May 2017
LADUMA
3 fan drives – page w e n m o fr s g n vi Big sa ater – page 5 w ve sa to n ig a p Cam nt – page 8 We sure have tale
ONE TEAM - ONE GOAL !
MESSAGE FROM THE MD The improved summer rainfall has resulted in estimates increasing from last season’s 15 million tonnes cane crushed to an estimate of 16.8 million tonnes for the 2017/18 season. As a result, we expect a significant increase in the amount of local molasses available for processing until April 2018 which will reduce the need for imports and allow the plant to operate at full capacity.
As you are all aware South Africa’s investment rating was recently downgraded to non-investment grade or “junk status”. There is no amount of political spin that can be put on the implications of this that result in it being anything other than bad for the country. Blame can be attributed, to various degrees, to all manner of actions and individuals and a massive amount of often naive and dangerous political and economic rhetoric is being spouted by all manner of personalities, many of them with absolutely no credible basis.
We continue to source alcohol to support the sales demand from several countries including Mauritius, Swaziland, France and India – which dramatically increases logistics complexity. However these trading activities are a major contributor to operating margins, especially with high imported molasses requirements. The trading of alcohol has become a core part of our business over the last seven years or so, and we must ensure that there is an ongoing process of streamlining and refining related operational practices to ensure we adequately manage this complexity. We need to remain flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, but at the same time ensure that we adequately consider all the implications of any decision including storage, processing, logistics, legal and financial.
The long-term implications of junk status are: higher interest rates and ultimately a weaker rand resulting in increased food, electricity and petrol prices; increasing unemployment as businesses come under pressure and have to restructure or close; government having less to spend on social programmes, and decreasing business confidence which reduces business investment, and no job creation. It is a vicious cycle that has no benefit for anyone in South Africa. Junk status is not something that goes away in a short time; in the past 30 years only 15 countries have recovered from junk status and it took them an average of seven years and all of them made major interventions that required financial consolidation, austerity, and economic and political reform. All of this requires extremely strong leadership and a clear direction and intent to correct the situation. A lack of leadership assisted in getting South Africa into this mess, so as individuals you need to decide how you want to get out of it and make your views heard.
At NCP Alcohols, in our daily activities, we need to remain focused on controlling those things where we have the greatest impact, continually striving to increase our performance and improve our business. As an export-focused business, a weakening currency increases our profitability provided we effectively manage our production and trading activities. We need to be aware of the external factors, but not to be distracted by the “noise”.
g
lin Peter Star
Long-service awards presented Long-service awards were presented at the end of 2016 to employees with 15 or more years’ service. Those who received awards were: Ronnie Anamd, 35 years; Peter Starling, 30 years; Gary Bregovits, 25 years; Matthews Dubazane, 25 years; and Carl Freyer, 15 years.
The award recipients are, clockwise from top left, Ronnie Anamd, Peter Starling (with Mark Norton-Amor), Gary Bregovits, Matthews Dubazane and Carl Freyer.
On the cover
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Safety is our priority
Digging into their Valentine’s Day swiss-roll cakes are operations controllers Simah Ndlovu and Nathi Zikhali.
Seen with one of the VSDs are, from left, Patrick Dladla – Operations Assistant, Don Pillay – Utilities, Louie Pillay – Utilities Manager, Shon Roopnarain – Instrument Superintendent, Matthews Dubazane – Utilities Controller, and Andreas Mazibuko – Electrician.
Fan drives result in big savings
During the recent shutdown, Boiler 1 FD fan variable speed drives (VSD) were commissioned, resulting in substantial energy savings. Explained Louie Pillay, Utilities Manager, “The VSD now controls and modulates the FD fan motor speed, supplying combustion air according to the boiler’s load demand as opposed to the previous operation where the motors ran at full speed continuously. “This has reduced the fan’s electrical energy consumption by approximately 20% which equates to about R98 000 year.”
Job observations play a vital role ‘Job observations’ are one of the many tools that NCP Alcohols uses to ensure that the entire production process is incident-free. Typically, standard critical tasks are observed at least once a year. As Lorraine Mudaly, SHEQ Manager, explains, “There are many reasons why we do ‘job observations’ besides the obvious one – which is safety first; we want to PREVENT incidents, and for everyone to go home at the end of the day without injury and all in one piece. “Take training. We need to know that someone learning a new task is operating as required. We also need to ensure that there are no environmental impacts – say for example a drum of potable alcohol were to fall, the product would find its way into our stormwater system and contaminate it. Quite apart from the loss of valuable product and the revenue from it. We also do job observations when an infrequent task is being carried out, or when new equipment is installed.” If there is an incident, a job observation is carried out to see what went wrong and to prevent a repetition. The manager concerned will evaluate the peron against the procedure document, and make recommendations either to change the procedure or retrain the person concerned.
Logan Naicker, Site Logistics Manager, conducts a job observation as forklift driver Sandile Zungu loads 250-litre drums of potable ethanol onto a flatbed truck for export.
Safety is no accident
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An update from AlcoBioFuel Benoit Verbruggen, Chairman of the Executive Committee of AlcoBioFuel GreenCO2 was commissioned at the end of August 2016 on the site of Alco Bio Fuel (ABF) in Ghent, Belgium. As a reminder, ABF holds 50% of this joint venture, together with gas specialists Messer and Ijsfabriek. The learning curve for our team has been intense since then, and many technical improvements have been brought to the installation already. The biggest challenge was to improve the removal of carbonyl sulphide (COS), a sulphur impurity component which can be tricky to get rid of, and hold it under 0,1 ppm, which is the contractual specification. A performance test was passed on 4 December 2016, even though yield was not yet 100%. Now all parameters have been achieved, and we are only waiting for the last technical documents, CE certification and punch list conclusion, in order to sign the final acceptance with ASCO, the technology and equipment supplier. On the ABF side, the project was mostly lead by Clément Guyomard, a young French engineer who played a prominent role in the achievement of all performance parameters. Moreover, after a complete immersion in the field and thanks to dedicated lessons, Clément is now fluent in Flemish (Dutch)!
Says Clément Guyomard, Process Engineer, Alco Bio Fuel: “Creating GreenCO2 has given ABF operational and management staff the opportunity to set foot in a totally new business. This gave us a chance to learn about new technologies, quality systems, production philosophy and stock management. All round a very positive added value to ABF!” ABF is building its commercial knowledge of this new market, and sells up to 50% of the liquid CO2 produced to intermediary industrial gas players, for final use in soft drinks, food packaging and refrigerated transport. The more liquefied CO2 we produce and sell, the better our related produced ethanol will score with its greenhouse gas savings, an important target as per the EU Renewable Energy Directive. This gives Alcodis, who distribute fuel ethanol from ABF, interesting sales and marketing advantages. Spring is back here in West Europe, and the sun as well, which means greater demand for CO2 from the beer and soft-drink industry. Soon we will be in the peak season, and, driven by the demand, GreenCO2 will have to produce at its maximum capacity, within specifications, and without any interruption. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
Class of 2017 raring to learn
The 2017 students are, from left, Percy Makhubele, Nadira Kercival, Melusi Trevor Mzobe, Surekha Rughbeer, Neelan Govender, Xolane Nqoba Mthembu, Slungile Charlotte Mbeje, Denver Naidoo, and Lavania Govender; Rooshev Naidoo is at front.
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No safety, know pain
A warm welcome to NCP Alcohols’ new in-service trainees! The training programme offers students a year of ‘live training’ in the fields of Analytical Chemistry, Applied Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Food Technology, Instrumentation, Microbiology, SHEQ and Chemical, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Standing as a strong and dynamic group of ten students, the Class of 2017 are raring to learn the most that they can from the NCP Alcohols family and we could not be happier to impart our knowledge to these minds of tomorrow. Over and above this, our students will have the opportunity to be actively involved in the numerous community and social upliftment programmes currently being implemented by NCP Alcohols.
Campaign to save water at home and at work!
NCP Alcohols, as much as any other user of municipal water, cares about every litre of water consumed. Part of this caring is taking meter readings every day, and who better for the job than that happy man, Patrick Dladla. Can anyone spot the resemblance between Patrick and a famous Hollywood star? Move over, Eddie Murphy!
NCP Alcohols recently launched a watersaving campaign to encourage staff members to save water both at home and at work. Each month, during a general staff get together, tips received during the month are compared and the best monthly STOP the DROP water-saving tip for @work or @home wins a nifty prize.
All the Easter egg winners
Lucky Ntuli seen training for the Comrades Marathon.
The company’s annual Easter egg hunt turned out to be an interdepartmental battle rather than an individual ‘hunt’ for Easter eggs. Our Marketing and Distribution team ‘found’ the most eggs followed by the very tenacious Easter egg hunters from our Laboratory.
Lucky runs for his health
Lucky Ntuli, a member of the company’s athletics club, the Leafy Leapers, says he runs because it keeps him healthy. This year he has run the Maritzburg City Marathon (42 km), the Two Oceans Marathon (56 km), and is running his third Comrades Marathon (88km) on 4 June. His goal is a sub-10-hours time. NCP Alcohols sponsors his running shoes every year. Go, Lucky!
Safety is a choice you make
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2016 students were happy at NCPA We said farewell to our 2016 in-service trainees on 26 January when they gave presentations to their mentors and HoDs. Said Ace Govender, Laboratory Supervisor, “Every year we take in about a dozen students and give them a solid work foundation. For their part, they invariably come up with new ideas and add value to our operation, reducing costs and making the business more viable. We wish them well ‘out there’.
Duma Ngcobo with Ace Govender: “It was amazing. I learned so much, was involved and projects and even made some friends and had fun.”
Sphelele Ndaba, centre, with Lance Ethell and Mervin Kullen,“I got to implement everything I learned at university, and interacted with real customers. We had to work extremely accurately, and I learned the importance of ‘no mistakes’.”
Wendy Dlamini with Ace Govender: “I was surprised and happy to not be treated as a junior, and I got to continue my fascination with chemistry.”
Sandile Msibi, centre, with Lumeshni Pillay and Stephen Kitching: “I was happy to be able to run four of my own projects, which was a big responsibility – and a rewarding challenge. I also tutored maths matriculants during my year here. NCPA is certainly one of the best opportunities for training that a student can get.”
Our IT team is up for any challenge If some kind of disaster were to befall NCP Alcohols, would the IT systems survive? That is a question that is asked every year when a Disaster Recovery exercise is carried out. Says Ricardo Peters, Senior IT Support Engineer, “Essentially, when ‘disaster’ strikes we set up a disaster recovery room outside the server room, and users can come and work there. For one week we test the IT systems, and for another week we rebuild the IT environment. “Our IT partner Business Connexion is involved every step of the way and restores the servers and operating system, AX is restored by SIS, and Export Docs is restored by Siyakhanda. “At the end of the exercise, we need to know we have kept data loss to a minimum, and that the data we have recovered is accurate. Happily, the most recent exercise was a success and our users confirmed the data recovered was accurate.”
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A spill, a slip, a hospital trip
The disaster recovery team, from left, Mohamed Sayed (Server Administrator), Mujahid Mahomed (SQL DB Administrator), Mickion Mtshali (BCX Sharepoint Admin) and Ricardo Peters.
NCPA sponsors wellness day
On 9 December 2016, NCP Alcohols sponsored a wellness day for the elders of our community; the day was hosted by SAPS Greenwood Park. Safety is a CSI (corporate social investment) focus area for NCP Alcohols and opened up an opportunity to engage with the elders of the community not only to sensitise them about the rights of older persons but also to recognise them for being our foundation and pillars of strength. The event was attended by SAPS Greenwood Park’s
station commander, Colonel MI Mngadi, and other senior management. The Managing Director of NCP Alcohols, Peter
Starling, and members of his executive committee and staff also attended. Both Colonel Mngadi and Mr Starling addressed the distinguished guests and extended kind words to them. Col Mngadi and his team informed the elders about the rights that they have, and how to address their concerns should the need arise. The guests were treated to refreshments and Christmas gift hampers from NCP Alcohols.
Helping to keep our neighbours secure
Seen at the handover to the Effingham community of a guard hut sponsored by NCP Alcohols, are, from left, S’bu Kunene, Administrator for Avoca Road; Rajid Jaynath, CPF Chair Subforum 2; W/O L Govender, Sector Commander Subforum 2; Lorraine Mudaly and Robert Quansah from NCP Alcohols; Selvin Chetty, Vice-Chair, Forum 2; and W/O Leon Audh, Communications Officer.
Safety rules are your best tools
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Who can forget Process Technician Lumeshni Govender’s belly dancing?
Vicky Singh (Shift Manager) had everybody in stitches with his impersonation of a very funky elderly lady strutting her stuff.
Franck Maubert (Export Manager) miming the classic “In the Box”.
Lorraine Mudaly (SHEQ Manager) ‘killing’ it with her modern spin on the traditional belly dance.
NCPA sure has talent The theme for NPC Alcohols’ 2016 year-end function was “NCPA’s Got Talent”. As usual, hidden talents were brought out and enjoyed. What a team we are!!!
Who can forget this funny lot with their not-so-timely audience cues?
Zinhle Mqadi’s (Production Manager) spirited song sweeping the crowd off their feet.
Raj Mothi (Road Execution Controller) mesmerising the crowd with a traditional spiritual song.
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Claude Premjith (Electrical Apprentice) stunned everyone with his talent on the keyboard.
Use your brain, avoid the strain
Ashika Jithoo (Operations Controller) taking the crowd away for a bit, reciting “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou.
Sing along with Alan Pillay (Materials Handler) – what would a staff party be without his passionate songs from the heart.
Published by NCP Alcohols (Pty) Ltd www.ncpalcohols.com