Weldamax

WELDAMAX

WELDAMAX

Forging Close

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Burning brighter, stronger and hotter than others, Weldamax is a shining light in southern Africa’s welding and gas industry. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the company is looking to land major contracts to accelerate its next growth stage. CEO, Nazmi Adams talks to Enterprise Africa about the success of this fiery-hearted industry leader.

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It has been 50 years since South Africa’s leading gas and welding business sparked into life. Weldamax, based just East of Johannesburg, has been servicing clients big and small since its inception in 1968. Ignition came when the business was known as Maxweld & Braze, and the flames have been fuelled over the years with the addition of many brands and country-

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wide expansion, which has seen the company become recognised as one of the industry leaders.

Turning up the heat within this very South African business, Weldamax, in partnership with a black woman-owned and managed company, announced at the end of last year that it had secured a significant contract with one of the largest companies in South Africa to assist with its gas cylinder business.

“One of the big contracts was with a large national multi-site manufacturer that would require in excess of 3000 cylinders per month where we picked up all of their cylinder business nationally. We started working with them in October last year and by January we were fully up and running. We are currently supplying them, and have been successfully supplying them, for all of 2018,” explains Weldamax CEO, Nazmi Adams.

INDUSTRY FOCUS: DISTRIBUTION

Most of the big gas companies supply gas cylinders to clients on a rental basis and charge regardless of whether those cylinders are full or empty. Weldamax is displaying its full understanding of the welding process by bringing a model which optimises cost for clients and ensures that customers hold the minimal number of cylinders on site to reduce rentals and cylinder losses. This idea is all part of wider strategy to give clients an all in one solution.

“The big area for us going forward is to give customers products that offer an integrated solution,” says Adams. “We are quite uniquely positioned as we are the only company that is able to offer a fully integrated and flexible multi-brand national solution. We really understand the MIG welding and TIG welding process, we understand the attributes that products give you against cost performance, and we have developed a system to assist customers with cylinder management on site. Many customers end up paying more rent for empty cylinders than full cylinders.

Our approach is to help customers significantly reduce their monthly rental cost and it’s disruptive because the gas companies earn money from

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// WE REALLY UNDERSTAND THE MIG WELDING AND TIG WELDING PROCESS, WE UNDERSTAND THE ATTRIBUTES THAT PRODUCTS GIVE YOU AGAINST COST PERFORMANCE, AND WE HAVE DEVELOPED A SYSTEM TO ASSIST CUSTOMERS WITH CYLINDER MANAGEMENT ON SITE // the number of cylinders on site. That is getting a lot of traction from customers.”

When it comes to welding products, Weldamax’s range is almost unrivalled. The company has partnered with three major global companies; ESAB, Böhler, and Air Products to give customers access to a lot of hightechnology products which competitors cannot always match.

“Air Products, one of the largest suppliers of industrial gas, has had a long-standing supply relationship with Weldamax and has worked closely with the company to achieve their growth objectives. Ensuring the availability of cylinders and product to this key player in Air Products’ national distributor network, coupled with innovative offerings and technical expertise, are key elements of Air Products’ distributor model that adds benefits to distributors

such as Weldamax.”, Arthi Govender, Strategy Manager, Air Products As one of the largest engineering businesses in Africa, the customer gain is a real coup for Weldamax and marks the start of strategic move to secure more business with the biggest of the big.

“Previously, the business was strong with small to medium customers but it didn’t have exposure to large corporate customers,” says Adams.

“My challenge has been to keep that but also build capacity to take on large national customers.

“We had to upskill our sales staff to be able to communicate effectively with multinationals and we had to improve our product range to offer exactly what corporate customers required. We did that very quickly last year and that was very pleasing. In most organisations that I have worked, change is very difficult

WELDAMAX

but this organisation’s ability to absorb change and take on challenges was fantastic. There was an eagerness there and we picked up large corporate clients very quickly.”

FORGED IN SA Weldamax plays in a market that is made up mainly of international organisations with strong local representation. But this is a company that has been working in South Africa for half a century and is well versed in local business culture and is a fully-fledged black-owned and blackmanaged establishment.

“Weldamax is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year,” enthuses Adams.

“It started off as an entrepreneurial business called Maxweld & Braze, largely servicing the wholesale market for industrial welding equipment and accessories. It then grew and was taken

over by Thermadyne which is now part of the Colfax group. Thermadyne exited the country and the business was taken over by Sanlam private equity.

During that time, it was distributing Thermadyne welding equipment in South Africa, one of the leading international brands.”

Eventually, the holding company Weldamax was established and under the holding company there are several brands: Maxweld & Braze, Unique Welding Alloys, Thermamax and Selrod.

“Last year, Sanlam private equity divested part of the business to blackowned companies and individuals.

It became the first large, truly South African black-owned and black managed national industrial distributor in the country’s welding industry. That in itself is a very big defining moment in the sense that it has had a dynamic impact

on the market horizon in this country.

Until then, there was no such player.

You had dominance from the traditional multinationals which were mostly foreign-owned and this changed the dynamic dramatically,” details Adams.

Weldamax’s brand portfolio is now one of, if not, the strongest in southern Africa. Adams states that the resuscitation of the Maxweld & Braze brand in 2017 was a flagship moment for the business. “It had been a brand that had been around for quite some time and when I came on board I recognised that it was a real draw so we relaunched as a wholesale brand.

Since then it has gone very well. We developed a clear channel strategy that reduced channel conflict and enabled us to have clearly defined offers into the distributor and end user markets. This is building trust with our channel partners.

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: DISTRIBUTION

“Maxweld & Braze has always been seen as the go-to welding and cutting supplier, with our reliable, quality products that are supported by our excellent service department and sales team,” says Andries Taljaard, manager of Maxweld & Braze. “Our products have always been seen as cost-effective, and fit-for-purpose, with compliance to the relevant safety standards.”

Since the relaunch of the Maxweld & Braze brand, the main focus has been re-establishing the trust within the wholesale sector that the brand was always associated with. “For us, this has been an exciting time working to rebuild the lasting relationships and becoming a leader in the wholesale

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segment once again,” says Taljaard.

“Another defining moment for the business was when Thermadyne exited the business and had to establish its own product brand identity. Thermamax was born and to this day, that is a highly desired and well-established brand in the welding industry, not just in SA but across southern Africa,” says Adams.

WELDING AFRICA Currently, Weldamax has 15 branches around South Africa and partnerships in various sub-Saharan African countries.

Its reach is spread far and wide, and the company wants to be the first name that comes to mind whenever welding is thought about.

“From a geographic perspective, we fully cover almost every region in South Africa and we are expanding quite aggressively into the rest of Africa with our over 3400 line items of welding products. At this stage, that is purely through partnerships with distributors but in the future, we may explore a solid footprint depending on how Africa evolves. Right now, Africa is a big growth opportunity and the Thermamax brand is very well-accepted,” says Head of Sales, Thomas Taljaard, .

He highlights Zimbabwe in particular as a major opportunity for Weldamax. However, like many, he is waiting to see how the land lies before committing.

WELDAMAX

“We are still keenly waiting for socio political change to materialise and we believe that Zimbabwe will rise quickly. Operating in other neighbouring countries is a big part

// OUR ABILITY TO HELP CUSTOMERS IMPROVE THEIR PROCESSES AND REDUCE THEIR COSTS IS PROVIDING US WITH AN OPPORTUNITY. OUR GAS VOLUMES ARE UP 12-13% WHERE THE INDUSTRY VOLUMES ARE MOST LIKELY STAGNANT //

of our strategy. We want to do it in a way that works well with our current partners there.

“Locally, Weldamax is brimming with confidence following a successful period of growth and a renewed sense of business confidence brought about by the country’s new President,” says Thomas.

“Politically, we have a lot of confidence,” says Adams. “We have turned the corner. Ramaphosa has a long history of negotiating with difficult people in difficult situations and he has been engaged in political discussions here for a long time. He has the patience, he has the perspective, but he does still face big challenges – I think we are looking at another tough year. His efforts to tackle corruption have really helped boost confidence in the country. The land issue is a problem and we clearly need a constructive fully

inclusive solution rather quickly.”

Interestingly, Adams suggests that while the company continues to perform well, the industry is going through a challenging time as a result of global market conditions. This is down to the ability of Weldamax to offer a complete solution and assist with effective cost control.

“Across the world, the welding and gases sector has done well. South Africa has gone the other way and that is a problem. Traditionally, South Africa rides the tails of Europe because Europe is its biggest trading partner,” he says.

“The challenge that it brings is that there has been a significant shrinking in the fabrication and manufacturing sector in the first two quarters of this year. The opportunity that creates is that customers become very focussed on cost efficiency. Our ability to help customers improve their processes and

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INDUSTRY FOCUS: DISTRIBUTION

// OUR VISION IS TO MAKE THIS ENTITY THE LARGEST INTEGRATED GAS AND WELDING COMPANY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. WE WANT TO BE THE LARGEST AND MOST INFLUENTIAL // reduce their costs is providing us with an opportunity. Our gas volumes are up 12-13% where the industry volumes are most likely stagnant.”

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A key differentiator between Weldamax and its competitors is its ability to make quick decisions and move at pace with the market.

“We have introduced, updated and refreshed around 100 new products in the past year. Could any of the global competitors here do that? Most likely not. Their restrictions and global processes potentially slow them down,” highlights Adams.

To offer only the world’s best products, Weldamax trusts Durbanbased Airwaves for all import requirements. This ensures products developed in Europe, USA or anywhere are easily available to Weldamax’s growing customer base.

“Airwaves is our clearing and forwarding agent. Typically, every product that we import is channelled through Airwaves. All our products land in Durban, unless we give specific instructions to deliver to another port.

For all imported products, raw materials and finished goods, we use Airwaves.

We benchmark regularly, and we have found them to be far superior in the market in terms of service,” says Garth Conybeare, Head of Finance.

BURNING BRIGHTER With Weldamax already recognised as a leading player in the market, and with ongoing strategies in place to boost the company’s reputation across all of

WELDAMAX

// ULTIMATELY, WE WANT TO BE SEEN AS THE COMPANY THAT PEOPLE CALL IF THEY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH GAS AND WELDING // southern Africa, now is an exciting time for the business.

“We’ve recruited really good people to support us. In South Africa, and globally, these skills are very difficult to find. Also, being blackowned and black-managed makes us very attractive,” says Adams.

“What we are doing in terms of new customers gains, and the new products that we are bringing through, along with improving our internal processes will certainly yield significant benefits over the next few months going forwards. We are seeing a lot of our competitors wobbling quite badly but we remain confident we can maintain our position.”

He highlights the ‘incredible entrepreneurial spirit and the unerring focus on satisfying the customer’ that exist within Weldamax as the key drivers behind the company’s recent successes.

Going forward, it looks like more of the same from the company that promises to give your business real benefits.

“Long-term, our vision is to make this entity the largest integrated gas and welding company in southern Africa.

We want to be the largest and most influential in that space and we want to do that through organic and acquisition growth. We also want to have the best product offering in the market and not compromise on service and quality.

“Ultimately, we want to be seen as the company that people call if they have a problem with gas and welding,” Adams concludes.

WWW.WELDAMAX.CO.ZA

“I have been with Weldamax for 18-months. Previously, I headed up marketing and sales for the largest gas and welding company in South Africa before leaving the country in 2006.

“I then became the global Marketing Director Industrial Products for BOC group in the UK. When Linde bought BOC I headed up the global welding portfolio for the Linde Group before going on to become the Global Marketing Director and Head of the Consumables Division for ESAB. “When I came into this business, I could leverage this experience quickly. That impacted how we went into the market and, for me, having seen the company progress over just 18-months has been quite profound.

“I was working in Europe during the 2008/2009 cash crunch and it gave me the experience of how to deal with a massive industrial demise. At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, when challenging signs remerged, we responded very quickly and that has helped us a lot. Having that experience of managing in difficult times will help the organisation.”

WELDAMAX CEO - NAZMI ADAMS www.enterprise-africa.net / 9

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ENTERPRISE AFRICA

SEPT EMBER 2018