lafarge gypsum
feature
L a f a r g e G y p s u m SA ’ s
turnaround
nears comp let ion
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Lafarge Gypsum SA focus Construction
Lafarge Gypsum SA’s Jean-Paul Croze tells South Africa Magazine that the firm’s transformation and turnaround is almost complete while outlining plans for the future.
By Ian Armitage
L
afarge Gypsum SA has undergone a remarkable transformation and buoyed by “exciting opportunities in Africa” the company is set to grow. Just a few years ago the story was very different. The business was struggling. Things needed to change. That change started when managing director Jean-Paul Croze, who was formerly vice-president of manufacturing and performance for the Gypsum Division in France and was vice-president of manufacturing in Asia, came to South Africa in 2008. The business was not in good shape. He started by tackling HR and management challenges which had hindered growth, confident of realising the undoubted potential. However, soon after, the global financial crisis took a hold throwing a real “spanner in the works” and forcing Mr Croze to look also at performance, technical and commercial challenges. That was a blessing, he says. “The context and the market gave me the opportunity to address most of the challenges you can find in a business. We moved from losses to profit even in a crisis period.” Croze has certainly led a revival at the Alrode-based operation and its plants at Roodekop and Alrode are now performing well. It has been “further assisted” by the fact Lafarge Gypsum SA is the only plasterboard manufacturer in South Africa to have achieved Ecospecifier green labels for its products. The green labelled products helps to enhance green ratings for green star buildings. The scene is set for future success. “Although we haven’t really left the downturn and the market remains tight, with some of the effects still being felt and uncertainty remaining in the eurozone and other markets, we have done well and maintained our quality and customer confidence,” says Croze, who has huge international experience and a strong industrial background with a particular focus on plasterboard, compounds and metals www.southafricamag.com
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Lafarge Gypsum SA focus CONSTRUCTION
products. “We have focused on performance and have achieved cost reduction with HR optimisation and performance improvement; we’ve never compromised on quality and are starting to reap the rewards as the markets gradually improve and growth becomes more realistic. “We have expanded the product range and developed a full range of Lafarge products - standard, technical and ceiling plasterboards, a range of skimming plasters and developed a range of cove cornices. All these products are now recognised in the market as top and reference quality. “We are starting to see some good success in 2012 although on the commercial side we are still below our production capacity. However we are in a strong position and remain in the fight.”
We are starting to see some good success in 2012 although on the commercial side we are still below our production capacity
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Lafarge Gypsum was established in South Africa in 2004 following the acquisition of MacSteel Interior System and operates a gypsum mine at Pofadder in the Northern Cape Province and two international class manufacturing facilities in the south-east of Johannesburg: a plasterboard factory at Roodekop, which began production in 2007 and a factory in Alrode, which manufactures steel ceiling grids, metal studs, access flooring and suppliers of aluminium profiles. “We are working more and more on full systems, offering and guaranteeing high technical properties with global cheaper solutions for end users, the challenges being to get these solutions prescribed and
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customers progressively changing and valuing it,” Croze says. “We are also working to offer competitive solutions for things like low-cost housing and – through our parent – we are getting the international expertise and are able to develop, adapt and test new systems to address customers’ needs. “Potential for plasterboard ceiling and partitioning systems development is huge. 6
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We are continuously ensuring that the products are sustainable and we encourage and promote efficient building which is the Lafarge way.” Lafarge Gypsum has been improving operations at Roodekop since Croze took charge and has ramped up production capacity. Cheap Chinese imports, which have flooded the market, remain a challenge however. “That is a problem,” Croze says. “Of course
we had the downturn and that forced price pressure as smaller players tried to survive. Price in some parts of the market has taken over quality and the guarantee and that is an issue. It is becoming more and more difficult too because we have more product coming in from China, cheap product. They aren’t of the quality we have and don’t have the same guarantees but budgets are tight and consumers
Lafarge Gypsum SA focus Construction
can be tempted. We have of course managed to focus on maintaining our quality without passing additional cost onto the customer and have a competitive offering. I think that has been a real success.” There is growth in the market and things are moving in the right direction. “How do you see the industry developing? I see plasterboard solutions taking more and more space in partitioning, in the commercial and also in the residential market. I also see customers being more and more
sensitive to the environment, energy saving, sustainable development and a host of other issues. That means giving more and more possibilities for the plasterboard system to be developed and to become more and more competitive.” South Africa demonstrated strong growth in the years leading up to the financial crisis and Croze was originally brought in to help expand Lafarge Gypsum’s operations. That is happening. “Plenty of neighbouring countries such as Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Namibia are consistently growing,” he says. “I would say we have rationalised our organisation a bit and we have refocused our export but the growth potential here is big. “We see lot of potential in the use of plasterboard in Africa. What challenges do we face? Helping and supporting the development of plasterboard systems is the big one. We have to address all segments of the market – commercial, upmarket residential housing and also low cost housing.” Lafarge is established and known in the cement market in Africa and clearly there are lots of opportunities for Lafarge Gypsum SA. The challenge is to realise those opportunities. “We have a strong, competent team and I am optimistic and confident about the future,” Croze concludes. Lafarge wants to create a legacy for tomorrow and all its initiatives are geared in that direction. To learn more visit www.lafarge.co.za.
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