APRIL
2012 ISSUE 1
OAK VALLEY AN AWARD WINNING FAMILY LEGACY
JOSIE FIELD EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE
BRIDGESTONE EARTH MOVING INNOVATION
SOUTHERN AFRICAN SHIPYARDS
EXPLORING UNCHARTERED TERRITORIES
The Sky’s the Limit
We meet The Denel Group, the largest manufacturer of defence equipment in South Africa.
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EDITORS PAGE
EDITORIAL EDITOR Joe Forshaw SUB-EDITORS Abigail Saltmarsh Colin Renton Sheree Hanna Tim Hands Liz French PROJECTS MANAGERS Leslie Kemp Daniel Sizeland Janis Billington ADVERTISING SALES David Hodgson Chris Bolderstone STUDIO STUDIO DIRECTOR Vishnu Joory LEAD DESIGNER Ian Williams STUDIO MANAGER Michelle Cassidy OFFICE MANAGER Tricia Plane ACCOUNTS Dionne Smith Jane Reeder IT IT DIRECTOR Graham Tester ECP LTD MANAGING DIRECTOR David Hodgson OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Chris Bolderstone FINANCE DIRECTOR Scott Warman Ferndale Business Centre, 1 Exeter Street, Norwich, NR2 4QB If you would like more information about ways in which IndustrySA can promote your business please call +44 1603 618000 or email info@industrysa.com East Coast Promotions Ltd does not accept responsibility for omissions or errors. The points of view expressed in articles by attributing writers and/or in advertisements included in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this magazine, no legal responsibility will be accepted by the publishers for loss arising from use of information published. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrievable system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher.
Welcome to Launch issue... Welcome to the very first edition of IndustrySA, the brand new business magazine with a focus on what South Africa is doing today to ensure that tomorrow holds a bright future. We will be examining business from a fresh perspective; Innovation, vision, forward thinking and entrepreneurial genius are all vital in the economic development of South Africa and here at IndustrySA we will profile these areas extensively. The fresh new ideas and innovations that businesses come up with every day will help to shape the way we work, trade and live our lives. These, along with outstanding business achievements of the past and the present will all be recognised by IndustrySA. In this month’s publication we will be featuring articles on a range of different businesses and industries including; Denel, the largest manufacturer of defence equipment in South Africa, Oak Valley, famous for production of fruit, wine and meat as well as Nampak, South Africa’s leading packaging company, along with many other industry leading organisations. All of these famous organisations have exciting new business ideas and directions that will be discussed in more detail later in the magazine. IndustrySA is now the comprehensive business magazine that no one with an interest in South African business affairs can afford to be without. Combining fresh, young journalistic talent with seasoned industry experience makes for a thorough coverage of everything you need to know about the important issues in business today. I hope you enjoy reading and find inspiration from all of the different areas that IndustrySA has covered this month.
Joe Forshaw
editor@industrysa.com
© East Coast Promotions Ltd 2012
APRIL 12 PAGE 3
CONTENTS
3 EDITORS PAGE
Welcome to the first issue
6 NEWS All that’s happening in South Africa 10 ENTREPENEUR Mark Shuttleworth - South Africa’s Greatest Entrepreneur? 12 INNOVATION UNICEF and South Africa’s ‘Digital Drum’ one of the top 50 inventions in the world 14 DESTINATION DIRECTOR Paradise Found 16 GADGET BOX Innovations, Inventions, Instruments and Implements… 18 JOSIE FIELD South African singer/songwriter Josie Field
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16
CONTENTS
28 20 DENEL AVIATION
58 DU ROI
24 DENEL PERSONNEL
60 PAKCO
26 DENEL PROPERTY
64 INTERLAM
28 SOUTHERN AFRICAN SHIPYARDS
68 ZAMBEEF
Not simply a HR department World class facility management
Building for success at sea
34 BRIDGESTONE
Rolling out tracks for the mining industry X
Planting the seeds for success X A journey of culinary delight X Engineered for success X Feeding a nation X
76 NAMPAK BEVCAN A “Can do” attitudeX
82 SAFAL STEEL
38 HOWDEN AFRICA
The real deal in steel X
44 DHL
Fabrication and erection specialists
An ice cool operation
Delivering excellence to South Africa
48 OAKVALLEY
A jewel in the Elgin Valley
52 UMBHABA
Entrepreneurialism at its finest
88 LOUWILL
92 GOLDFIELDS
Raising the bar in mining
92 INDUSTRY RECOMMENDED This months showcased organisations
COMPANY REPORTS
In flight innovation at Denel
APRIL 12 PAGE 5
NEWS A brief look at the issues making the news across South Africa. For more news stories visit industrysa.com
Initiative to assist young entrepreneurs The Ithubalentsha Micro Enterprise Programme was launched in February. The programme will provide young entrepreneurs with training, mentorship, finance, market linkages and access to business opportunities. It was set up by the South African National Youth Development Agency and is aimed at people aged 18-35 and especially those in rural areas. The National Youth Development Agency is now looking for experienced entrepreneurs and business people to volunteer and help with mentoring programmes. Volunteers can be middle or senior managers, retired professionals, business consultants and postgraduate students. The purpose of the programme is to help young business people gain advice and opportunities that they would not normally to be able to access. Young
Rubbish money
Just outside Cape Town, based at the Hout Bay recycling centre, a local recycling cooperative has a new project, working through piles of waste, separating different materials and selling the trash back to packaging companies to be recycled and then re-used to create new products. This new initiative has been driven by the government’s movement towards a greener economy and this movement is aimed at creating jobs, creating environmental sustainability and stimulating growth. The cooperative receives 25 tons of waste each month and the group of formerly jobless and poverty stricken men and women sort through it and, on average, earn themselves R2000 per month. As awareness of the benefits of recycling increases, more and more rubbish is dropped at the recycling centre and that means more money and more work for the people who sort the waste materials. The initiative was given a boost when social enterprise incubator Thrive decided to get involved and offer advice on management and business strategy. This is not the only green initiative that Thrive support, they have been trying to get a number of green focused businesses on the go. In November the South African government signed a Green Economic Accord that promotes active investment in green projects. “The green economy can create large numbers of jobs, provide a spur for industrialisation and help create a sustainable future for this and the next generations,” said Minister of Economic Development Ebrahim Patel when the accord was announced.
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entrepreneurs face many barriers when it comes to starting a new business. This is especially the case for young people with disabilities or those in rural locations. The programme can provide business loans from R1000 up to R100,000. According to statistics an estimated 73% of South Africa’s youth, who make up 42% of the country’s population, are unemployed a reality that needs to be addressed if the country is to effectively eradicate poverty. The programme gives these young people a chance to move into employment and, in turn, create employment for others. ‘Ithubalentsha’ is a Zulu word meaning ‘an opportunity for youth’ and this is reflected in the whole idea of the programme. One of the volunteers on board currently is CEO of South African digital marketing agency, KrazyBoyz Digital, Zibusiso Mkhwanazi.
NEWS
Further economic boost from Transnet The old Durban International Airport is to be sold to state owned company Transnet for a reported R1.8 billion. They will look to turn the site into a multibillionrand dug-out port which will create thousands of new jobs. The trade and employment opportunities that will be created are something which KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize has welcomed. He was particularly happy with the investment opportunities and the competitive edge that the dug-out port, which is due to be completed by 2019, would offer to South Africa. “Durban has the biggest port on the continent and Richards Bay manages the biggest volumes of cargo in
South Africa. With the addition of the dug-out port we have an important strategic asset” said Mr Mkhize. With plans for an automotive component supplier to be positioned near the port there is talk that the province could double its size over the next decade and become a leading exporter of automotive goods. With the international passenger and cargo airport located at Dube Trade Port the area has the potential to become a transport hub. Cargo could easily be switched between transport methods and be distributed at speed, especially with the plans for rail and road infrastructure investment.
Oceanfresh partner with Costco Oceanfresh, the South African fishing company which supplies hake to the US mega-store organisation Wallmart, has struck a deal with a second US retailer to export its product on an even larger scale. Costco is one of the largest chains in the US retail industry and they have managed to agree with Oceanfresh’s parent company Lonrho on a deal to supply hake loins to Costco stores all over the world. The Oceanfresh fish come from the Benguela currents, deep and cold waters off the southern coast of Africa. The new Oceanfresh plant, just outside Johannesburg, will quadruple its output to keep up with demand.
APRIL 12 PAGE 7
NEWS A brief look at the issues making the news across South Africa. For more news stories visit industrysa.com
Nissan to launch Infinity motors in South Africa Japanese auto company Nissan has announced it will launch the sale of its luxury Infinity range of cars in South Africa from June this year. This will be the first time Infinity vehicles will be sold on the African continent. The sale of the luxury motors will also bring employment opportunities as a new service centre and finance divisions will be opened in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Nissan South Africa Managing Director, Mike Whitfield said that the company was proud to be bringing the Infinity range to South Africa and was certain that it would be a
success as it has been in different locations all over the world. The Infinity range includes coupes, sedans, cross-overs and SUVs with cutting edge design, world class technology and fantastic performance. The launch in South Africa follows introductions in Indonesia, Panama, Malaysia and Singapore last year, with further establishments expected in Australia and Chile later in 2012. Infinity has won international safety awards and boasts a successful partnership with formula one team Red Bull Racing.
Finance minister calls for Eurozone stability Pravin Gordhan, the South African finance minister has asked for a clearer set of actions from Eurozone countries to ensure certainty for global markets. South Africa’s growth is reasonably stable but does still show vulnerability to problems in the Eurozone. Gordhan was present at a Foreign Correspondents Association breakfast in Johannesburg ahead of the G20 meeting scheduled to discuss solutions to the Eurozone crisis and the funds that could be needed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if there are further problems. South Africa is looking for continued economic growth and recent announcements in infrastructure investment have been welcomed, especially by Gordhan who said that investment in industries would contribute to the reduction in unemployment.
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NEWS
R300 billion investment in transport infrastructure Transnet, the South African state transport and logistics company, recently announced plans for a R300 billion investment into its freight rail division, making it the fifth largest in the world. The investment has the potential to create 500,000 new jobs which will provide a huge boost to the economy. President Zuma stated, in February, that job creation was the key objective of the project along with improving business logistics in terms of South African imports and exports. Transnet were keen to point out internal studies stating that rail was 75% cheaper than road transport. CEO Brian Molefe said that increases in freight volumes, prompted by commodities such as iron ore, coal and manganese were drivers behind the planned investment in rail, port and
pipeline infrastructure. A movement towards rail and away from road transport would also go some way towards addressing issues of congestion, carbon emissions and increasing costs – something that Transnet were again happy to highlight. Transnet aims to increase its freight rail volume from 200 million to 350 million tons by 2019 and also increase its market share of container traffic from around 80% to 90% over the same period. R7.7 billion of the whole investment will be spent on training which will further boost the local economy and Mr Molefe stated: ”This strategy aims to deliver a lasting economic, social and environmental value to society.”
Semenya on track for London Caster Semenya was in Pretoria recently, winning an 800m race to book her place in the South African Olympic team. With a time of 1:59.58 she finally broke the qualifying time on the third attempt. Semenya is a former world champion and is considered by many to be South Africa’s best hope for a medal at the London games. “My ambition is to get on the podium in London, that is a very important thing to do. As for a gold medal, we will have to wait and see” said Semenya. Semenya joins 400-metre hurdlers LJ van Zyl and Cornel Fredericks, women’s javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen and decathlete Willem Coertzen who are already a part of the team.
APRIL 12 PAGE 9
ENTREPRENEUR
Mark Shuttleworth South Africa’s Greatest Entrepreneur?
By Joe Forshaw
In September World Business Website Forbes.Com Created a list of the top ten youngest power men in Africa. All are aged 40 and under and all are heavily involved in Africa’s business and political circles. The man at number two in this list is Mark Richard Shuttleworth. Shuttleworth was born in Welkom, Free State, South Africa in 1973. He studied for a Business Science degree in Finance and Information Systems at the University of Cape Town and has since become a technological guru, a self-made millionaire and one of South Africa’s most successful entrepreneurs. Shuttleworth’s first project was a computing company, Thawte, which dealt with internet security among other things. The company was founded in 1995 and in the early days of business Thawte was run from Shuttleworth’s parents’ house. As Thawte grew it became one of the industry leaders in helping businesses make and accept secure transactions over the web. In 1999 the American software company VeriSign purchased Thawte from Shuttleworth for a deal reported to be around $575million. From this sale Shuttleworth went on to form the Shuttleworth Foundation and his venture capital company, Here Be Dragons (HBD). The Shuttleworth Foundation is a non-profit organisation which encourages innovative thinkers to help bring about change in society with a special focus on South Africa. The foundation has worked in all nine provinces of South Africa and has funded teachers, small businesses and private individual ideas among many other projects. HBD is an investment company that looks to invest in innovative technology companies across South Africa and
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it now boasts a large portfolio of business partners. The name is reference to the phrase ‘Here Be Dragons’ which was used to describe uncharted territory on ancient maps. In 2004 Shuttleworth founded Canonical Ltd which dealt with promotion and support of free computer software projects. In the same year he helped in the design and development of the Ubuntu operating system, a free computer system suitable for home desktops and also for heavy industry, mainframe computers. Ubuntu is funded by Canonical who create revenue by offering technical support for a range of Ubuntu platforms. The free Ubuntu operating system is regarded by many critics as a future contender to Microsoft’s market dominance with high-profile customers such as Google and Dell running Ubuntu. Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’ and Shuttleworth reflects this meaning by offering the system free of charge. Shuttleworth is heavily involved in designing free operating systems and stepped down as CEO of Canonical in 2010 to be fully involved with designing products and enhancing the free software market. He is now in charge of design and product strategy. Shuttleworth believes that developing countries need to find their voice in the digital era and his drive to produce systems that are ‘beautiful and easy to use’ at no charge proves his commitment to this belief. If you are not familiar with Mark Shuttleworth through his software developing, free software ecosystems, website certificates and other complicated technologies then you may recognise his name after he became only the second self funded space tourist and the first African in space in
ENTREPRENEUR
2002. He lived and trained for a year in Star City, Russia before paying around $20million to launch aboard the Soyuz TM-34 mission. Shuttleworth now lives on the Isle of Man and holds dual citizenship of the UK and South Africa. Canonical’s main offices are in London however they also enjoy bases across the world. He owns a private jet, has an estimated fortune of $269million but donates generously to other charitable besides his own foundation. His commitment to his beliefs, his attention to detail and his strong education make him a brilliant entrepreneur and his wealth and experience make him well worth his spot on the list of top ten youngest powerful men in Africa. �
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INNOVATION
UNICEF and South Africa’s ‘Digital Drum’ one of the top 50 inventions in the world By Joe Forshaw
South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) recently teamed with UNICEF to create a new sturdy, sustainable computer for use in rural villages around Africa. The computer, named the Digital Drum, has already been installed in remote locations in Uganda. It is a laptop style computer loaded into a heavy duty, metal oil drum. The innovation has received worldwide praise and opens up a whole new world of learning possibilities for children and adults in these rural communities. Sharad Sapra of UNICEF Uganda said “Innovative technologies like these help create a digital bridge between those who have access to the internet and those who do not; in a low cost, sturdy fashion.” The CSIR and UNICEF worked together to make the Digital Drum a sustainable project. It uses energy from the sun through solar panels and is made from metal oil drums which are easily available in countries such as Uganda. This keeps production costs low and makes good use of the otherwise scrap metal. As the computers are placed in such rural locations and constantly exposed to the elements they have to be extremely rugged and incorporating the oil drums into the design ensures this. UNICEF has plans to deliver 200 Digital Drums to Uganda and eventually all over Africa. Grant Cambridge of the CSIR states that “the Digital Drum design proved to be an innovative way for UNICEF and the CSIR to address a need through a solution developed in the
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INNOVATION
absence of technology.” The Digital Drum comes loaded with educational content on topics such as health, job training and protection from violence. The whole idea of the free standing, durable computer is based on the Digital Doorway, a similar project from the CSIR, which promotes wide scale computer literacy and unassisted learning. The Digital Doorway is a project based primarily in South Africa and the adaptation of the idea to the Digital Drum makes it ideal for the more rural conditions in Uganda. Time magazine included the Digital Drum in its list of the top 50 inventions in the world today and it was also featured in a new exhibition at the American Smithsonian’s Copper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Seth Hurr, the project leader from UNICEF, stated “a lot of the schools in the rural areas don’t have full time teachers so the students don’t really have access to any information”, this is why the Digital Drum was placed within the ‘Access’ theme at the Museum in New York. In South Africa and across Africa as a whole, governments have come under pressure to become more involved with technological innovation rather than leaving it solely to the private sector. The CSIR is funded partly by the Department for Science and Technology (DST) which is directly linked to the South African government and this will please critics who are encouraging governments to become more engaged with innovative ICT projects. ●
UNICEF has plans to deliver 200 Digital Drums to Uganda and eventually all over Africa.
APRIL 12 PAGE 13
DESTINATION DIRECTOR
Paradise Found By Joe Forshaw
This is a message to all hard working business executives around South Africa... Have you been working your fingers to the bone? Toiling away in the office and on the phone for every hour you have? Dealing with difficult people, all day, every day? Take a look at our destination guide for a supreme vacation for all tastes. IndustrySA has the ideal guide to the perfect holiday destinations for the high flying business executive of 2012. This month we will focus on the Hong Kong based hotel chain - Shangri-La. They have 72 hotels and resorts across Asia, North America, the Middle East and Europe and IndustrySA has hand-picked four of the best, perfect for relaxing, recuperating and enjoying that priceless time away from the office. Shangri-La is renowned for delivering a unique style of service, typically Asian with an emphasis on attention to detail and a caring, family approach to their guests. Their vision, to be the number one choice for guests, colleagues, shareholders and business partners is beginning to be realised in Asia. There are hotels opening under the ShangriLa brand in London and the USA and this is another indicator of their desire to succeed and grow in the market of luxury accommodation.
MALDIVES Our first offering comes from the picturesque setting of the Maldives. Set in the Indian Ocean, about 400 km off the southern tip of India and 700 km from Sri-Lanka, the Maldives offers a true definition of the perfect beach vacation. The Shangri-La resort is placed amidst sensational sandy beaches and lush tropical foliage and brings the
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opportunity for real solitude and relaxation. With the option of luxurious private ocean retreats and tropical tree house villas the Shangri-La resort can truly take you away from the chaotic environment of the business world and give you top of the range, luxury service to keep you entirely stress free. With rates starting at R10,243per night (approx) this is the chioce for the director looking for a majestic setting and unrivaled service levels with perfect sunshine and high temperatures to top it all off.
ABU DHABI The second idea is described as ‘a destination within a destination’. The capital of the United Arab Emirates is the city of Abu Dhabi. According to fortune magazine and CNN Abu Dhabi is the richest city in the world. The Shangri-La resort in Abu Dhabi is one of the most extravagant residences available in the city. The hotel itself offers 161 rooms of the highest standard, a collection of private villas, a spa and many other quality services and facilities. This hotel offers guests a beautiful setting, within the Qaryat Al Beri complex, showcasing fantastic Arab architecture. This resort offers a fantastic location for a luxurious break from work and modern facilities to unwind even the busiest of business directors and it also offers a great meeting place for businesses. The corporate facilities available and the impressive dwellings make this resort perfect for business and pleasure. The hotel is only 15 minutes from the city centre and is located on a stretch of beach which separates Abu Dhabi Island from the mainland. If you are looking for a hotel in the heart of the Middle East which gives you the chance to get away from South Africa
Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa, Yanuca Island, Fiji
DESTINATION DIRECTOR
Malaysia
Paris
Abu Dhabi
and put your feet up then look no further than Shangri-La Hotel, Abu Dhabi. Rates start at R2195per night (approx).
PARIS Our third suggestion takes us to Europe and France. A business centre in itself and a world leader in politics, arts, education, entertainment, media, fashion and science make Paris a destination for a vacation packed with a variety of allurement. The Shangri-La hotel in Paris was built in 1896 as the home for Prince Roland Bonaparte and the historic building features breath-taking views of the Eiffel Tower, the Seine River and the Louvre. Although this hotel would offer a city break, it differs from the city break experience of Abu Dhabi. The district in which the hotel is located is amidst one of the highest concentrations of museums in Europe and the city contains nearly 4000 historical monuments and numerous world heritage sites. The Abu Dhabi hotel is in a city containing modern buildings, sky-scrapers and distinctly Arab architecture as opposed to neo-classical stone buildings of bourgeoisie standing. This Shangri-La hotel comes in at around R6230 per night, (approx) with some of the top rooms available for R36,050 per night (approx). The lavish rooms and inspiring setting make this hotel the top choice for a vacation full of exclusivity, style, luxury, comfort and extravagance. If you are looking to get away from the office environment but not necessarily to the beach then this hotel is the perfect option. Also being located in the centre of one of the most romantic cities on the planet it may be a hit with whoever you choose to take with you.
MALAYSIA Our final destination for the busy business person to unwind is in Malaysia and back on the beach. This time we recommend Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort in Kota Kinabalu. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea and the resort is right on the beach. This destination is slightly different to our other recommendations as this is one of the only resorts in the Shangri-La group to have a Nature Reserve, a championship golf course and a 400 acre tropical setting and all right beside the flawless Pantai Dalit Beach. With temperatures at an average of 30 degrees all year round this location is ideal for escaping the air conditioned office and getting outside and taking full advantage of the sunshine. Considering that there is on average around 200 hours of sunshine a month it will not be too hard to find. The hotel also offers fishing trips, water sports, horse riding, full spa facilities, safaris and a kids club for the younger members of your family. Room rates come in at around R2000 per night (approx). This destination, like the Maldives, offers that solitude and privacy that has become difficult to find but with enough exciting activities going on to keep your mind off work. All of these holiday destinations offer the opportunity for guests to receive the highest quality of service and some of the most unique and exclusive locations in the world. While each destination is different they each offer something similar, the chance to get away from everyday life, an opportunity to unwind, relax and repair in a home away from home – perfect for the modern business executive. ●
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GADGET BOX
Innovations, Inventions, Instruments and Implements… By Joe Forshaw The important people in any business need to stay up to date, they need to be in control and in touch and they need technology that can help them do this. IndustrySA has reviewed some of the latest and best bits of IT and technology and some of the top gadgets that can help a decision maker run a business smoothly and look classy whilst doing so. We’re not just talking about iPods, the latest tablets or things to make the office more interesting, modern businesses and business people can use all types of IT and tech to assist them in the constantly evolving and changing world. Technology continues to make every activity quicker, easier and in some cases more fun, from giving a simple presentation to sending complex documents to every corner of the planet. Some of the gadgets are brand new and some have been around for a while but we think these gadgets are some of the best in their class.
MOTOROLA ATRIX The Atrix is Motorola’s most advanced smart phone ever. The promotion campaign goes with the headline: The World’s Most Powerful Smartphone, which could be true although it is helped a great deal by its accessories. This phone really has contributed to the movement from smartphone to a multimedia centre with full laptop capabilities. It comes loaded with a 1GHz dual core processor, a 5MP camera, a top of the range HD screen, a large battery and a host of other impressive features. For internet usage this phone is really taking things to a new level. When attached to the lap-dock
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accessory the phone becomes a stylish netbook and can handle any app or task at top speed. One of the most impressive features, and something very handy for a company director with sensitive information, is the finger print scanner which locks and unlocks the phone. The loudspeaker is just that – loud, which makes it perfect for when there are multiple people in a room listening in. The Atrix is one of most advanced phones on the market today and it is well priced. Its advanced features make it future proof to a certain degree; perfect for the busy company director of 2012.
SAMSUNG BD-D7500 This new 3D Blu-ray player from Samsung is the slimmest Blu-ray device available today. It is barely thicker than the discs it plays. The design is fresh and aesthetically pleasing, rather than sticking to the standard black or grey that you would get from a lot of electronic producers. It is wall-mountable, can be laid flat or can be presented on its accompanying stand. The BD-D7500 is perfect for office or home use as it is webconnected and plays or streams all the latest movies, sports, music and TV shows. If you are looking to experience and review your businesses or your competitions on screen adverts in high definition or if you are looking for a top gadget to take home for family use then look no further than the BD-D7500. You can plug in your USB device, and also
Studies show that a high percentage of SMEs and large businesses plan to spend money on gadgets, namely the Apple iPad, in the next year. IndustrySA has formed a list of gadgets that will not only be potentially more fun and helpful than the iPad but arguably more beautiful too…
GADGET BOX
convert your 2D images to 3D. The touch pad control buttons are easy to use and the glowing lights make the player look sleek and stylish wherever it is positioned.
SAMSUNG SP H03 Another product from Samsung and another product which is miniature in size. This projector is perfect for the business person who makes presentations on a regular basis. The projector is the around the size of a drinks can and has a two hour battery life and a built in media player which means you will not need a laptop; you can simply load the projector up with your PowerPoint presentations and press play. The image and video quality is surprisingly good considering the size of the projector. The speaker is also fantastic for a device that is so small, perhaps not perfect for watching a full length feature film but perfect for presentations of all types. The projector deals with not only PowerPoint presentations but a range of different formats including PDF, DOC, XLS and Office 2007.
DIVNICK ADJUSTABLE The Divnick adjustable golf club is an all in one club for amateur golfers which takes the hard labour of carrying a full bag of clubs around the course right out of the game. The club has an adjustable head which moves over 33 different loft angles, enabling you to carry a full set of clubs in one hand. The club gives you five putters, two drivers, three fairway woods, 14 irons or eight wedges; all you have to do is twist the dial. It is perfect for travelling golfers as it retracts from its full length at 98cm to a suitcase friendly 49cm, meaning you can forget about those additional baggage fees at the airport. It’s not as heavy as a standard putter and it cannot hit as far as a standard driver but this is a club for amateurs, you will not see Charl Schwartzel only using one club on his rounds. Available for around R2200 the Divnick is more expensive than other adjustable clubs but offers more scientific shooting, the people at Divnick have worked hard to reduce the shaft torque as much as possible making for more accurate shots (hopefully). Available for right and left handers, if you travel from course to course and play golf regularly then this could just be an idea for you to consider. ●
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JOSIE FIELD
Everything is as it should be… By Joe Forshaw IndustrySA magazine recently had the pleasure of chatting with South African singer/ songwriter Josie Field. Josie is one of South Africa’s most talented musicians and her third album, 1984, is a real hit and it has gained her three nominations at The 18th Annual SA Music Awards. Josie is the type of artist we love, when people said she needed to change her style to be a commercial success she continued regardless and got her album out there with her songs sounding exactly as she wanted them to sound. She is an inspirational artist and took time out of her busy schedule to chat to IndustrySA… Josie, you’ve carved out an impressive career so far, where did it all start for you? I started writing songs in high school and put a collection of stuff together, I taught myself a few chords on the guitar and started writing like that, almost like a diary entry, like teenage girls do. I always enjoyed listening to my folk’s music and they had quite a nice collection of vinyl’s and cassette tapes when I was small and I grew up listening to a lot of that stuff, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Joan Armatrading, folk stuff I guess. I started writing songs, built up a collection and then I was introduced to my current producer (Kevin Leicher) and that’s where it all started. Where did you go to school? I actually went to school in Johannesburg, the Michael Mount Waldorf School. The Waldorf School is an international school, I think there’s a few in Europe and possibly a few dotted around the world. So who was your favourite artist when you were growing up? Well I listened to quite a broad selection of artists because I listened to whatever my parents liked but I did enjoy what they listened to. I was very inspired by singer/songwriters like Tracy Chapman and Suzanne Vega and as I got older, as a teenager I really connected with Alanis Morissette from a lyrical point of view which kick-started my writing just because she was writing in a way I had never heard anyone write before, it was more like a conversation, it was like a
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…One of the title tracks of her current album and would be almost a perfect description of her career so far.
story that was quite personal but in a conversational style. This inspired my own writing and ever since then I’ve enjoyed songwriters, to me, people that write and perform their own work are so interesting. With your songs, do you just write the lyrics or do you put together the whole package? I do the whole thing, I write all the lyrics and all the melody lines. As far as the production goes and the instrumentation, my producer and I work closely on that and often he will arrange all of the instrumental parts, I just bring him a rough demo of a voice and a guitar structure and we work it from there. Am I right in thinking you play the guitar pretty well too? Yes, I play the guitar and ukulele too, not very well but I try my best, it’s more of a tool to help me write my songs. How do you feel when people say that your music has inspired them? Well that’s a bonus because I write songs for me, it’s what I love doing and that’s how I started, I didn’t do it for any other reason. The fact that people connect with your material or at least can relate to it or find it helpful in some way or another, that’s just like the cherry on top of the cake. It’s something that I never imagined when I first started and now that it’s happening it just blows my mind. Are you touring at the moment at all? I’m pretty quiet at the moment but I have been gigging for probably five years now. My first album came out in 2006 and last year we released the third album, 1984, so last year we were pretty busy with gigs. We roughly do about 70 shows a year so it’s quite busy. I love it because every aspect of this industry is enjoyable and gives you something to look forward to. The writing part is one aspect then there is the recording part and the performing part and all of them have enjoyable things about them and it’s nice to do them in that kind of cycle as well. Are you recording in Johannesburg right now then? Yea, we record in Newtown which is this old part of the
JOSIE FIELD
city which has been revived and has got a very diverse feel about it, it’s a very cool part of town. Where is your next show going to be? There’s a show coming up next week, I’m opening for Dan Patlansky who’s actually one of South Africa’s best blues guitarists and a wonderful singer as well, he asked me to support him at his album launch so I’ll be doing that. I’ve calmed down with the gigs for this half of the year because I want to spend some time writing again and just to build up some new material and see where we can take that but it’s nice to be nominated for three SAMA (South African Music Awards) awards for the album and we look forward to that at the end of April. Are you confident with those awards coming up? Confident? I wouldn’t say that, it’s an honour just to be nominated; I don’t expect to be winning any awards personally. The categories are now much more stream-lined, they’ve changed the structure so there are fewer categories and fewer nominations and also the languages have been combined so you might have a Zulu and English act in the same pop category which I think is rather unusual because you can’t really compare the two. If we do win one then I’ll be amazed but I’m just happy to be nominated. What about touring further afield? The UK? Australia? The USA? I’m not sure; I’m looking at a proposal now for the UK, something that we could put together over the next six months or so. I have no plans yet for the USA, in fact I’ve never been there but I would so love to go, as well as Australia, but these things take a lot of finance to get together but I’m hoping that we can do that as soon as possible. We are currently looking for financial backing and promoters who can help us do this. What about away from music? What does Josie Field do when she isn’t doing her day job? I enjoy supporting other SA artists, I think we’re quite limited with support and I think often South African crowds rate our arts second behind international stuff which is quite sad so whenever I can I attend other gigs of friends of mine or I’ll go and support other artists just to see what’s cracking because I really think we have world class stuff here. It’s a shame a lot of it goes by the wayside due to the lack of support.
When you say lack of support, do you mean from the music industry? Well yea I would say so but also from audiences. I think fans will often choose and international act as opposed to a South African one and I don’t know what that’s about. I think sometimes audiences feel that South African art isn’t as good as international stuff but it’s just as good and in some cases better, we just need to learn how to be proud of our own stuff. ● Josie’s current album, 1984, is consistent of her style with lyrics that represent her feelings and music that is creative and inspiring. You only have to take a look at her Facebook page and read the posts from fans to get an idea of how deeply her music touches her listeners. It is not an album of pop songs with nothing but a catchy chorus, each song has a meaning and a message and you really do not get that feeling that the production was done to fit in with current trends. Having said that critics have suggested that the album has more radio friendly feel and that is something which Josie has embraced. The music of Josie Field shows that she is as much in touch with herself as she is with her fans and that is something refreshing, something that rarely comes across with the young artists of today.
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COMPANY REPORT
The Sky’s
the limit The Denel Group is the largest manufacturer of defence equipment in South Africa. This month we focus on the activity of three Denel subsidiaries: Denel Aviation, Denel Properties and Denel Personnel Solutions. By Joe Forshaw
The Rooivalk combat support helicopter has been handed over to the South African Air Force (SAAF) after nearly 25 years in development. The helicopter has been upgraded and is now fully operational for SAAF duties. SAAF Chief, Lt General Carlo Gagiano received the helicopter from developers at the Denel Aviation campus in Kempton Park during 2011 after a meticulous testing programme conducted by the SAAF. The completion of the upgraded helicopter and the handover to the SAAF signal a historic moment for Denel Aviation and for South Africa as a nation. Denel Group CEO at the time, said: “This is a product that the South African people can be proud of – locally designed, locally manufactured, and now, ready for deployment by our local air force.” Lt General Gagiano stated that the Rooivalk would contribute considerably to the operations of the SAAF
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in peace keeping missions and support of other military operations. The Rooivalk has been under development since 1984. The first operational choppers entered service in 1999 with the SAAFs 16 squadron, based near Bloemfontein. Although it has been estimated that it costs around $45 million for each unit, they have not been without problems. In 2005 half of the operational fleet were out of service, needing software upgrades. The newly upgraded machine comes with a guarantee from CEO of Denel Aviation Mike Kgobe: “As design authority and original manufacturer we will ensure that the Rooivalk remains fully operational throughout its assigned life.” Mr Kgobe took the time to talk to IndustrySA and tell us about Denel Aviation and about the Rooivalk itself. “We achieved authentication and certification of the aircraft last year and that is when we started with the delivery process to the SAAF. This was achieved after
DENEL AVIATION
around 25 years continued development, testing and manufacturing so it was a real milestone for us. We have come to a point where it is now a fully-fledged product whereas before, the aircraft was at different baselines with no two being exactly the same. In the end we agreed with the customer the specification and we ensured that helicopter met the international standards and, in fact was qualified to a UK design standard for military helicopters. After further, rigorous certification and testing an independent military air worthiness board verified the vehicle for qualification of use and ensured that the standards conformed to test figures and that all functionality procedures were correct. After all of this documentation was completed we began delivery to the SAAF. Now all of the aircraft meet a singular baseline and a pilot would see the same thing in every one of the fleet.”
Rooivalk is the Afrikaans word for ‘Red Kestrel’ and reflects the agility, speed and advanced navigation system of the chopper. The Rooivalk follows the well-proven attack helicopter layout of stepped, twin-tandem seating in a narrow fuselage with stub wings for weapons carriage, nose-mounted sensors and a nose-mounted 20mm cannon. Drawing on South Africa’s substantial combat experience, Denel designed the Rooivalk as a
“ Denel Aviation employs around 1000 people and the training academy is an important part of the staffing process and an important part of the economy.” APRIL 12 PAGE 21
COMPANY REPORT
highly-survivable aircraft able to absorb battle damage while protecting its crew and remaining operational on the battlefield. Mr Kgobe said that although he does not speak on behalf of the SAAF the Rooivalk is a combat support helicopter and will be used for exactly that. “Helicopters like this are used to support troops as they are deployed for operations. For example, in the Central African region the Rooivalk could be useful in peace keeping missions for supporting troops, deploying troops in different areas – it is an aggressor vehicle.” Denel Aviation is currently in the final stages of delivery and will be complete by the end of the year. So far the SAAF have not deployed the Rooivalk on any military missions. While the rest of the fleet is delivered the time is being used to prepare the crews and get the pilots re-certified through internal flights, training missions and verification projects. Before the Rooivalk was upgraded and delivered to the SAAF there was interest from different parties as well. Although the Rooivalk was originally developed specifically for the SAAF groups such as the Finnish Navy, the British Army, the Australian Air Force, the Malaysian Military and the Turkish Air Force have all shown an interest but ultimately never made firm offers. Denel Aviation was responsible for the impressive upgrades and modifications that have improved the safety, reliability and weapon system accuracy to complete certification and alignment with cabinet-agreed deployment base lines. Denel only has one shareholder and that is the South African Government. Before 1992 the company served the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) exclusively but post 1992 there was a mandate to grow, expand and tap into the potentially lucrative commercial market. Mr Kgobe said: “Denel is owned 100% by the South African Government, the portfolio is managed by the Department for Public Enterprises and the minister for public enterprises who appoints a chairman on the board who is responsible for the direction of the organisation so we do report to the government although we do have equity relationships with other companies.” Although the Rooivalk project is something that is definitely on-going, there is a long term objective of growth which Mr Kgobe is keen to pursue to improve the future for Denel Aviation. “Post ’92 there was a mandate to grow, especially with exports. Our capabilities have also encouraged growth into the continental market and into the commercial sector. We support the C130 and the L100 which are transport aircraft, the Oryx helicopter
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Mike Kgone, Denel Aviation CEO
“ With dedication and hard work you will receive recognition. With dedication and hard work anything is possible” which is based on Eurocopter technologies, off the base of that we are able to support the Eurocopter Puma and the Eurocopter Super Puma. Our work with the Eurocopter process allows us also to support the B0105 and the AS350 squirrel which is used by the police. We are primarily a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) organisation so we can bring helicopters in to service or send parts and labour to the continent, which is where the Denel training academy comes in very useful.”
DENEL AVIATION
Denel Aviation employs around 1000 people and the training academy is an important part of the staffing process and an important part of the economy. Mr Kgobe said: “We take on around 15 apprentices per year, they are trained at company cost and we then absorb them into the company.” When they cannot employ all of the trainees that the academy produces Denel Aviation offer assistance to help get these young people into employment and fully utilise their skills. This is not the only contribution to the economy made by Denel Aviation. Mr Kgobe said: “We work a lot in South Africa and Africa so we keep money in the economy, we train workers for South African industries and we sub-contract work to other companies in South Africa so we are helping the economy grow. Using the Rooivalk as an example, we received the engines from an external manufacturer, the avionics are sub-contracted and some of the software systems are developed externally, of course they are all to the exact specifications that we request but it is important that we give business out, like any defence manufacturer would. “We’ve had some innovations that we have come up with that have had multiple applications away from the defence industry and these have been applied in the broader economy,” said Mr Kgobe. Along with the future growth and expansion into
commercial markets, Mr Kgobe identified MRO of external aircraft platforms as an area that could grow. “We use the training academy to impart specific skills to our trainees but they can be transferred. We are establishing the capability to support Russian helicopters; there are a lot of them flying around the continent now. There is a need for a company with our credibility to establish a service department for that platform. That will begin this year.” Mike Kgobe himself has been with the company for 12 years. He is now the chief executive officer and has been for the last two years. Previously he held various management positions and worked his way to the top job in Denel Aviation. He says there are two things that you need to get to the top: “With dedication and hard work you will receive recognition. With dedication and hard work anything is possible.” As Denel, as a group and Denel Aviation continue to grow and continue to produce world class, quality products it is certain that they will continue to contribute significantly to the South African economy, it is certain that with the influence of Mike Kgobe the company will become further relevant to the continent and it is certain that the Rooivalk helicopter will be an important tool for the SAAF with a guarantee of longevity from the manufacturer.●
Rooivalk at sunset
APRIL 12 PAGE 23
COMPANY REPORT
Providing Skills Solutions Services to Customers in Aviation and Defence Since 1994 At Louw, managing director of Denel Personnel Solutions tells IndustrySA about current activities, growth and expansion plans and the DPS contribution on the Denel group overall. By Joe Forshaw Denel Personnel Solutions (DPS) was created with four main objectives: firstly, to redeploy Denel capacity i.e. excess employees into industry. Secondly, to appoint surplus Denel apprentices into local industry. Thirdly, to accommodate changes in new labour legislation relating to skills supply and contracting between third parties and lastly to manage the Aviation Manpower Group skills contract for the SAAF. These objectives all feed into the ultimate, long-
PAGE 24 APRIL 12
term vision of being ‘the leading supplier, developer and retainer of high tech skills for aerospace, defence related and high tech customers.’ Since its founding in 1994 this is something that, so far, DPS is managing to achieve. DPS work closely with the other business entities under the Denel umbrella but managing director, At Louw, explains how they are not simply an HR department: “We are not the Denel HR department, that is sometimes a misconception for a lot of people. DPS is a registered company; we source skills for the aviation,
DENEL PERSONNEL SOLUTIONS
“ We provide technical skill capabilities to the SAAF for areas including maintenance, engineering, radar support and technical support.” defence and high tech industries. We also deal with recruitment and selection and skills contracting. We can offer administration services, payroll services and labour consultation to our customers so we have a wide portfolio of services available.” At the core of the DPS business is a strong focus on providing and retaining skilled labour for their main customer, the SAAF. “We provide technical skill capabilities to the SAAF for areas including maintenance, engineering, radar support and technical support. These are not military personnel but they are plugged into a military environment. We have about 600 people working within the SAAF across the country and we’ve had a strong relationship with them for around 40 years,” says Mr Louw. Following the global economic downturn, employment has been an issue in the forefront of many people’s minds. Mr Louw tells us that business for DPS is stable because there is always going to a requirement for the highest skilled people; even though it may not be as readily required as it was, perhaps, five years ago. The future holds growth for DPS. Expansion and growth into new areas and different markets is often a goal for many businesses but especially so for DPS. “We see our growth opportunities in diversification. There is going to be huge investment from the government in electrical power, alternative energy, transportation i.e. railways and ports, telecommunications and, of course, in the mining industry. We will target these areas as potential areas to move into in the future,” says Mr Louw. He adds: “There is growth in foreign areas, the Middle East, the Eurozone and the African continent which we have targeted as areas in which the supply of high tech skilled capabilities is something we could offer. At this point in time we would supply South African people, further promoting the industry skills that our country is rich in.” As well as managing labour forces for businesses across a range of industries and locations DPS also source skills for the Denel group itself, something which you would imagine might be easier than when dealing with an external organisations. However, Mr Louw suggests it is just as difficult when dealing with the Denel companies
as it is with any other group. “Denel companies see us as a service provider along with other similar companies. We have to compete with these other companies for the business within the Denel group which is good for us as it keeps us on our toes.” The links with Denel Aviation are obvious. DPS forms part of the Denel Aviation portfolio. Although DPS is a stand-alone company it sits within the Denel Aviation organisational structure. Because of the Denel Aviation links with the SAAF and the fact that DPS core business is complimentary of the SAAF it makes sense for them to work closely. Mr Louw says: “We supply Aviation with contracted labour, for example, they have a contract in Botswana, servicing C130s and that required some extra labour. We sourced and selected the people, we contracted them to Aviation and when the contract is over its over, then it’s our challenge to look for work for these guys elsewhere, locally or internationally.” DPS supports everyone involved in their business, not only employees. Their work impacts positively on the shareholders, the community, the customers and the economy. Because of this impact it is likely that their expansion into new markets and growth away from the defence and aviation activities will be a longterm success. ●
Denel staff at work
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COMPANY REPORT
World Class Facility Management Rentia Geldenhuys was appointed as general manager of Deniprop at the end of 2011. The appointment crowns a 19 year career with Denel. By Joe Forshaw Denel Industrial Properties (Deniprop) is one of the business entities within the Denel group which owns and manages 11 sites in the Gauteng, North West and Western Cape provinces. The goal of Deniprop is to maximise financial returns and unlock the potential of the properties through market rentals and development. Deniprop is also a key stakeholder in the Denel business at group level, providing tailored facility management and support services. Mrs Rentia Geldenhuys, general manager of Deniprop, gives IndustrySA an insight into the work that is currently underway and how services are provided to external customers as well as other Denel divisions. “Essentially we are managing all of the sites occupied by Denel on behalf of the State-owned Company. We are also renting the Kempton Park campus where Denel Aviation, Denel Aerostructures, Denel Personnel and the Denel Training Academy are based and liaising across those divisions. We also manage the Irene campus. Some
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of the functional activities have been outsourced but the maintenance and facility development is something that we manage. “Where the sites are not at capacity with Denel business we have outside tenants. This is the case in Irene and especially on the Kempton campus. Here we have around 50 smaller companies renting from us but all related to the industry.” Deniprop manages 11 sites in total around South Africa and has a presence on four of those sites. There are four sites in the Western Cape, one in Potchefstroom and five in Gauteng. The company employs around 160 people and have eight apprentices and this strong workforce is vital considering the range of different properties in the Deniprop portfolio. Their assets include offices, warehouses, laboratories, aircraft hangers and manufacturing and chemical facilities. “The apprenticeships are important as they offer new, young, talented people the chance to enter the Denel
DENEL INDUSTRIAL PROPERTIES
group and also offer longer serving employees the opportunity to train further and improve their skills in new areas” says Ms Geldenhuys. Deniprop currently has a stock of around 600,000m² of covered building and 5000 hectares of land with an estimated value of R1 billion. Mrs Geldenhuys explains that because of the sheer size of their sites Deniprop has to invest regularly in maintenance. “We don’t have any problems and we are doing quite well. We are one of the divisions which are making a profit each year which might be surprising with the global economic climate. We put a lot of money in maintenance; there is a lot of building and construction work going on at the Kempton Park and Irene campuses to improve our facilities.” The positive environment at Deniprop is something
that Mrs Geldenhuys is looking for more of going forward. “We will not be buying any new places. Our strategy is to maintain only the properties that we currently own. We will further develop these sites to keep them at a world class standard. We are not looking at selling any sites that are bases for Denel activities. For some of the sites that are empty, we are remediating and negotiating with the housing development agency over a potential deal.” Deniprop is a stand-alone company similar to Denel Aviation. As it falls under the Denel umbrella it works closely with defence, aviation and engineering companies. Deniprop is an important business entity for Denel because it contributes to the Denel values by achieving its mission to ‘contribute to the sustainability of the Denel group by providing excellent real estate management.’ ●
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COMPANY REPORT
Success on the African Seas By Abigail Saltmarsh
It was back in 1996 that Southern African Shipyards launched its shipbuilding and ship repair company from its Port of Durban base, and began charting a course that would see it sailing towards success. Today the South African-owned operation is considered a world-class enterprise in its industry, and is renowned for its forward-thinking training and recruitment programmes, as well as its impressive skill set and its ability to provide cost effective services and solutions to the global marine industry. Lucinda Creamer, PR and marketing officer at SA Shipyards, said the key to the company’s success in recent years lay in its ability to retain highly skilled employees with vital knowledge and know-how of shipbuilding and repairs. “SA Shipyards only exists because of its people,” she stressed. “We have good people – people who are highly experienced and who are hard workers. We were one of the first shipbuilding and ship repair company in South Africa to be Black Empowered. “We also have our facility, which is one of the oldest in Africa and is located at the continent’s busiest port.”
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A RICH HISTORY The yard itself has a long history, stretching back to the 1961, when a Dutch shipbuilding engineer developed Barend’s Shipyards, as a private enterprise on what was then a Greenfield site consisting of mangrove swamps and mud. In 1964, after the Norval Report, the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa provided additional development capital to promote shipbuilding as a strategic industrial initiative in South Africa. Other shipbuilding and oil rig industries developed around this initiative, including the shipbuilding yards of Dorbyl Marine, Elgin Brown and Hamer, and SANDock Austral. Today, only SA Shipyards and its joint venture partner, SAFBuild remain as Africa’s working shipyards, capable of producing large ocean going and inland waterway vessels of up to 140m in length. “The yard has a rich history,” says Ms Creamer. “In the early days, it was known for its military vessels. In the 1980s, mine hunters were built here, as well as the SAS Drakensberg, the largest ships to have been built in South Africa.”
SOUTHERN AFRICAN SHIPYARDS
TUGS AND YACHTS The shipyard was purchased from Dorbyl Marine by SA Shipyards in 1996, to take on the construction of a series of tug boats, as well as yachts. Following a temporary closure of two years, it was bought by a consortium and reopened in 2006 to build seven 70-tonne Voith Schneider harbour tugs for the Transnet National Port Authorities. “At that point, we took on 320 people to complete the job,” she explains. “That job ended last year but it set us on the path towards economic growth.” The project, and the resurgence of the shipyard, allowed the business to snowball in a variety of directions. As well as focusing on tugs, the operation has been occupied with the construction of partially fitted-out luxury motoryacht hulls and superstructures. The vessels are constructed from steel and aluminium, and range from between 42m to 95m in length. To date, 11 of them, amounting to a value of US$143 million have been constructed in the yard. In 1997 and 1998, the yard was listed as the largest producer of luxury motoryacht hulls in the world, in terms of tonnage produced per year. “This yacht work has continued,” she adds. “One of
the most exciting jobs we completed just last year was the extension of a 51m yacht, for Save Our Seas. This is used for marine surveillance and conservation. “We extended it to 66m and fitted out the whole interior – everything from the telecommunications to the spa pool. This was something different for us and represented a step in a new direction.”
MOVING INTO MINING The company, she says, is proud of all it has achieved in recent times and felt 2011 was particularly strong. A number of key projects were completed, creating an even more robust platform from which SA Shipyards can now move forward. “In addition to completing and delivering the last two tugs, we carried out work for the Moma Sands Project, in Mozambique. This saw us supply 19 pontoons, each 48m wide, 5m wide and 2.8m high, with a weight of between 90 and 100 tonnes,” she says. “We also completed six strong back structures that go on top of the pontoons. Because it is the river that is being mined, a floating system was required.”
APRIL 12 PAGE 29
COMPANY REPORT The shipyard
Moma Sands is a recently completed multi-million US dollar project on the coast of Mozambique, established to process mineral sands by means of a proven dredging, concentrating and separation method. “We also completed a job for the Cosira group, supplying structural platework that contributed to the Moma Sands Project,” she adds.
A SOLID REPUTATION Operations at SA Shipyards, which is located at the northern extremity of the KwaZulu-Natal Southern Industrial Basin, and is well supported by a wide range of complimentary industries, take place within two divisions – Shipbuilding and Ship Repair. “SA Shipyards has been blessed with some fascinating ship repair jobs since we reopened,” she points out. “The Save Our Seas project was very interesting – and our guys pulled it off extremely well. Considering there was initially just a shipbuilding operation here, it is good to know we now have a reputation in ship repair as well, and are trusted to deliver.”
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A WELL-EQUIPPED YARD The Ship Repair division is equipped with key facilities and specialised technical expertise, and has the capacity to undertake the entire works spectrum of in-voyage and in port repairs on all vessels. The Shipbuilding division is capable of building vessels up to 150m in length. The shipyard as a whole occupies 11 hectares of prime industrial ground at the southern end of Durban Bay and has a useable water frontage of some 290m. The fit-out quayside is 230m long and has a depth of between 8.5m to 5.5 chart datum. The main construction halls cover an area of 320m by 42m. The erection hall has a build clearance of 23m. There are 15 overhead gantry cranes, of which the largest has a capacity of two by 30 tonnes. Other supporting workshops, such as the mechanical, fabrication, stores and paint areas cover an additional 120m by 18m area. The build halls are fronted by a flat build way of some 220m by 32m, which has been designed for the load-out of vessels up to 140 m in length onto a floating dock or dock ship. Welding standards are according to international norms and are of the highest standards achievable in shipbuilding.
SOUTHERN AFRICAN SHIPYARDS VITAL TRAINING “The infrastructure here at the yard is good,” emphasises Ms Creamer. “We are looking to improve on a continuing basis by upgrading and adding to our equipment as necessary.” She goes on: “We feel very strongly that our people are where our innovation lies, and is where we want to invest. South Africa is a labour intensive country. We have a lot of unemployment here and when we left apartheid and joined the new democracy in 1994/1995, many of those who were skilled left South Africa, for places like Canada, Australia and the UK, where they felt there were better opportunities and fewer uncertainties. “So what we decided to do was to implement an intensive skills development programme that we had in the 80s, where we take young people from the technicons and FET colleges and give them training. They spend two days in the classroom and then work for the balance of the week. “They do tests every six months before completing their Trade Test, which is equivalent to a diploma and the highest in the sector. They are then qualified – and this is what South Africa needs.” To date, since the reimplementation of the training
programme, the company has taken on 42 apprentices in various trades. The first graduation ceremony was held at Shukela, Mount Edgecombe, in June 2011, when 13 of the apprentice boilermakers who had qualified as at the end of March 2011 graduated. The company anticipates taking on another 18 apprentices within the next two years.
LOOKING AHEAD The future of shipbuilding in South Africa - and, indeed, of industry as a whole in the country - relies on retaining existing skills and developing new ones, she insists. “We have skills that are golden here in South Africa – and we have to keep them,” she stresses. “If you keep people happy then they will stay with you.” She goes on: “The shipping industry is uncertain and so we decided we had to have the skills and infrastructure that would let us diversify. This means we are looking to move further into areas such as oil and gas and renewable energy (windmills). “We have the facilities here – we have a harbour, pit and key, which means it may well often be cheaper to
Yacht extension & redesign
APRIL 12 PAGE 31
COMPANY REPORT
The apprentices
subcontract a job to us because the transport costs are lower.” She adds: “If we see opportunities, we will take them. We are 100 per cent committed to doing whatever we can to maintain our workforce.”
• S A Shipyards is Africa’s leading commercial and naval shipbuilder and ship repairing company.
AFRICAN SOLUTIONS In the past, the company has received accolades. These have included the First National Bank’s Top Business Award for South Africa in the manufacturing sector (2009) and the National Business Award in the Manufacturing Excellence category (2010). The focus for the future is to continue to maintain the excellence by focusing hard on employees while also maintaining the high standards of the shipyard itself and looking towards greater sustainability, particularly where energy is concerned. “Within the global shipbuilding arena we are not a large player but we have our niches. We are building for Africa in Africa. We train people and, wherever possible, we use local suppliers. “If a company from another country, such as Tanzania, for example, wants us to take people from that country, train them on the project and then send them back qualified, we can do this,” says Ms Creamer. “There are problems in South Africa – but where there are problems there are solutions. South Africa is an amazing country with all sorts of possibilities. It is not just that we are in a position to think ‘out of the box’ – it’s more than that. “There is no box here at all so anything is possible and for those who are prepared for the challenge there could be big rewards.”●
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• It has two divisions - Shipbuilding and Ship Repair. • I t is one of the largest builders of Voith Schneider harbour tugs in southern Africa. • T he yard normally has between 320 and 550 people in its employ and, when required, can operate a dual-shift programme with the ship repair department working round the clock. • S A Shipyards is a fully Black Empowered company and is completely compliant with the latest South African labour legislation. It is committed to Employment Equity and the ‘upliftment’ of Previously Disadvantaged Individuals. • I t is certified as an ISO 9001:2000 company and will be issued with ISO 9001:2008 next year. • T he company sponsors and participates in the annual Sea Power for Africa Symposium that brings together all the Chiefs of African Navies and aims to ensure a secure marine environment.
COMPANY REPORT
Earth Moving Innovation By Tim Hands
Since the 1960s, Bridgestone Corporation has been an innovator in the field of off-the-road tyres, supplying a full range of products and worldwide service for mining, construction, highway service and port customers. Despite having become the quintessential name in the vastly populated field of auto part manufacturing, the very first tyre of what would become Bridgestone’s legacy was in fact rolled out under a somewhat more assuming moniker, that of the Japanese Tabi Socks Tyre Division, a tyre that would today have just marked its 82nd year off the production line. Nearly a year on and in March 1931 its founder, Shojiro Ishibashi, via a smart piece of linguistic transposition, lent the company his own surname and created in the process the now ubiquitous multinational manufacturer. In its nascent days Bridgestone set out its desire to eschew the technological capabilities afforded by European and North American counterparts, instead choosing to rely solely on the manufacturing processes of its native Japan. In this way the company allowed itself to experience, and subsequently overcome the resultant difficulties in the early days of manufacturing, and use these new-found experiences in manufacturing processes to rapidly expand on both the domestic and overseas markets.
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A quick trip through the resultant years illustrates yet further this process of meeting and overcoming adversity, in order to strengthen and grow, which has come to characterise the company. Perhaps the clearest example of this is the ability to survive, and eventually grow, in the aftermath of the most destructive of periods. Bridgestone suffered badly even before the devastation wreaked by the conflict could finally be tallied at the end of the Second World War. The regulations implemented throughout Japan in this period meant that nearly all of the company’s output was swallowed up by the demands of the country’s military operations, which, coupled with the destruction of its Tokyo headquarters in a catastrophic bombing raid, should surely have spelled disaster for a company so heavily reliant on its Japanese foundations. Not so, in this case. Although logistically improbable, Bridgestone was able to instead feel almost no ill effects of such disastrous years for the majority of its fellow manufacturers, switching its attentions to the unscathed plants in Kurume and Yokohama and carrying forth its
BRIDGESTONE TYRES
operations on yet stronger foundations. In quick time it was able to gain and cement its position as Japan’s largest tyre manufacturer in 1953, from its newly reconstructed headquarters in the heart of Tokyo, with sales topping the ten billion Yen mark. Although only comparable to the conflict of the Second World War in terms purely of its ability to bring financial destruction to multinational companies, the most significant challenge faced by the sternly-constructed Bridgestone foundations in recent times has been the ubiquitous global recession. With household names seemingly buckling daily under the resulting pressure it is therefore testament to the celebrated Bridgestone solidity that it has managed to emerge having sustained nothing like the damage reported in Europe or the United States; conversely, the growth so often elusive in times of recession has been seen across all of the company’s mining sectors in South Africa. It would of course be impossible to escape any diminishment in custom in the gloomy financial climate that continues to maintain its grip on the world’s manufacturers, and Jordan San, National Operations Manager for the Earthmover Tyres Division in South Africa, admits that the sectors concerned with construction and road works have to date “taken a beating,” echoing the type of challenges felt recently by so many of his fellows and competitors.
Most surprising about this assertion is the way in which it is expressed almost as an afterthought, a distraction from discussions the continual progress in evidence within the company. This is perhaps characteristic of a man who has spent the last 28 years working his way through the Bridgestone ranks, taking over his current division in 1998. “I started when we were originally Firestone, right back in 1976,” he recounts, “and then I had a break of 18 months after seven and a half years, and then started back in 1985.” Far from walking into his current role on returning, he instead tells of the painstaking rise through the many facets of the company; “I went through the call centres, where we took the orders, worked in logistics, the accounts department, the technical department, then I started as a salesman on the road.” It would read as quite a CV had he notched up this list of competences and decided to stay put, but clearly Mr San felt he had further to go with the company; “After this I went through the various sales divisions: light truck, passenger, the commercial and earth moving divisions, and I started in this position in 1998.” An exhaustive list, undoubtedly, and one which points to a man comprehensively qualified to delineate the inner workings of the manufacturer. The Earthmover division, headed up in South Africa by Mr San, gave rise in 2001 to what transpired to garner the title of the world’s largest tyre, the V-Steel E-Lug S. It
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BRIDGESTONE TYRES simultaneously cemented Bridgestone’s global dominance in the field of earthmoving equipment, and allowed mine operators in the Americas, Australia, Asia, and many other regions to adopt larger equipment to lower operating costs, paving the way for a new generation of ultra-large earthmoving equipment. To this day the earthmover division continue to expand the diversity of products they can offer to their global customer base, catering for the needs of even the most specific operators in this esoteric field. In a similar vein, this expansion and development is mirrored throughout Bridgestone’s South African division. Mr San is admirably matter-of-fact in his assessment of where the main focus of the company continues to lie; “If you’re talking in terms of units, the passenger, light truck and commercial tyres far outweighs our division.” Sparking many of the breathless superlatives in company quarters is the arrival of what is billed “ Bridgestone’s most technically advanced high performance tyre”, the Potenza S001, boasting an impressive array of attributes which purport to add up to the perfect solution in both wet and dry conditions. Let it not be supposed that this leaves the Earthmover division as a secondary concern to the hegemony of the commercial side, however, as Mr San is quick to add; “if you look at the value of each sector, I think we manage to balance out.” While there may be an understandable disparity in the units shifted by each division, the supply to the construction and mining sector remains pivotal to the core of the company. Opening its first overseas plant in Singapore in 1965, the expansion of the company has since led to its accrual of manufacturing locations spanning the world, examples of which lie in France, Canada, China, and South Africa, significantly dubbed “one of the most advanced factories around.” It retains nevertheless a crucial link with its Japanese counterparts. “A lot of research and development
Earthmovers in action
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comes through Japan,” outlines Mr San when the subject of new products is raised, “and that’s the same globally. Each market will feedback to them exactly what they want the tyre to do and then see what they can come up with.” The South African division of Bridgestone accounts for around 3900 jobs in the country. Mr San speaks of “good demand” as the country’s mines step up the rate of their production in line with the demand globally for raw materials. The company holds a similarly secure foothold in a “very, very competitive” market for passenger and light commercial tyres. This is explained thusly by Mr San; “Our brand awareness is very good, along with a good customer database.” Of course, all of this means nothing in terms of a building an enduring brand if what is being offered does not meet the demands of its consumers: “Put simply, our product performs very well. Thanks to this, the mouth-to-mouth advertising we get is really important.” Typical of the industry is the tendency of those within it to talk about the products that they use, and for Bridgestone the good reports far outweigh any negative intra-industry press. With the point of its focus firmly set on pushing forward in its diverse portfolio of tyre products, not least on its burgeoning relationship with Moto GP, for whom it has since 2009 been the sole tyre supplier, Bridgestone are furthering their own creative competences with forays into the conveyor belting market, as well as the introduction of its full tyre management service on offer to companies. Its mission is clearly stated, it is the desire to “serve society with superior quality,” and through the teamwork and creative pioneering which have always been so key to its operations, Bridgestone looks to further develop, in ever more environmental ways, the safety and comfort behind that very first tyre, 82 years on. ●
HOWDEN AFRICA Deep level mine ice plant
Something in the Air at Howden Africa By Joe Forshaw
Johannesburg-based Howden Africa focuses on the marketing, design, turnkey project management, manufacture, and life time maintenance of air and gas handling solutions for air-heat exchangers, process plant cooling and mine cooling/ heating, environmental control and furnaces. CEO and director Thomas Bärwald offers IndustrySA an insight into its current success. From small beginnings back in 1952, supplying fans to the mining and power industries, Howden Africa has become one of the top engineering companies in the world. Headquartered in Johannesburg, it has grown to become a leading operation, which serves a range of sectors, and has a close relationship with the mining and energy industries, explains CEO and director Thomas Bärwald.
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“Our main projects going on right now are the supply of air and gas handling equipment for the two new power stations in South Africa, which are Medupi and Kuseli. These are really important contracts for us currently,” he says. “We are also supplying major turnkey ventilation projects and ice plants for the ultra-deep gold mines and platinum coal mines in South Africa and we also currently have major contracts within the rest of Africa to supply ventilation equipment to deep mines - the mines are up to four km deep, so it’s really a long way down.”
PART OF THE GROUP Howden Africa is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with the majority of shares owned by Howden Group PLC in the UK. Its main products are split into two divisions; fans and heat exchangers and environmental
HOWDEN AFRICA control. The history of the Howden Group as a whole goes back to Glasgow, Scotland, where James Howden set up business as a consulting engineer in 1854. His business grew steadily and he began to patent his engineering inventions and ideas. Through mergers and acquisitions Howden saw further expansion over the years. Today, the group is now a worldwide outfit and operates in 17 different countries. Howden employs nearly 5,000 people and owns a network of companies in the engineering sector. Its equipment is found in nearly every heavy process industry and many of their products are true innovations known for reliability and state-of-the-art technological ideas.
AN ICE COOL OPERATION Howden Africa moved into the production of pump systems in the 1970s and then later diversified into mine cooling and refrigeration, and air and gas cleaning products. Now a leader in its field, it prides itself on its constant development and innovation, serving the mining, power and petrochemical industries, as well as cement, nuclear, oil and gas, transport, defence, iron and steel and sugar. “The ice plants are almost a new venture for us, they used to be quite operative in the 80s but revived demand
for ultra-deep mining is now, again a reality” says Mr Bärwald. “We are currently supplying a ten mega-watt ice plant, where we create 33kg of hard ice per second and it is pumped down into the mine shafts to the coal faces.” The ice plants used in the ultra-deep mines are closely connected with the refrigeration sector of Howden. Refrigeration is needed in many industries and primarily in the food industry. Howden compressors are at the heart of many refrigeration plants and the ice plants and are used in activities such as food preparation and production, food storage and freezing facilities.
IMPORTANT CONTRACTS Another primary business venture for Howden Africa, again involved with the mining industry, is the ventilation of mines across Africa and South Africa. Mr Bärwald says: “We have some really substantial turnkey mine ventilation supply contracts in Africa, we supply ventilation equipment directly to the mining companies and ventilation of mine shafts is important business for us. “Our mine ventilation activity outside of South Africa is also under increasing demand. Southern and Western Africa has a lot more demand than before and this is changing our activities.”
A Howden De-dusting plant
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HOWDEN AFRICA
There has been increased exploration and mine development in Africa, with a focus on gold, coal, copper and diamond research. With most African countries having some sort of mining programme Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania and Gabon have attracted significant interest and have plans for major new mines already underway or ready to get underway in the near future. In the power and petrochemical industry, Howden Africa has some very large service and maintenance contracts in which it maintains existing plants. “These contracts are substantial and of great importance to us,” he stresses.
CLEAN AIR South Africa has a new Clean Air Act, which was commissioned on April 1, 2010. Companies are now required to manage and monitor emissions and invest in environmental control. Mr Bärwald is confident, saying: “We expect our advanced environmental control products at large size industrial plants are well suited to help minimise the environmental pollution impact in Africa. “Our environmental control division is growing. We have good, proven products for de-dusting and desulphurisation, and we expect the sale and size of these products to expand in years to come. “A few years ago we installed and commissioned a large scale de-dusting plant for ArcelorMittal in South Africa Surface ventilation fan at a coal mine
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and the community and the customer has seen this as a great success in terms of cleaning the steel plant.”
GLOBAL RECOGNITION Away from Africa, there are opportunities for Howden going forward as an international group, explains Mr Bärwald. “In Russia, there is a large focus on the mining industry but not so much in Europe. Each continent has its own division and they all focus on their own activities and opportunities but as an international outfit we are working with all the major mining houses in the world and our work is recognised by each of them.” Howden Africa is itself continually being recognised by a range of different bodies for the work it does. “We are an ISO9001 company, of course, and an ISO14000 company,” he says. “We are an Occupational Health 18000 company and we have the local health and safety NOSA five star award. We also have been recognised by the stock market, last year, again to be the fourth best performing company for return on investment over a five year period. That is the fourth year in a row we have been in the top five per cent of the stock market. Only six companies in South Africa have achieved this consistency on the stock market during that period.” These awards all represent the type of company Howden Africa is, a highly professional, top performing
TRUST BLUE There is no substitute for quality and safety www.pferd.com
HOWDEN AFRICA
Fabricating casing for boiler fans
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HOWDEN AFRICA
and worldwide success story. Not many organisations are able to launch local expertise and techniques into a global market with the level of success that Howden Africa has had.
ACROSS AFRICA Although formed in 1952, a full 98 years after the original company was created, Howden Africa’s methods and ideas are shared through all the divisions of the group, to great benefit. “Howden comes from the steam ship industry and developed ventilation fans and heat exchangers. They exported a lot around the world. Then they expanded outside Europe, I think Howden Africa is the third oldest company within Howden,” says Mr Bärwald. “With the increase in mining and power demand in Africa, Howden decided to set up permanently here. Since then, the mining and power industries have really exploded in South Africa and across the border in Africa - and so we have grown with them. We are using the Howden license so we use all the same technology that the other global Howden divisions use.” With the current economic climate, it has been challenging for businesses across all industries to remain competitive – and even with its strong history, Howden Africa has had to remain vigilant. “Some parts of our business have been affected but others have grown. The building and cement industry has slowed but fortunately they only contribute a small proportion of our business. Business overall is good, the share price says it all” says Mr Bärwald
QUALITY EMPLOYEE RETENTION Any company moving forward and looking to maintain good business and to expand will need to work with the best staff, and Howden Africa is a leader in quality employee retention, as well as training and development, he suggests. “We are a BEE company, level four. We are training 31 apprentices and 16 matured workers to be tradesmen each year and we have, generally, 10 learners per year. That is roughly 15 per cent of the entire staff. “We are also sponsoring, quite actively, eight mechanical engineering students in the universities around South Africa - they’re a bit like our trainees, they work for us in the holidays and then we look to bring them on when they finish their studies,” he says. “We sponsor all our employees’ children in education and, of course, that focuses on mathematics and accounting because that forms a lot of our business. All our new,
young engineers will go to the Howden Academy at the Caledonian University in Glasgow. They receive product knowledge training over the three to four week course. “We have an engineering ladder, whereby our engineers can form a career path within Howden Africa and also globally. Any engineer can get on the ladder and make their way up to chief engineer and be reimbursed on the same level as managers. This ensures that we have the best engineers on the front line as well as top management behind the scenes.”
A SOLID FUTURE It is initiatives like this that give Howden Africa a good reputation and make it a desirable company to work for. “We have a good reputation in South Africa; people on the street will know our name and know it is synonymous with quality” said Mr Bärwald. Because of the enormous focus on building a quality workforce, the range of different products and services offered and the variety of opportunities or the future it is understandable that Thomas Bärwald seems confident about the next few years at Howden Africa. After escaping unscathed from the world recession and still bringing contracts in and giving work out Howden Africa sits in a strong position as one of the leading engineering companies in not just South Africa but Africa as a whole. ●
Thomas Bärward Thomas Bärwald has been with Howden for 22 years. “I started as a young engineer before becoming a project engineer. I later became a manufacturing engineer, service engineer, service manager and operations manager,” he says. “Eventually I got the job as managing director and now I am CEO of Howden Africa and the Howden Global executive director for the southern hemisphere.” He adds: “We need good young engineers as there is a generation change coming up. That is typical in mechanical engineering, we have a strong team but soon enough people will retire. “We have a lot of good juniors and at Howden Africa they will mature quickly to take on opportunities.”
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COMPANY REPORT
DHL - The Strongest Capabilities in Logistical Services By Tim Hands It is now more than 40 years since the DHL brand’s creators first conceived the idea of international express delivery, with Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn the pioneers behind its establishment in 1969. Now closely affiliated with the Germany-based Deutsche Post AG, the world’s largest air courier company and successor to the German mail authority Deutsche Bundespost, it is a match-up boasting enormous collective understanding in the Express division of its operations. Since 2002, DHL has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Post, with the DHL brand being applied not only to its Express division, but also expanded across further divisions, business units and subsidiaries. At present, the Deutsche Post DHL Corporation is responsible for the employment of more than 450,000 people, spreading their services across more than 220 countries throughout the world, combining to achieve revenue in excess of € 51.48 billion in 2010. The DHL brand incorporates four principal divisions, with the Mail section of its operation serving to add to these impressive numbers, delivering as it does in the region of 70 million letters each day in its headquarters occupying Germany and beyond, through its International Services. The carrying of goods by rail, road, air and sea comes under its Forwarding/ Freight division, while the Supply Chain/Corporate Information Solutions provides its customers with such contract logistics and corporate solutions as warehousing and warehouse transport services. It is the Express division that is charged with the transporting of courier, parcel and express shipments worldwide, with 100,000 employees ensuring the safest and swiftest arrival of the packages of its 2.5 million customers. It is certainly all a far cry from the door-to-door approach with which the DHL brand undertook its initial dealings in the nascent field of international express delivery, with Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn in turn conceiving the international air express industry in 1969. It was Hillblom’s decision to take up as a full-time business the courier duties
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he had initially begun as a means to gain some income whilst undertaking his studies in law. Filling a niche offered by no other company at the time, he and his eventual partners took on the flying of bills of lading, a document sent between the shipper of a particular good and its carrier, from San Francisco to Honolulu. The use of air transportation was in itself yet further evidence of the ingenuity of the group, with the three partners pioneering another commodity which would later prove to be pivotal to business in order to fund their expenses – the corporate credit card. The reason behind their innovative use of the flight option as mode of delivery of these documents was initially a time-saving device when passing through customs: essentially, customs were able to process the goods’ arrival before they were even present in the destination country, reducing waiting times in the harbour and in turn incurring fewer delays on the part of DHL. The time thereby saved was subsequently passed on to its customers, with word rapidly spreading and allowing DHL to found this new sector of industry. The ensuing years illustrate the extent of DHL’s expansions worldwide, with 1979 bringing not only its tenth birthday, but also the introduction of its South African offices, having increased its operations to the running of 360 service centres to provide for the 85,000 customers then counting on DHL and its express delivery expertise. The launch of its services in Johannesburg also served to garner this innovative company a number of other ‘firsts’, not least that it became as a result the first international express, overland transport and air freight company in Africa, allowing it to subsequently develop integrated ground and regional air networks. Its South African division operates on a somewhat less humble scale than that evidenced in the facilities put in place for its inception in Johannesburg; the three men working out of a single office in its largest city has today grown into a staff of more than 800, with its 30 years in the country also seeing DHL cover the provinces with an all-encompassing 12 offices. It is clear that this is a company not content to
DHL
merely celebrate past innovations and innumerable glories, describing DHL South Africa as “all about the earliest delivery, the latest pick-up times, and overnight capacity to more than 100 African destinations,” checking off in one fell swoop the key expectations of any such delivery service with its remarkable capabilities. It is those ubiquitous yellow delivery vans, those with which we have come to associate the very concept of express delivery, that adorn the homepage of its www.dhl.co.za website. DHL Express also continues to make ever more usage of the carriage by which it was able to create the brand, with one of its 250 dedicated aircraft showcased in the pictorial roll call of transport. These planes alone make on average 1760 flights each day, serving both domestic and international needs, while its ground routes are covered by a fleet of approximately 31,000 owned and subcontracted trucks and vans. It is unrealistic and logistically impossible to picture a scenario whereby
DHL could offer its solutions without the capability of its fuel-powered vehicles, and so the impact of its work on the environment is clearly an issue at the forefront of all its dealings, one that DHL has tackled across its entire range of transportation solutions. Within the collection of its aircraft and facilities, DHL Express has “established guidelines that ensure only the safest and most modern, climate-friendly aircraft are used at all times.” Illustrative of its focus on keeping abreast of and employing the very latest in ecologically sound solutions, this drive is backed up by the necessity of all its new air facilities to “offer state-of-the-art technology and the highest environmental and safety standards.” Clearly, while the necessary usage of air transport at a time when environmental matters have never been closer to the forefront of the collective conscious is a factor that may invite criticism from some parts, that its industry-leading sector solutions are carried out with such a desire to ensure it
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DHL
“ DHL Express also continues to make ever more usage of the carriage by which it was able to create the brand, with one of its 250 dedicated aircraft.”
is also at the forefront of its ecological responsibilities is yet another feature to set it apart. Not limited to its aircraft, such measures have also been applied to certain vans in DHL’s fleet, the fuel of which has been updated to a compressed natural gas, and which it aims to implement into 50% of its vehicles. The Deutsche Post DHL group is also one clearly committed to the social responsibility it holds. It is the principle sponsor of Leadership Magazine’s Tomorrow’s Leaders conference, which this year treated the everimportant theme of sustainable leadership. Its generous sponsorship therefore affords South Africa’s young and emergent leaders and executives the opportunity for active debate and learning, furthering their awareness of what Charles Brewer, MD of DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa, terms, “the complex independency between the needs of individuals, business, the markets we operate in and our society.” The Group’s GoGreen program, with the question of
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climate protection in mind, made Deutsche Post DHL “the first logistics sector company to set a concrete carbon efficiency goal”, with a target of achieving a 30 per cent improvement in its CO2 efficiency by the year 2020. Not limited to thoughts of its climate-friendly GoGreen products and services, Deutsche Post DHL also provides logistical support to relief organizations at times of natural disasters, rounding off its dedication to social issues as a founding partner of Teach First Germany, striving to afford equal educational opportunities at schools for children and young people. DHL proudly speaks of having been built on a “cando spirit, backed by solid know-how,” vowing to act “with integrity internally and externally”. Clearly the Group has taken on the challenge of “Managing a profitable business whilst ensuring the health of local & global environments”, as its CEO, Frank Appel, delineates the wish “to help shape the dialog on sustainable business”, and press forth in its expansion as the global market leader of the international express and logistics industry. ●
COMPANY REPORT
Something special about Oak Valley By Joe Forshaw
In 1898 Dr Antonie Viljoen bought the Oak Valley estate in the Elgin Valley, not far from Cape Town. Antonie was a medical doctor who studied at Edinburgh University in Scotland. His parents chose him as the only one of their ten children to send away to be educated. Prior to the Boer war Dr Antonie had started a medical practice in the gold mining area of Krugersdorp where he was appointed as a medical consultant to Randfontein Estates Gold Mining Company and where he accumulated the money to buy the Oak Valley Estate. Dr Antonie signed up as a medical officer in the Boer army during the Anglo Boer War but was captured by the British and was placed on parole on Oak Valley under “farm arrest” until the end of the war in 1902. In 1916 Antonie was knighted for his efforts to reconcile Boer and Brit for which cause he campaigned both within the Cape Parliament and later in the Senate, in the bitter aftermath of the war. Sir Antonie is the great grandfather of the current managing director and owner of the estate Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen. This historic family connection runs throughout the business and will continue to run in the future with Anthony’s son Christopher joining the business after finishing studying for a Masters degree in
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Wine Business at Adelaide University in Australia. Oak Valley Estate is set across 1786 hectares and has four main business areas; fruit, gourmet meats, flowers and wine. Mr Rawbone-Viljoen explained that the sale of their highly rated fruit was currently the largest of the four business units. He said: “At the core of what we do is the fruit business which historically goes back to 1900 when the first commercial orchard was established. It was the first commercial orchard for the fruit industry in the whole of this region, which is now the top apple producing region in the whole of South Africa.” Oak Valley Estate has around 350 hectares of apple and pear orchards and they produce an annual average of around 18 000 tons with 75% being apples and 25% being pears. The fruit produced is marketed under the Tru-Cape brand and this helps Oak Valley to be the largest exporters of apples and pears out of South Africa with a combined 12million cartons sold to foreign and local markets each year. Mr Rawbone-Viljoen explained the importance of each market that Oak Valley exports to. “The UK is our most important market and the Far East is our second most important. We also export to the Middle East, Europe and North America. We do have a very big local market
OAK VALLEY
The diversification and expansion at Oak Valley does not stop with just a new restaurant. Another new business venture for the estate is the mountain biking experience.
presence and of our total production roughly 60% is exported and 40% is marketed locally and over the border in Africa, so we do have quite a diverse market place.” The production of flowers on the Estate began in 1978, mainly to serve the target markets of the Western and Southern Cape. Oak Valley manages 17 hectares of greenhouse structures. Mr Rawbone-Viljoen said: “Our greenhouses are very modern indeed; in fact our Alstroemeria greenhouse is the most modern greenhouse in South Africa.” Growing flowers on the Estate offers the opportunity to flatten out seasonal dips in production as different flowers grow well at different times of year. Oak Valley Flowers offers such a large range there is a flower to suit almost any occasion. Mr Rawbone-Viljoen remarked: “It’s quite a diverse offering and when the Dutch visit they’re absolutely astounded that we try to do so many things at once.” He added: “We grow Gladioli in summer and Iris in winter; we also buy in product from places as far away as Kenya to supplement our own production.” Oak Valley Flowers is now the largest flower grower and wholesaler in the Western Cape. One of the most exciting and most recent additions
to the business at Oak Valley is the production of wine. Although Sir Antonie Viljoen planted wine grapes and built a wine cellar on the Estate in 1907, but sadly it was taken out of production during World War II and the first commercial wine in more recent times was not sold until 2003. The wine was a sauvignon blanc and, like everything at Oak Valley, it had undergone years of careful development and quality control to ensure it met the exemplary standards set by the company. In 1985 the first vineyards of the modern era were planted and the operation began as an experiment in conjunction with the research station Nietvoorbij in Stellenbosch. Through trial and error and rigorous testing procedures the direction of the wine business became clearer and eventually a commercial vineyard was planted in 1992. Today there are 48 hectares of vineyard on the estate in total. The range of wine produced is now extensive and has won too many awards to list including a Decanter international trophy for the best Bordeaux style red wine in the world as well as an award at the International Wine Challenge for the best South African white wine. Mr Rawbone-Viljoen said: “It was a real leap forward for us, we will continue to submit our wines and given the track record we’re hopeful there might be some
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COMPANY REPORT
Pieter Visser, Wine maker
more good news for us.” He added: “We’ve never had less than four out of five stars in the Platter wine guide which is a very comprehensive wine guide; in fact it’s been voted the best wine guide in the world on a number of occasions and to be recognised in Platter in this way shows the success we’ve achieved in a relatively short time frame.” The next wine to be released under the Oak Valley brand will be a Shiraz. Winemaker Pieter Visser has been experimenting with this varietal and is happy that the wine is almost ready for distribution into the commercial market place. In the future Oak Valley will be experimenting with a Riesling to add a Noble Late Harvest to the range. The gourmet meat branch of the business has offered a real opportunity for innovation and creativity. The grass fed, free range, Simmentaler cattle at Oak Valley graze on 583 hectares of open pastures and the free range pigs are fed on acorns harvested from the 4000 oak trees grown on the Estate. Mr Rawbone-Viljoen explained the
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advantages of this: “An acorn has an enzyme which softens the intramuscular fat and it’s the fat that has the flavour.” One of the new ventures for Oak Valley is the production of Wagyu beef. Wagyu beef is the breed that produces the famous Japanese Kobe beef. The first Wagyu calves were born on Oak Valley in September 2008, and they will form the nucleus of a planned breeding programme. By using the Simmentaler cattle as hosts Oak Valley hope to continually produce pure breed Wagyu. “We have some of the best genetics for Wagyu. The genetic material was imported from Australia and the Australians got their material from the Japanese so this is about the closest you can get to the best in the world” said Mr Rawbone-Viljoen. To complement the pork, beef and wine production Oak Valley will be opening a restaurant, deli and wine tasting facility on the estate in September. The menu will rotate around the Wagyu beef; the Simmentaler beef and the pork and all of this will be prepared in the new wood-fired oven and grill. Oak Valley clearly views this as a major opportunity, Mr RawboneViljoen said: “The restaurant project is being driven mainly by my son. We hope that this will attract people and further boost the sale of wine and meats as well as charcuterie products. Obviously with the recession there has been a lot of restaurant closure so it’s probably pretty cheeky for us to be opening one but in terms of sourcing equipment we have really benefited, there have been many offers available from projects that have closed down.” The diversification and expansion at Oak Valley does not stop with just a new restaurant. Another new business venture for the Estate is mountain biking. Launched in 2008, there are now three marked routes; the green route for families, the red route for stronger riders and the black route for more advanced riders. Mr RawboneViljoen said: “The black route is almost a death wish, there’s the medium route and then an easier one for families with children so there’s a mixed offering and it’s been very successful, the number of riders grew by 37% last year and we hope with the restaurant project we will attract people to eat and drink after their bike rides.” The Estate is currently playing host, for the fifth time, to the Cape Epic mountain biking race. Cape Epic is one of the biggest and toughest mountain biking races in the world and most of the world’s best riders will be involved. “If you want to do the Cape Epic you have to
OAK VALLEY
be at least partially deranged, people say it’s one of the most challenging sporting events in the world” said Mr Rawbone-Viljoen. Cape Epic attracts the second largest television audience of any staged bike race in the world, behind only the Tour de France. At Oak Valley the attention to detail and the focus on quality ensure that every product is recognised as a leader in its market. The wine, meat, fruit and flowers have all won awards for excellence and quality and with the mountain biking trails becoming increasingly popular and the imminent opening of the new restaurant Oak Valley will have further opportunities to showcase their outstanding products. It is important to recognise that the quality elements of the Oak Valley business all come from the high standards set by the staff and management. The majority of senior staff area all long serving employees of the estate and the family feel that you get from the management is further reinforced when you look at the staff retention statistics. With Anthony’s son Christopher in line to take the Estate into the fifth generation of Viljoen family ownership this family feel will no doubt continue and the quality of produce will remain as high as ever. ●
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Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen tells us that the key to success is good employees. The HR strategy at Oak Valley is undoubtedly working, with high levels of staff retention and employee satisfaction. Oak Valley can act as an inspiration to future managers and the business owners of tomorrow. Mr Rawbone-Viljoen’s advice: “Your business is nothing unless you have quality people to manage. Unless you have exceptional mangers it’s impossible to do the work from the core. We rely on exceptional people and the fact that they tend to stay for a long time is heartening because a company cannot afford to change management on a regular basis. “We try to look after our people and I think that’s one of the reasons why we are successful in retaining quality staff”
A baby Asian Elephant weighs about 1.2 tons
APL Cartons was founded in 1988 to meet the needs of its shareholders in the thoughest market of all, the export fruit market. It is this commitment to meet the exceedingly stringent demands of the world’s most sophisticated markets that has moulded and tempered the core of this business and which will ensure its continued competitiveness and success in the domestic markets.
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APL Cartons’ cartons are made to withstand the weight of more than that...
APL Cartons is a significant player in the corrugated industry and they believe that their business is built on the pillars of outstanding service levels, excellent quality and best value for money. A flat organizational structure and “hands-on” approach, results in clients enjoying the power and impact of a major supplier, whilst not losing the drive and energy of a small company. Commitment to their employees, the community in which they live, and their environment, is driven from a base of a strong value system. This makes them strong.
Abattoir Road - P.O. Box 345 - Worcester - 6850 Tel: +27 23 348 5500 - Fax: +27 23 348 5511
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Only applies to certain cartons - contact APL for more details.
APRIL 12 PAGE 51
COMPANY REPORT
Organic Bananas in a Big Way! Must be Umbhaba Estates… When we bought our first banana farm it took a number of years, a large amount of (borrowed) capital and a lot of pain to pack the first carton of bananas.
By Joe Forshaw
Bananas are one of the most commonly eaten fruit on the planet. Countries that have the appropriate climate to produce bananas do so for a number of reasons. The first reason is to eat. In countries such as India and Brazil large amounts of bananas are grown and consumed locally. They form part of a staple diet. The second reason is to sell. Central America and the Caribbean grow a large quantity of bananas, mainly for export to Europe and North America. The third reason, and probably the least recognised, is for the production of other goods such as dried fruit, baby food, ornamental plants and, especially, fibres. Bananas are now grown in at least 107 countries around the world. Not all of these countries have a suitable climate so various farming methods have been introduced to aid production. Peter Chapman reminds us in his 2007 book on the banana trade that because of their insignificant price we often forget the importance of the banana trade to the people who produce them, stating: “…while bananas feature in many jokes, no one laughs at the banana in its areas of origin. It is too serious a business, on which jobs and lives
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depend.” This is something that is true in South Africa and in particular in Mpumalanga where the Umbhaba Estates banana business is based. Founded in 1979 by Roy and Cheryl Plath, Umbhaba is a family run business producing bananas solely for the South African market. It has grown into an empire with an extensive list of business undertakings ranging from pack house activities to steel fabrication. It is therefore a truly vertically integrated family business. In a recent interview with IndustrySA Roy Plath explained how the company has grown over the last 33 years, the challenges that they have overcome and the opportunities for the future. “We started off with nothing, we involved the banks and pushed them for every cent possible, we took ourselves to the limit of debt and then went beyond those limits – which is not recommended. Farming requires massive capital investment and, in hindsight, probably most other enterprises in business would appear to be a much easier route, if life was about making money. I believe that if I had put the same amount of effort into most other industries,
UMBHABA ESTATES
I would have been more successful but I definitely don’t regret it. It has been good fun, your attitude has to be tenacious and you cannot consider failure; that just cannot be a part of your mentality.” To be a world class grower of bananas you cannot just have some land and plants, there is a complex web of puzzling issues to navigate. Like some other fruits they are very easily blemished, perishable and difficult to store, especially outside of their ideal climate. They have a brief shelf life and demands from retailers put huge pressure on the business to turn around bananas from refrigerated storage to shop shelves in a minimal time period as Mr Plath explained: “We supply some of the biggest chain stores in South Africa and some of these stores will finalise orders this afternoon, expect bananas to be with them tonight and that same fruit will be in stores tomorrow morning. This means our offload slot times are one and two ‘o clock in the morning so it’s very tight. You need a whole smooth system that runs on a schedule, it is very onerous and demanding – there is no time for play, this is hard work.” The Umbhaba business employs over 2000 people and
has many factors to consider. They undertake their own transport, their own marketing, their own mechanical repairs, they have a steel fabrication unit and they have a building and construction and civil work division. All of these arms of the business operate in the pursuit of cost reduction and creating overall profitability which, in turn, gives Umbhaba the leading edge in the industry. As if the business is not busy enough, in 2003 they became certified as a fully organic grower, entering into a niche market and creating a unique selling point for their entire supply of bananas. The production of organic food is highly controlled because it is produced using no toxic chemicals in any of the processes, from growth in field through to packaging. Mr Plath said: “I realised about twenty years ago that it doesn’t make any sense to have toxic chemicals involved in the growing of food, there is a contradiction there. I then decided to go organic because it just didn’t seem to make sense the other way. It has presented its challenges, which hardly any other banana grower is prepared to undertake.” “We are audited once a year and scrutinised diligently
APRIL 12 PAGE 53
COMPANY REPORT to EU standards, not because we need to be but because we want to be. Everything is organic and there really is a difference there” said Mr Plath. To ensure the perfect organic produce ends up with the consumer, Umbhaba not only pays close attention to detail in terms of the growth of their bananas but also to all other facets including transport, security and training. “We monitor our business through various linked systems and we have a security control room where we are able to track and monitor our trucks, on-screen, twenty four hours a day. We have numerous alarm systems and key observation technologies within our company so that we don’t have to run around visiting critical sites such as pack houses etc. There would not be sufficient hours in a day for the few key highly skilled managers to be at all important places in the business. Critically important to us is that we engage in
constant, calculated on-the-job training in order to build people up, to encourage and enhance their skills” said Mr Plath. This focus on the smaller issues ensures a quality product every time and Umbhaba is an extremely quality conscious organisation looking to ensure customer value. Organic Growing is more difficult and more expensive than other conventional farming methods but as an industry leader this is something that Umbhaba embraces and prides itself on. “For example we cannot control weeds in our orchards by spraying with herbicides (which is quick and easy to cover a large area); we have to mechanically remove weeds with miniature tractors and mostly by hand with a hoe so that is a very labour intensive job. We deal with insect problems exclusively with newly developed organic products rather than toxic products, so it is all very challenging” said Mr Plath.
Fighting through the red tape The views of Roy Plath MD After growing his business through various challenges and difficulties Roy Plath champions the principles of free market economies. He is not afraid to speak out against legislations and government bureaucracy that, in his opinion, certainly have negative effects on business and the economy in general. “We have an excessive amount of legislation and red tape being developed in our country and this is having a negative effect on our free market understanding of business. It doesn’t help with the creation of jobs or with the movement towards a more vibrant economy. The only countries that prosper are those that have had a free market system with less and less involvement from the state. “These legislations, many of which are superfluous, make business more difficult both from a financial and practical point of view. I personally, along with our key people, spend a lot of time dealing with legislation that is unnecessary and uncalled for. It is predominantly around labour and most certainly these regulations end up
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having the reverse effect and actually cause unemployment. We end up hurting ourselves and preventing the country from genuinely moving forwards, unfortunately no one seems to be listening. “We received our first cheque from the banana control board which was a monopolistic government system of marketing, so I played a necessary role in the demise of the control board organisations in the mid 1990s,” said Mr Plath. The UK, Germany and the USA are about as close to free market economies as you can theoretically get. Compare these with countries like North Korea and Zimbabwe, which are of the worst dictatorship type with total government intervention control. They are typical communist type economies that result in low per capita incomes and serious poverty. The comparison is self-explanatory with the obvious benefits of the free market system aiding the growth of everyone in these nations. The Umbhaba website displays a quote from the World Bank: “…the least amount of regulation fosters the strongest economies.” This is a message that Umbhaba strongly advocates.
UMBHABA ESTATES Something that we see from all of the successful industry leaders is a focus on delivering quality, satisfying the customer and keeping a close eye on the small details. That is evident at Umbhaba and Mr Plath has been instilling these ideas into his children who are positively taking over the everyday running of the company. Entrepreneurial spirit is a quality that we see passed down through family companies a lot and Umbhaba looks set to follow this trend. Mr Plath said: “All of my children are involved. My son Shane is the CEO-Designate of the company. My son Dean runs the operation near Hazyview and Kiepersol. My son-in-law Joshua runs the electrical and IT departments in an exceptional way and his wife, my daughter Tracy, does the accounting for the business. My other son-in-law Mike is a mechanical engineer, he does a lot of coordination and dealing with HR issues which are difficult and exceedingly
full of red tape and his wife, my daughter Cindy, does all of the marketing for the company, something which I have helped train her to do.” When his children do eventually take full control of the business we hope that they will continue to innovate and grow in the way that Mr Plath has over the last 33 years. There is currently already much evidence of this. Umbhaba has put in place an innovative new method of linking the different aspects and different locations of the business. “We do all our own electrical operations. We have automated, computerised irrigation and ripening systems and everything is linked through fibre optic and radio networks. Even our separate farms are linked in this manner across more than a hundred kilometres” said Mr Plath. As an indication of how far the business has come and a real inspiration to new business people is the fact that
APRIL 12 PAGE 55
UMBHABA ESTATES although the farms are linked and connected through a seamless, highly technical system, Mr Plath chooses to move between farms efficiently and monitor some important aspects from the sky. He is a trained helicopter pilot and uses his own personal helicopter to cut out the hours of travelling between different locations. “I fly my own helicopter from farm to farm and that saves me a huge amount of time. Incidentally helicopters have always been a good investment for me because they usually increase in value over time, unlike a car. I’ve never owned a helicopter that hasn’t doubled in value. That is something most helicopter owners will tell you, although the timing of the purchase is important.” The Umbhaba business is obviously a success and, as Mr Plath explained, started from nothing. They are truly an example to be followed. What does the future hold for Umbhaba? Mr Plath says even further growth is the target. “We are looking for growth because we have continued demand from our customer base and other farmers are leaving the industry or farming elsewhere. There has been a lot of uncertainty regarding the ownership of land due to issues coming through from government. Land should really be viewed as a productive unit for food or other means of improving the country and not as a tool for politics. Through this all, we want to grow because we see it as a duty and a responsibility in life. Unemployment and poverty is a huge problem in our country with escalating food prices and we need to do our bit.” With demand remaining high and supply flourishing there seems to be no reason why Umbhaba cannot achieve this target of growth as the company moves into its second generation of ownership. ●
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Roy Plath Roy Plath grew up as a practical man in Johannesburg. He realised that he didn’t like the big city and wanted to pursue a career in agriculture. “I went to agricultural college and obtained a Diploma, which I struggled through, as I wasn’t a very good student, being somewhat dyslexic.” After college Roy developed a farm for his father who was a business man based in Johannesburg. When his father retired to the farm he sent Roy to begin his own business and that is what he did. With a single piece of virgin land the foundations of the Umbhaba business were laid. “In those days it was about serious levels of debt so, in the interim, to help the cash flow of the farming enterprise, I built up an earthmoving and plant-hire business where I could get loans for equipment more easily. I would use this equipment to do various earth moving jobs on other farms and I used the cash flow from this to develop the farm” said Mr Plath. It was during this period that he first began flying helicopters to get to many various sites. The Umbhaba business has been a journey and Mr Plath explained his only regrets: “If I regret anything it is perhaps being too hard on people. When you gain some wisdom you realise you could have been much gentler on people and achieved as much.” “Nowadays we bless our people with an annual incentive bonus; we offer it to every one of our employees for exceptional performance and effort. We look out for people who care and we encourage people to make that extra effort.” “Integrity and hard work are the natural way to success” says Roy Plath.
LA B O R AT O RY
World Class Technology from Africa. Te l +27 IS 3451217 www.duroilab.co.za Mar keti ng Directo r Alan Davson alanne@mweb.co .za Te l +27 8345543 15
Du Roi Laboratory, established in 1994, specializes in the production and distribution of disease-free, virus-indexed tissue culture banana plants. Unique single clone banana selections have been bred from o ur Foundation block and commercialized successfully over the past nine years. The Laboratory produces over six million banana plants annually for sale into the South African, West African, North African, Middle Eastern and South and Central American mar kets. Du Roi is the first Tissue Culture laboratory in the Southern hemisphere to be awarded ISO 900 1/2008 accreditation. Du Roi Laboratory also provides extensive technical support to local and international customers. We would like to congratulate Roy Plath, his family and management team on their world class Agricultural business and thank them for their support of our company since 1998. As Roy Plath mentions in his article, there is much truth in the importance of "Free Trade" for the growth and strengthening of our economy in South Africa.
For more than plants.
COMPANY REPORT
Upliftment at Du Roi Although Du Roi’s interest is on their local and international clients and maintaining their world-renowned brands, the main focus is on delivering quality products and services. Du Roi Laboratory’s GM, Anne Davson, gives IndustrySA an insight into some of the current projects underway in the Limpopo province. By Joe Forshaw The Du Roi group was founded in 1989 and is located in Letsitele, in the Limpopo province. The main business of Du Roi involves the production and distribution of superior selections and disease free plant materials and focuses on citrus, bananas, pomegranates, guava, passion fruit and the breeding of beneficial insects for biological pest control. Since its establishment Du Roi has become a global business with a strong local market and lists some of the biggest international clients in the fruit business. The Du Roi group now has five operational businesses; Du Roi Nursery, Du Roi Laboratory, Du Roi IPM and Du Roi Multiplant. Each of the business areas contribute to the South African economy and have received international recognition for their professional and scientifically sound business. Du Roi Laboratory is a key supplier to the Umbhaba business and produces around ten million banana plants each year. The Laboratory business was founded in 1994 and now exports to a range of regions including Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, the Middle East, Morocco and some Central American countries. Du Roi Laboratory’s general manager Anne Davson tells IndustrySA about the banana plants that are produced for their customers. “The tissue culture process that we work with guarantees a disease free plant. We source all our initial plant material from the elite
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banana plants in our foundation blocks for cloning in the laboratory. Each plant is a clone of its elite mother plant so all of the plants are of the highest quality. After the correct numbers of plants have been multiplied, we transfer them onto a rooting media, after which the plants will be sold. “We supply the plant material to our customers at three different stages; in-vitro, in-vivo and at the 20cm stage, ready for the field.” What helps to make Du Roi successful is the fact that they offer “more than just plants”. They also provide technical service for their customers. “Dr John Robinson, one of the top banana specialists in the world, is our
DU ROI LABORATORY
technical manager and he supports our customers with visits and hands on advice on perfect practices involved with banana growing,” says Mrs Davson.
BIG BUSINESS The Du Roi group is one of the only organisations to provide this service and it is especially helpful for farmers in developing regions such as Angola, Mozambique and Sudan where the farmers are starting from scratch and need help with every aspect of the banana farming business. “We also supply to the multinationals like Dole and Del Monte. They do not need as much of the after sales service, as they have been in the business for a many years. We have around 140 employees, usually more in peak season, so we are well set up for substantial demand,” says Mrs Davson.
THE FUTURE There are certain opportunities and threats going forward for the banana trade and the fruit farming industry as Mrs Davson explains: “At this stage the largest threat for the banana industry is disease. There is a lot of work being done by researchers but we are a production lab and are not directly involved in research at this time. We have felt the global recession as many of our international clients rely on EU grants and that is something that has slowed down. We have managed to hold our heads above water as our prices have been
competitive and we have a strong South African market.” Du Roi Laboratory, being part of a wider group, is of course looking to grow in the future. Mrs Davson explains how: “We are looking at the potential in Cassava plants alongside a company in Swaziland. Cassava is part of a staple diet in Africa; one of the researchers at the University of Johannesburg is working on new varieties of Cassava, specifically focusing on disease resistance.”
EMPLOYEES ARE THE KEY Any business is only as good as the people that it employs. Du Roi is a strong believer in employee upliftment and employee engagement schemes. “Much of our energy goes into our people. We offer adult education to all of our people, and are involved in their health and wellness, looking at disease awareness, testing and general fitness. We also have a crèche to assist our employees with managing their family responsibilities. We have in-house training and external training programmes to maximise potential and we firmly believe in empowerment for women in our workplace” says Mrs Davson. All of this hard work was recognised in 2011 when Du Roi Laboratory received their ISO 9001:2008 accreditation, which firmly asserted Du Roi as an industry leader. With future business looking strong and the global economy strengthening after the world recession there is no reason why Du Roi cannot continue with, and improve their innovative and creative working practices. ●
APRIL 12 PAGE 59
COMPANY REPORT
Pakco - A Truly South African Story By Tim Hands Within the extensive world of fastmoving consumer goods, Pakco sets out to offer its consumer an unprecedented “journey of culinary delight,” through both its range of instant meals and their accompanying products designed to heighten, yet further, the experience of their consumption. Designed primarily to be integrated into a busy, fast-moving lifestyle, this is a company whose world is truly South African, and one which harbours a clear vision: to be the first-choice food manufacturer within the country. Of course, the most effective way to become the first-choice of the consumers of any given country is to become the highest quality food manufacturer therein, which Pakco lays out as point one in its vision to surpass all others in the minds and kitchens of its South African customers. Its accompanying steps in the process of achieving the top spot are listed in similarly simple terms, as if their rise to the summit is a given merely to be achieved over time. Perhaps key of all these is the simultaneous desire to be the manufacturer offering its products at the lowest cost. Not something that can always be naturally twinned with creating products of the highest quality, it is nevertheless at least as important a consideration in terms of attracting new business and
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retaining existing customers, and remains a crucial factor in the shopper’s process of selecting brands and products. While billing itself as a “solution for quick and easy meals”, Pakco is evidently not content to apply the same brevity to the development of its products and recipes, aiming instead to ensure that these retain a position at the “forefront of innovation” in this competitive food manufacturing market. Such invention is evidenced in its Gold Dish range of canned foods, a first for the South African market and just one example of the result of the philosophy behind its development: “Instant meals, Instant taste, Instant gratification.” Pakco is arguably most well-known for its production of pickles, boasting over 60 years of experience in producing the very best, and remaining unique in its use of a traditional fermentation recipe. Not limiting itself to honing this aspect of its canon, however, beyond this expertise lays a wealth of diversity and choice on offer to the discerning consumer. The sauces aisle of their market embodies the Pakco blend of traditional styles with modern innovations, marrying its delicately spiced combinations to another of its thoughtful touches behind the progress of culinary solutions, their jar, a vessel specifically designed to enhance the ease of its storage.
PAKCO
Throughout the decades of its evident expansion and progress, Pakco (Pty) Ltd clearly still feels the influence of its founder, Pakkiri Pillay; indeed, it is his name and that of its co-founders that conjoin to create the company moniker. With more than 60 years of innovation having now passed since the creation of the brand, Pakco remains an “industrious, yet philanthropic company�, with its ability to combine both the striving to progress and improve with a clear focus on the humanitarian aspect of its operations - a vital factor in its prosperity. While its expertise lies principally in the convenience it provides through the medium of its meals and ingredients, from this philanthropic aspect of its heritage comes the prominent concern on the part of Pakco to offer sage advice wherever possible, in order to heighten the domestic and culinary lives of those purchasing its products. The insight it provides into the healing powers of the cayenne pepper is both extensive and, for most,
It is the way in which Pakco’s products transform what the everyday consumer may consider a timeconsuming, awkward-to-prepare dish into something near ready to eat that is one of its pivotal attractions The running theme throughout a browse of their wares is one of uniqueness, be it offered by the food product or the container in which it is housed. While one may expect its canned food, exemplified by the authentic curries of the Gold Dish range, to be exclusively reliant on its meat content in order to deliver the nutrition and flavours promised, it is in fact its vegetarian-friendly produce that provides many of its most intriguing options. With its vegetable products and beans carrying the all-important approval of the Department of Agriculture, it is a range that can be explored fully, without the potential nagging doubts as to the sustainability of its formative ingredients.
APRIL 12 PAGE 61
PAKCO
revelatory, depicting several “miracle stories” related by one Dr Christopher and his accounts of the ailments cured by the regular consumption of the pepper. Included within its purported benefits include treatment of high blood pressure, shown in this case with the story of an athlete but also a concern for anyone facing the stress inherent in a fast-paced, often hectic lifestyle. Here it was his mother’s demise from the condition and his own suffering that prompted his secretive doses from the Doctor’s own supply, resulting in a remarkable improvement in his case. The list goes on as to the commonly-encountered ailments against which Cayenne can prove beneficial, also taking on as it does such complaints as varicose veins, haemorrhoids, and stomach ulcers, to name but a few. In the same vein, alongside the depictions of the ways in which everyday lives have been ameliorated by this particular foodstuff, the years of experience Pakco has thus far amassed in the domestic line has given rise to its desire to impart some of its most crucial household tips on its patrons. These range from the more esoteric, with techniques behind achieving stiffer egg whites and the softening of babies’ nappies, to the
PAGE 62 APRIL 12
kind of quandary unavoidable in the day-to-day running of a household. One would be hard pressed to find a kettle never having been tarnished by the universal blight of scale, while any hints as to the riddance of cockroach would be seized upon by most. A similar premise which lies behind the provision of this level of service, above and beyond the mere manufacture of high-quality food, is reflected in the company’s Social Investment Program. Clear in its intent to achieve the various points of its mission statement, this is nonetheless another way in which Pakco retains a clear focus on its philanthropic aspect. Focused on various projects located in and around Verulam, the wider-reaching scheme strives chiefly to achieve a notable enhancement of the communities, and to provide care for those feeling the strains associated with the onset of the frailty and fragility which can be so problematic for the elderly. It is the way in which Pakco’s products transform what the everyday consumer may consider a time-consuming, awkward-to-prepare dish into something near ready to eat that is one of its pivotal attractions. Its variants of traditionally tricky Indian courses exemplify this aptly, with the arrival of canned pea dhall and paneer particularly surprising in their innovation. Although the latter is typically one of the most tricky of all the curry dishes to execute, it has yet been introduced with the same easily-obtained taste and gratification as that offered by the totality of its range. Demonstrations have seen it deemed an apparently universal success, with everyone from celebrity chefs to cuisine specialists testifying to its excellence. With its proud legacy, this company prides itself on being built on an undoubtedly South African stock. Its growth strategy recognises without any hesitation the need to share the fruits of its labour with “those who need nourishment and nurturing,” indicating the positivity and progress that will resound in all quarters throughout this journey of innovation into the future of high-quality food. ●
d wo 1nes s t !.~ Supplier of the
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Supplier of an extensive range of food ingredients including whole~ ground and blended herbs and spices paprika powder~ desiccated J
coconut and cocoa products~ soya, edible seeds and a newly added comprehensive basket of catering products.
Johannesburg I Durban I Cape Town South Africa I Tel: +27 11 613 2702/5 www.petrowfoods.co.za I info@petrowfoods.co.za
Petrow Food Ingredients (Pty) ltd has achieved SANS 10330:2007 HACCP and PA<> 220:2008 oertification ~路
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INTERLAM
Interlam: One of the Only Companies That Actually Does Everything By Joe Forshaw
The business of steel, mining and engineering in South Africa is big. Each of these areas is extremely valuable in terms of profits and turnover and also in terms of their contribution to the economy. One of the main organisations that works across these large industries in Interlam(Pty)Ltd.Interlam was formed in 1978 by Mike Taylor but since 2007 has been owned and operated by Fredrick de Beer and Petros Kanellopoulos. Their vast experience and knowledge over a range of different operations makes them many peoples first choice for important contracts. The company, based in Welkom, is situated in an ideal location to serve its primary customers in the mining industry. Mr Kanellopoulos told IndustrySA a little bit about the work that Interlam is currently involved with. “In Orkney we are doing maintenance on the mines and houses for AngloGold, in the Free State area we mainly work on the mines, underground, surface, steel construction and erection, maintenance and on a few occasions we will work for private companies. Right now we are busy with a project in Johannesburg for a large company so we’re pretty big and there isn’t anything we can’t do.” Interlam employs around 200 people with an estimated
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40% working out of Orkney and 60% out of Welkom. Although they are a reasonably large company they still felt the effects of the global downturn. The construction industry is something that has suffered internationally as a result of the global recession however South African firms have fared slightly better than their foreign counterparts. Critics have put this down to the industry in South Africa still riding the wave of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Business confidence remains constant in the country so there are prospects in the future. Mr Kanellopoulos explained how Interlam has found the difficult times. “Last year we had the aftershock of the world recession so it was bit of a tough year but we did survive it and we’re carrying on even though were feeling it a little still. Obviously it wasn’t the sort of year we wanted but we had a lot of work out there to be done. We were working on maintenance, a few underground jobs and some steel work and civil work. One of the large contracts which kept us going was the Eskom job in Johannesburg.” “Things now are looking up, it’s definitely better than last year. There are a lot more jobs going now and having done the work in Johannesburg for Eskom we are getting more work there with their partners so we are actually expanding a bit” said Kanellopoulos. “The industry could
INTERLAM
“ Last year we had the aftershock of the world recession so it was bit of a tough year but we did survive it and we’re carrying on even though we’re feeling it a little still.” be in a better place but it’s going to take a bit of time to get where it should be but we’re hoping there will be quite a few opportunities coming up in the near future.” The future is bright for Interlam and one of the opportunities that Mr Kanellopoulos is referring to is another lucrative project that is underway in Johannesburg. Mr de Beer explained the specifications of the job and how it would suit Interlam: “There is a new oil refinery being installed. There is a lot of building work and civil work with concrete slabs and oil drains etc. It’s all to do with environmental upgrading. At the moment they’re wasting a lot of oil, a lot of it spills into the ground and that’s not economical and not acceptable. Hopefully we will have this job complete by December.” Something that has impacted on the work of Interlam and the construction and mining industries in general, even more so than the economic climate, is the plethora of health and safety regulations that continues to grow every week. Globally the construction industry has a poor health and safety record and South Africa is no different. However the number of rules and regulations are not always viewed as helpful and necessary by the people who
David - Interlam Carpenter
deal in the industry every day. Interlam has no problems implementing all of the regulations that are required but Mr Kanellopoulos was keen to highlight how the abundance of health and safety requirements from the government can sometimes create difficulties. “It has become a factor and it really affects pricing. Whatever you do you’ve got to do risk assessments and it’s quite hairy but necessary. Especially in with the mining industry, they’re very health and safety conscious. You get standards then you get mining standards which are about ten times more stringent.” Mr de Beer elaborated: “It becomes more difficult every day. Every day there is something new that you have to apply and it happens even if it affects whether the job will go ahead or not. On the one hand it makes for a safer work place but on the other it increases costs ten-fold.” It is not just mining, construction and steel that Interlam focus on. Because of their vast experience they are able to offer services to a number of industries and undertake a range of different jobs. This is another reason behind their success throughout recent economic difficulties. “We are one of the very few companies that can actually do everything; underground work, civil work,
Orkney Directors, Mr Esau & Miss Molisi
Fredrik, Marise & Petros
APRIL 12 PAGE 65
INTERLAM
steel construction and erection, maintenance, housing, planning, carpentry, building and call outs – we do absolutely everything” said Mr Kanellopoulos. It is this kind of thinking that reflects the entrepreneurial spirit of company founder Mike Taylor and shows that Mr Kanellopoulos and Mr de Beer are branching out and using all of their expertise to move Interlam forward. The staff employed at Interlam are obviously a vital part of their operations and they have many loyal, long serving employees with Mr Kanellopoulos and Mr de Beer both being with the company for over 20 years. For some of the different jobs that Interlam takes on they use sub-contractors and this can mean slightly higher labour turnover rates. “We do have a lot of long serving employees but we also have a lot of turnover labour. We will hire people for one job and for the next job they’re gone. We are dependent on the mines so that influences staffing levels for us. This sort of thing is pretty typical across the whole industry - with all companies like ours” said Mr Kanellopoulos. At Interlam there is a slightly different approach to training and development as Mr de Beer explains: “We’ve taken a lot of people off the streets; we take them on as labourers and train them to become carpenters and plumbers and that sort of thing and a lot of them will then decide that they have a clear path to go and work somewhere else so that aspect can be difficult for us sometimes. However, our best carpenter, bricklayer and plumber started with us a few years ago, all as labourers, we taught them everything they know. They all went HTS Centre
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away and took their exams and passed and are now professional tradesmen. It’s proof that it takes time and you have to be patient, it’s not just the things you do in one year. These people were loyal to us and we rewarded them. It isn’t cheap to send people away for these exams.” Mr Kanellopoulos explained how the Interlam training programme can often be more effective than any outside training scheme: “To send people away to a training centre costs money. We do in-house training, if we send someone away for six months or so they don’t really learn a lot because it’s not practical, it’s more theoretical so onsite training suits us better and gets employees actually involved in work.” Training is something that the coowners take very seriously and get involved in personally, “We take pride in producing quality work and quality workers” said Mr de Beer. Interlam has been in business for 34 years and is continuing to grow. The advice that they have for new businesses is simple but important: you need devoted people and strong leadership. Interlam’s list of famous clients includes AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields Mining Group and Harmony Gold. It is not a coincidence that these large companies and industry leaders continue to choose Interlam as a first choice for contracts. It is because Interlam offer quality, a range of different services and extensive experience in every field. The way they train their employees results in a highly skilled and competent workforce and the fact that their clients recommended them shows that they are clearly doing all the right things. ●
VOLCANO 27468º
A FRESH NEW START FOR DULUX SOUTH AFRICA
Dulux South Africa is celebrating the move to a single global brand identity with the arrival of the dynamic Flourish™. A lively colour wave that symbolises what it truly means to add colour to people’s lives. www.dulux.co.za
COMPANY REPORT
By Sheree Hanna
Innovation and investment have been the key factors in the phenomenal growth and success story of one of Zambia’s largest agri-businesses, ZamBeef. The company has grown from a tiny acorn to a giant oak of a company which has branched out at a terrific rate since its inception as a small-scale, start up business in 1994. It has also won the support and admiration of the Zambian Government, which is helping ZamBeef in its bid to expand its edible oils division. Chief Operating Officer Mike Ledwith spoke with IndustrySA to discuss the fantastic growth of the company. “Over the next two to three years ZamBeef is investing $40 million on increasing its production and facilities,” he said. “Every part of our portfolio is being invested in.” “We have seen phenomenal growth since 2008. We have not felt the economic problems that have affected Europe and the States,” said Mr Ledwith. “We did have a couple of bad years in terms of sales and profitability in 2007/2008, but 2011 was our best year ever and 2012 promises to be even better,” he said.
PAGE 68 APRIL 12
ZamBeef’s biggest problem is meeting the increasing and strong demand for its products. “We have simply not been acting quickly enough and that is where we are focusing our attention now to grow our supply chains.”
FROM LITTLE ACORNS When the company started out, it had just one small abattoir slaughtering six to 10 cattle a day and it operated two small retail outlets. Eighteen years on and now it boasts a 5,000-strong workforce and annual revenues of US$208 million from its production, processing, distributing and retailing of beef, chicken, pork, milk, dairy products, eggs, edible oils, stock feed, flour and bread. “We are probably one of the largest row crop producers in the whole of Africa,” said Mr Ledwith. ZamBeef farms some 18,000 hectares mainly for maize, soya beans and wheat. It also operates nearly 100 retail outlets and runs 20 inhouse butcheries in Shoprite supermarkets across Zambia. The value-added-chain which farms and produces food for the end retailer also has its own animal feed production facilities and even turns the hides of its
ZamBeef
“ Over the next two to three years ZamBeef is investing $40 million on increasing its production and facilities.”
slaughtered cattle into leather, which is used for either the production of shoes or sold off to the car industry. “Our main focus is our retailing operations, but as a whole the group operations are a very successful model for us,” said Mr Ledwith. Mr Ledwith said the $40 million investment was being used in a variety of ways. It is spending on increasing its chicken preparation and slaughtering facilities as well as quadrupling the output for the milk processing plant. “One of our most profitable areas is our dairy products and we will be looking to enhance these and increase our beef cattle too,” he said. A new abattoir is just about to be opened and the company is constantly refurbishing facilities.
PROUD AS PUNCH Probably one of ZamBeef’s most major investment programmes has won the support and blessing of the Zambian Government. ZamBeef is a major importer of palm oil from the Far East and in a bid to cut back on imports it has pumped more than K13 billion into a Palm plantation pilot project in Mpika in Northern Zambia. “The Zambian Government is very proud of us,” said
Mr Ledwith. “The company has grown very quickly and has no intention of stopping. “The Government has been very supportive, particularly in our bid to cut back on imported oils and grow our own.” Palm oils are the main ingredient used in the manufacture of cooking oil. “We have established our own plantation and to help us the government has allocated ZamBeef 22,000 hectares to establish the project and provide an economy in a remote area,” said Mr Ledwith. “We started this project three years ago and in the next four years it will start to bear fruit. At the end of the day we are not a company that can up sticks and move elsewhere. Zambia is where we are and where we will stay and continue to grow.” At present 4,000 hectares of the land are being used in the pilot project and should the entire 22,000 hectares become productive, ZamBeef would then start feeding the entire region through exports. Also to meet the anticipated increase in processing palm oil from the Zampalm project, ZamBeef has also invested $8 million into upgrading and expanding its Zamanita plant.
APRIL 12 PAGE 69
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SUCCESS STORY “The real success story of the past year has been our edible oils business,” said Mr Ledwith. “We took over one of our suppliers in 2008 largely because we were its biggest customer, but unfortunately the management that went with it was not a good fit, so we had to change it. “That was largely the reason I came back to the company to help change things,” he said. Now the edible oils business accounts for 50 per cent of the company’s total profitability. Forthcoming expansion will also see ZamBeef adding another 12 retail outlets to its portfolio and the existing outlets are constantly being upgraded. Another string to its burgeoning bow is the fast food business which trades as Zamchick Inn and currently has seven outlets.. “You can’t really compare Zamchick Inn to the likes of KFC,” said Mr Ledwith, “they are chicken restaurants which currently account for one per cent of our turnover. However, they are highly profitable and we may well look at franchising them off in the future.” Also high on the agenda is breaking into neighbouring markets. “We are looking to expand our operations into Nigeria and Ghana,” said Mr Ledwith. “There are 10 times more people living in Nigeria than Zambia and could be a huge growth area for us. We just need the political situation there to calm down a little first.”
SEEING THE WORLD The success of ZamBeef has made it a highly desirable place to work for and the company is always on the lookout for good people to recruit. Mr Ledwith first came to work in Zambia in 1990 from Norfolk in England. “I was very young and single and decided that before marriage and kids came along I would like to see something of the world,” he said. “I was thinking more Europe or the States, but then a job in Zambia came up. At the time if you had given me a map of Africa I wouldn’t have known exactly where it was. I initially came on a two-year contract and I had originally planned to return to the UK. It was at this time I came to know the co-founders of the company and started working for ZamBeef in 1997.” He spent three years at the company before leaving to move to South Africa where he spent the next 10 years working in the food industry.
PAGE 72 APRIL 12
“ We have seen phenomenal growth since 2008. We have not felt the economic problems that have affected Europe and the States.” “I came back to ZamBeef in October 2010,” he said. “I think it is important never to burn your bridges, make sure you leave somewhere on good terms, because you never know if you might want to go back.” Having developed his own career within an innovative and forward-thinking company, Mr Ledwith believes the up and coming business people of tomorrow must be prepared to work very hard.
BOTTOMS UP “If you are an undergraduate you must be prepared to start at the bottom and learn everything about the business,” he said. “Young people coming out of university think they know it all when really they don’t. It is important to learn every aspect of a company’s operations.” And his advice to people looking to set up in business is to make sure they have a good business plan and enough finance in place. “Find yourself a mentor and be prepared for things to go wrong because invariably they will. Things go wrong every day and you may have to deviate from your plan. You have got to be able to take these things in your stride,” he said. The food industry as a whole in Zambia has seen tremendous growth since 2008 and the outlook remains rosy for ZamBeef. Demand for Zambia’s copper is also helping to boost the economy as a whole with prices reaching an all-time high. With the country’s population set to treble by 2050 and with current GDP running at between eight and nine per cent, Mr Ledwith can only see good times ahead. “The average Zambian spends approximately 50 per cent of his entire income on food,” said Mr Ledwith when they have money they don’t spend it on fancy cars or a new conservatory, they buy more food, which we are seeing the benefit of.” ●
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APRIL 12 PAGE 73
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COMPANY REPORT
Packaging Kings By Tim Hands
Billed as “Africa’s largest packaging company”, Nampak boasts a presence in more than 21 countries, along with “a worldclass research and development facility” driving its ability to offer the customer the most positive experience in the packaging field. The list of the products and services it is able to offer is as impressive as the technology behind its innovation process, with the Bevcan arm of the company the only beverage can manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa providing steel beverage cans and aluminium ends. These high-quality cans are made for use with a diverse range of products and provide the customer with the option of such further promotional enhancements as coloured tabs and ends. The image which introduces the adverts behind Nampak Bevcan’s latest “Can Do” campaign is one of the most timeless: to a backdrop of gentle piano swirls in an elegant, upmarket wine bar our typically stylish gent approaches his female target at the bar, at which she predictably drinks from a cocktail glass with untold elegance. This scene is all the more familiar in an era
PAGE 76 APRIL 12
where men look to Don Draper and his ilk for their pointers towards the pivotal of cool masculinity, longing for the days of yore where the minibar was an office staple, and where the abundance of wealth and enviably effortless lifestyles are the key attractions to the recent surge in popularity of reality television shows. It seems extraordinary therefore to assert that this could all be swept away and usurped by something as historically unremarkable as the simple steel beverage can, never before a symbol as powerful or enduring as the high-class cocktail glass. This is the bold claim made by the first of Nampak Bevcan’s new television adverts, whose tagline assures us that “it’s always best in a can”. It is undeniably slick; the cracking of the original can leading us away from the initial setting of the soulless cocktail bar familiar to so many, giving way instead to an infinitely more convivial scene of a “high energy party in full swing,” one where the humble can is central to the functioning of the party scene surrounding it. To a backdrop of dancing far cooler than most could hope to attain, it acts as a vehicle for
NAMPAK BEVCAN
The image which introduces the adverts behind Nampak Bevcan’s latest “Can Do” campaign is one of the most timeless
amorous messages in a neat reversal of the expected male-courting-female-target scenario, it provides the percussive snaps that bed in with the urban soundtrack – the message is clear, with cans you can do more. Imagine trying to write a snappy icebreaker on a cocktail glass; the logistics are near-insurmountable. Following on from its predecessor, the accompanying TV spot builds on similar themes, transposing them this time onto another achingly cool scenario. The snapping of the unassuming ring pull sneaks us entry to the hippest of street dance circles, a domain usually reserved for those operating on another plane entirely as we, the everyday viewer, watch on slack-jawed. Again the canned beverages are pivotal to the dancers’ operations, sparking unimaginable moves and the entry to the circle of some characters we could normally never hope to behold, as we gaze on from various viewpoints never before afforded to us ‘normal’ folk. It is a perfectly pitched campaign; this is a time in which austerity is fast becoming the concern highest in
the population’s collective conscious and any thoughts of social opulence are thrust far into the back of most minds. It is therefore perfectly logical to take what Nampak dub the “chintzy bar” that was once considered the standard place in which to pursue romance and forget life’s troubles , and replace it with the far more attainable “vibey house party”, where the can takes centre stage and the attendees look all the happier for it. Similarly, the stock of this type of “high voltage performance” that Nampak Bevcan depict in the moves of their young, diverse street dancers has risen inexorably in recent years; it has become the staple for any high-profile talent contest, Hollywood movies, even the walkways of city centres. At a time when, more than ever, we are turning to the lifestyles depicted by television and film for a glimpse into the privileges afforded to the wealthy, the reversion to the simpler pleasures promoted by the can is a welcome lifestyle choice. Of course, along with such a high-profile promotional campaign which has the aim of seeing so many more
APRIL 12 PAGE 77
COMPANY REPORT
of its products in the hands of consumers comes the subsequent need for a substantial environmental conscience, something Nampak Bevcan has tackled headon in recent sustainability initiatives. The company’s Collect-A-Can venture, for which it has joined forces with the steel and mining giant ArcelorMittal, aims to account for the entire “lifecycle” of one of its cans, following it from its point of manufacture all the way through to its eventual arrival at a recycling facility. This has helped to push the steel can recovery rate in South Africa to 70%, which ranks it among the highest in the world, while Nampak report the recovery in less than 20 years of over 950,000 tonnes of tin-bearing steel, material that can be immediately recycled and reused without seeing any diminishment in quality. While the question of sustainability clearly looms largest for any such company, with its ‘Every Can Counts’ campaign, Nampak Bevcan has also pledged to donate 3 cents from the sale of each beverage can towards education in South Africa, with a projected total of R10 million in mind. While Nampak is evidently focussed primarily on
PAGE 78 APRIL 12
its Bevcan division for this latest venture, it is by no means the company’s only development in its South African operations. As recently as September of last year, the packaging giant opened the expansion project at its corrugated paper mill in Pretoria, with the aim not only of making Nampak “self-sufficient in terms of its supply of waste-based packaging grades of paper,” but also of creating employment both at the site itself, and for those employed to collect the waste material processed at the plant. Not content, however, with these huge developments in South Africa, June 2011 saw the official opening of Nampak Bevcan’s US$160 million beverage can factory in the Angolan capital, Luanda, its first operation in the country also bringing with it the Nampak Group’s single largest green field investment outside of South Africa. With the now familiar benefits of job creation and skills upliftment that the group’s expansion sought to achieve, there was also the typical Nampak focus on matters environmental, with its first move in the country, even before the building of the Angolata plant, being to establish its recycling operation
NAMPAK BEVCAN Reclatas as a legal entity. With its ‘Can Do’ campaign backed by the two pulsating television adverts, Nampak Bevcan has twinned these with the accompanying website, www.cando.sa.com. The images which adorn the various headings on the site are similar in kind to those played out in the ads, a reinforcement of the diversity and absolute modern nonchalance of those making use of the cans. The ‘Why Cans’ section uncovers diverse, and most likely until now unfamiliar, reasons behind the superiority of cans in the field of beverage containment, highlighting the portability, durability and freshness they offer over any other form of container. It all combines to show Nampak Bevcan’s desire to push the can into the slot of primary beverage container for this century. The environmental benefits are constantly reiterated and chime perfectly with the ever-growing need of sustainability on the part of large companies. Perhaps even more important is the way in which it has managed to align itself so effectively with its target market; even the lexicon of the brand property, “U can do” and “U can B”, plays on the ubiquitous modern abbreviations, while an entire social guide is provided under the heading ‘Can B Scene’. The campaign is centred on the principals of “social connectivity, lifestyle enhancement, and fun sharing”, with the humble can promising to be “the connecting element in socially engaging scenarios,” delivering enablement at all of these levels to its modern-day, socially active consumer. ●
APRIL 12 PAGE 79
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THE VALSPAR CORPORATION
The Valspar Corporation is a global leader in the paint and coatings industry. For over 200 years, Valspar has been dedicated to bringing customers the latest innovative technologies, the finest quality and the best service and regulatory support. With nearly US$4 billion in sales Valspar is the sixth largest paint and coatings company in the world. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Valspar has more than 10,000 employees in over 25 countries. Valspar’s diverse array of products makes it one of the most complete paint and coatings suppliers anywhere. This product line includes: Consumer “Do-it-yourself” Paints, Packaging Coatings for aerosol, tube & monobloc, beverage, food, drum, pail and additives for plastic containers; Wood Coatings; Industrial Coatings for sheet metal, appliances, floors, windows and original equipment manufacturers; Automotive and Refinish Systems; and Coatings Intermediates. Valspar South Africa has the single largest plant and development laboratory in sub-Saharan Africa dedicated to the manufacture of high quality coatings for all aspects
of the metal packaging market. Together with its experienced field support staff, this makes it the number one choice for packaging coatings in the market. Valspar’s theme, “If it matters, we’re on it”, conveys how it does business and the importance of the quality of its product line. Valspar’s mission is to be the best coatings company in the world as judged by its customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers and the communities in which it operates. Operating with a sense of urgency and always with integrity, Valspar responds to its constituent’s needs and helps them to succeed. www.valsparpackaging.com The Valspar (South Africa) Corporation (Pty) Ltd PO Box 13052 Jacobs Kwazulu Natal 4026 South Africa Sales - +27 (0)31 4598400
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COMPANY REPORT
Steeled for the Future The Safal Group is the leading supplier of metal coated and pre-painted coils, metal roof sheeting and long steel products in southern Africa. IndustrySA reports on its new metal coating facility By Abigail Saltmarsh
PAGE 82 APRIL 12
SAFAL STEEL It has been over a year since production began at Safal Steel’s R1 billion metal coating facility and already the operation is being heralded as a great success. Minister of Trade and Industry, in South Africa, Dr Rob Davies formally opened the site, at Cato Ridge, in KwaZulu-Natal, at a ceremony in March, and stressed its vital role within the country’s steel industry as a whole. Speaking at the event, Mr Davies said the steel industry is one of largest manufacturing sectors in the domestic economy and highly critical from an economic development point of view. He said the industry has strong linkages with other industries, across the South African economic landscape. “Through its backward linkages it draws in products from a range of mining activities and its forward linkages extend to downstream value-adding activities and financial services,” he said. “We regard metal coating as part of downstream activities and the facility we are at today will deepen the value-addition of Hot Rolled Coil currently produced in South Africa.”
A MAJOR MANUFACTURER Safal Steel is the South African arm of Safal Group, a major African multinational with its head office in Mauritius. It has a presence in central, eastern and southern Africa, and made its first ventures into South Africa in 1995. Privately owned, it is a major manufacturer and supplier of coated steel roofing throughout the central, eastern and southern parts of Africa. Its current operations include cold rolling, aluminium zinc coating and colour coating facilities, and it manufactures metal coated steel coils for both local and global markets. These are produced in a variety of widths and gauges and can be supplied either pre-painted or unpainted.
JOB CREATION The state-of-the-art plant is Safal Steel’s latest investment and was a partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). Established in 1940, this is a national development finance institution set up to promote economic growth and industrial development. It is owned by the South African government under the supervision of the Economic Development Department. Mr Davies said that as the government presses ahead with its Capital Expenditure programme, roof sheeting will become a key input, especially on the housing
APRIL 12 PAGE 83
SAFAL STEEL programme. He emphasised the linkages between infrastructure development and manufacturing and that investment projects that enhances productive capacity, such as this metal coating facility be noted and supported. He added that the Cato Ridge project also presents significant potential for job creation and skills development. “I believe that the facility is manufacturing and supplying coated steel roofing to both the local and global markets with 60 per cent of the product targeted for the local market and the balance for exports. The facility has already created 370 jobs, mainly employing people from the local community, Durban and Pietermaritzburg.”
SIGNIFICANT PROJECT
NEW MARKETS
CONFIDENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Mr Davies continued: “We understand the whole facility has a capacity of 150,000 tons a year on both un-painted and painted coated coil, sold on to the roofing and general engineering sectors and that there are plans to double the volumes to 300,000 tons in the near future. “The aspiration to enter other markets, such as the automotive and white good markets, is well supported as it will enhance the deepening of value-addition and the creation of decent jobs in these sectors as envisaged in the Industrial Policy Action Plan.”
The formal opening event was testimony to the important partnership that has been built between business and government and the role that business is playing towards the country’s economic and industrial development, according to the minister. “This investment, supported by the DTI and in which the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) also participated, clearly demonstrates Safal Group’s confidence in South Africa as an investment destination and the maturity of our steel industry.”. ●
PAGE 84 APRIL 12
Through the DTI’s Enterprise Investment Programme, R30 million was approved for this investment of which R22.5 million has been paid and R9 million support was granted under the Critical Infrastructure Programme. The IDC also provided significant funding facilities for the project. Mr Davies stated that the department understands the significance of this project and will assist in dealing with challenges that may hinder its long-term viability. He emphasised the significant presence of Safal Group in the African continent, which is currently operating in 16 African countries, and the strategic positioning of this investment given the aspirations of regional integration in southern, central and eastern Africa.
QUAKER CHEMICAL
Quaker Chemical – Sliding Safal Steel Forward in Cato Ridge Quaker Chemical is the market leader in the production of process specialty lubricants for the metal industry; mainly the steel, the aluminium and the can business. Quaker Chemical is also a leading supplier to the automotive industry. Quaker Chemical is a worldwide organisation, based in the USA and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The products and services that Quaker Chemical provides are vital to all of their customers and make them an indispensable part of every process that they are involved with. In South Africa Quaker Chemical deals with metal working companies such as ArcelorMittal, Duferco and of course, Safal Steel. Arnaud Willems, business manager for Quaker Chemical, explained how South Africa has a lot of potential and is growing as a contributor to the Quaker business on a global scale. “The South African market is a developing region, it’s increasing as a market, and we’re progressing there and
adding new offers to our product portfolio.” Safal Steel has just opened a new R1 billion plant in Cato Ridge, KwaZulu-Natal. Quaker Chemical was the obvious choice to support the new operations with over 77 years’ experience in the steel industry. They are also cost effective, with an integrated, studied and custom formulated program of unique lubricants and coating products accompanied by concentrated management services, which all adds up to bring the lowest bottom line cost. “We have been selected to produce the lubricants for the Safal cold rolling mill. We are a designer and supplier to all specifications and products like ours cannot just be changed overnight so we make sure we deliver quality and cost for our customers” said Mr Willems. In South Africa Quaker Chemical are a ISO9001 company and a NOSA 5 star rated company across a range of different divisions.
APRIL 12 PAGE 85
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COMPANY REPORT
“ There are Only Two Rules in Business” Deon Kotze, contracts and estimations manager for Louwill Engineering tells IndustrySA about their reputation for delivering quality and how it helped them through the world recession. By Joe Forshaw Louwill Engineering is a company with over 23 years’ experience in the business of steel fabrication and erection. 90% of their work is completed for the mining industry and after starting out in 1989 and expanding steadily over the years they are now one of the only a few companies that can provide the services of fabrication, painting, delivery and erection to the mining industry. Louwill focus their efforts on the specialised, highly technical work that they do in South Africa although as the company grows they have started to gain work in some of the prospering economies north of the border. They have taken up contracts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Zambia and this expansion, although on a small scale right now, demonstrates the ambition of the company and the diversity and variation of opportunities available in the different industries that Louwill engage with. Although the majority of work that Louwill does is orientated around the mining industry their expertise and technology allow them so serve other industries at the same time without slowing down obligations that are placed on them by the mining companies – something that is vital as having a broad working portfolio can
PAGE 88 APRIL 12
help to even out fluctuations in demand during difficult economic periods. Louwill’s Associate Director Deon Kotze helped explain this during a recent interview with IndutrySA: “The recessions of the last three or four years have had a major effect on us. In the platinum business on one day we would have a few million rand worth of work and the next day we would have nothing because everything was deferred because of the slow economy. We have managed to plod along with some work and it helped that we are flexible. Our forte is in the mining industry but we do work across other industries, a building is a building whether it is for the mining industry or just for a normal factory.” One of the projects that has just been completed by Louwill is the construction of a new shaft headgear for a platinum mine in the Rustenburg area. The fabrication, supply and erection of shaft headgear are some of the main activities for Louwill and something that they have accomplished across many different mine shafts. The shaft headgear is present over the shaft opening and houses the skips and supports the hoists which help transport the workers and materials in and out of the underground mine. The headgears often provide a distinctive look for the mine and are eventually used as
LOUWILL ENGINEERING
working relationship with clients; our CEO has been in the business for over 40 years so over that time you mix with clients every day and you build up a relationship and people gain confidence in your work. That becomes a way of generating additional work so it’s important. Downward, with the employees, it’s the same. Each one of the mangers has a totally open door policy. Anybody from the floor sweeper up to works manager is welcome to come in and chat whenever they have something to say and we will always listen.” In an industry such as mining or construction there is no shortage of companies looking to gain contracts with the big organisations like Anglo American, Impala Platinum and Gold Fields and because of this it is incredibly important to quote competitive rates. If the rates are too high customers will be alienated, if the rates are too low overheads will outweigh income. Louwill Engineering has found the perfect balance. “We’ve
“ I’ve always had an old saying, there are only two rules in business, the first rule is that the client is always right and the second rule is, if you think the client is wrong then refer to the first rule” symbolism and help differentiate between mines. “We have just completed one of the big Anglo Platinum mine projects in Styldrift, we completed the two headgears and we are now quoting on the underground infrastructure work for that job so there is a reasonable amount of new work in the pipeline. We are based in Springs and our workshops and offices are about 200km from the platinum area. We have offices over there in Rustenburg but all of the fabrication is done here in Springs” said Mr Kotze. Louwill Engineering is a popular company because of their attention to detail and their focus on meticulous quality. Another factor that makes them a unique organisation is the emphasis they place on satisfying the customer, through their hallmark quality, and also satisfying and rewarding employees. “We have a great
APRIL 12 PAGE 89
LOUWILL ENGINEERING
got the capacity to do big jobs at the rates of a smaller company. Our competitors have massive overheads, we have a reasonable overhead structure but our rates are a bit more competitive in terms of the medium sized works. Some of the extreme jobs can be just too large for us and competitors may have the edge there but smaller mining jobs are where we gain a lot,” said Mr Kotze. This is a real achievement considering Louwill is not a small company. They employ around 400 people and have six reasonably large workshops. These workshops have a potential output of around 500-600 tonnes per month depending on the type of steel required for the different projects. The services that Louwill offer are backed up by many years’ experience in the industry and when asked about the future Mr Kotze explained that there was not too much more that Louwill could offer that they do not offer already. “I always say stick to what you’re good at. We basically offer a service for the structural steel component and there isn’t much more that you can do that we don’t do right now. We offer shop detail right through to erection and that’s basically what steel construction consists of.”
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Health and safety is a major part of the construction business and Louwill are industry leaders in the field of site safety. They have an unparalleled record in safe working practice as Mr Kotze explained: “Most of the big mining companies have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to health and safety, you cannot afford to put one foot wrong. Our company has grown in terms of personnel; you have to employ full time health and safety officers now. It has become an expensive exercise just to comply with all the health and safety regulations in the mines so it has had a large impact. However, this is something that everyone has to allow for; it’s the same for everyone. There are no shortcuts, don’t even try to take shortcuts, it will only be to the detriment of your company and your future.” One of the integral selling points for Louwill’s work is the unrivalled quality of everything they produce. They have a proud record of achievement in the mining industry and Mr Kotze insists that they do rank among the best when it comes to outstanding quality. “I would say we rank with the best. We put our premium on quality. In each workshop we’ve got two to three inspectors who look after each other. They inspect each other’s work just to make sure the steel that goes out is correct according to all specifications. Health and safety, environmental issues and quality are major components in successful contracts.” With his vast experience and Louwill’s long list of successful projects Mr Kotze knows what it takes to be successful in business and he gave us some of the best advice we have heard so far: “I’ve always had an old saying, there is only two rules in business, the first rule is that the client is always right and the second rule is, if you think the client is wrong then refer to the first rule. You have to keep the clients happy. When you have issues with clients it is important to both walk away happy, if it means giving a bit then you give a bit because you know that two weeks later you are going to take a bit as well. To me client satisfaction is of the highest priority.” “Everything that we do, all the work that we do as an organisation eventually leads up to that point at the top of the triangle and at that point is customer satisfaction. A happy client will use you again and that is what you want and need.” ●
• Tel: 011 861 3800 • Fax: 011 861 3899 • E-mail: info@sarenssa.co.za
The Sarens Group is a recognized worldwide leader in heavy lifting and engineered transport. With state of the art equipment and value engineering, Sarens offers its customers creative solutions to today's heavy lift and transport challenges. Sarens' success lies in its entrepreneurial spirit Nothing too heavy, nothing too high!
nothing too heavy, nothing too high
COMPANY REPORT
Raising the Gold Standard By Colin Renton
A country drenched in gold needs a company steeped in mining: which makes South Africa and Gold Fields the perfect partners. The business has its roots way back in the gold rush days of the 19th Century. The discovery of the first diamond on the banks of the Orange River in 1867 had been the spark that ignited the explosion of speculation in South Africa and, by 1886, gold and diamond rushes were quickly turning mining into the nation’s staple economy. But the industry has come a long, long way since those days of the get-rich quick prospectors and, like South Africa itself, Gold Fields is now a major player on a global stage. Today Gold Fields is one of the world’s largest producers of gold, with international operations extending from its base in Johannesburg to Ghana, Australia and Peru. It has an international profile, being quoted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, (primary listing), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ Dubai Limited, Euronext in Brussels (NYX) and the Swiss Exchange (SWX). The latest company quarterly report announced net
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earnings of R2,605 million compared with R2,055 million in the previous quarter. But the whole year figures were quite spectacular, showing earnings for 2011 of R7,027 million - compared with R1,139 million for the year ended December 2010. The mining activities are centred in the Witwatersrand area, where about 40 per cent of the world’s total gold reserves are found. Mining here is expensive since deposits lie at such great depths. In fact, South Africa boasts some of the world’s deepest mines, with gold deposits lying at depths exceeding 3,500 metres – and Gold Fields workers are expert at finding it and bringing it to the surface. Gold Fields operates three mines in South Africa: South Deep, Beatrix and KDC (Kloof with Driefontein), all located in the geologically unique Witwatersrand Basin, which remains the most significant gold depository in the history of mining. It’s a dangerous, complicated process and Gold Fields’ continuing success shows that it is a company packed with expertise in its field. Gold Fields is clearly a major contributor to the South African economy, a claim underlined by the fact that it’s one of the country’s largest employers, providing work for around 50,000 people.
GOLDFIELDS
It’s a huge number, and Gold Fields relies on every one of them playing their part. In return, the company offers a range of rewards and incentives to encourage employees to make the most of their careers – and to bring in new talent to secure success in the future. These include: • A bursary scheme that gives selected candidates the chance to study for a national diploma at a South African institute of technology. This initiative provides exciting opportunities for youngsters keen to make a career out of mining and its associated skills, and provides high-calibre staff for the company. The bursary scheme gives youngsters the chance to achieve diplomas in a wide ranging selection of skills, from mining engineering to surveying and electricals. The scheme works on a block release basis, meaning students study while enjoying on-the-job experience of the mining industry. • The Gold Fields Business and Leadership Academy. The company has spent R175million on employee training through the academy. One of its key ingredients is a ‘portable skills programme’ – courses in plumbing and construction, for example, to help employees in their post-mining careers. • Black economic empowerment (BEE) deals that
offer an employee share scheme and a broad-based BEE consortium, buying discounted shares in the South African gold miner, thereby enabling it to meet its 2014 empowerment targets. • Homes for workers. Recently the company opened a new housing complex near the Kloof mine, as part of its R550million, five-year employee housing programme. The complex will provide family housing for over 100 workers and each house has two bedrooms, a combined lounge and kitchen, and a bathroom. The employee initiatives are just part of a bold new mission statement drive by Gold Fields, whose vision is to be the global leader in sustainable gold mining - a position to be achieved through the recognition of six key values: Safety, Responsibility, Honesty, Respect, Innovation and Delivery. Gold Fields’ CEO Nick Holland says: “If we cannot mine safely, we will not mine; We act responsibly and care for the environment, each other, and all of our stakeholders - our employees, our communities and our shareholders; We act with fairness, integrity, honesty and transparency; We treat each other with trust, respect and dignity; We encourage innovation and entrepreneurship; We do what we say we will do.” Now, you may regard ‘mission statements’ as mere
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COMPANY REPORT
company jargon – but Gold Fields knows that actions speak louder than words and extends its values in a tangible sense to the wider community outside the company. Take this as an example: During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Gold Fields organised a wide range of related events in response to strong enthusiasm for the tournament among employees and in the neighbourhoods where it operates. Company events included a Gold Fields Mini World Cup tournament, held at their South African mines and involving 32 employee teams; the distribution of 56,000 Bafana Bafana T-shirts to employees and contractors; the provision of community coaching clinics aimed at improving football skills among 45 boys in local schools. And the company arranged an incredible 14,000 employee visits to World Cup matches, taking employees from all operations and all levels, business partners, and social and political leaders. Other events included the provision of TV Fan Parks at all the South African mines and the installation of more than 1,200 televisions in on-site accommodation, and the upgrading of beer gardens, television halls and recreation clubs across the Group. All this was quite apart from Gold Fields’ long-
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standing sponsorship of Ghana’s ‘Black Stars’ – who reached the quarter finals. The company’s other community interests include the long-established Gold Fields Nursing College in Carletonville, which offers a variety of training courses to help future nurses of the world achieve their goals. Programmes include diplomas in general and psychiatric nursing, and midwifery. Here too, Gold Fields has encouraged a holistic approach: enrichment modules, which empower individuals to cope with daily life challenges, are offered within each programme. All these community initiatives maintain Gold Fields first-class reputation but they will count for nothing if the business cannot be sustainable – a consideration Holland recognises in his mission statement. It’s an issue the company has been working hard on and is now being widely recognised for. In 2011, Gold Fields was placed fourth in a ‘league table’ of 108 global mining companies on the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) – the most widely recognised measure of the sustainability performance of listed companies worldwide. Gold Fields’ score of 81% qualified it for a Silver Class award – meaning it came within 5% of being the sector leader.
GOLDFIELDS
Holland says: “We have set strong performance in the DJSI as a milestone on our journey to be the global leader in sustainable gold mining, so our fourth place ranking in our first assessment indicates that we are making good progress.” Particular areas of strength identified included transparency, climate strategy, enablement of local development, biodiversity, stakeholder engagement and environmental policy. One particular environmental project that may have caught the eye of the panel is a venture to process gold and uranium from huge piles of mine waste. Discovering extra volumes of these precious metals would obviously be good for the company’s balance sheets - but such an operation would also allow the reprocessed waste to be redeposited using more modern, cleaner methods. The project would involve the company revisiting the vast expanse of ‘tailings’ dumps left over from mining operations to extract what could turn out to be large quantities of gold previously considered uneconomical to extract and instead left in huge heaps on the surface. Another project in sustainability is Gold Fields’ plan to reduce significantly its power consumption. This includes
a R200 million operation to fit 1,000 high-efficiency fan units at KDC, South Deep and Beatrix, which will use 30% less electricity. The power savings translate into a financial saving of around R67 million a year. Looking to the future, Gold Fields is hoping to extend their operations in South America, looking at potential new projects in Chile and Argentina. And there are high hopes for exploration in the Philippines where there could be vast quantities of gold and copper. But don’t go thinking that Gold Fields puts the constant quest for new deposits firmly at the top of its priority list as it looks to continuing success and expansion in the future. The CEO insists that the company’s people are its most precious resource. Nick Holland says: ‘Our employees are our business – we wouldn’t be anything without our employees. It’s wonderful to have great infrastructure, it’s wonderful to have fantastic quantities of gold in the ground, but if we don’t have the right people doing the right things in a safe way then we’re not going to deliver that potential, so developing our people is going to be the number one thing on our agenda.’ ●
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Flamingo Printers core business is supplying the mining industry with specialised printing requirements. Flamingo import unique wet strength paper constructed in the UK, specifically for underground use. They supply miner’s notebooks, supervisor log books, full colour posters, stickers and a list of other printing services. Flamingo Printers was established in 1961 in Welkom. Pedro and Roelf Erasmus are the current owners and operators of the company and the sons of the founders. Pedro and Roelf joined the family business in 1976 and 1981 respectively. Their parents retired in 1990 and left complete control of the organisation in the capable hands of the two brothers. Roelf Erasmus said: “We do a lot of general printing from just small books up to large full colour posters. As well as work with Gold Fields we also work with other major mine houses such as AngloGold Ashanti and Harmony but we do not work exclusively with the mining industry. We do a lot of work with government departments and also with the private sector.” The relationship between Gold Fields and Flamingo Printers began in 1988 when Flamingo received the first mine order from Oryx mine shaft in the Free State area.
Since then Flamingo has supplied products to all of the Gold Fields mine shafts in the Free State area, the West Rand area and their operations in Ghana. In 1993 Flamingo Printers expanded to form Flamingo Stationers and they now supply Gold Fields with a range of stationery across all of their offices and mine shafts. “That was a big decision but a small step to be taken 14 years ago and it’s growing into a very successful business with Gold Fields and the mining industry in general” said Mr Erasmus. Flamingo Printers continues to grow, this was demonstrated in January 2012 when they founded their sister company Sediba Printers and Stationers. This new company is a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) company. The sole purpose of this company will be to supply stationery, office furniture and printing services to the mining and construction industry as well as government departments. www.flamingogroup.co.za 118 Constantia Street Welskom 9459 Free State South Africa P.O. Box 118, Welkom 9460 Free State South Africa APRIL 12 PAGE 97
INDUSTRY RECOMMENDED
This is the first instalment of our Industry Recommended directory, a list of companies across a range of industry sectors over SA.
YOUR INDUSTRY, THEIR FUTURE, OUR SOUTH AFRICA MINING GOLDFIELDS One of the largest mining companies in the world with 8 operating mines spanning 3 continents +27 11 562 9700 www.goldfields.co.za Page 92
AVIATION DENEL The largest manufacturer of defence equipment in South Africa. +27 12 671 2700 www.denel.co.za marketing@denel.co.za Page 20
PACKAGING APL CARTONS APL Cartons was founded in 1988 to meet the needs of its shareholders in the toughest market of all, the export fruit market. +27 23 348 5500 www.aplcartons.com Page 51
AUTOMOTIVE BRIDGESTONE A leader in innovation within the field of off-road tires since the 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. +27 11 923 7500 www.bridgestone.co.za Page 34
NAMPAK BEVCAN The only beverage can manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa with a fantastic new promotional campaign +27 11 519 7700 www.nampak.com Page 76 WINE OAK VALLEY A magnificent family owned estate set in Elgin Valley with a range of successful operations +27 21 859 2510 www.oakvalley.co.za mail@oak-valley.co.za Page 48
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AUTOMOTIVE EXPORT A UK based company dedicated to providing a range of spare parts covering most European manufactured trucks. +44 1772 623 234 www.automotiveexport.co.uk Page 74 AGRICULTURE ZAMBEEF One of the largest agricultural businesses across Africa producing, processing and distributing a wide range of products. +260 211 369 000 www.zambeefplc.com Page 68
FRUIT UMBHABA A large agricultural enterprise with a passion revolving around the production and distribution of bananas. www.umbhaba.biz Page 52 DU ROI LABORATORY Established in 1994, experts in the production & distribution of disease free, virus indexed banana plants +27 15 345 1217 www.duroilab.co.za Page 57 LOGISTICS DHL Logistics leaders offering a range of solutionsfor managing letters, goods and information. www.dhl.co.za Page 44 CONSTRUCTION INTERLAM A Construction company with a bright future servicing some of Africas biggest companies. +27 57 355 2555 Page 64
INDUSTRY RECOMMENDED ENGINEERING LOUWILL Specialise in fabrication and erection of small to medium engineering steelwork projects. +27 11 818 5186 www.louwill.co.za Page 88 SHIPPING SOUTHERN AFRICAN SHIPYARDS Leaders in commercial and naval ship building and repair. +27 31 274 1800 www.sa-shipyards.co.za Page 28 MTU Leading worldwide manufacturer of large diesel engines. +27 21 529 5792 www.mtu-online.com Page 33 FOOD PAKCO A truly South Africa story of spices, condiments and other food products +27 32 533 1050 www.pakco.co.za Page 60 PETROW FOOD INGREDIENTS A supplier of an extensive range of food ingredients. +27 11 613 2702 www.petrowfoods.co.za Page 63 FREDDY HIRSCH GROUP A manufacturing, distribution and marketing organisation specialising in spices and seasoning. +27 51 447 3799 www.freddyhirsch.co.za Page 70 MANUFACTURING HOWDEN AFRICA Manufacturers and marketers of air and gas handling solutions spanning a huge range of industries +27 11 240 4000 www.howden.com Page 38
STEEL SAFAL STEEL Part of the Safal Group, a major manufacturer of coated steel and roofing products. +27 31 782 5500 www.safalsteel.co.za Page 82 TOOLS PFERD SA Developers and producers of tools for surface finishing and cutting materials +27 11 230 4000 www.pferd.com Page 41 COATINGS VALSPAR The only major coating manufacturer globally that focuses solely on coatings and inks. www.valspareurope.com Page 80 PAINT DULUX / AKZO NOBEL The worlds leading brand of premium quality paint products. www.akzonobel.com Page 67 MACHINE MAINTENANCE PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE CC A team of specialists with experience in condition monitoring across many different sectors +27 31 914 0237 www.predictivemaintenance.co.za Page 37
EVENT SOLUTIONS ADD-X An event operations and logistics company with many yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience in branding and signage +27 11 466 0850 www.add-x.co.za Page 47 CHEMICALS QUAKER CHEMICALS Market leader in the production of process specialty lubricants for the metal industry +31 297 544 644 www.quakerchem.com Page 84 COMPRESSORS IMFUYO AIR PRODUCTS Importer, packager, marketer, and supplier of standard as well as Niche type Compressors, Blowers, Exhausters +27 11 914 5144 www.imuyoap.co.za Page 86 For more information about how your company can be recognised for excellence across many areas please get in touch.
HEAVY LIFTING SARENS SA Part of the Sarens group, specialising in Heavy Lifting, Projects and mobile crane hire. +27 11 861 3800 www.sarenssa.co.za Page 91 PRINTING FLAMINGO PRINTERS A one stop printer offering a whole range of printing solutions within the group. +27 57 357 1388 www.flamingogroup.co.za Page 36
APRIL 12 PAGE 99
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