Bühler celebrates 50 years in South Africa

On March 18, 2022, Bühler celebrated its 50th anniversary of establishing its business in South Africa. The country is of particular importance to Bühler for its customers and Bühler plans to expand its business in South Africa as well as to other African nations. To commemorate the anniversary, a special event - celebrating milestones and special memories between Bühler, its customers and staff - was held in Johannesburg.

Bühler began its journey on 10 January 1972, when Bühler MIAG South Africa was registered in Johannesburg. René Schneider founded the joint company and Hans Widmer was appointed the managing director, and the offices moved to the Raschers corner in the central district of Johannesburg. As the company grew, a workspace of Rand Steel Engineering in Booysens was purchased. In 1976, Bühler MIAG expanded its offerings and leased a workshop in Wadeville, covering an area of about 9 250m 2 on a 24 000m 2 industrial site, which was later purchased in 1978. At the beginning, the company’s main activity was customer service, selling spares and wear parts as well as fluting and welding in the workshop. Soon after, the product portfolio got larger as the business grew and more demands of customers and markets needed to be served.

FIFTY YEARS LATER

Now, the Johannesburg office is the regional headquarters for the Southern Africa sub region, from here Bühler is responsible for Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, La Reunion, Solomon Islands, Seychelles, Eswatini, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Bühler Johannesburg is the central contact point for all enquiries, from grain to consumer goods processing and advanced material processing solutions. Stefan Scheiber, Bühler CEO, says, “South Africa is, a country with particularly important customers, both local family companies and leading regional and global brands. Therefore, a local presence, with local experts is key to secure our business, now and in the future.”

Harry Bloechlinger, managing director, Bühler Southern Africa, says, “We partner with the biggest FMCG companies all over Southern Africa. FMCG companies are the basic pillar of the economy of the region and together with them, we ensure food supply to more than 200 million people.”

Veronique Haller, deputy head of Mission at the Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa, says, “Switzerland and South Africa enjoy a very good economic and trade relationship. That relationship goes back to almost a hundred years ago. We have about 100 Swiss companies that are based in South Africa, providing more than 220 000 jobs in total. Swiss companies are not only contributing to the growth of the South African economy, but they also have a lot of different programmes in terms of skills development, community programs, and they contribute to the economic transformation of the country.”

Stefan Scheiber, Bühler CEO and guests

Currently, Bühler South Africa has 220 employees in various departments: project execution, finance, human resources, sales, industrial engineering, IT, procurement, shipping and logistics, and customer service. The company also has a fully operational manufacturing facility, employing boilermakers, welders, machine operators and painters. Bühler also runs an apprenticeship programme, which is adapted from the Swiss education system.

We celebrate the presence of businesses such as Bühler, we celebrate their contribution towards building our beautiful city of Johannesburg and we celebrate their growth.

CELEBRATING THE JOURNEY TOGETHER

To commemorate Bühler’s success in Southern Africa, a celebration was held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on March 18, 2022. In the morning, there was a customer event with Bühler’s top customers from Southern Africa and neighbouring countries as well as the Mayor of Johannesburg, various ambassadors, representation from the embassy of Switzerland and high-profile guest speakers. Dr Mpho Phalatse, the Mayor of Johannesburg, says, “We celebrate the presence of businesses such as Bühler, we celebrate their contribution towards building our beautiful city of Johannesburg and we celebrate their growth. Today, is their birthday, so it signals growth. But not only growth for the company, but growth for our city because when they grow, we also grow.”

Dr Mpho Phalatse, the Mayor of Johannesburg

Various videos capturing Bühler milestones on the African continent and special memories with its customers and staff were also shown at the event. The guests were treated to some interesting insights by the keynote speaker Busisiwe Mavuso, CEO Business Leadership SA, as well as some entertainment by motivational speaker Quentin Coetzee. A special menu was served based on the products used in Bühler processes and solutions. In the evening, the event was marked with a black-tie ball for staff and their partners, full of celebration, music and dance hosted by a local celebrity Ayanda MVP.

Harry Bloechlinger, Bühler Managing Director, Southern Africa

FUTURE ASPIRATIONS AND PLANS

Building on its success in South Africa, Bühler is further expanding the business in the region. Stefan Scheiber, Bühler CEO, says, “In the long term, the market of South Africa, including the neighbouring countries will double its inhabitants to 400 million people by 2050. This is our motivation and reasons for Bühler to continue strengthening our organisations not only in South Africa, but also in Southern Africa, as we continue to live our vision: innovations for a better world.”

Stefan Scheiber, Veiccoh Nghiwete, Ambassador of Namibia, and Heiko Feuring

The company has a focus on food processing technologies as well as value services including digitalisation. Education and training will also play a key role going forward. Bühler also has a 24/7 customer service department, with service stations in Cape Town and Zambia. “It is extremely important for us to be close to our customers. We are in the region for the region,” says Scheiber. The Bühler Manufacturing Services in Honeydew offer various value added services from drafting to prototyping and final steel fabrication. Through various training programs the objective is to foster local capabilities from sketch and drawing to final product design, and manufacture. •

Bühler – www.buhlergroup.com