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GIL Automations
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Manufacturing
As a major provider of automation products, Nigerian-based GIL Automations has landed contracts with top players in the country’s oil and gas spoke with industries. Lawal Gbolahan to discuss the company and its future in the face of the country’s oil crisis.
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IL Automations opened its doors in 2007 under the name GIL Automations and Control Services Limited, with just a staff of five. At the beginning, GIL’s major objective was training, small sale procurement and servicing automations, but business has since progressed significantly, and not just with its name shortening – which came about in 2011. GIL’s focus has since expanded to providing Electrical and Automation Systems and a range of accompanying services relating to instrumentation, measurement, safety, security and communication systems. This has allowed for a similar expansion
in the industries GIL provides for. Its services, wide-reaching and multi-faceted, now cater to industries such as oil and gas, utilities, manufacturing, food and beverage, marine and construction. Beginning with a single location in Nigeria, the company is now on the ground in Ghana and Houston, Texas in the United States, though its offices in Port Harcourt, Nigeria continue to be GIL’s main base. Though staff numbers have inevitably expanded as well, the business models across the international branches remain largely the same. “The only notable difference is in the location and the rules and regulations guiding business operations in these different countries”, Gbolahan says.
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From installation to maintenance
In order to satisfy the needs of large-scale manufacturing industries, GIL has had to develop significant manufacturing capabilities of its own. It aims to be a one-stop shop for its clients, providing everything from automation installation to maintenance and everything in between. A recent project saw the GIL Automations team recently fabricated and assembled EGINA FPSO ICSS marshalling cabinets for Upstream’s oil and gas sector, which included assemblage based on processes ranging from PCS, FGS, PSS to ESD systems. Automation products are generally implemented in an effort to minimise labour, save energy and cut down on human error. The company’s core values centre on providing solutions for their clients’ daily problems. With GIL’s far reach, it is able to assist clients across the world and provide on-the-ground help for companies across a wide geographical area.
Though oil and gas industries are the company’s primary focus, they aren’t its sole concern. Recently, GIL has struck up a multiyear instrumentation support contract with one of Nigeria’s top multinational breweries. “This project involves GIL performing scheduled measurement and instrumentation support services across multiple breweries in the country.” Not only that, in the long term, Gbolahan says, “this project will buttress our wide reach in Nigeria, outside of the oil and gas industry.”
Working in Nigeria
Operating mainly in Nigeria has meant challenges for GIL in recent years. Historically one of the world’s biggest oil producers, the country is currently experiencing an extreme petrol shortage as a result of reduced imports. “The fall in prices in the oil and gas industry is a general problem affecting most of the companies in the country, especially in the area of reduced cash flow”, Lawal points out, reducing the number of available projects and
“Its services, wide-reaching and multi-faceted, now cater to industries such as oil and gas, utilities, manufacturing, food and beverage, marine and construction
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“Our long term aim is to create a more diversified company that will be more resistant to any immediate economic crises affecting a sector of our economy
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GIL looks ahead
“We are striving to increase our sales by continuous improvement in our technical capabilities and establishing uniqueness in our products and services by not compromising on the quality of the product and services delivered to our customer contracts for the company. Even so, GIL remains optimistic. “In the meantime, we are repositioning ourselves for increased presence in non-oil and gas industries, especially within manufacturing, infrastructure and commercial buildings. Our long term aim is to create a more diversified company that will be more resistant to any immediate economic crises affecting a sector of our economy.”
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In spite of the recent downturn, GIL continues to see new clients within the oil and gas sector. The company is currently executing a turnkey “electrical, instrumentation, control and safety erection” contract for an oil depot terminal in Port Harcourt. It will be the first LPG terminal in the southern region of Nigeria, as well as the first DCS operated terminal in the country.
Even in spite of the present oil crisis in Nigeria, the future for GIL Automations looks bright. The company still sees potential for opportunity in growth within the oil and gas industry, as well as utilities, manufacturing, mining, food and beverage, marine and construction. To meet the challenge, “we are striving to increase our sales by continuous improvement in our technical capabilities and establishing uniqueness in our products and services by not compromising on the quality of the product and services delivered to our customer.” Also in an effort to look forward, GIL has implemented the use of social media as a method of promoting its products and services to the global world. Through newsletters, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, the company hopes to keep its clients abreast with the latest technology in the automation world. The industry is constantly evolving, and with it, GIL Automations hopes to be there every step of the way.
email: production@essentialbusinessmag.com
GIL Automation DTN Complex, Lateef Jakande Road Agidingbi, Ikeja Lagos State, Nigeria Tel: +234 (0)700 AUTOMATION / 01 440 6296
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