. The problem was that obtaining the right information took time and involved a lot of manual input. Migrating to a new SAP system and replacing a number of different systems, some that were paper based, some that were automatically processed, with a single desktop system that will allow the company to streamline and speed up its operations.

For example, in the past, buying supplies and equipment was often a slow, complicated process

“Right now we are creating what wee call the new ADC ... overhauling the company’s structure” – Mr. Ihab Hussein Gueneid - Managing Director - Operations

ADC has set a financial target for 2017 to grow by more than $1.0 billion.

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A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y

that required a lot of people, a lot of paperwork, and many approvals. Under the new system employees can act as their own purchasing agents, placing orders directly through their PCs and receiving the goods they need much more quickly. At the same time, the use of a single system throughout the organisation enables it to consolidate purchases and gain greater volume discounts from its vendors.

The benefits of implementation of SAP will facilitate taking glitches out of the process and will be tangible, says Gueneid. “SAP will place as much integrated data, information and reporting at the fingertips of managers as they need to take decisions at the right time. In addition, SAP is becoming the industry standard throughout the oil and gas sector, which means that our business-

The benefits of implementation of SAP will facilitate taking glitches out of the process and will be tangible.

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Bin Quraya has been servicing major clients such as Saudi Aramco since 1975, and subsequently extended its crane and heavy equipment rental activities to include SABIC, SCECO, international ďŹ rms such as Shell and Weatherford, as well as major private sector industries and utility companies throughout Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

Heavy Equipment Rental | Pipeline Construction | Rig Move | Real Estate | & More

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A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y to-business communications will be a lot easier.”

The IT transformation has just been launched, having been approved by the board; over the next two years ADC will implement most of the SAP ERP modules and platforms, as it integrates and standardises all its legacy systems taking the company to the next level of technology leadership in the industry, he says. “What with training, and making sure the data is migrated without disrupting our day-to-day service and operations, we will be very busy – but it needs to be done if we are to grow as fast as we plan to.” It will, he concludes, change the entire application landscape of ADC. “SAP will enable us to make a lot of savings. The change will give us the ability to make decisions based on full data and sound information. It

‘SAP will enable us to make a lot of savings. The change will give us the ability to make decisions based on full data and sound information’ – Mr. Ihab Hussein Gueneid - Managing Director - Operations

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A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y

Key Personnel Ihab Hussein Gueneid Managing Director – Operations Born on December 5, 1956, in Cairo, Egypt, Managing Director Operation Ihab Hussein Gueneid with a dual nationality, Ihab joined Schlumberger on April 1985 as Wire Line field engineer in China, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar.

In 1991, TLC/CTL activity started in the Gulf Area and he was given the opportunity to be the TLC/CTL specialist for the Gulf region based in Qatar. Two years later, Ihab Gueneid continued to work for Wireline as Field Service Manager, Location Manager and then Account Manager based in Abu-Dhabi.

Since 1998, he held variety of positions for the Gulf region, he was Wire Line & Testing Technical Manager, became Drilling and Measurement Operation Manager in 2000.

At 2001 he is assigned as the Oil Field services Marketing Manager for East Africa& East Mediterranean region based in his home town, Cairo. In 2003 he moved back to the Gulf as region OFS Marketing Manager for the next four years.

In mid-2007, Ihab Gueneid moved to Gatwick where he worked as Global Business Development Manager for Integrated Project Management HQ(IPM).

In early 2010, Schlumberger made a huge acquisition of SMITH International and Ihab Gueneid was assigned a challenged position as Area Vice President-Integration for the Middle East. After completing the SMITH International integration mission, he became Yemen OFS General Manager for a period of 2 years until May 2014 and since then he became Area Vice president and Managing Director-Operation for the Arabian Drilling Company, ADC, based in Saudi Arabia where he brought a wealth of experience in new technology, integrated solution and project management.

Ihab Gueneid graduated from Ain Shams University / Egypt in 1980 as Computer& Automatic control engineer, got his Master in Strategic management from France in 2003, and he is nearly finished a Petroleum Engineering Master from Heriot Watt [only theses missing], he has a degree in Project management, PMP, from Heriot watt-London in 2007 and He earn Project Management Expert title form the American Society of Project Management in 2014.

Married with 2 girls, he likes walking, drawing, reading Islamic history and spending time cooking with his family in Egypt.

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will facilitate a programme of automation.�

The big difference he notices between running drilling company and oil services provider is that the drilling business is more capital intensive.

A land rig can cost $50 million, an offshore rig $300 million, and each rig needs between 80 and 110 people to run it. Down time is an anathema, and stacking, when rigs are idle for longer periods, waiting for a new contract is unthinkable. The good news is that firm contracts with Saudi Aramco and the expansion in the market keep ADC’s utilisation levels high.

ADC is headquartered at Khobar in conjunction, with the adjacent cities of Dammam and Dhahran form Saudi Arabia’s oil industry hub.

The client finds it advantageous to spread the rig contracts across a dozen drilling contractors.

A land rig can cost $50 million, an offshore rig $300 million, and each rig needs between 80 and 110 people to run it

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A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y

Key Personnel Tawfeeq Al-Halal General Manager – Administration Born on June 12, 1976, in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, General Manager Administration Tawfeeq Al-Halal joined Arabian Drilling Company (ADC) on March 1999 as Accountant.

With more than 15 years of experience in the Drilling industry, Tawfeeq Al-Halal was involved in various change initiatives and functions in ADC such as Finance, Auditing, Supply Chain, HR and Training. In 2001, Tawfeeq Al-Halal was given the opportunity to work with Schlumberger as Management Accountant in Saudi Arabia. Two years later, he began another challenge when he moved to ADC as Internal Auditor. In Early 2008, Tawfeeq Al-Halal was assigned a challenged position as Supply Chain Manager for a period of 3 years then Humane Resource Manager until January 2015 and since then he became General Manager Administration for ADC leading the structure changes of the company and introducing the latest business system to cope with the growth ADC plan.

Tawfeeq Al-Halal graduated from King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia in December 1998 and got Certified as accountant public accountant from Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA) in 2002.

Abdullah Radhwan Deputy General Manager – Operations It all began when Abdulla Radwan joined Arabian Drilling Company in July 1992. His carrier started as a Trainee Engineer enrolled in the Technical Development Program and then promoted as an Operations Staff Engineer.

In 2000, through the special exposure program, Abdullah Radwan seconded to Schlumberger and started the challenged journey from Algeria, Dubai and finally Pakistan. Through the 4 and half years with Schlumberger, his skills in different managerial positions serving different clients such as BP, BHP, Anadarko, Shell and Sonatrach, made him look at the business from a different prospective.

A second journey started when Abdulla Radwan came back to Saudi Arabia with Khafji Joint Operations and then with Saudi Aramco. The challenges never stopped handling both Onshore and Offshore operations, HSE and Training Development.

Being exposed to Operations, HSE and Training Development he has shaped up his management skills dealing with challenging situations taking on spot decisions wisely serving company vision and mission.

Being currently the Deputy General Manager - Operations had changed his view on how drilling business should be run by working with a highly devoted strong team building Arabian Drilling Company future.

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ADC’s market share is currently 14 percent, putting it at the top of the field. However most of the competition relies heavily on management and labour brought in from other countries whereas 70 percent of the employees of ADC, as the only truly Saudi drilling company, are Saudi nationals. Perhaps surprisingly Saudi representation is even stronger at management level than in operations. Apart from Gueneid’s co-MD Saad Saab, the operations, HR, supply chain and training managers are all Saudis. This gives ADC an edge when dealing with Aramco.

It is not just the language (most meetings in the sector are conducted in English) but more the understanding of the culture, and the fact that ADC staff are living locally and not always looking forward to their next ‘home’ leave!

This success is largely down to a determined recruitment and training programme over many years. The company’s training centre at Dhahran was one of the first in the sector and now is one of biggest drilling training centre in the country.

As well as drilling students learn the important disciplines of well control, the core business of

‘The company’s training centre at Dhahran was one of the first in the sector and is one of the biggest drilling training centre in the country’

Key Personnel Saad Saab Manager Director – Administration The Journey started on May 1972 when Saad Saab joined Arabian Drilling Company. He started his career from the rig floor level on Rig AD-01 as a Roustabout through the auspices of a special accelerated management development program. Hence throughout his career he worked his way up to various Managerial Positions in Operations, HSE, Supply Chain and Human Resources in conjunction with Training. During this time frame due to his exposure to various challenges and trials within the various organizational disciplines his management skills were broadened and honed. Because of his understanding and thorough knowledge of the core business from the ground up he was promoted to a Managing Director Administration for ADC in 1996. His team building and management skills contributed to ADC’s phenomenal growth from one drilling rig to operating 32 drilling and workover rigs, on land and offshore throughout the economic cycles of the oil industry

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Global Best Practice

Local Management We are a leading supplier in KSA of catering and support services to the remote sector catering&services@saudiacatering.com www.saudiacatering.com

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ThyssenKrupp Materials Oil & Gas is a global network of specialists dedicated to securing supply for customers and sub-suppliers from the Oil and Gas industry. The range of products includes semi-finished products from corrosion resistant alloys, such as nickel alloys and stainless steel, and drilling tools.

Strong local presence in the core markets of the oil and gas production, and additional usage of the global network and infrastructure of the ThyssenKrupp Business Area Materials Services, as enabler to offer customers global supply chain solutions. Furthermore in house metallurgical resources collaborate closely with customers, to find individual technical solutions for future challenges.

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ADC. Today, ADC‘s Dhahran Training Centre (DTC) is conducting more than 100 training courses. DTC has received accreditation for more than 30 training courses from IWCF, IADC and other international institutions such as OPITO. At the IADC and SPE-accredited facility, entry level students can learn the field skills they will need to do the job. A number of graduate students are recruited direct from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, also in Dhahran where in three years they complete an accelerated training programme which would take ten years for a candidate starting from scratch. Some of the more specialised training is delivered abroad, however basic skills, including ‘soft’ skills in administration, HR and the like, are all available in Dhahran.

A naming ceremony was organised on 8th June 2013 in Singapore at the time of delivery of ArabDrill-50 (AD50) from Keppel FELS shipyard Singapore.

The ceremony was attended by Mr Mohamed Yousuf Rafie, Chairman, ADC’s Board of Directors and ADC Board Members.

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A R A B I A N D R I L L I N G C O M PA N Y

‘Ali Hamid AlGhamdi brings with him more than 30 years of experience in the Oil & Gas drilling industry from Schlumberger and Saudi Aramco.’

– Mr. Ihab Hussein Gueneid - Managing Director - Operations

Houston, Texas • www.pem-tech.com

Saudisation is one thing, but employing women is less of a national priority. Nevertheless Ihab Gueneid’s last job was in the conservative Yemen, where 60 percent of his office staff was females whose commitment and competence he particularly appreciated. “When I came here despite the high education level of Saudi women there were no women in the company: now we have 16 ladies working for us.” The first one is the MDs executive assistant, he says; the others all work very successfully in finance, supply chain and HR roles and the number is increasing.

Ihab will be retiring in few years from now, having laid the foundations for the next phase of one of Saudi Arabia’s most successful

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businesses. He concludes by acknowledging the debt he owes to the acuity of ADC’s chairman Mohammad Yousuf Rafie and his the wisdom and the intuition of his colleague Saad Saab, who has been the backbone of ADC since he joined it as a roustabout. Saab will also be retiring soon, leaving an organisation in good hands and ready to take on the challenges presented by its second half century, and a new era in the Middle East oil phenomenon. Ali Hamid Al-Ghamdi will replace Saad Saab as MD for administration .He is a deeply experienced man. He brings with him more than 30 years of experience in the Oil & Gas drilling industry from Schlumberger and Saudi Aramco.

DTC has received accreditation for more than 30

Company Information INDUSTRY

Oil and Gas HEADQUARTERS

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia FOUNDED

1964 EMPLOYEES

3,500 PRODUCTS/ SERVICES

Drilling services

training courses from IWCF, IADC and other international institutions such as OPITO

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