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ACHIEVING BUSINESS EXCELLENCE ONLINE INCLUDING

starlite aviation: MONTHLY EDITION September 2013

RenĂŠ Lagos:

Our work is here to stay The ability to build tall in challenging environments

demir export: harmony gold:

Included The BE Mining Directory showcases leading mining organisations from across the world, ranging from big corporations to junior mines and their supply chains.

Be seen throughout our portfolio of magazines: • BE Mining Directory • BE Mining • BE Weekly • BE Monthly •

Go to page 228 to see this month’s listing To find out how to get involved contact: vincent@bus-ex.com

business excellence

Business John O’Hanlon Editor johanlon@bus-ex.com Will Daynes Editor wdaynes@bus-ex.com Matt Johnson Art Director mjohnson@bus-ex.com Louise Culling Production Designer lculling@bus-ex.com Richard Turner Director of Sales rturner@bus-ex.com Vince Kielty Director of Editorial Research vkielty@bus-ex.com

Business Excellence brings you content from leading business influencers and strategic thinkers providing inspiration and guidance to help you and your business grow.

We showcase some of the best examples of successful organisations from around the world giving you a unique insight into how they operate.

Sharon Rooke Administration & Operations srooke@bus-ex.com Matt Day Head of Technology mday@bus-ex.com Andy Turner Chief Executive aturner@bus-ex.com

Contributors George F. Brown, Jr. Consultant & Author Thomas R. Cutler President & CEO - TR Cutler, Inc

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Exact Software Business software developers David Walton CEO of Bestoutcome Tom Butler & Josef Skoldeberg World Bank Group

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The content of this magazine is copyright of Infinity Business Media Ltd. Redistribution or reproduction of any content is prohibited. Š Copyright 2013 Infinity Business Media Ltd.

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features

12 18

12 Q&A

World Bank Group

We talk to Tom Butler and Josef Skoldeberg about the issues facing the mining industry and how ethical, sustainable mining can be the key to alleviating poverty in developing countries.

18 supply chain

24

Reducing Customer Lead Time

How implementing lean technologies into your supply chain can reduce lead times from 15 days to less than two.

24 Operations

Picking Productivity Kept Simple

When it comes to choosing a warehouse picking solution, accuracy beats complexity every time Pick-to-Light systems are easier to learn too

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contents

30 strategy

Planning Change and Changing Planning

30

Why firms need to adopt a best-in-class planning process in order to plan for the future.

38 strategy

time to stop the rot in project management

Organisations are becoming victims of compulsive, blinkered spending on failing projects on a grand scale.

38

42 strategy

Making yourself at home in the international marketplace Planning for successful expansion of your sales activities into new markets.

42

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business showcases

52

66

Construction: 52 René Lagos

Our work is here to stay

The structural design firm of René Lagos has worked on more than ten million square metres of building: after 36 years it is recognised and respected for its expertise in realising the aspirations of architects to build tall in challenging environments.

74

66 Proccea Construction No challenge too complex

Proccea Construction’s vast degree of experience in international construction has made it a hugely successful player both at home in Turkey and abroad.

Mining & Minerals: 74 Antamina

Reaching new heights

Operations Vice President, Jorge Ghersi discusses the continuing development of Antamina, site of the largest mining investment programme in the history of Peru.

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84 Argex Titanium

On the path to production

The Canadian junior exploration company completes its transformation into a top quality supplier to the pigment industry.

94 Dartel Electricidad The electrical experts

Commercial manager, Claudio QuiĂąones discusses the rich history of Dartel Electricidad, its support of the mining sector and its plans for the future.

84

100 Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited

A harmonious approach to mining

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited CEO Graham Briggs reveals how the company is weathering the rapidly evolving mining environment in South Africa, making itself a stronger business in the process.

110 ADP Group

delivering engineering expertise

94

For the past 16 years ADP Group of Companies (ADP) has played a meaningful role in some of Africa’s most interesting mining projects.

100

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business showcases

118 118 Abraservice Nederland More than a steel supplier

The secrets behind Abraservice’s success, the role it is playing in creating a brighter future and Abraservice Nederland’s own contributions towards local and international growth.

126 Demir Export

Turning experience into excellence

126 134

Having more than a half century’s experience, Demir Export is recognised as one of the leading diversified mining companies in Turkey with extensive know-how and competency.

134 Aldridge Minerals Multi metals in Turkey

Aldridge Minerals is a junior Canadian company focused on just one project in Turkey – after a decade of development the Yenipazar mine is on the cusp of production.

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Transport & Logistics: 144 Starlite Aviation Group

A star shining bright

Starlite Aviation Group has grown into a global aviation business. Commercial Director, Dimmie de Milander discusses the strengths of the group and how it is perfectly positioned to capitalise on future growth opportunities.

154 Gelibolu Shipyard Making waves

Based near to one of Europe’s most historic maritime locations, Gelibolu Shipyard has been delivering expertly designed turn-key vessels for the better part of four decades.

162 Hanseatic Marine A life of luxury

154

From the game-changing SILVER to the largest all-aluminium megayacht ever made in Australia, the Smeralda, Hanseatic Marine continues to revolutionise the world of luxury superyachts.

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business showcases

170

178

oil & gas: 170 Sturrock-Grindrod Offshore Superior African offshore service

How Sturrock-Grindrod Offshore is helping to cater for the needs of those investing in and capitalising on Africa’s vast oil and gas potential.

178 Total Namibia

A total solution for Namibia

Total Namibia continues to prove its considerable worth to Namibia’s many industries and the country as a whole.

184 Petrojam

A finer refinery for Jamaica

The Petrojam refinery at Kingston Jamaica is being upgraded and should be complete by the beginning of 2016.

Manufacturing: 192 Mumias Sugar Company

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The secret to sweet success Mumias Sugar Company is the largest sugar manufacturing operation in East Africa.

contents

202 Seven-Up Bottling Company Making a difference

For more than 50 years Seven-Up Bottling Company has been a significant contributor towards the development of Nigeria, making it one of the country’s most admired businesses.

202

212 Waco Industries The perfect partner

Waco Industries is Southern Africa’s largest manufacturer and distributor of industrial electrical products and as such continues to play a hugely vital role in the development of numerous countries and industries.

Telecoms: 220 Azercell

The future is data

212

Among the forces that bind the people of Azerbaijan together is its mobile communications network: we talk to Azercell’s recently appointed CEO about the technical and social aspirations of the company.

BE Directory: 228 Consolidated Wire Industries (CWI)

CWI: World-class wire solutions

CWI is a premier producer of mild steel wire and wire products in South Africa.

220

230 weir minerals

Excellent mineral solutions A long history in mining and engineering.

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Q&A

World Bank Group International Finance Corporation (IFC) Mining We talk to the Global Head of IFC Mining, Tom Butler and IFC Communications Officer, Josef Skoldeberg about the important issues facing the industry today and how ethical, sustainable mining can be the key to alleviating poverty in developing countries Words by

Will Daynes

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From your position within the IFC, what is your perception of the global mining sector today?

Butler: Obviously the industry today is facing a lot of pressure when it comes to the commodity downturn that we have seen and the subsequent need to cut costs and shelve a number of projects because of the market environment. From my perspective within the IFC, I think for the most part the industry has shown in recent times that it understands the need and importance of having what has been called a social license to operate, and this means conducting activities in a way that is acceptable from an environmental and social perspective. Whereas some 10-to-15 years ago a large number of companies would have admitted that such issues would not be high on their

list of priorities, today the vast majority have made it a top priority – many are getting it right on environmental matters – that is what engineers are good at, and mining companies are full of engineers – but on social aspects and community interactions, many companies are still struggling to get it right.

How would you define the IFC’s role in the mining sector today?

Butler: Today we are involved in some really big landmark transactions, which will significantly impact the host countries when they finally start producing. That is one strand of our business and it is a key strand for us to be involved in. The other strand of our business is what we call our Early Equity Strategy, which is to invest in junior mining companies that are still in the exploration stage and that is something we have built up in the last six or seven years.

We only used to look at financing projects at a construction stage, whereas now we are engaging at a much earlier stage with companies, working with them to help get the environmental, social and sustainability aspects of their business right so that by the time they get to construction they have got a project that has the best possible social licence to operate.

In its role of adding value to clients in the mining sector, how does the IFC approach individual operations and is this there a set of criteria you look for in a project before becoming involved?

Tom Butler

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Butler: IFC is the private sector part of the World Bank and in many ways we

Q&A

“One of the main things we do is run an annual event called the IFC Sustainable Exchange where we try to facilitate an exchange of information, knowledge and ideas� act like a commercial bank, with the difference being that we are prepared to go to places that a typical commercial bank may not interested in going. So the first thing to say is that any project we look at has to make sense from a commercial point of view, we are not a provider of soft funding or subsidised funding. The second thing we look for is sponsors, ownership and management who are committed to implementing our performance standards, which basically govern the environmental and social approach to a project and to developing the project in a sustainable manner.

There are lots of definitions that can accompany the word sustainable, but to my mind it means in a way that will maximise the positive impact of the project for all stakeholders.

What would you identify as some of the bigger challenges that mining companies are facing today?

Butler: What a number of companies are struggling more with is the social dimension of their operations. We have found that the expectations of local communities to be engaged are increasing, largely as a result of the globalisation of communications and the fact that people have instant

access to information and events connected to mining on the other side of the planet. This means that a lot of companies constantly have to play catch up with just how fast the world of communications is evolving.

We are putting a lot of effort towards this particular issue and are working closely with our client companies to make them aware of the importance of getting the communication aspect of their business right.

How exactly are you helping your client companies overcome this particular issue?

Skoldeberg: One area that mining companies are starting to focus more on is going beyond communicating with their staff, consultants and stakeholders, and ensuring that things can be communicated back up within the business itself. We help our smaller clients establish the processes and strategies for communication with their stakeholders that are appropriate for their size, and the business phase they are in. When it comes to our larger clients we take a look at how they are approaching the idea of communications in general and then offer any advice and assistance. We are also working on some studies on trends and best practices in

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communications with partners in the mining industry that we hope to complete in the fall of 2013.

issue has been dealt with elsewhere with the aim of reaching a positive conclusion for all parties.

The demand for mining companies to prove that they can conduct their operations in an ethical and responsible manner has arguably never been greater. Have you been encouraged by what you have seen from said companies when it comes to addressing these issues?

You touched on the concept of sustainability earlier and this is another core theme today.

How is IFC helping to facilitate positive developments in this area of the industry?

Butler: I think most companies do understand the importance of these issues, most companies are saying that they are doing it and most are actually getting it right on the environmental side. Where I see a number struggling however is on that social side of things that I mentioned previously, as this can be because the necessary cultural change within a company takes longer to be implemented or simply because achieving the commitments made by top management can be extremely difficult in a short space of time. Where IFC stands in all this is that we have a huge amount of experience of, and exposure to, a range of global issues and such we have the ability to look at a particular problem for a company in one location and highlight examples of the way that

Butler: One of the main things we do is run an annual event called the IFC Sustainable Exchange where we try to facilitate an exchange of information, knowledge and ideas. Through such gatherings and our work in general we are able to witness common themes across the industry. One such theme is the issue of water management, particularly in dry countries like Chile, in Mongolia where there is a water shortage and in countries like Peru where local communities fear that mining projects will negatively impact their own resources. One of the ways we are trying to help companies work through these issues is by exercising what we call our convening power.

Because of who we are we are able to convene discussions and working groups on these kinds of issues. We have got a multi-company group in Mongolia for example that is trying to work through

“The reason that the World Bank Group supports the mining industry is fundamentally because in a number of countries mining is the key to alleviating poverty and that is the core, underlying mission of the World Bank Group�

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Q&A

how to deal with the issues around access to water, communications around how much water a project will use and how much this will impact on the community.

Further to that, how would you describe the IFC’s agenda for the immediate future when it comes to mining related activities?

What do you feel will be one of the bigger issues facing the mining sector in developing countries in the coming years?

Butler: The reason that the World Bank Group supports the mining industry is fundamentally because in a number of countries mining is the key to alleviating poverty and that is the core, underlying mission of the World Bank Group. In a large number of countries mining is indeed going to be key to achieving that because the fiscal flows to government generated from a successful mine can be hugely significant. Therefore our continued priority will be to support mining projects in these developing countries where mining can really make a big difference to the lives of everyone.

Butler: One of the top issues which the G8 has decided to focus on this year is transparency within the industry.

While it is fair to say that a number of companies have taken a lead by voluntarily disclosing the nature of the contracts agreed with governments, there will certainly be a bigger push for this transparency to become much broader.

This will require developing countries that have big extractive industries to be much more open about what is being signed up to, what kind of payments are being received from mining companies and what that money is being used for.

We will hear even more about this in the next few years.

For more information about International Finance Corporation (IFC) Mining please visit: www.ifc.org/ogmc

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Supply chain

Reducing Customer Lead Time <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

How implementing lean technologies into your supply chain can reduce lead times from 15 days to less than two Words by

Thomas R. Cutler

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T

he future of lean technologies indicates that supply chain solutions will be increasingly required to meet the demands of the marketplace. Collaborative Supply Portal (CSP) must manage raw material replenishment, Lean Factory Management (LFM) will manage shop-floor schedules, and Collaborative Demand Portal (CDP) will be required to service distribution centers, dealers and OEMs all focus on the execution side of the factory floor. Lean planning must cross-over to procurement as well in the form of a collaborative request for quote (RFQ) module.

RFQ technology allows buyers and suppliers to collaborate easily and effectively in a bidding process. The iterative process tracks and traces the bids in real time until a winning bid is converted into a purchase order. The collaborative Planning Module integrates planning data with execution and establishes a feedback loop.

It is all about leaning the supply chain.

In the past manufacturing was vertically integrated and the suppliers were located within a short radius. Manufacturing today is less integrated and the suppliers are global. Only through supplier collaboration, and real-time flow of order, shipment and receipt information can be controlled and automatically computed.

The result is the next important step of lean—kaizen, or continuous improvement.

As a manufacturing journalist it was a pleasure to interview Narayan Laksham, Ultriva founder and CEO. He founded the company 1999 with a vision of building an organization that develops customer driven solutions which guarantee high value, quick deployment, and measurable return on investment. Laksham has written articles on several lean topics including “When Push comes to Pull Kanban wins.”

He is also a co-inventor of the patent pending “Inventory Optimization Tool.”

This recent conversation revealed how much has changed in the supply chain during the intervening conversation, when first interviewed six years ago.

Manufacturing is more competitive than ever with shorter lead times, higher service levels, exploding numbers of finished good SKUs (stock keeping units) and thinning margins. Laksham points out, “The focus of leaning in manufacturing was concentrated on streamlining the factory floor, alignment of production lines, optimization of space, and standardizing of operating procedures.

One key area which was not touched was the supply chain material replenishment.

Given that purchase parts could be as high as 60 percent of manufacturing costs, applying lean methodologies to this process is critical. As excess inventory eats the margins, part shortages reduce customer service levels and result in lost revenues.”

At an APICS (Association for Operations Management) meeting in Van Nuys,

“Manufacturing is more competitive than ever with shorter lead times, higher service levels, exploding numbers of finished good SKUs and thinning margins” 20 |

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Supply chain

CA, late last fall, Nicole Smith of Zurn SKUs are being manufactured using this Wilkins (a Rexnord Company) shared advanced process.” the company’s experience of reducing After the initial process, Rexnord customer lead time from fifteen days implemented the supplier kanban modules to less than two days. She also shared across several plants in the US, to ensure how the company was able to reduce the that the raw materials were available to raw material and WIP (work in process) meet demand. More than 22,000 parts inventory by twenty percent. are being replenished by 178 suppliers Rexnord is a diversified multi-platform across these plants. Finally Rexnord industrial company that manufactures implemented internal kanban to set up and markets power transmission and a pull system from its final assembly to water management products. Revenue upstream work centers. last year was $1.3 billion and the firm In an effort to better understand why employs nearly 7,000 people. supply chain managers are frequently Ultriva, based in Cupertino, CA, broadsided with wrong size inventory, implemented a demand driven Laksham explained, “The inability manufacturing model by providing full of current supply chain management visibility, scheduling, and sequencing systems to support true collaboration of production of customer orders at the and execution between manufacturers cell level for one of the Rexnord plant in and their supply chain partners result Indianapolis. Previously it took ten days in supplier whiplash, poor delivery before the order reached the factory floor; performance, and lost revenue.” orders were scheduled on a weekly basis, The mission of providing greater causing an overall lead time of fifteen days.

L a k s h a m commented about the • RYG dashboard indicators show inventory health Rexnord situation, • Built-in workflow & noting, “We facilitated business rules engine the orders to be • Complete order tracking directly dropped at the manufacturing cells within 15 minutes of receipt. If the order was received before 2 pm it was manufactured and shipped on the same • Automated email alerts based on pre-set business rules day; if after 2 pm, it • Daily/monthly business proces routines was shipped the next • Single version of the truth - buyers day. Currently over & suppliers see the same view from their perspective 30,000 finished goods

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transparency and visibility between manufacturers and supply chain partners allows manufacturing customers to experience an average 35 percent increase in inventory velocity. The across-the-board improvements in employee productivity and supply chain decision making has delivered even greater value through ultraresponsive, demand-driven supply chains.

Scott Harvey, vice president of Operations at CareFusion, another enthusiastic user of the technology remarked, “The cloud-based platform has a low barrier to entry and allows for an incredibly high level of standardization across all of our suppliers, which made it the obvious solution. As a medical device company working in a highly regulated industry, it is imperative that we maintain a high level of transparency and accountability.”

During the extensive interview with Laksham, he concluded that the shift for most manufacturing companies is becoming demand responsive. “Returning

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“The shift for most manufacturing companies is becoming demand responsive” to a more basic question of the objective of supply chain management is vital. The goal is to source, make and deliver the product from the point of origin to the point of consumption in the least amount of time at the lowest cost. Given that goal, the two most important attributes of supply chain management are responsiveness to the velocity of product flow, and the ability to move products quickly and with agility. These attributes enable the transition from push-based replenishment to pull-based replenishment. To focus on these attributes, it is vital to look toward the customer, the customer’s customer, or the end-user of the product.”

Since few companies can source material and produce all products in the volume required to meet a day’s production, the solution lies in consumption-based replenishment.

Consumption-based replenishment has its roots in lean manufacturing and “kanban” replenishment—a Japanese term for a card used to signal the need for inventory replenishment. Kanban now describes the “pull” method of keeping production lines optimally stocked with parts at the exact time and quantity needed. A simple analogy: Think of a carton of milk in the supermarket—as one carton is pulled off the shelf, another carton slides into its place, immediately restocking the inventory.

Supply chain

The cloud-based supply chain solutions streamline the production schedules with customer demand and synchronize the supply with shop-floor consumption. It uses the consumption-driven replenishment model to establish a true pull process across the value chain. The primary goal of the system is to right-size the inventory whether it is finished goods, work in process, or raw materials. Using a unique supply chain loop based architecture, manufacturing companies can establish real-time collaboration with their customers and suppliers. This collaboration allows manufacturers to carry the right mix of inventory at the distribution center, shorten the lead time to their customers and improve the service levels through elimination of part shortages.

The kanban principle can be effectively implemented with the use of technology, as consumption-based replenishment has evolved from its simple card-based roots into highly sophisticated software applications. These applications can help manufacturers determine the most optimal inventory levels for operations, and can rapidly recalculate efficient replenishment trigger points as demand

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The cloud-based supply chain solutions streamline the production schedules with customer demand and synchronize the supply with shop-floor consumptionâ&#x20AC;? varies over time. By taking a customercentric approach to daily operations, manufacturers focus investments on enabling operations to build only what is needed to replenish what the customer has ordered. This paradigm shift results in companies embracing a goal of delivering the products customers want, when they want them, and in the quantities they want.

Now, and for the next decade, efforts to eliminate waste will start by applying lean principles to supplier and customer collaboration. This combination will result in sensing demand changes and synchronizing supply resulting in rightsizing of inventory across the respective transaction points.

About the author Thomas R. Cutler is the President & CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, TR Cutler, Inc., (www.trcutlerinc.com). Cutler is the founder of the Manufacturing Media Consortium including more than 4,000 journalists, editors, and economists writing about trends in manufacturing, industry, material handling, and process improvement. Cutler is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Online News Association, American Society of Business Publication Editors, and Committee of Concerned Journalists, as well as author of more than 500 feature articles annually regarding the manufacturing sector. Cutler is the most published freelance industrial journalist worldwide and can be contacted at: trcutler@trcutlerinc.com

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Picking productivi

When it comes to choosing a wareho complexity every time: Pick-to-Lig Words by

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Thom

Operations

ity Kept Simple

ouse picking solution, accuracy beats ght systems are easier to learn too

mas R. Cutler BE Monthly

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I

dentify the characteristics most needed for an effective picking solution may seem obvious.

Indeed high visibility, robust order pick displays, flexible mounting method allowing the system to easily adapt/ grow with warehousing operation and simple intuitive software must be part of the mix. Obviously highly accurate order assembly, orders handled by barcode scanning or manual selection and picking data interfaced with ERP/ WMS for real-time visibility are also must-have requirements.

These characteristics for picking solutions are a great starting point for finding a cost-effective and efficient solution. More is not better in the picking world. All the bells and whistles of costly complex solutions completely miss the actual value, picking the right product, at the right place, at the right time.

Very large multi-facility warehouses implement very costly WMS (warehouse management systems) often customized to their particular operation. More than 90% of all distribution center locations are single operations with less than 100,000 square feet. They cannot justify high-end multi-million dollar technology solutions to enhance warehouse productivity, accuracy, and exploding SKUs (stock keeping unit).

The need is just as great among these smaller distribution centers and single warehouse operators; too often these executives attempt to patch together a best-of-breed picking solution at an affordable price with mixed results.

Antonio Rodrigues, a senior manager at Pcdata, based in East Granby,

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“One size fits all certainly does not apply to getting the highest productivity out of a warehouse operation.

Different technologies are better-suited depending on the SKUs order frequency and value.”

Connecticut, suggested, “One size fits all certainly does not apply to getting the highest productivity out of a warehouse operation. Different technologies are better-suited depending on the SKUs order frequency and value.”

Analysis of most warehouse orders will show a Pareto curve, where a small amount of the SKUs being processed account for a large percentage of the orders. These fast-moving items are the “A” parts. Any small amount of efficiency gains in picking these “A” parts will have a relatively large impact on the overall productivity of the entire operation.

Too often vendors of picking products are wedded to (and clearly invested in selling) just their solution, whether it is (or is not) the right fit for the distribution center, 3PL (third party logistics), or warehouse. Comparing pick technologies, side by side, often reveals that Pick-to-Light solutions have a clear edge over other solutions when measuring picking accuracy. The light indicators make it difficult to pick from the wrong location, or the incorrect amount, when the light is both the pick instruction and location indicator.

There is also a clear cost-advantage

Units ordered

Units ordered/SKUs

SKUs A-parts (fast movers)

B-parts

C- and D-parts

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“Replacing a paper-based picking process with a single technology helps deliver significant improvements with efficiency and accuracy” and scalability to Pick-to-Light solutions according to Rodrigues who suggested, “The system’s cost is determined by the number of SKUs, as a display is required for each SKU picked. With voice or RF scanning equipment, the variable cost is determined by the number of operators picking.”

Better than Paper Replacing a paper-based picking process with a single technology helps deliver significant improvements with efficiency and accuracy. However to optimize warehouse productivity, deploying hybrid solutions in which Pick-to-Light is used for fast moving products, delivers the best possible operational solution.

Too many vendors have ignored the single warehousing operation because there was no reasonable ROI (return-oninvestment) for the proposed technology.

Investigating PickStar, Pcdata’s next generation Pick-to-Light solution, the company has designed an installation model with minimal operational impact; bottom-line ease of use and operational simplicity was the company focus will provided a rapid ROI. Most of the 550 systems installed worldwide in 30 countries (100 in North America) required nothing more than basic user involvement due to the intuitive GUI (graphical user interface.) By observing employees at full capability in days, rather than months, the cost-justification becomes clear (especially without the need for IT engineering staff.)

Warehouse Technology Comparison Chart Labor

$/SKU

Cost

Errors

Paper

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Hybrid w P-t-L

Operations

Pick Strategy by Order Volume Picks/ manhr

0

100

200

300

400

A

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

Fully Automated Picking Solutions

A,B

Pick-to-Light Pick-to-Light

A,B,C C,D

Paper Picking

C,D

RF Picking Pallet Racking / Static Locations

Flowracks / Conveyors

Exponential Growth of SKUs With exponential growth in SKUs, the permutations of one product can be complex.

That variety and variability does not need to translate into the design, deployment, and maintenance of an effective picking solution. Rodrigues noted, â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is best when the hardware components are modular and user replaceable, minimizing maintenance and support costs. We have seen that in the right environment these Pick-toLight systems will outperform typical voice, RF scanning or paper based picking and order assembly processes.â&#x20AC;?

The industry sectors that are often

Automatic Transport Systems, Carrousels, Mini Loads, Robots, Sorters

most impacted by these simple, ready-toinstall, out-of-the box solutions, are fast moving item picks at any warehouse.

Assembly line processes are complex, particularly in food logistics, e-commerce business-to-consumer organizations, spare parts assemblies, and a wide variety of consumer goods distribution centers.

Low IT requirements, does not mean ineffective picking solutions.

Too many picking solutions require high powered servers or complex network infrastructure. Running from a standard Windows platform, allows the existing IT landscape to be utilized.

About the author Thomas R. Cutler is the President & CEO of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based, TR Cutler, Inc., (www.trcutlerinc.com). Cutler is the founder of the Manufacturing Media Consortium including more than 4000 journalists, editors, and economists writing about trends in manufacturing, industry, material handling, and process improvement. Cutler is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Online News Association, American Society of Business Publication Editors, and Committee of Concerned Journalists, as well as author of more than 500 feature articles annually regarding the manufacturing sector. Cutler is the most published freelance industrial journalist worldwide and can be contacted at: trcutler@trcutlerinc.com

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Planning change

&

Changing Planning

Why firms need to adopt a best-in-class planning process in order to plan for the future Words by

George F. Brown Jr.

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A

short while ago, I worked with a firm to redesign their planning progress.

The motivation for the assignment was described by an executive from that firm: “We felt very good about our planning process, believed that it was structured to ensure that we got ahead of opportunities and addressed the problems that were challenging our business units. A few years ago, for example, we concluded that the business model we had in place in one unit was becoming dated. Customers were looking for more and more customization in the equipment that they bought from this group, and were expecting a much more intelligent product. While the concept of Big Data hadn’t yet become popularized, they were looking for a data stream that would yield significant cost savings in their operations. In any case, our planning process identified these requirements, and our business plan mandated that the team take steps to implement them.

“Quite frankly, we fell on our sword as we tried to implement these changes.

Looking back, it was surprise after surprise. Trying to even address customer needs for customization was a challenge.

We had always relied on our distributors for customer interface. We had no skills in doing this, and even ran into conflicts with the distributors over end customer interactions. And when we muddled

through and got an order, we found we weren’t very good at production to order.

All of our processes were designed for high-volume runs, and we basically lost money on each custom order. And to be honest, we never even got to first base in terms of the information idea. That was just outside of our company’s skill set.

“What we gained from this unintended ‘learning experience’ was that strategy was only half of the equation. Without equal attention to execution, good strategy goes nowhere. So we realized that our planning process had to evolve to ensure that we were planning for change along both the strategic and implementation dimensions.”

This firm’s experience was hardly unique. I will cite two learning experiences of my own, ones that convinced me of the importance of focusing on implementation as a critical element of planning. The first involved a webinar that I conducted several years ago on the topic Best Practices in Strategy Implementation, sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Business Markets. The webinar technology that was used allowed for some real-time polling of the participants, the vast majority of whom said they were currently involved in implementation projects.

The quite striking finding that emerged from the use of this polling technology was that only 26% of the respondents said that their companies offered any in-career education programs related

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“Firms need to change their planning process in order to plan for change. Planning processes must not only define the appropriate strategy, but also provide a solid foundation for its implementation” to implementation. Most corporations today spend well over $1000 annually per employee on education and training.

Such programs span a wide range of topics – from how to develop strategy to how to motivate employees to how to use the newest IT tools. But the finding from this poll, as well as what I’ve heard over and over in discussions with executives in many different companies, is that very little of this money is spent on developing competencies related to implementation projects. Teams are given very important implementation assignments without any training or tools to help them to succeed.

The second experience which motivated my understanding of the importance of developing implementation skills emerged from a research project that I did on the challenges of making changes to a firm’s business model, reported in an earlier article in the September 2011 issue of Business Excellence. Such business model changes are frequent, typically motivated by sound strategic thinking, much as was the case of the firm whose case study was reported earlier, addressing critical strategic goals such as profit improvement, growth, new market entry, or the introduction of new technology.

In essentially all cases in which firms try to implement changes to their

business model, such changes represent a major challenge to implement. That reality underscores the importance of the following finding from the research cited above. By a very substantial margin, the two reasons cited as responsible for situations in which the new business model failed to deliver the hoped-for results were “Implementation process was poorly managed” and “Internal resistance to the new business model”. Those two factors emerged from a long list of potential problems that spanned a spectrum from a flawed strategy to customer resistance to competitor responses. The teams that will be responsible for implementing business model changes will have to grapple with challenges aplenty, some involving the technical aspects of the change, some involving gaining buy-in from customers and other key thirdparty organizations, and some involving challenges associated with resistance from within the corporation itself. Without a strong implementation plan and a team prepared to execute it, those challenges often prove too much to overcome.

Ben Franklin once said “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” The experience of the firm that I cited earlier and the findings from my ISBM poll and the change management research project certainly suggest that his words remain

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true and apply today. Firms need to change their planning process in order to plan for change. Planning processes must not only define the appropriate strategy, but also provide a solid foundation for its implementation. I believe that there are three primary dimensions along which the planning process must evolve to ensure a high probability of success in the implementation of change.

The first of these involves the basic blocking and tackling of effective project management. Every project associated with implementation, change management, new business models, or similar motivations has complexity that can only be addressed through a structured and orderly approach, drawing upon best-in-class tools to manage and monitor the project.

Defining the change that is required from a strategic perspective is only the tip of the iceberg from an implementation perspective. “Leaving the details to later” is typically a prescription for failure.

A best-in-class planning process prepares the implementation team with a detailed plan, providing clarity as to assignments and responsibility at a very detailed “What – Who – When” level of detail.

In my experience, more often than not, the processes that are required to move from high-level strategy to “What – Who – When” detail not only raise the likelihood of success, but also uncover important elements of the strategy that were overlooked previously.

Requiring that strategy be translated into

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“One of the realities of most change management projects is that they will lead into some uncharted waters” implementation plans is thus a double benefit to the firm.

The second requirement of a bestin-class planning process is that it addresses the organizational and human dimensions of the planned change, considering both the internal and the external constituencies that will be impacted by the changes planned. Far too often, strategy only focuses on the “hard” themes – target markets, competitive positioning, product attributes, pricing, etc. Those factors are clearly important, but so are organizational and human factors. Any significant change to a firm’s business model will ripple through the organization, impacting on departments, systems, processes, and people in ways that are often poorly understood when only the “hard” elements of strategy are considered. The experience of the firm whose case study was presented earlier serves as an example. They had no systems in place to manage production to order, no competencies in end customer relationship management, and no organizational units ready to bring intelligence into their equipment.

Their strategy was well founded in that it responded to needs of their customers, but their preparation for implementation was sorely lacking.

Focusing on these factors not only responds to the challenge underscored by the finding on internal resistance to

change within the firm, but also to the reality that customers, channel partners, suppliers, and many other external organizations are likely to have an important “vote” on the success of the project. One best practice lesson that emerges over and over is the need to fully understand the external implications of change, and get into a position to sell the concept and gain support from key third-party constituencies. One project manager with whom I recently worked said that “Bringing the voice of our customers into our project plan was the single most important ingredient behind our success. They warned us of multiple problems that each had the potential to derail what we were doing.” His insight is common among leaders and organizations that have brought external messages into the project plan.

The third area in which I recommend for inclusion in the planning process involves uncertainty. One of the realities of most change management projects is that they will lead into some uncharted waters. It’s as much of a bad assumption to assume your team can grapple its way through such waters as it is to assume that they are genetically able to manage complex projects effectively without any investment in their skills or in the tools made available to them. Drawing upon lessons from other environments, through processes as simple as talking to people

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Strategy

with the right experiences through ones as formal as benchmarking, can allow a team to navigate such uncharted waters without running aground. Insights and information are keys to the success of many projects. The ability to gain such insights must be a central part of the skill set of project leaders and their teams.

Another dimension of planning for uncertainty involves recognizing its inevitability. It is a rare when a project of any magnitude doesn’t involve surprises and requirements for midcourse corrections, and project success along all dimensions – schedule, budget, and outcome – is often determined by whether those unanticipated twists and turns derail the project or not. Scenario planning is a skill, one that can be learned and embedded into project management processes and disciplines. Sometimes the alternative scenarios reflect the changes that inevitably occur in the business environment, from frequent ones like business cycles to infrequent ones like tsunamis. Other scenarios are driven by competitor responses (or customer responses) to the changes being implemented. The more the implementation team is able to anticipate and monitor changes and have plans (and

“It is a rare when a project of any magnitude doesn’t involve surprises and requirements for mid-course corrections”

budgets) in place to address them, the more likely they are to succeed.

Changing your planning to include a focus on managing implementation and change can help you achieve strategic goals. The business environments in which we all operate will demand more and more agility on the part of our companies, in order to realize the opportunities that are emerging and address the challenges that are inevitable. The companies that build solid foundations for implementation during the planning process – getting to “What – Who – When” levels of detail, addressing organizational and human dimensions of change inside and outside the firm, and planning for uncertainty – will be those that are able to realize the goals targeted by their new strategic plans and celebrate the successes that they achieve.

About the author George F. Brown, Jr. consults with industrial firms on growth strategy. He is the coauthor of CoDestiny: Overcome Your Growth Challenges by Helping Your Customers Overcome Theirs (Greenleaf Book Group Press of Austin, TX) and the cofounder of Blue Canyon Partners, Inc. George has published frequently on topics relating to strategy in business markets, including articles in Industry Week, Industrial Distribution, Chief Executive, Business Excellence, Employment Relations Today, iP Frontline, Industrial Engineer, Industry Today, and many others.

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Time to Stop in project m

Cancelling a project early and saving mone it. Much more, argues David Walton, who victims of compulsive, blinkered spendi Words by

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Dav

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p the rot management

ey is a good thing. There should be more of believes that most large organisations are ing on failing projects on a grand scale

vid Walton

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F

inancial Directors with high blood pressure should look away now. Project management in most organisations is run by people who have no notion of pulling the plug on something that is certain to end in failure. In fact many of them suffer from what we call Project Mastermind Disorder: they’ve started, so they’ll finish.

No matter what the cost.

The result is that within, say, the FTSE top 250, billions of pounds are wasted every year on projects that should have been stopped at a very early stage because they cannot deliver the business outcomes and business benefits they were originally designed to achieve. The worst thing is that planned costs tend to spiral out of control with these projects, as increasingly desperate but doomed attempts are made to get them ‘back on track.’ This ballooning effect within failed projects is especially prevalent in the public sector.

So, two big questions: why and how does this happen? Then there’s a third: what on earth are we going to do about this unbelievable waste of money and – more importantly perhaps – loss of business opportunity because every failure means a successful programme has gone undelivered.

The problem is that, in most cases, project management is still in the dark ages. It operates around an outdated silo culture of keeping your head down and watching your back, sorting out your problems behind the scenes and not admitting to failure. Spreadsheet reporting and an obsession with timesheets and short term issues are dominant. Thinking outside the box,

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“Project managers like to report that everything is OK and running smoothly.

And they tend to dislike adopting technology and methodologies that challenge this” putting projects in the context of other projects and spotting deep-rooted problems are counter-culture.

Project managers like to report that everything is OK and running smoothly. And they tend to dislike adopting technology and methodologies that challenge this. Hence the prevalence of large scale self-fulfilling project management systems that demand lots of data input but don’t provide much of a lateral or helicopter view by way of return.

It’s all part of the old school insularity of project management which creates the opportunity for opacity when it comes to highlighting failure. It makes it easier to hide problems in the hope that they can be dealt with behind the scenes. Often these little problems fester unresolved or unseen and are allowed to develop into full scale crises before they come out in the open. And that’s when good money starts being showered after bad.

The solution isn’t that complicated and it does have the advantage of making blatantly obvious business and financial common sense.

All large programmes involve many

Strategy

different interdependent projects.

Some of these are especially important because they have a direct impact on the success and timetable of others.

There are also many issues, such as resource planning, that need to be monitored and managed across all projects. Finally, it’s crucial that all projects are looked at from the perspective of the outcome they were originally established to achieve. This issue should be closely and constantly tested. Is this project or group of projects going to deliver the business outcome that’s required? If not, then it should be terminated immediately.

This helicopter, strategic view of projects should be run through a separate Portfolio Management Office. It should take responsibility for monitoring project inter-dependence, resource management and pouncing on problems before they are allowed to develop. It should also be there to enforce the adoption of a project management methodology across the portfolio that is totally transparent and focused on outcomes.

One of the key mechanisms within the Portfolio Management Office is a system of quality gates or checkpoints which every project should pass before

it is allowed to proceed. In a nutshell, these gates are effectively tests to check the viability of projects. They are there to ensure that key deliverables have been produced on time before the project can be allowed to proceed.

So how many quality gates should there be? One of Bestoutcome’s automotive clients uses 18 toll gates to manage its complex engineering programmes.

Other clients running IT projects tend to use between four and eight gates.

Bestoutcome’s own outcome driven project management framework has seven gates for most programmes. The simple answer is that there should be as many gates as are needed to guarantee that failing projects will be spotted early and closed down or restructured.

Quality gates and the establishment of a Portfolio Management Office do not in themselves guarantee success. However, they do cut through the sub-culture of box ticking and opacity that pervades traditional project management. It shines a light through the whole process and in so doing massively reduces the risk of ongoing investment in certain failures.

In other words, waste.

Financial Directors, you may resume reading now.

About the author Bestoutcome specialises in complex change management for large organisations operating in sectors such as retail, finance, manufacturing and the public sector. Its approach is based on delivering specific business outcomes within a uniquely transparent, risk managed and open framework. This is achieved by using highly experienced consultants combined with PM3 - an elegant, flexible, toolset - and ODPM, an outcome-driven methodology. Bestoutcome’s starting point is always the same: the client’s ultimate business goal. And it never loses sight of this. www.bestoutcome.com

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Making yourself international

Planning for successful expansion of y Words by

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Exac

Strategy

f at home in the al marketplace

your sales activities into new markets

ct Software

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T

he time when small and medium sized businesses were only busy with local or national commerce is already far behind us. New technology and free-trade zones have made the world a much smaller place. Legislation has been simplified, import duties often reduced or removed to speed the passage of goods and services over international borders.

Banks have made international finance easier as well, with payment transactions manageable online and facilitated by schemes like SEPA. In combination, these improvements mean it’s now much easier for smaller entrepreneurs to approach new markets.

The challenging economic climate has seen persistent consumer caution over the last few years, in turn making it difficult for businesses to uncover new opportunities for growth. With mature domestic markets often lacking major opportunities to drive new revenue, more and more companies have explored for new customers overseas, looking for markets where the crisis has thinned out the competition.

With first rate communications making international supply chains realistic for smaller businesses, many countries now see competitors from all corners of the globe vying for customer attention. Lead

times for their products have shortened by connecting information in newer, smarter ways. Real time insight and intimate customer contact through social media have created new ways of doing business.

And it’s not just western businesses trying their hand in the emerging economies.

Innovative, energetic companies from Asia and South America have reached Europe, their low production costs and aggressive pricing putting the margins of domestic businesses under pressure.

So, with these trends now well established, how do businesses considering international expansion set themselves up to profit from these opportunities over the longer term? To make a real go of expansion into new markets, there are a number of major considerations that need to be carefully addressed.

Do your homework – thoroughly Broadly speaking, the first step is to ensure the business has a clear view of the potential new market and a carefully planned strategy for capitalizing on the specific opportunities that it offers.

Which competitors are active? How do our products or services differ? Where are the strengths in our offerings we can leverage to create appetite? How are you going to take on the competition in terms of launching and then maintaining

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“Unfortunately, it’s quite often the case that employees in satellite sales offices are kept busy with all manner of non-sales related local activities” exposure? Will you challenge them on price, by offering a more innovative and attractive product or service, or will you outdo them with the level of customer service you offer as standard? And how will we steer our operations – from a central headquarters, through a local dealer/representative network, or though self-owned subsidiary offices?

With this many questions on the table, it’s essential that appraisal of where strengths lie, and how they match up to potential opportunities, is brutally honest. These then need to be translated into clear steps that will allow you to create an impact. Not having this crystal clear will result in missed opportunities, and time being invested in activities that deliver little towards the end goal. It’s also important to have a clear order in the tasks that need to happen, helping avoid scenarios when too much is done at once with little end effect. Whatever the strategy you choose and decisions you make, one thing is for sure: the IT setup you choose to support your business operations will be one of the critical success factors.

Economic outposts Sales offices overseas have one primary goal to fulfill – supporting the business in achieving its growth ambitions. However, with these outpost offices incurring significant setup and maintenance costs,

they are often run by relatively small teams to keep the wage bill under control.

In theory, the local staff members are there to fully focus on sales activities, with many of the other support processes and activities (HR, IT etc.) supported remotely. In this scenario, it’s vitally important to ensure the sales force are actually able to focus on what they are there to do. Unfortunately, it’s quite often the case that employees in satellite sales offices are kept busy with all manner of non-sales related local activities. Rather than focusing fully on delivering cash, they are committed to organizing and completing the tasks necessary to keep the operation on its feet.

Plan, plan and plan again To avoid this situation, foreign sales locations need to have solid process structure in place. It shouldn’t be thought out and planned on-site, but put in place by HQ. Think, for example, of the way in which customer information and contacts are managed, or the way in which the financial administration is conducted. The parent organization needs to take the lead to ensure efficient deployment and full focus on sales from the off. The success of a foreign presence depends largely on how effectively the personnel there can contact, impress and remain available to the local market, in addition to how effectively the central

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operations with multiple sites often struggle to create uniform ways of working. And the more locations you have, the more complex it gets, and more difficult it gets to realistically manage company-wide performance. As such, it’s very important that businesses try to think about how common practices can be standardized from the word go. It’s much easier to retain a clear picture of what’s going on if all parties are creating parallel reports, instead of engineering their own ever-growing library of spreadsheets that need to be decoded by HQ. support act can supply the services they require to get the job done.

It’s easier to start standardized Worryingly, the standardization and automation of business activities across international operations is sometimes overlooked during the set up phase of new locations. The result of this is that many processes end up being developed on site and carried out by hand. This in turn leads to things taking longer than they need to, and to human error led mistakes that eat time and money.

All kinds of spreadsheet solutions end up being created to try and couple and integrate various processes and flows.

It’s a very weak base from which to begin, with the reports and overviews created from this irregular information unable to grow effectively in line with the business’ development.

More locations, more problems Given this ad hoc approach, it’s not surprising that fledgling international

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Understand requirements in detail, and match them to the right systems For new offices, often with new employees, getting up and running quickly is hard. The questions during the initial phases are many. How are we going to manage customer contact?

Which leads need to be followed up, when and in what way? How do we maintain insight into our current opportunities? Which quotes are currently with prospects? What is the current status of our completed orders?

When are certain products available and not available? How are we going to manage after-sales activities? How will we ensure we fully abide by local legislation? What are we going to do to stay on top of our outstanding items?

If the business is going to succeed, all these questions need concrete answers.

If employees are left to search for them while also trying to get the revenue stream going, it’s likely they’ll have

Strategy

little time to discover anything useful.

Without the right tooling in place and understood from the word go, getting a grip on this issues will likely remain an unending challenge.

Protecting delivery reliability Protecting delivery reliability and efficiently managing the supply chain as the business grows is difficult for any expanding business, let alone one doing it across borders. Insufficient insight or sub-optimal process organization can lead to blockages, local pooling of stock or unnecessary reservations, all of which can have a dramatic negative effect on working capital.

Ineffective or mis-communication between subsidiaries and the head office is often a major factor in this. If it’s not clear where specific responsibilities lie, a great deal of extra work is often the result. Endless phone calls and e-mails aiming to get things organized then often make things worse, missing important information that’s required for orders to be processed accurately and effectively.

The danger is particularly apparent when companies make use of shared service centers where sales support is centralized per region or time zone, and where logistic service providers are responsible for the physical completion

“For new offices, often with new employees, getting up and running quickly is hard”

of sales orders. The number of return orders and credit notes is a good indicator of how effectively this supply network is running.

Boosting communication When a company runs sales offices that are not purely self-supporting, the lack of in-house support for HR, financial, IT and other processes can quickly become a limiting factor. On a purely physical basis, it’s often simply not possible to ‘walk by’ a colleague from another department to get some extra information or an answer to a specific question. If the right systems aren’t in place to ensure people have access to the support they need, employees will not only have to deal with continually unresolved issues, but will miss valuable interaction with the rest of the business.

Insight into stock and order information The right balance between tying capital up on shelves and being able to meet orders is extremely challenging to achieve, but certainly a key aspect of creating a genuinely profitable operation. The confidence that getting it right inspires in your sales personnel is an important part of this. If they feel that delivering on time is under threat, they tend to start thinking of creative (and usually unhelpful) ways to keep their promises and protect customer relationships. These can include reserving stock up front, storing up products in local depots, ordering more items than is necessary despite expiry risk, or artificially pulling forward delivery dates. With this in mind, it’s essential that businesses invest in creating trustworthy,

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“Setting up a satellite operation is a significant investment step for any company” transparent processes around stock and stock insight. All sales personnel need to be confident that the data they’re seeing is up to date and completely trustworthy.

Being able to track order status creates confidence around the office, strengthens its position in the supply chain and reduces unnecessary communication.

Complex administration causes problems Managing administrative tasks is, for many sales employees, a challenge. As a result, agreements and conversations with customers can fail to be recorded properly, making it difficult for every stakeholder to have access to all the information that’s relevant or useful to them. When details only exist in the heads of employees, in e-mail inboxes or piles of unfiled note papers, it’s difficult to be confident that people are always making good decisions.

Difficulties take longer to address, some opportunities be missed altogether. And if it’s a customer that reports the problem, that’s then a relationship issue with further implications. Not a great situation for any operation already running on a thin margin.

Once is enough Double work also needs to be avoided, particularly when it comes to registering and confirming orders (and deliveries),

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and ensuring they are processed correctly by finance. This often involves all manner of templates created for the sales organization to fill in, initialed and signed off further up the chain, and then manually entered by back office personnel – possibly in a system not directly linked to the financial administration.

In these scenarios, ensuring timely, accurate communication between sales in one location and administration in another is extremely important. It’s also important that everyone has an extremely clear picture of their and their colleagues’ responsibilities. Maybe HQ will handle all the paperwork. Maybe the sales office needs to deal with purchase documentation once the goods have been delivered to the end customer. Who will then use that information in creating the sales invoice and booking away the outstanding item with the supplier? How do both sides ensure they both know what’s going on at all times? It’s not difficult to imagine that uncertainty here can lead to a lot of time on the phone.

And when sales personnel are busy with these activities, they’re not busy with creating new deals.

Uniformity and consistency Setting up a satellite operation is a significant investment step for any company, particularly if there are multiple new sites on the agenda. Dispersed operations can see significant differences in work culture within one organization, local dynamics making it difficult to achieve uniformity and consistency in company-wide work processes. To be successful, all employees need to a

Strategy

“IT support is a critical aspect. The software system in place needs to be both powerful and flexible” clear, consistent approach to organizing, implementing and completing their work.

Without it, individuals will start building in their own security mechanisms to protect commitments. These might help them in the short term, but overall, it decreases the real execution power of the business. Organizations help themselves if they approach each new venture in the same way. In addition to the operational procedures, the way in which each location reports – not only financial data, but in terms of sales and other operational information – will be extremely important in steering the business through the first phases of expansion. Consistency is the key ensuring the company can learn as it grows, helping each new set-up to benefit from the experiences of the last. Once a problem is encountered anywhere in the business, it’s then easier to access the knowledge and experience required to remedy it.

wide range of influencing factors and relevant information streams mean that the software system in place needs to be both powerful and flexible. The choices are wide, ranging from best of suite solutions offering everything under one lid, to best of breed applications for specific business processes that can potentially be integrated to offer complete coverage. Your current vendor will likely have a plausible story on how to manage an international operation with their solutions. However, whatever that may be, there are a number of important points to be kept in mind when considering how to set up your systems.

The fit with your organization In the broadest sense, it’s important to consider how the available business solutions fit to the shape of your

Creating the right infrastructure Given the difficulties outlined above, how can companies go about giving their new offices the best chance of success?

How should they go about managing costs and delivering margin while still ensuring the business offers the service level customers will require?

IT support is a critical aspect. The

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“Good interaction between all data across the entire business provides a level of control and understanding that can promote genuine time and costs savings” organization. What are the specific challenges and needs that you’ve identified for your international offices?

Critical questioning of your (possible) supplier on these points is essential if you’re to properly evaluate their ability to successfully address your pain points. Be sure to request and then dive into cases they have successfully rolled out in the past with businesses that mirror yours.

Endless choice The vendor landscape is already broad, with further developments continuing at pace. Given the range and complexity available, take care to consider both ends of the functionality/price spectrum.

Although one presentation may suggest a chauffeur-driven limo is the only way to travel, it could be that a compact city model will suit your needs just as well.

Finding the right balance between cost, implementation time and functionality is a daunting challenge. Tackling it effectively will again rely on a detailed, prioritized overview of the business processes that need to be supported.

Look for a partner, not a supplier In addition to functionality, it’s also important to look carefully at the vision and philosophy of the vendor and their availability across the regions where you plan to operate. How do they go about exploring potential solutions with

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you? Are they thinking with you or for themselves? Are they present where you’ll be doing business, or will you be working with a partner network?

How will this affect your operation when you need help? Who will do the implementation and follow up? Will that be handled centrally or locally? Who will be your direct contact person? Will they have the power to make decisions in effective timeframes, or will you continually be waiting for the answers to local escalations? There’s certainly plenty to think about. Try to think of concrete examples of issues that might arise, and explore how they would approach fixing them.

Standardization, localization In many cases, the appropriate balance of cost/functionality brings an out-the-box solution to the fore – business software that’s more or less ready to go without a great deal of customization work.

Often modular in nature, they allow IT coverage to be expanded systematically – the standardized units of functionality rolled out with the minimum of time and effort. This building block approach usually allows full integration of all functionality, taking out the problems associated with getting best of breed solutions to ‘talk to each other’. With all information in one system, data leakage is minimized. This increases reporting

Strategy

power without the need to call in external experts to collate and interpret data from disparate systems.

In terms of differentiating between these best of suite vendors, their ability to fit tightly with each of your international locations will be the differentiator. Be sure to look carefully at their support for local legislations, multiple languages in the interface and help documentation, and handling of master data from international operations like banking and taxation.

Front office integration Not everything that you pin down within your organization is necessarily transaction related in the way that orders, invoices and payments are.

Think for example about CRM, HR, document management, project administration and service management activities. Having dedicated systems in place to manage these activities also generates data that can be useful to review and integrate with back office processes. This gives extra depth to your company overviews, greater insight into customer activities, better monitoring of non-transaction related processes, and improved

sharing of information throughout your ecosystem of customers, partners, suppliers and employees.

Conclusion Good interaction between all data across the entire business provides a level of control and understanding that can promote genuine time and costs savings.

When considering how to ensure this remains the case when new international operations are added, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s essential that new offices remain connected to the rest of the business. If key business support processes are not available on location, your IT system becomes responsible for ensuring all relevant information remains available to all stakeholders at all times. Having this level interaction will help ensure mistakes and delays are kept to a minimum, and that money isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t continually draining away as employees struggle to manage suboptimal processes. Ensuring the business is well organized and creates transparent management information will enable sales teams to create success in their core tasks â&#x20AC;&#x201C; delivering revenue to the business and creating the growth that was the basis for their establishment in the first place.

About the author Exact develop ERP, CRM, HR, financial and industry-specific business software for more than 100,000 customers around the world. Based in the Netherlands, where they remain market leader in the SMB segment, their on-premise, hosted and cloud solutions focus primarily on manufacturing, wholesale & distribution, professional services and accountancy companies. With offices across Europe, Asia, Australia and America, their internationally oriented products combine with local support to offer real customer value. Read more Exact business insights at: www.the-biz-box.com

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Our work is

here to stay RenĂŠ Lagos is recognised and respected for its expertise in realising the aspirations of architects to build tall in challenging environments

written by: John Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hanlon research by: Abi Abagun

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RenĂŠ Lagos

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The Santiago Justice Center under construction

René Lagos

W

hen René Lagos looks out from his 25th floor office in Santiago de Chile he gets a good view over the capital that now has so many high-rise buildings that part of it is known as Sanhattan. He is looking out over the history of the firm of structural engineers he founded in 1977 and it never fails to excite him. He likes to identify to his two small grandsons the many buildings in the panorama that he calls his ‘children’, so much work was put into their conception.

Santiago has 75 entries on skyscraperpage. com which is good going for a city with a downtown population of fewer than 300,000 (though greater Santiago is home to 6.5 million). More to the point Chile lies along the destructive plate boundary between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate. It has experienced 13 earthquakes in the last year: it stands to reason that in one of the world’s most active seismic countries you can’t be in construction and not know a lot about how to build a structure that will not fall down when shaken.

Lagos has always had a passion for tall buildings. “Structural engineering became my passion from the earliest days as a student.

After working for a few years in firms that specialised in structural design of high-rise building I started my own firm, focusing on high-rise buildings.”

The firm of René Lagos started by designing mainly buildings of up to 15 storeys but in 1993 it had a breakthrough when it was commissioned as the structural engineer for the 22 storey headquarters of Camara Chilena

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Seismic hazard assessment for resilient and performance design of buildings in South America and Dubai

Forty years of leadership in seismic design and risk assessment for buildings, bridges, industrial facilities, mining projects, thermoelectric and hydroelectric power plants and large dams.

Artificial accelerogram used in the seismic design of the tallest buildings in South America of 300 m and 200 m height in Santiago, Chile and Lima, PerĂş.

S & S CONSULTING ENGINEERS LTD.

Forecast of design spectra for Costanera Center and Titanium buildings, shown in the figure, coincided with measured spectra for Chile 2010 Mw = 8.8 earthquake.

Telephone: 56-2-22318406 | Email: info@sysingen.cl | www.sysingen.cl

René Lagos

Santiago Justice Center - Santiago, Chile

de la Construcción, the organisation that about how high buildings ought to go in a represents the largest construction companies seismically unstable country. Santiago after in the country. That project put the firm all was flattened in 1647’s 8.5 magnitude on the map and proved its competence by event, while Chile experienced the severest successfully withstanding at least two major earthquake ever recorded in 1960 at earthquakes as well as countless minor ones. 9.5 magnitude and the sixth largest at Three years later in 1996 René Lagos 8.8 on February 27 2010.

The Telefónica building came through that landed, through a competition, what was then the tallest building in Santiago, the 132 without any damage but it was designed to do that. Lagos is proud of metre high Telefónica tower. this iconic structure for many It is shaped to look like a big cellphone (and from that reasons. “The client told us point of view is now clearly that the one thing they could dated) but the engineering be certain of was that they challenges were considerable would be changing their and in overcoming them it layout frequently and did not The year René Lagos attracted a lot of professional want to call in the structural founded his firm interest – as well as a debate engineer every time to decide

1997

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Al Bandar, Al Raha Beach - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

how to do that. We took on the challenge of giving them internal open space of 30 by 20 metres, with no intermediate columns – even today that would be a tall order,” he says proudly.

The company today has in its portfolio many buildings over 200 metres high, so size is no longer the driver it once was.

Nevertheless the Gran Torre Santiago, part of the spectacular $1 billion Costanera Center containing offices, hotels, shopping and entertainment, is today the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. At 300 metres it

is about the same height as the Shard or the Empire State (minus the latter’s pointy bits) and twice the height of the Telefónica tower.

Seismic performance is not just about being able to make buildings that don’t fall down, he explains. “The question is, do we create buildings that are flexible, with long displacements, or do we make them stiff, with very little displacement? You could take the view that a building that is flexible and has what we call ductility will dissipate energy making the basic structure safer, at the cost of non-structural damage

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René Lagos

300 Metres Height of the Gran Torre Santiago

to partitions and the like: if they are stiff there is more acceleration, which means that your fridge is more likely to fall over – but stiff buildings experience less non-structural damage and remain usable, without major repairs being needed.”

Where in other seismic countries the ductility argument has won, there has been a social cost. The buildings remain standing, but their inhabitants are made homeless while they are repaired. “There has been a lot of discussion about this, but the only thing we can say from our experience here in Chile is that the type of design that we have used has proved very successful from a social point of view, with very little failure of buildings or need to evacuate them. We have to design for safety of course, but also for performance and usability.”

This approach typifies his attitude to innovation – he loves it. Though he laughs when he recalls starting out with just a couple of scientific calculators, René Lagos has absorbed new technology as it has been developed. That is why he sets such store by the R&D group he has set up to do research on production tools such as software applied to engineering analysis and design and also in collaborative technologies such as building Telefonica Building - Santiago, Chile

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is another way to think about sustainability, and that is structural efficiencyâ&#x20AC;?

Corp Group Building - Santiago, Chile

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René Lagos information modelling (BIM).

“We also research technical solutions for our clients,” he says, “which means things like the use of seismic protection techniques like isolation or energy dissipation in high rise buildings.”

He was an early adopter of the BIM concept, and has been using model based software from Revit and Tekla for more than ten years. “We started to use it internally to collaborate with different disciplines – not too many other people were using it. Now that is changing. We have even been training clients and other firms.” BIM, he explains, enables you create much more than a 3D model and to factor in cost and time, making it effectively a 5D model of the project. Using BIM tools brings a project to life, René Lagos says: as well as making it better BIM makes his work a lot more fun to do!

Growth in the company has been entirely organic, and very pragmatic. If there’s a market for the firm’s expertise René Lagos will follow it: if the market dries up the firm withdraws. The first venture outside of Chile was Argentina, however it was felt that the company would be more effective abroad if it engaged with more stable economies, so in 2006 an office was set up in Miami in

René Lagos head office

collaboration with a local partner – it was a very successful venture as construction was booming in the US at the time, and though things slowed down after 2008 and the average size of projects became smaller, that market is again looking up. “At that time we were looking for technologies that we could apply in the Costanera project,” he continues.

“So we travelled round the world to the places where the tallest buildings were being built including Dubai. By the time we had made three trips out there we were already engaged in some projects in Abu Dhabi, teaming up

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with local operators on a project by project basis including one of more than a million square metres.”

Always choosing the right business model for the market, René Lagos then started looking again at the South American market, and in particular the active economies of Perú and Colombia.

After some market research, in December 2012 a branch office was set up in Lima,

employing Peruvian structural engineers and training them in the company’s culture. “Wherever we are in the world,” says Lagos, “we work together through cloud computing technology: it is just as if we were all in the same office. In Lima we have been active over those months, engaged on high-rise projects, many of them very challenging.” The experience has been a happy one. Growth has been

“Wherever we are in the world, we work together through cloud computing technology”

René Lagos (left) on site in the United Arab Emirates

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René Lagos

Residential property

steady and better than expected, and he sees a great future for the Peruvian market.

Though neither Miami nor the Middle East are particularly prone to earthquakes, seismic performance remains a key core skill for the company. When a group of Chilean architects invited René Lagos to become involved in some projects in China, he jumped at the opportunity. René Lagos has been in a consortium with Seismic A&E of Beijing for the last two years and has provided consultancy services for many project, so far mainly in the mid-rise category, in China. “Once again it has been again very interesting to have the opportunity to work with different cultures and methods,” he says. “It fits with the spirit of innovation and fun that we all share in this firm.” Earthquakes do happen in China, and

there has been much loss of life. Where better for them to look for sustainable solutions than Chile, with its unique experience?

That word, sustainable, sets Mr Lagos off on a new tack. “If you spoke about sustainability in structural engineering five years ago there was not that much to say: today it is becoming a very sophisticated issue with many variables involved.” Think of the structure of the building – its skeleton , he says – everything is hung on to that after it is built. The traditional way of thinking says it has to be built using recyclable materials like steel. “But there is another way to think about sustainability, and that is structural efficiency. When you design an efficient structure you need less material. And why always think of recyclability as only applying

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Workers on top of the Gran Torre Santiago (Costanera Tower)

René Lagos when the building is demolished when you hope it will never be demolished! Better surely to builds structures that can be upgraded every so many years while still occupying the same skeleton.” That, he says is an equally valid conceptual approach to structural sustainability.

Either approach will need to take into consideration things like sourcing raw materials locally, but sustainable design does not end when the building is handed over. It is a whole life issue. Seismic performance is an obvious case – the ability of the building to stay standing and usable, without needing costly repairs – but sustainability is a never ending concern for René Lagos’ researchers.

“If you always do the same thing you did before, you are dying! There is always a new perspective. That is what keeps you alive – fun and passion. We do it that way here, and incentivise younger engineers to feel it too.

That is probably why people stay here and look on the firm as a place where it is worth spending a large chunk of their career.”

After a good few years it is clear that René Lagos has lost none of his joie de vivre.

“Never get so used to the things you do that you lose your ability to be amazed. You have to be able to be astonished – that gives you energy and tells you where you are – and how far you have come. I am still amazed when I look out across Santiago! It makes me emotional and proud.”

For more information about René Lagos visit: www.renelagos.com

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Proccea Construction

No challenge too complex Proccea Construction, a hugely successful player both at home in Turkey and abroad

written by: Will Daynes research by: Robert Hodgson

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Proccea Construction

O

ne of the founding members possessing skills in various fields of the of Organisation for Economic industry. Together these engineers have Co-operation and Development worked to combine their own knowledge (OECD) international economic with the skills of hugely dedicated site teams. organisation and the Group It is the aim of these teams, and the company of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central as a whole, to complete each individual project Bank Governors (G-20), Turkey possesses the to the highest possible standards in terms of world’s 15th largest gross domestic product quality, while striving to maximise both its by purchasing power parity. Defined as an and its client’s profits. The company’s success emerging market economy by the International in delivering this aim is probably best reflected Monetary Fund (IMF), it is one of the planet’s in the continuous improvement of its order book, 95 percent of which is today occupied newly industrialised countries.

In recent years Turkey has seen a rapid by repeat business customers. growth in its private sector, however the state Proccea Construction’s site teams have does still retain a major worked together throughout role in core sectors such as the world, delivering numerous industry, banking, transport complex, large-scale projects and communications. One for the company’s clients. Such of the leading sectors in the international projects have country is its construction been completed successfully Of Proccea and contracting industry. in a number of different Construction’s order As a matter of fact it is countries, including South book is made up of Africa, Namibia, Guinea, Mali, considered to be one of repeat business Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Brazil the most competitive and and Venezuela. dynamic industries of its kind anywhere in the world. In 2009 a total The projects that the company takes on fall of 33 Turkish construction or contracting into a wide range of industries and have in companies were selected for the Top the past included hotel, military, industrial International Contractors List prepared by and mining projects. When it comes to its the Engineering News-Record, which made undertakings in the latter industry, the main the Turkish construction and contracting type of project that Proccea Construction has industry the world’s second largest, ranking taken on in the past comes in the form of mineral processing plants. behind only that of China.

One of Turkey’s leading construction The mining projects that the company businesses is that of Proccea Construction, a has been involved in over the last several design, supply, construction and management years include significant gold and silver company established by a group of highly developments in South America, Africa, experienced engineers, each of whom Europe and the Middle East. One particular

95%

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Beyer manufactures stationary and mobile screening plants, crushing plants, padding plants and conveying plants.

We have been known in sector with our customer-oriented manufacturing policy, high quality products, aesthetic design and effective after sales service. With high capacity products being served to customers, successful projects have been achieved all around the world by becoming a brand which will be heard of confidence in manufacturing plants for mining and construction sectors.

Tel: +90 312 815 14 59-60 | Fax: +90 312 815 14 39 beyer@beyer.com.tr | www.beyer.com.tr

Proccea Construction

project of note was on behalf of the Vasgold Gold Mine in Kokshetau, Kazakhstan, one of the largest mines of its kind found anywhere in the world. Proccea Construction’s role here was as a subcontractor to Summit Valley Engineering and Equipment during its construction of an Absorption, Desorption and Recovery (ADR) plant, and involved the manufacture and shipment of structural steel, the supervision of piping, steel and equipment installation and start-up and

commissioning. Despite the difficulties encountered during such a complex project, the company’s experienced team was able to assist in completing it ahead of schedule.

In addition to taking on the role of subcontractor, Proccea Construction has also acted in a supervisory role on projects including the construction, commissioning and start-ups of ADR plants at the Kitila Gold Mine in Finland and the Zarcan-Takab Gold Mine in Iran.

“Proccea Construction’s site teams have worked together throughout the world, delivering numerous, complex, large-scale projects for the company’s clients” be monthly | 71

However, it is arguably in its role as prime contractor that the company has made the biggest name for itself in the mining and minerals sector, holding this role on a number of highly successful occasions. These have included the construction of an ADR plant at the ÇÖPLER and Koza Gold-Mastra Gold Mines in Turkey, the Ouagadogou Gold Mine in Burkina Faso and the Maaden Gold Mine in Saudi Arabia, as well as during the design

and manufacturing of a de-aeration tower at Minera Triton in Argentina.

As well as taking on increasing important and challenging roles across the world, the company has also taken significant strides in the last decade to increase its presence in its home country, while also expanding into other potential fields of industry. It was this approach that saw it enter into a joint venture agreement back in July 2010 with Ariana

“Proccea Construction has committed itself to sole funding of the Red Rabbit Gold Project as it moves closer towards production in 2014” 72 | be monthly

Proccea Construction

Resources, a London-based exploration and development company focused on epithermal gold-silver and porphyry-copper-gold deposits, for its Red Rabbit Gold Project. Red Rabbit is the name given to the combination of Ariana’s two flagship assets, Kiziltepe and Tavsan, located around 75 kilometres apart in the highly prospective WAVE province in western Turkey.

Upon the signing of the joint venture agreement Proccea’s executives released a collective statement praising the creation of such an exciting partnership. “We have spent several productive months working together with Ariana in developing this opportunity and enhancing our own understanding of the project. As a result we have a great deal of confidence in the joint venture company

going on to become one of the leading mining companies in the region.”

Nearly three years on, in March 2013, it was announced that Proccea Construction had committed itself to sole funding of the Red Rabbit Gold Project as it moves closer towards production in 2014. As part of the agreement Proccea will contribute a further $6.6 million of funding to earn-in to 50 percent of the Red Rabbit Joint Venture prior to production starting in 2014. The JV is targeting construction start-up during the fourth quarter of 2013.

For more information about Proccea Construction visit: www.proccea.com

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Antamina

Reaching new heights Operations Vice President, Jorge Ghersi discusses the continuing development of Antamina, site of the largest mining investment programme in the history of Peru

written by: Will Daynes research by: Louisa Adcock

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Excavation and haulage taking place

Antamina

R

unning along the western coast of South America, the Andes is the longest continental mountain range in the world. At around 7,000 kilometres in length, between 200 and 700 kilometres wide, and with an average height of approximately 4,000 metres, the Andes extends through seven countries, one of which is Peru.

It is within the central Peruvian Andes that one will find Antamina, one of the ten biggest mines in the world for its production volume and the site of the largest mining investment in Peru’s history, totalling $3,600 million.

Responsible for the production of copper and zinc concentrate, as well as molybdenum, silver, lead and bismuth concentrates, the mine’s capital today belongs to BHP Billiton, Glencore-Xstrata, Teck Resources and Mitsubishi Corporation.

The Antamina site, Antamina meaning ‘copper mine’ in the Quechuan language, has a rich history, having been documented as far back as the 19th century thanks to the work of researcher Antonio Raymondi.

It was officially incorporated into the project portfolio of the Cerro de Pasco Mining Corporation in 1952, before then being passed into the hands of the State.

Following a process of privatisation in 1996, Antamina was acquired by the Canadian mining companies Río Algom and Inmet, which at the time estimated that the mine held reserves of around 500 million tonnes. A year after the privatisation of the mine the exploration of the site was formally completed, with trial operations, the first shipment of concentrates and the

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start of commercial production all taking place in 2001.

“At the end of 2008,” explains Mine Manager, Jorge Ghersi, “we announced the increase of our mineral reserves, which was subject to a feasibility study, completed in 2009, which allowed us to evaluate the options of expansion. After receiving the authorisation of our shareholders and the permission of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, we announced an investment to expand our mining facility and the mineral processing capacity. This marked the official start of our Expansion Programme to increase processing capacity by 38 percent. The total investment in the programme represents more than $1,400 million.”

This programme has resulted in the

Antamina

Overview of the mine at night

extension of the life of the mine from 2023 to 2029, thus also extending the economic and social contribution it makes to the surrounding region. The operations of the Expansion Programme commenced in the last quarter of 2011 and subsequently led to the creation of 800 jobs.

The mine itself is an open pit operation and boasts various units. These include Camp Yanacancha, the location of Antamina’s

concentration plant. Equipped with state-ofthe-art technology that allows the processing of mineral from the pit, the concentration plant is considered one the most automated facilities of its kind anywhere on the planet.

Meanwhile, the pipeline that runs from the mine to the nearby Punta Lobitos Port measures 302 kilometres and allows for the transportation of mineral concentrates to Huarmey, and thus facilitates subsequent shipping and export.

“Antamina is one of the ten biggest mines in the world for its production volume and the site of the largest mining investment in Peru’s history” BE Monthly | 79

Furthermore, the mine site’s tailings dam can be found located 4,075 metres above sea level in the Quebrada Huincush.

The tailing dam represents just one example of Antamina’s consciousness towards its impact on the environment, with the mine investing considerable capital over the years in various positive programmes and initiatives. “Since 2009,” Ghersi continues, “we have achieved 100 percent compliance with

regards to water and air quality standards. All of our operations are certified to ISO:14001 standards and the high level of performance achieved by our environmental management system has become one of the most respected within the sector here in Peru.”

Among the many key environmental initiatives that Antamina has been responsible for has been its environmental geochemistry research into understanding the hydrological

“Our employees have been, and always will be our most valuable asset”

Workers gather for a security briefing

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Antamina

Antamina is committed to safeguarding the environment

and geochemical behaviour of Huarmey, which has been established to reverse the of waste rock at the mine, its Study of Coverage Project threat to Humboldt penguin populations and other birds to assess the best alternative for application coverage protected by the state on the The extended estimated in the closing of dumps, coast of Huarmey. end of mine life as a Another example would be its initiative to protect and result of the expansion the Puya Raimondi Project, divert the waters coming programme from various springs located one that helped transform 170 acres of desert area within in the Eastern Dump and its sprinkler irrigation project the province of Ancash into designed to control the generation of dust at an innovative ecosystem that is now home to 50 species of birds, more than 200,000 trees the various entrances to the mine.

In addition to the aforementioned and with a climate conducive to generating initiatives Antamina is also responsible for numerous environmental benefits for the region. several important conservation projects Turning back to the mine operations in the region. These include the Humboldt themselves, Ghersi is quite adamant about what Penguin Conservation Project on the coast is the source of Antaminaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success over the

2029

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Antamina decades. “Our employees have been, and always will be our most valuable asset. Currently we have a total of 2,949 direct employees and 3,169 indirect ones. Close to 50 percent of our payroll is made up of Ancash employees and 100 percent of our unskilled labour comes from our areas of influence. We attach great importance to the training and education of all of our employees, providing every opportunity for people to develop personally and professionally as they develop their skills and competencies through “on the job” methods.”

Antamina also promotes the philosophy that all of its workers can, and should, be part of what it dubs, “Continuous Improvement”, which essentially means the generation of new ideas and methodologies that can help to improve existing processes or create whole new ones.

“The starting point when it comes to this continuous improvement is the mapping out and prioritising of the most important processes,” Ghersi concludes. “From there we undertake a periodic review of all the macro processes that make up our operations using a root cause analysis of indicators and a methodology called “business review”. Furthermore, we participate in mining management benchmarking with the Chilean mining industry and various Peruvian mining companies, something that we consider to be another example of how serious we are about being a leading player in this part of the world.”

For more information about Antamina visit: www.antamina.com

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Argex Titanium

On the path to production The Canadian junior exploration company completes its transformation into a top quality supplier to the pigment industry

written by: JOhn Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hanlon research by: James Boyle

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J

unior mining companies are feeling the chill these days, and have been under pressure for over a year, so it is heartening to find one whose neat footwork has turned the situation to its advantage. Over the past year Argex has advanced its plan to convert its focus from mining to production of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2), a commodity that is sure to grow in demand as the world emerges from recession, because its sales in any particular market shadow GDP with uncanny accuracy. It is a key ingredient in paint, as well as in many pharmaceuticals, plastics and paper, having unique properties of opacity and whiteness.

Wearing its mining hat, Argex accumulated a portfolio of properties in Quebec that provide it with a source of ilmenite, the ore from which TiO2 is derived. In 2009, it acquired La Blache together with an iron ore project called Mouchelange on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, and in 2012 added another interesting property called Lac Br没l茅. These properties, it was thought, would provide feedstock for a process of beneficiation if a suitable technology could be found to produce high grade TiO2 from ore containing contaminants, or penalty metals as they are known, that are intractable in the traditional processes the industry is used to.

The company accordingly worked in partnership with Process Research Ortech (PRO) to develop a proprietary mineral extraction process that allows for the production of 99.8 percent pure pigmentgrade TiO2, which can be sold to the end-users in the paint, plastic and coating industries.

The CTL process has significant advantages

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Argex Titanium

over current processing methods: it has a very low environmental impact, operates at atmospheric pressure, does not require high temperatures and produces saleable by-products. “The comparative risk-profile for scale up with this technology is really very low,” says Roy Bonnell, Argex Titanium’s president and CEO. The last year has been a busy and a productive one for Argex. The raw material for the process, ilmenite, is readily available and Argex has been exploring the idea of treating commercially available ore bodies in addition to that from its own properties.

One of the things that makes Argex different, and endears it to shareholders and analysts alike, is its approach to risk. “Commercial sourcing was attractive because it meant that in starting our plant we wouldn’t have to have two different capital projects going on at the same time. Here in Quebec, developing a mine can be a lengthy process so to be able to have cash flow earlier in the economic model creates a lot of present value for our shareholders.”

The deposits treatable with Argex technology may contain penalty metals such as vanadium, or magnesium oxide that make them undesirable for other producers. With the CTL process all by-products are saleable,

and as many of the sources Argex has identified contain levels of ilmenite that can yield up to three times as much product per tonne than that from La Blache, taking this route made a lot of sense. “We have taken a risk mitigation approach to management. And as a result, in a difficult market for juniors, we performed relatively well last year.”

Argex Titanium’s business model was given additional support in July 2013 when

“By this time in 2015 we expect to be reporting on the plant in production, shipping its high quality product into an expanding market” 88 | Be monthly

Argex Titanium

it announced a $10 million infrastructure, is crucial, Bonnell says. private placement with 2 Investissement Québec, and Valleyfield is an ideal a US-based investment fund location, an industrial site The size of the recently manager which already already occupied by major acquired Salaberry-deholds Argex shares. “The chemicals companies that Valleyfield plant Quebec government is proud can support Argex’s supply to support this strategic chain. It is well served by air, road and shipping links, investment project, which will have substantial economic spin-offs is close to gas and electricity supplies, and for the Montérégie region,” said Québec’s has a pool of experienced workers. “Even the Minister for Industrial Policy Élaine Zakaïb. community college is focused on producing The funds will go towards developing the chemical technicians,” he enthuses. “We feel 235,000 square foot plant it has acquired at we fit in there.” Getting Valleyfield up and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield that will be home running is now a priority. The first step is to to its first full-scale TiO2 plant. And it’s not move the pilot plant, which has tested the new just the money: government support for a process on a variety of differing ore bodies, project like this, which depends heavily on from Mississauga just outside Toronto to the

235,000 FT

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“In the coming year, you will see our further evolution to becoming an emerging producer of a speciality chemical and more an engineering company than a miner” Valleyfield site. This is important because it will mean this vital research facility will be on-site, able to train the people who will be working on the full size plant.

At the same time, the company is working with its engineering partner Genivar on a bankable feasibility study (BFS) that will make the economic case for the plant, as well as outlining the engineering aspects including plant layout, equipment required

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and workflow. The results of the BFS should be available in September, demonstrating the potential game-changing nature of the CTL process, and placing Argex in a position to evaluate partnership opportunities, engage in detailed construction engineering work and start hiring suppliers. Bring it on, says Roy Bonnell, who wants to see first production in the first quarter of 2015. I am doing my best to hold the engineers’ feet to the fire!”

Argex Titanium

There will always be bumps in the road, but the scalability of the company’s process, compared to many other metallurgical processes, is not particularly difficult. Indeed this was why the company chose to occupy an existing building, already laid out as a chemical facility, rather than build from scratch. It is another risk-reducing factor, he says, not least because you don’t want to be waiting for concrete to set in Canada’s winter! The process itself is hardly action packed, consisting mainly of leach tanks and settlers: it can be described as – well, boring.

But that gladdens his heart. Boring means low risk. “We tested around ten different feedstocks, and found we could use any one of them. One that we have been using and will probably start with is high in only

one penalty metal.” Yet another prudent approach – having to deal with just one rather than three or four limits the risk of problems in the startup phase, he says.

By this time in 2015 we expect to be reporting on the plant in production, shipping its high quality product into an expanding market. The market fundamentals are promising, he points out, with the US economy rising out of recession and construction readying itself for activity following a period where projects were put on hold. It will be pigment’s day again and prices are predicted to rise with demand, which as we have noted tracks GDP. An interesting statistic is that annual per capita consumption of TiO2 in the USA is eight pounds: in China and India it is two. The global market for the higher

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Argex Titanium quality CTL product with its outstanding light reflection qualities, as opposed to the lower performance chemical resulting from the sulphate process, will inevitably grow alongside living standards.

In that case, Valleyfield will come on stream just at the right moment. “In the coming year, you will see our further evolution to becoming an emerging producer of a speciality chemical and more an engineering company than a miner.” The R&D centre will be up and running at Valleyfield well ahead of the main plant, which will employ around 100-150 people. It will be a showcase facility, Bonnell says, and a model for other plants Argex might build in the future in locations that have lower energy costs.

However for the time being, his policy of cutting risk to the bone is paying off.

Appropriately, at the end of June 2013, the company signed a purchase agreement with the company it has collaborated with since 2011. PPG is the largest paint company in the world, and its confidence not only in the process but in Argex’s strategy and ability to deliver is as important as the deal itself. It establishes Argex in the market as a company that is doing real cutting edge work. “We will continue to align ourselves with blue chip companies like that. You are judged by the company you keep, and I think it is important as we establish ourselves that we are seen in alliance with people like PPG.” For more information about Argex Titanium visit: www.argex.ca

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The electrica experts Commercial manager, Claudio Qui単ones discusses the rich history of Dartel Electricidad, its support of the mining sector and its plans for the future

written by: Will Daynes research by: Louisa Adcock

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Dartel Electricidad

al

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Dartel Electricidad

W

ith a total of eleven possesses, thanks to the length of time that branches spanning the it has been around in Chile, is an unrivalled length and breadth degree of knowledge and experience that its of Chile, Dartel competitors can only dream of having. It is Electricidad is dedicated this expertise that has seen it take on the role to the distribution and marketing of some of of product distributor for all manner of vital the most famous and prestigious national and projects including industrial illumination, international electrical brands. These brands automation and power distribution. and solutions meet the high, medium and low “The mining and construction sectors are voltage needs of Dartel’s customers within the the two principle markets that we have grown industrial, fishing, construction, engineering, with most significantly in recent times and we telecommunications and mining sectors. have no doubt that this trend will continue,” “We have been present in the Chilean Quiñones explains. “In the last year alone market since 1970 and were the first company the mining industry experienced exponential of its kind to set itself up to growth here in Chile and this service the growing mining too we expect to remain the market in this country,” case. What this often results states commercial manager, in as well is the growth Claudio Quiñones. “Through on the construction sector the distribution of brands and both are intrinsically The year Dartel first like Legrand, Siemens, linked to the expansion of became established the country as a whole.”

3M, Lovato Electric, Parker in Chile With copper accounting for and Schneider we are more than 40 percent of all today involved throughout the entire mining process, specialising of Chile’s annually exported goods it stands in a number of specialised fields such as to reason that a company like Dartel would automation solutions.” continue to target the mining sector will all According to Quiñones, the principal its available resources and strengths, and strength that has served Dartel so well over as Quiñones highlights this is undoubtedly more than four decades of existence is the the plan. “All the signs point to the fact high quality service it delivers to its customers. that the mining market in the country will Dartel’s commitment to providing its customers continue to expand and will do so for at least with the required products and solutions the next five years or more.”

That is not to say that the market is not quickly and expeditiously is one that exists throughout the company and is ingrained in without it challenges. “The unfortunate the minds of its almost 400 employees. reality,” Quiñones continues, “is that with In addition to a strong desire to meet the the cost of copper today being relatively low consumer needs of its clients what Dartel also we have had to begin looking towards other

1970

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potential fields of growth, for example the industrial markets that exist in the South of Chile. When we have low copper prices that result is usually that mine operators

scale back on certain high-cost projects and clearly this has an effect on us. Where we prosper is in the fact that our knowledge and experience allows us to be present in a mix

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The principal strength that has served Dartel so well over more than four decades of existence is the high quality service it delivers to its customersâ&#x20AC;?

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Dartel Electricidad

of industry sectors all at one, meaning that we can weather any negative trends in one sector by focusing on others.”

Being willing and able to develop the way it operates in Chile is clearly a hugely important trait for Dartel to possess. It is also one that will be of great use as the company looks to the next stage of its growth.

“One of the things we are examining,” Quiñones concludes, “is the possibility of expanding our presence into another country at some point in the future. While we are a

national company, and are hugely proud of that, we are not blind to the opportunities that exist in sectors like mining in neighbouring countries such as Peru and Bolivia. While such talks are at a very, very early stage we are definitely laying down the groundwork for what is our long-term vision for Dartel.”

For more information about Dartel Electricidad visit: www.dartel.cl

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A harmonious

approach to mining Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited CEO Graham Briggs reveals how the company is weathering the rapidly evolving mining environment in South Africa, making itself a stronger business in the process

written by: Will Daynes research by: Vincent Kielty & Robert Hodgson

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Harmony Gold

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Underground fitter, Tshepong Mine, Free State

Harmony Gold

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think it is fair to say that quite a lot has been happening since we last spoke in June 2012,” states Harmony’s CEO, Graham Briggs. “If you look at the last 18 to 24 months we have witnessed the incredible rise in gold prices, which was a particularly welcome relief from the cost pressures that had been mounting here in South Africa, and its subsequent come down, in addition to the well documented labour issues that have beset the mining sector.”

The last twelve months in particular have also seen Harmony’s own business take significant steps as it continues to work towards achieving its core strategy, which includes safe gold production and growing its margins. “We have managed to weather the external factors such as the labour issues fairly well and today find ourselves in a position where production is again ramping up and employee morale is steadily rising,” Briggs continues. “At the same time we, like many South African companies, had a great year when it comes to safety and are in the midst of our best safety performance ever, which is hugely gratifying given the amount of hard work that has gone into that side of the business.”

As one of the world’s largest gold mining companies, Harmony boasts operations in both South Africa and Papua New Guinea (PNG). In the former the company has ten underground and one open-pit mine, as well as several other surface operations, located in Free State, North West and Gauteng provinces.

In its portfolio in PNG it has a 50 percent interest in the Morobe Mining Joint Ventures,

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Harmony Gold which includes Hidden Valley, an open pit gold and silver mine and the Wafi-Golpu copper-gold deposit where it completed a feasibility study in the last year. This was a significant achievement and one that paves the way for what one day promises to be a significant producer of gold and copper, one that possesses an estimated mine life of more than 30 years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In South Africa,â&#x20AC;? Briggs explains, â&#x20AC;&#x153;our strategy for some time now has been to close our lower grade and aging mines, and focus

Wafi-Golpu exploration drilling

our investment on newer mines. Until now we have been sinking shafts and developing new assets and these are now getting to the stage

MINEWARE CONSULTING Since 1996, MineWare Consulting has been offering software solutions tailored to the Mining Industry. In order to keep pace with developments in technology and business, the company is writing all new software to be compatible with handheld devices such as Ipads and Toughpads. This affords users freedom of movement and greatly simplifies usage input. MineWare has made it a priority to ensure that all of its systems are SOX compliant and that all areas of said systems are fully auditable. The company also makes use of telemetry, which allows programs to track raw data and pull it directly into the software, thus eliminating human error.

New software directions include the graphical suite, which can import and link current graphical files and use these to enable

graphical planning and booking to take place.

The system allows all spatially orientated data currently stored within the systems e.g deviation to plan, safety hot spots, lost blasts, etc. to be viewed and analysed in 2D and 3D. The shift-boss logbook software can now be accessed via a new tough tablet. This device can be used underground and at the face by shift bosses, enabling them to log bookings and perform safety checks immediately on site.

MineWare is proud to be involved in the Gold Mining Sector, and believes that with ongoing innovation and attention to client service, it will continue to grow within this dynamic area of the Mining Industry.

E. isaker@mweb.co.za www.mineware.co.za

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30+ years Estimated mine life of the Wafi-Golpu copper-gold deposit

Tshepong Mine in the Free State

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where they can be ramped up to production.

We have four such projects at this stage and they continue to display great progress.”

Nevertheless, as Briggs himself has stated, the last year has been one of ups and downs when it comes to the wider mining community and this has presented the company with its own challenges.

“I suppose the biggest challenge that we have here in South Africa, where we have a very large workforce of around 36,000 people working for Harmony, is ensuring that, while labour disputes and negotiations are on-going, our people remain focused on working together as a team to do their best under a shared objective. One of the ways we are working to achieve this is by refocusing more of our efforts towards the training and motivation of our people.”

In addition to this refocusing, Harmony has also made efforts to improve the level of communication across all of its individual business units and operations groups, and to put in place clear, work-based incentives.

“We have communications officers based within each of our operations,” Briggs highlights, “and it is their job to stay close to the unit and keep the flow of information running smoothly to ensure we all work

Harmony Gold

Phakisa Ice-plant

towards a long-term goal that is for the greater good of everyone.”

As was covered in some detail the last time we spoke to Briggs, over the decades that it has been in existence Harmony has built for itself a commendable reputation for being a highly responsible and ethical mining company. Indeed it is Harmony’s clear belief

that these are traits that should be at the heart of one’s business.

“One thing that we have done a lot of in the last couple of years is assist in the process of environmental rehabilitation,” Briggs enthuses. “Where old mines have closed down and left a footprint of old buildings and shafts, we have been going in and helping

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;By remaining flexible at a time when other companies are experiencing financial pressures we have managed to maintain ourselves at close to zero net debtâ&#x20AC;?

Underground at Target 1, Free State

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Harmony Gold to clean up those areas, retrieve equipment and metals that can be recycled, and ultimately look to return them to their previous habitat. Further to this we have programmes that are looking at ways that we can take some of this land and transform it into areas where food or bio-energy crops could be grown. These are just a couple of focus areas within our business that one doesn’t normally associate with mining companies, however they are no less important than anything else we do.”

One thing that becomes clear very quickly when talking to Briggs is that, even in the face of difficult external Carrying out roof bolt installations at Doornkop Mine, Gauteng factors, he remains incredibly optimistic about mining in South Africa and partners have every reason to remain about gold mining in particular. “We are still confident of the company’s progress. “By very bullish on gold and while the current ensuring that we remain flexible at a time price is an understandable source of bother when other companies are experiencing for us at the moment, I for one certainly do financial pressures we have managed to not expect it to remain below the US$1,200 to maintain ourselves at close to zero net debt.

1,250 ounce mark for much longer. I believe In fact today we are slightly cash positive and that within the next two years it will have that is a testament in itself to the great work risen about the US$1,400 ounce mark and that we continue to do.” that will create increased opportunities in the gold space that we are already working hard For more information about to position ourselves to take advantage of.”

Harmony Gold visit: As for Harmony itself, Briggs concludes www.harmony.co.za by highlighting why its shareholders and

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delivering engineering expertise

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ADP Group For the past 16 years ADP Group of Companies (ADP) has played a meaningful role in some of Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most interesting mining projects

written by: Will Daynes research by: Vince Kielty

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or the last several decades Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vast mineral wealth has been intrinsically linked with its economic growth. The continentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mineral industry is unquestionably one of the largest in the world and for many African countries mineral exploration and production constitute significant parts of their economies.

Indeed mining and mines in Africa continue to play a fundamental role in its future socioeconomic and sustainable development,

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with over 1,800 mining projects currently in various stages of development.

Based in Cape Town, ADP Group of Companies (ADP) commenced operations in 1997 and today boasts an impressive list of successful mining industry projects predominantly in Africa, but also in Canada, Brazil, India and Australia. The group is a leading supplier of modular processing plants and projects in the diamond mining sector and over the years has supplied many diamond plants and mining technology. ADP Group

ADP Group

Navachab filter plant and thickener

are proud to be associated with companies like, De Beers, Debswana, Namdeb, Letšeng Diamonds, GEM Diamond, Mothae and Rio Tinto to name a few.

ADP Group consists of ADP Holdings, ADP Projects, ADP Marine & Modular, ADP Namibia with ADP UniProjects (JV) in Botswana and ADP Africa as its Johannesburg based office. ADP Projects specialises in providing Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Management (EPCM) services and EPC projects to the mineral industry. At the

heart of the subsidiary is a core group of qualified staff who are in turn supported by financial and administrative personnel, and technical associates. Among the technical skills available from ADP Projects one will find senior process engineers and project managers with relevant minerals experience, multi-disciplinary engineering, AutoCAD draughting and 3D design, construction management and commissioning.

Among many projects successfully executed

by ADP Projects are Navachab Gold Mine

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operated by Anglo Gold Ashanti in Namibia and Morupule Colliery Limited (MCL) coal mining operation, operated by Debswana Diamond Company. For the former, ADP was commissioned by Anglo Gold Ashanti for the design, procurement, fabrication and supply of a 200 ton Gold Concentrator Plant.

When it comes to coal mining operations, ADP was awarded the engineering component of expansions at Morupule Colliery Limited (MCL) in 2008.

The expansions included designs for underground and surface conveyor systems, a new crushing and screening facility with additional stock piles, new underground and surface HT and LT infrastructure as well as expansions to the existing infrastructure.

The existing mine capacity was expanded from 1 mtpa to 2.5 mtpa. The project was successfully completed in 2011.

ADP Marine & Modular, meanwhile, targets fit for purpose project execution

“ADP Africa is the groups’ subsidiary that specialises in providing support services to mining companies in Africa”

Morupule Colliery

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ADP Group

Morupule Colliery

requirements and smaller able to offer process and scale pre-engineered plant design development and and technology supply to implementation services national and international to any mining operation anywhere in the world. marine and land based ADP commenced ADP Marine & Modular diamond, mineral sands, operations has a long standing formal coal and gold mining partnership with Namdeb. industries. ADP Marine & One of many projects of Modular is a world leader in the development and implementation interest being the Sendelingsdrif Project. of customised and innovative solutions Namdeb commissioned ADP to design a viable for modular mineral processing plants, solution to start treating the required runshallow water mining, walking jack-up of-mine material at Sendelingsdrif, a proto platforms and dredging.

Orange River deposit situated on the north ADP Marine & Modular not only bank of the Orange River, approximately 85km offers their technology to diamond, gold north east of Oranjemund and 20km north and heavy mineral sands mining, but is east of Daberas Mine. The proto deposit is

1997

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Aerial ropeway system

Walking Jack-up platform

â&#x20AC;&#x153;ADP has been structured as a group of companies in order to offer a full range of projects, consulting services and process plants to its clientsâ&#x20AC;? approximately 2km long and 700m wide. ADP Marine& Modular is responsible for all EPCM aspects of this project. The mining plant is anticipated to be commissioned in phases from the end of October 2013 to December 2013.

The Walking Jack-Up Platform, refurbished in 2011, is a 12m x 12m Rig used for shallow water drilling and sampling as part of a resource development program. The platform, primarily offshore based, incorporates an

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overhead Aerial Ropeway System for the purpose of crew transfer and equipment supply to and from the rig over the inter-tidal and wave zones.

The Jack up-up platform and Aerial Ropeway were successfully commissioned by ADP Marine & Modular. Whilst it is located on the beach in Namdeb Mining Area 1, and as of January 2011, Namdeb are conducting sea trials up to 350m offshore.

ADP Group

Sendelingsdrif mine site

ADP Africa is the groupsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; subsidiary that specialises in providing support services to mining companies in Africa. These services include spares supply, logistics, meet and assist, visa applications and other general services to their client base.

ADP Africa is a client-driven company with proven expertise and access to substantial resources. In a sense, ADP Africa performs a public relations function for management and staff of companies situated in isolated areas. ADP Africa also guarantees its clients comprehensive professional medical assistance by sourcing the most reputable physicians and institutions, arranging treatment and providing necessary medicines.

ADP has been specifically structured as

a group of companies so as to be able to optimally and cost effectively offer a full range of projects, consulting services and process plants to its clients, from conceptual studies and pre-engineered plants through to larger scale project execution using EPCM or lump sum contracting models. To this end it has played a small role in the development of Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mining industry and strive to add further value to the industry by engineering continuously better and more efficient ways of mining and processing diamonds.

For more information about ADP Group visit: www.adpgroup.com

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Abraservice Nederland

More than a

steel supplier COO of Abraservice Holdings, Michel Raets, and Sales Manager at Abraservice Nederland, Lars De Goede discuss the secrets behind Abraserviceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success, the role it is playing in creating a brighter future and Abraservice Nederlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own contributions towards local and international growth

written by: Will Daynes research by: Marcus Lewis

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Lars De Goede and Michel Raets

Abraservice Nederland

A

European leader when it comes to the distribution of wear resistant and high yield strength steels, it is a hugely important belief within Abraservice that it should be seen to be more than just a supplier of such products.

Rather it has successfully fashioned itself into a specialised provider of its customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; complete solutions, from the analysis of their needs to the supply of finished and machined parts, ready for assembly.

Part of the Jacquet Metal Service Group, Abraserviceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience and technical knowledge ensure that it fully understands the needs of its customers and can offer support during quoting, following delivery and during service. It also acts as an advisor to the customers when it comes to selecting the right type of steel with the appropriate properties and during the processing phase.

These customers operate in a diverse range of industries and environments including power plants, yellow goods, steel production, mines and quarries, cement works, recycling, civil engineering and the chemical sector. What these environments do all have in common however is that in each of them the quality and durability of materials is paramount.

Abraservice today boasts a presence in more than ten European markets, including Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, and employs over 230 people across these subsidiaries. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What makes the Netherlands a unique market to operate in is that it is a dredging country and what this inevitably means is that our focus here is on providing wear resistant and high yield steel to this

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market,” explains Lars De Goede, Sales Manager at Abraservice Nederland. “If you look at some of the core products that we sell, Creusabro for example, these are extremely well suited to this important market sector.”

Creusabro is a high performance wear resistant steel and Abraservice is the exclusive European dealer of this highly reputable metal. “The success of this product has contributed to much of our growth in recent times as we have been able to convince an increasing number of customers to switch from traditional wear resistant steels,” De Goede continues. “With an average wear resistance that is between 40 and 45 percent higher than conventional 400HB water quenched steel, Creusabro delivers these users significant cost savings over the life of use. It also lends itself extremely well to processes like bending and rolling, which is vital when it comes to its use in dredging tubes.”

Creusabro also possesses a rather special self-hardening quality that makes the product stand out from other wear resistant steels.

By being able to be delivered in a softer condition users of the steel benefit from the fact that the drilling and machining of the piece is a much easier, less time consuming activity. Once this is complete Creusabro then

reveals its last trump card in the form of its self-hardening qualities which strengthens the steel over the course of its lifetime.

Meanwhile, when it comes to high yield steels, Abraservice Nederland again supplies its customers with proven, reliable solutions that conform to international norms and standards. “Like our wear resistant steels, when it comes to high yield steels,” states COO of Abraservice Holdings, Michel Raets,

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Abraservice Nederland

Steel cutter in action

Dredging tube

“what we are always aiming In Raets’ opinion, the to do is create higher value for reason for the continued our customers in the form of steady growth of the business things like greater mechanical is down to several core properties, bending and factors. “For starters we are Employees working for always focused on the service shaping properties and Abraservice that we provide, after all impact toughness. In doing across Europe that word forms part of our so we further differentiate name. One of the ways we ourselves and our offering from that of our competitors.” are trying to make life easier The market environment that Abraservice for our customers is by providing, where Nederland finds itself in today is undoubtedly required, the material they need complete a challenging one, defined as it is by with holes drilled and welding, bending and increased competition and record low price rolling complete. This means that what they levels. Despite these conditions the company receive from us is a product that can be used has managed to again break the mould by straight out of the box, so to speak.” recording increased tonnage growth in the Even though the company has exceeded first half of 2013 compared to 2012. all expectations when it comes to its growth,

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its success does remain tied to a number of external factors, for example the level of investment in public expenditures in the Netherlands and of course the performance of the steel works industry. The existence of blast furnaces across Europe plays an important role in Abraservice’s own performance, so one can imagine the negative effect that the

closing of no fewer than twelve in 2012 had on the company.

Nevertheless, there is room for optimism within the company. “We believe,” Raets says, “that even in the face of an environment that is very fragile we our strategy of bringing added value options to our customers and exclusive products to market will result in

“Throughout the group significant work is underway to improve Abraservice’s business and to guarantee its long-term success”

Bulk handling bucket wheel

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Abraservice Nederland

Offshore guide track with rotating tower

Abraservice remaining one of few suppliers of its kind to prosper going forward.

We are certainly of the opinion that our higher levels of knowledge, experience and production capabilities place us in a much better position today than other nondifferentiated players out there.”

After a 2012 that both Raets and De Goede openly admit to being difficult for the company as a result of business levels and the need to restructure the organisation accordingly, it is pleasing to find that Abraservice today retains the full support and confidence of its shareholders, confidence that has clearly been well founded what with the company now back

in the black in terms of profits and investing massively across the organisation.

“Throughout the group,” Raets concludes, “significant work is underway to improve Abraservice’s business and to guarantee its long-term success. Perhaps what is most important to note however is that unlike many other companies out there, we are not just hoping and wishing for better times to come, rather we are taking a leading role as actors in making this future a reality.”

For more information about Abraservice Nederland visit: www.abraservice.com/nederland

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Demir Export

Turning experience into excellence Having more than a half centuryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience, Demir Export is recognised as one of the leading diversified mining companies in Turkey with extensive know-how and competency

written by: NilgĂźl Pelit Poyraz research by: Abi Abagun

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Demir Export

F

ounded under Koç Group, one of the largest and most successful industrial and trading enterprises in Turkey, Demir Export has produced iron ore since 1957.

In subsequent years, Demir Export also initiated production of base and precious metals such as zinc, lead, copper and silver ore concentrates in addition to lignite and chromite ore production in lumpy form and as concentrates. The yearly copper concentrate production of Demir Export from its underground operations in Giresun, north east Turkey, comes in at 15,000 tonnes, while yearly chromite production in Bursa province is 30,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, iron ore production from six different iron ore operations in Sivas, Kayseri and Balıkesir provinces has reached 1.5 metric tonnes per year, all of which is sold to domestic integrated steel mills, namely Kardemir, Erdemir and İsdemir. Demir Export is making significant steps to extend this spectrum with new operations that it expects to commence in the near future.

Iron ore, after which Demir Export was named, has been the key production product for the company throughout its history. Demir Export has gone on to become a major supplier in the domestic market, serving the largest integrated iron and steel plants of Turkey.

The company’s iron ore operations can today be found in Çetinkaya, Purunsur, Elkondu, Otlukilise, Uzunpınar and Şamlı. While the iron ore production in 2012 was 750,000 tonnes, the production capacity for 2013 has been increased to 1,500,000 tonnes. In May 2013, Demir Export acquired 100 percent of the

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Demir Export shares of Ferrocom Madencilik operating in Divriği-Sivas.

With this acquisition Demir Export is now targeting to elevate its premium quality iron ore production to more than 500,000 tonnes per annum.

Another major product for the company has been its copper ore concentrate production which occurs in Lahanos, in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Anatolia. The production volume in 2012 for copper was approximately 14,800 tonnes, all of which was subsequently exported.

Lahanos is still an active operation where the remaining estimated copper concentrate production for 2013 has been determined as being 12,000 tonnes.

In addition to its iron ore and copper assets, Demir Export’s Güdecek chromite operation is located in Güdecek Sırtı region of Ömeraltı village in Mustafakemalpasa district at a distance of 140 kilometres from Bursa. Last year 25,500 tonnes of concentrate was produced from this operation, whereas the target for 2013 has been increased to 35,000 tonnes.

In addition to its existing operations, Demir Export plans to grow its business by developing new projects and adding new products to its production portfolio. Having produced almost 90 million tonnes of coal in Kangal between 1989 and 2012, Demir Export is now in the process of developing an underground coal mine at East Eynez, in Western Turkey, which

ORTADOGU SONDAJ Ortadogu Drilling Ltd., was established with the purpose of providing drilling services for the mining and energy sector. Our company brings drilling and engineering services with continuously being improved drill rigs for diamond drilling projects. With the experienced drilling crew, our main goal is to satisfy the expectations of customers by completing boreholes with the highest possible core recovery. While increasing the knowledge and experience of our personnel by periodical trainings, the company follows the “ISO 9001 Quality Management System”.

By observing the national and international

legal legislations and requirements, we commit to follow the change in regulations, ensure the application of these changes, apply and monitor our procedures and continuously improve all of our activities.

Especially for the energy sector, our company drills the deepest slim holes in Turkey, which are cored with the purpose of exploring the geothermal heat gradient. These holes, some of which are deeper than 2.000 meters, are drilled with our own manufactured deep hole drill rigs “GEO- 1500”. www.ortadogusondaj.com

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Demir Export has gone on to become a major supplier in the domestic market, serving the largest integrated iron and steel plants of Turkeyâ&#x20AC;? it predicts will start production in 2015. A fully mechanized longwall method will be employed and occupational health and safety will be of utmost importance at East Eynez where 36.6 million tonnes (3 million tonnes per year) will be produced in the estomated 18 years of mine life. Demir Export will be the first company in Turkey to implement Mechanized Longwall Top Coal Caving (LTCC) for underground coal production.

Another major operation that the company

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is excitedly preparing to run is BakÄąrtepe gold project where total mineable reserves have been estimated as being 4.0 tonnes of gold metal out of total geological source of 150,000 oz. The EIA approval was granted for the project, which will become a running mine operation by the first quarter of 2014. The operation is estimated to create 96 new direct local jobs for the surrounding community, which in turn will provide indirect economic benefit for 441 people in the region.

Demir Export

To develop the current product portfolio and to explore new production areas, the Exploration and Project Group of Demir Export capitalizes on a know-how which has accumulated over 50 years for domestic and international exploration, engineering and development projects.

In a bid to development a sustainable mining structure throughout the business, the company has recently undergone a signifiant corporate reorganization. This has led to the establishment of an environmental and social management framework based on international best practices, in addition to the operational requirements. This framework is aimed to ensure long-term success in applying corporate policies.

Looking ahead, and in line with said reorganization, Demir Export is committed

to exploring and operating at the highest standards of responsible resource development. The top priorities of the company continue to be occupational health and safety, environmental protection and the well-being of the communities around which it operates. These primary principles are embedded in all phases of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operations. Demir Export is today combining a half century of experience with a young and innovative management style in order to achieve remarkable success in sustaining corporate growth and development in the Turkish mining industry.

For more information about Demir Export visit: www.demirexport.com

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Aldridge Minerals

Multi metals

in Turkey

Aldridge Minerals is a junior Canadian company focused on just one project in Turkey â&#x20AC;&#x201C; after a decade of development the Yenipazar mine is on the cusp of production

written by: John Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hanlon research by: Peter Rowlston

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Aldridge Minerals

R

ight at the geographical centre without the support of the community,” says of Turkey sits the industrial town its President and CEO Mario Caron. of Kayseri (called after Caesar Yenipazar is a substantial project with 30 Augustus as it happens). It is million tonnes of reserves. It will be an open 120 kilometres north of Kayseri pit operation producing 2.5 million tonnes of that the principal project of Canadian mining ore a year over a mine life that is currently junior Aldridge Minerals can be found. The estimated at twelve years, however there is polymetallic Yenipazar project occupies a additional upside potential, with the company ten square kilometre site on a volcanogenic currently testing promising mineralised massive sulphide (VMS) body that hosts a outcrops close to the main deposit. gold-silver-copper-lead-zinc mineral deposit.

In addition Yenipazar is ideally located Aldridge has been present in Turkey since from the point of view of infrastructure. It has 2004 and has established a strong local excellent road access from the south and west, management team based at Ankara, just and is just 74 kilometres from the excellent four miles to the north west Turkish rail network, of the project. Canadian enabling the concentrates companies are familiar to the produced at the mine site to Turkish government, which be transported effectively has shown a lot of support to the Mediterranean port for their efforts in building of Iskenderun, where there projects in the country. To is spare capacity to handle grow its abundant resources them. Just 17 kilometres Capital cost of Yenipazar from the project the national both for export and to supply Turkey’s burgeoning industry electricity grid can be is a major priority here, which is no doubt accessed in the form of a 154 kV power line. why it is seen as a really enabling jurisdiction Very little infrastructure will have to be for these companies to enter. This is a good built, meaning that the lion’s share of financing can be devoted to constructing the mine time to be operating in Turkey.

Permitting, finance, infrastructure support proper, including process plant, equipment and expertise are all given a fair wind: in and tailings facilities. An owner-operated return companies like Aldridge are simply fleet of 90-tonne trucks and ten cubic metre expected to do their job, provide employment hydraulic excavators will be used to mine the for local people, engage in skills transfer ore and waste materials. The process plant is a and comply with local and international conventional crushing and grinding operation best practices when it comes to respecting followed by a gravity circuit where most of the the environment and community impact. All gold and a portion of the silver are recovered. these things Aldridge has taken pains to do: The gravity circuit is followed by sequential “It is impossible these days to develop a mine flotation of copper, lead, and zinc.

$382 million

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KÖSEOGLU MINIG CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND TRADING CO. INC.

Our ultimate power and in-depth experience all blended with technology for your service

• EARTH MOVING PROJECTS • RAILWAY SUBSTRUCTURE • MOTORWAY SUBSTRUCTURE

• OPEN PIT MINING • HEPP PROJECTS • DAMS

www.koseoglugrup.com.tr

Aldridge Minerals

KÖSEOGLU MINIG CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND TRADING CO. INC. Köseoglu Mining Construction Industry and Trading Co. Inc. was founded in 1987 with the core objective of pursuing business activities in the areas of mining, construction, engineering, tourism, transportation and agriculture.

The extensive experience derived from operation of open pit mines as part of Company’s mining business extension led it use the raw extrudes thereof for excavations in a variety of motorway construction projects, which notably include, among others, the sea rock-fill base formation work for the motorway segment between İzmir and Cesme. Later on, in line with its gradually improving equipment inventory,

the Company successfully undertook and delivered miscellaneous overburden removing for both Turkish Coal Enterprises and Electricity Generation Co., and continuing some privately owned mining sector projects for Tüprag Metal Mining, which is a subsidiary of Eldorado Gold, Koza Gold Operations Co. and AIMROC (Azerbaijan). Köseoglu Mining, with an average monthly earthmoving capability of 4.5000.000 m3, is now one of the leader in overburden removing, gold and coal mining projects in Turkey.

E. aliturkkan@koseoglugrup.com.tr www.koseoglugrup.com.tr

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ATILLA Atilla Machinery Co. Inc. was established as a construction company in 1976. It became a company realizing the turnkey industrial plant constructions (EPC) since the establishment. With our highly qualified, experienced personnel, we improve the quality of our services which we provide through our completed and on-going projects to our customers. Our company is ready to execute the following activities: civil works, steel construction manufacturing and erection, manufacturing and installation of equipment, pressure vessels, storage tanks, cyclones, gas channels, electrical and automation works and piping works. Besides standard civil and mechanical works, Atilla Machinery Co. Inc. can also execute special projects.

In accordance with the conditions and definitions of the work, Atilla Machinery chooses the proper techniques, supplying the correct material and equipment, and performs the projects with the best workmanship. Atilla Machinery had been constructed 4 Gold Mine Plants until today and is currently constructing another one, thereby is multiplying its experience about the gold mines. Furthermore, Atilla Machinery is also constructing second SART facility (Sulphidization, Acidification, Recycle and Thickening) for its customers and developing its experience on every matter within the sector. The other mining projects we are operating are Boron, Nickel, Copper, Iron, Chrome and Antimony. www.atilla.com.tr

Our work scope is mainly the “Turn-Key Construction of Industrial Plants”. In this context, the sectors that the projects undertaken are; • Mining Plants • Power Plants • Chemical & Petro-chemical Plants • Wood (MDF & Chipboard) Plants info@atilla.com.tr www.atilla.com.tr

YOUR RELIABLE PARTNER IN INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS

Aldridge Minerals

The total pre production capital the lower operating costs associated with expenditure comes out at $382 million: that conventional open-pit mining methods. For such an enviably low figure can be achieved, example operating costs for the tailings for a project of this sort, is explained partially management facility have been estimated at by this lack of a need to build expensive roads approximately $11 million during the 12-year or power plants, but the major contributing life of the project. The cost of mining will factor is the easy accessibility of the ore come out at something under $30 per tonne body itself.

One milestone already It is a shallow deposit, safely passed this year was much of it between 50 and the feasibility study, results 120 metres deep, which of which were announced means operating benefits in April. It confirmed the as well as low capex. The promise of the preliminary shallow nature of the ore economic assessment done body and the flat topography in 2010 and concluded that of the project footprint and Yenipazar is a robust and viable project. As Mario Caron surrounding area allow Total reserves at the site put it: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The strong results Aldridge to benefit from

30

million Tonnes

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pave the way for the completion of additional technical work while we advance the project financing and enter the development stage in the coming months.”

In the remaining months of 2013 Aldridge hopes to get its environmental and social impact assessments cleared by the Turkish government as well as the land acquisition necessary to build the mine. Detailed engineering will continue throughout 2014, with construction starting in the first quarter of next year. The process of building the mine and associated infrastructure such as the 17 kilometre power line to link with the grid will take about two years in total, including the commissioning phase, so commercial production should start in the early part of 2016.

Getting the financing structures in place to start construction is another priority in the wake of the feasibility study. The company’s shareholders, including its local partner ANT Holding and Mavi Investment Fund, have been highly supportive, says Caron.

Yenipazar has the inestimable advantage in today’s financial climate of being a polymetallic mine. This spreads the risk from price volatility giving a good deal of room for manoeuvre. “Not having any supply agreements that involve equity means we can

look at every available financing option. One of the main objectives in a difficult market is to keep the amount of equity needed to finance the project to a minimum.”

One of the options being considered is streaming transactions, which are becoming a favoured instrument for mining companies.

These are contracts for the ongoing supply of minerals under which, upon advance payment of a premium, the buyer agrees to purchase,

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Aldridge Minerals

at a fixed, discounted and predetermined price, all or part of the mineral production to be extracted by a mining company during a certain period or even throughout the life of the mine, until the mineral deposit is depleted. The mining company receives an upfront payment, which enables it to develop, construct and operate or expand the mine.

This allows the mining company to capitalise on the basis of proven but still unexplored mineral reserves, typically at a cost below that of a loan. Nevertheless offtake agreements will be open for negotiation too, he says.

Investors like to know the impact of their investment. After ten years in Turkey, Caron admits the company could never have achieved such rapid and smooth progress without the support of the authorities and

the local community too. Now that the exploration stage is drawing to a close and the project is entering its construction phase that cooperation is even more vital, so the company held a well attended public meeting in 2012 and will continue to engage all its stakeholders, keeping them informed and listening to their concerns. These days it may be difficult to get a project financed unless you can demonstrate its compliance with the Equator Principles but environmental and CSR best practice is part of Aldridge Mineralsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; DNA. For more information about Aldridge Minerals visit: www.aldridgeminerals.ca

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A star shin

Commercial Director, Dimmie de Milander Group and how it is perfectly positioned to

written by: Will Daynes |

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Starlite Aviation Group

ning bright

discusses the strengths of Starlite Aviation o capitalise on future growth opportunities

research by: Jeff Abbott

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he Africa of the 21st century is often highlighted by the vast metropolitan cities that have been building up steadily to become centres of economic prosperity, yet the continents land is still home to a vast expanse of frontier land. It is on this land, particularly along coastal areas, that many of today’s most exciting oil and gas finds are being made. However, when it comes to operating in such areas, where logistical infrastructure is sometimes non-existent, it often calls for companies to rely on expert advice and local knowledge. It is here where companies like Starlite Aviation come into play.

Established in South Africa in 1999, the group has undergone an extended period of growth to become a multi-faceted aviation business offering a range of helicopter services on a worldwide basis. Such services include relief contract work, oil and gas, passenger and cargo transport, helicopter sales and charter, maintenance and pilot training.

“We began life providing purely disaster relief and support services,” explains Commercial Director, Dimmie de Milander.

“From there we expanded into supporting various non-governmental organisations before taking on several contracts for our aircraft on a longer term basis. Through a combination of this contract work and the income that we derive from our training school we were able to begin developing our ability to provide support to customers operating in the offshore oil and gas industry.”

The capital raised from its long term contracts also allowed Starlite to invest in its fleet of aircraft. “Every time we tie up an

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Starlite Aviation Group

aircraft to a contact we endeavour to use the money from that to make another aircraft ready to be put into service,” de Milander continues. “In many ways this keeps us one step ahead of the market as it often means we have aircraft ready to take on work as it becomes available.”

Starlite’s fleet today includes aircraft from

Aerospatiale, Robinson, Bell, Sikorsky and Eurocopter. “Traditionally,” de Milander states, “we have leant towards the use of Eurocopter aircraft, however what we previously possessed was a slightly older, ageing fleet. Whereas the costs associated with upgrading to a more modern aircraft would previously have made such a possibility

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Starlite Aviation Group

Starlite currently operates 11 Puma helicopters

challenging for us, the fact that now we have virtually all of our aircraft tied into some form of contract we have the capital available to us to source new models.”

Starlite is proposing a major expansion of its activities over the next few years, which will place increased pressure on the capacity of its existing fleet. Accordingly it has embarked on a fleet renewal and acquisition programme to augment existing aircraft, and cater for a continued shift in demand for its aircraft to newer technology and heavier aircraft types.

Starlite recently signed an agreement to become the launch customer for Eurocopter’s new AS332 C1e aircraft. This new helicopter

is ideally suited to the medium-heavy utility market but could also be used to support oil and gas work. The AS332 C1e helicopter is the latest version of the popular Eurocopter Super Puma medium-weight helicopter.

While Starlite isn’t the largest of aviation businesses, de Milander is keen to point out that there is one particular characteristic of the group that allows it to compete with almost anyone in the world when it comes to supplying aircraft, and that is that it has proven countless times that it can operate along supply lines in some of the most difficult, challenging and unpredictable parts of the world.

“Whether our customers operate in the fields of oil and gas or high-end mining,

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or are involved in non-government agency programmes, they almost always eventually end up working in countries with almost no aviation support infrastructure present.

We have seen this in our work in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kosovo, Myanmar, South Sudan and Mali, to name a few locations, and it has always been our focus to be able to provide these clients with safe, reliable support in these regions.”

Whereas the larger corporate helicopter suppliers tend to have a much more risk adverse approach to business, Starlite has always been found to be prepared to judge each situation and scenario by its individual merits before seeing how it can be of service to a client.

That is certainly not to suggest that safety isn’t the most paramount of issues for Starlite, in fact quite the contrary. “Safety has been,

“Today the group’s talent for delivering services in some of the most remote parts of the world, let alone Africa, continues to shine through”

Pilots carrying out preflight checks

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The Bell 412 reliably performs in the most extreme climates on the planet every day

is and always will be the “It was during the course of one of its tasks that the most important aspect of aircraft in question suffered our business,” de Milander an engine fault in a location enthuses. “Through the approximately ten kilometres operations of our training The year that Starlite from the nearest civilisation,” school we are able to was established in handpick the very best pilots he recalls. “In response to this South Africa for employment and these we organised for an engine to be sent from America to are invariably those with a that location, the necessary huge degree of experience, often gained through military service.” changes were then made and after just six The skill and capabilities of Starlite’s pilots days the aircraft was back flying again. and crew have been displayed countless times Understandably the client in question was in its lifetime. One particular example of this very pleased at the short amount of time that sticks out in de Milander’s mind involved required to remedy the situation and Sikorsky on of the group’s Sikorsky S92 aircraft which themselves stated that they doubted there are was providing offshore support for a client many other companies out there that could based off Namibia’s infamous Skeleton Coast. have handled such an issue so quickly.”

1999

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The Bell 212 Twin Huey on Jasper deck

Starlite Aviation Group Today the group’s talent for delivering services in some of the most remote parts of the world, let alone Africa, continues to shine through. Again in Namibia Starlite aircraft can be found operating in Lüderitz, along the south-western coast of the country. It is here, in one of the least hospitable coasts in all of Africa, that it has managed to retain a 99 percent dispatch rate of on-time deliveries.

With offshore oil and gas activity increasing at a considerable rate along both the western and eastern coasts of Africa it is significant that those within Starlite are confident that it is well positioned to provide the types of services that will be in even greater demand going forward.

“I believe that when you consider the growth of the oil and gas industry, our own position in that market and the fact that we have now proven capable of funding the addition of new aircraft into our fleet, it becomes clear that our primary mission need to be to continue delivering above expectations,” de Milander says. “There is such huge potential throughout the continent right now and it is our aim to be at the centre of that, capitalising on the opportunities that will arise. In targeting this we have been forming a number of strategic relationships in key locations such as Namibia, Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana, and in doing so we are making sure that Starlite will be wherever its clients need us to be in the years to come.”

For more information about Starlite Aviation Group visit: www.starliteaviation.com

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Gelibolu Shipyard

Making waves Based near to one of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most historic maritime locations, Gelibolu Shipyard has been delivering expertly designed turnkey vessels for the better part of four decades

written by: Will Daynes research by: Peter Rowlston

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Gelibolu Shipyard

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elibolu, also known as Gallipoli, is one of Turkeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most historic locations. Located in east of the country, on the southern shore of the peninsula that shares its name, the town has a rich naval legacy dating as far back as the 5th Century B.C. Over the centuries that followed the town would go from being the home of important military warehouses for corn and wine under the rule of emperor Justinian I, to falling under the power of Venice in 1204 and the Genoese in 1294, before the Turks conquered it in 1354, making it part of the Ottoman empire.

Fast forwarding to the 20th Century and the town, and wider peninsula, bore witness to the infamous Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War. The town was finally returned to Turkey in 1923 under the Treaty of Lausanne and has since gone on to become recognised as an administrative centre within the province of Ă&#x2021;anakkale that is home to over 30,000 inhabitants.

Lying in close proximity to Gelibolu, along the coast of the Dardanelles, one will find Gelibolu Shipyard. A present day reminder of the historic links this part of Europe has to the maritime sector, Gelibolu Shipyard is a family owned newbuilding yard founded in 1975. One half of Aksoy Shipping Group, it specialises in the building of small-tomedium sized sea and river going vessels for its ship chartering sister company, Ali Riza Aksoy Denizcilik.

One of the facets of the business that Gelibolu Shipyard benefits most from is its relationship with Aksoy Shipping Group. This Turkish charterer has achieved wide success

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Gelibolu Shipyard in the local market through its dedication to reliability, quality, and innovation. As a result of this relationship activity at the shipyard has remained at a steady pace and this has given the company’s engineers the time to construct the modern vessels it has become so well known for.

Spread over a total area of approximately 50,000 square metres, the shipyard’s facilities include three slipways of 30 metres by 130 metres, approximately 8,000 square metres of enclosed construction workshops with various cutting, bending, welding and shaping machines. From

its facilities the shipyards engineers are capable of constructing vessels of up 150 metres in length and with a beam of approximately 30 metres.

Gelibolu Shipyard’s experienced and loyal workforce has a strong track record

ELKON Elkon, a member of Imtech Marine, is Turkey’s leading marine electrical company offering tailor-made electrical system solutions for commercial ships, naval ships, fishing vessels, offshore supply vessels, tugboats and yachts.

The vast experience of more than 400 complete electrical systems and 520 automation projects combined with customer-oriented approach enables Elkon to provide flexible and reliable solutions as a trusted Electrical System Integrator for Project Management, Electrical Design, Engine Room Automation, E-Propulsion Systems, Dynamic Positioning Systems, Installation

on-board, Commissioning, Service Support and Technical Backup.

In our state-of-art production facilities in Tuzla, the center of Turkish Shipbuilding Industry, we are able to deliver LV Switchboards, E-Drives, Integrated Alarm and Monitoring Systems with a fully integrated Quality Management System (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001) in-house.

Having delivered around 20 vessels with Gelibolu Shipyard since 2002, Elkon is looking forward to new projects as Gelibolu Shipyard’s Electrical Systems Partner. www.elkon-tr.com

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of building and delivering turn-key vessels of all types, from small work-boats to fully automated ocean-going vessels of the highest standards. Examples of this work includes dry cargo carriers, product and chemical tankers, container ships, supply boats, tugs, accommodation barges, ferries and landing craft. Each and every member of the shipyard’s workforce has helped the company fashion for itself a reputation for excellence when it comes to the quality of its products,

its ability to deliver on schedule and for the way it always strives to keep the promises it makes to its customers.

Gelibolu Shipyard understandably takes great pride in the high quality of its ships and their components. A perfect example of this would be the REMAS, a 75-metre offshore diving support vessel featuring diesel-electric propulsion, Dynamic Positioning Class II and an environmentally friendly design, which is now owned and managed by leading

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Gelibolu Shipyard

offshore contractor, Micoperi. The vessel has been specifically crafted for accessing and operating in the Caspian Sea and also possesses a hull that has been designed for river passage, shallow water draft and four point mooring capabilities.

The future of Gelibolu Shipyard, like any other yard or associated business, will depend heavily upon the status of the chartering market internationally and the levels of activity that it experiences over the coming months and years. While there is clearly something of an oversaturation of vessels in certain sectors of the maritime industry, including those in which Gelibolu Shipyard specialises in, it is the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s belief that the flexibility it possesses will allow it to adjust accordingly to service those sectors of the market where demand remains stable or strong.

The sector where increased demand is confidently predicted to rise in the short to medium term is the offshore sector. This is because of several factors, not least of all the continued resilience of oil and gas prices, the new discoveries being made in this field and the surge in offshore wind farm developments in countries pushing for greater sources of renewable energy.

Each of the above developments offers a company like Gelibolu Shipyard, with its hardearned reputation for excellence and quality, fresh opportunities for growth and thus opens up the possibility for an exciting future.

For more information about Gelibolu Shipyard visit: www.aksoyship.com

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Al

From mega Marine con

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Hanseatic Marine

life of luxury

the game-changing SILVER to the largest all-aluminium ayacht ever made in Australia, the Smeralda, Hanseatic ntinues to revolutionise the world of luxury superyachts

written by: Will Daynes | research by: Jeff Abbott

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Hanseatic Marine

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ocated 23 kilometres south of effort spend has proven itself to be well worth Perth, on the coast of Western it with the company achieving successful Australia, is the Australian Marine sales to some of the planet’s richest individuals Complex (AMC), the Southern and receiving of the “International Super Hemisphere’s premier integrated Yacht Award” in 2007. marine industrial facility. A world-class centre In recent years the company has continued for excellence in manufacturing, fabrication, to work closely in the design and construction assembly, maintenance and technology of its vessels with internationally renowned development, it is home to more than 150 designer, Espen Oeino. A graduate in naval businesses. These businesses are separated architecture and offshore engineering at into four main precincts; fabrication, support Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland, industry, technology and shipbuilding.

Oeino set up his own design studio in 1994.

One of the companies The company, Espen Oeino found operating at the heart International S-A-R-L, is of the AMC is Hanseatic today based in Monaco Marine, an Australian and is considered to be builder of some of the finest one of the leading studios custom luxury aluminium when it comes to large superyachts found anywhere custom motor yachts. in the world. From its home One of the most successful The average time the within the AMC, Hanseatic collaborations between company takes to build Marine is blessed with direct Hanseatic Marine and Oeino a custom vessel access to all the key ship was the creation of the building resources it could SILVER luxury yacht, a 73 ever need, while its own facilities include metre long aluminium semi-displacement two 85 metre boatbuilding halls, a purpose charter motor yacht that was completed in built interior fit-out shop, state-of the-art 2008. Built to accommodate up to twelve engineering hall and design offices. yacht charter guests, SILVER boasts a cruise Within these facilities the company utilises speed of 18 knots and a top speed of 25 knots. a straight-forward approach to building Espen Oeino designed SILVER to meet boats, one that is based on the traditional the specific performance requirements and values of craftsmanship, proven technologies environmentally conscious goals of the and only the finest equipment and fittings. vessel’s owner. At 73.3 metres, her semiSupplying its creations to markets across displacement hull creates a highly efficient the world, with particular attention paid to and stabile sailing platform, while SILVER’s Asia, the Middle East and America, Hanseatic slender lines and sleek profile depart from Marine typically spends between 18 and 24 a ‘higher and wider’ trend in modern yacht months building each vessel. The time and design. The overall effect is an elegantly

18-24 months

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Muir Established in 1968, Muir’s complete range of anchor windlasses, anchoring systems and deck equipment is exported to more than 40 countries.

The majority of export orders consist of anchor windlasses as the dominant component with a mix of docking capstans, controls, anchors, and chain and restraint equipment supplied as part ofa complete package.

Muir pride themselves on working very closely with the boat yards and the relevant key personnel for any build to ensure that the customer get exactly what they require and in this regards Muir “customise” the equipment to suit.

Muir have been privileged to work with

Hanseatic Marine (Western Australia) on all three of their beautiful 77m super yachts built to date and are very proud to be associated with a quality business such as this.

E. matthew@muir.com.au www.muir.com.au

Hanseatic Marine

understated yet modern shape that has Powered by two 16V-4000 MTU engines, since been embraced by a large number of the vesselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shallow draught provides for a highly responsive helm and allows the boat yacht owners.

SILVER possesses a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Contemporary Italianâ&#x20AC;? to explore areas off limits to nearly all other interior style with extensive use of advanced vessels in her class. lightweight materials. This very minimal and In total it took Hanseatic Marine two years modern design creates gathering spaces that to build SILVER with some of the finishing are warm, comfortable, and casually stylish. touches being to include hand-made carpets, Built to Safety of Life at American walnut veneers, Sea (SOLAS) passenger ship stitched leather upholstery classification, Silver has been and contemporary Italianengineered to guarantee style minimalist furniture.

March 2012 was another safety and reliability. Her important month for the owners insist that a boat is to be sailed and all of its company. It was then that equipment has been selected it officially launched the Went into the making of the Smeralda megayacht. to meet the most stringent Smeralda, at the time operational demands. the largest all-aluminium

500,000

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megayacht ever made in Australia. The 77 metre vessel was built for Guido Krass, the owner of the Pari Group. It was Krass who had previously commissioned both the aforementioned SILVER vessel and its successor the Silver Zwei.

As well as bearing a sleek profile similar to that of her sister vessels, the Smeralda’s

power is supplied by twin MTU 16V 4000 M90s that give it a top speed of 30 knots.

When maintained at a steady 18 knots the Lloyds-classed and MCA-compliant vessel is capable of a range of approximately 4,500 nautical miles.

Despite having an upper deck almost entirely given over to a single owner’s

“Hanseatic Marine continues to break ground in the superyacht sector, while exploring the opportunity to expand into exciting new international markets” 168 | be monthly

Hanseatic Marine

apartment, the Smeralda also boasts nine guest staterooms spread over the main and lower decks. Three VIP staterooms are forward on the main deck, while six twins, one also with a Pullman, can be found amidships below. The vessel also comes with several extravagant extras including an outdoor cinema and glass-fronted hot tub on the sundeck, plus large dining areas on both the aft main deck and sundeck.

Meanwhile, the ten metre, beam makes indoor areas like the saloon and beach club/gym equally welcoming.

Such was the level of work that went into taking the Smeralda from blueprints to a complete, sea-worthy vessel that Hanseatic

Marine estimated that it took its staff some 550,000 man hours in total.

With an entire catalogue of past projects and a wealth of satisfied customers under its belt Hanseatic Marine continues today to break new ground in the superyacht sector, while at the same time exploring the opportunity to expand into exciting new international markets as it looks to diversify. By successfully achieving these aims the company will no doubt remain one of the key global players within its field.

For more information about Hanseatic Marine visit: www.hanseaticmarine.com

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Superior African

offshore servi

General Manager for Oil and Gas, Rob Gardner highligh which Sturrock-Grindrod Offshore is helping to cater for those investing in and capitalising on Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vast oil an

written by: Will Daynes research by: James Boyle

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ice

hts the ways in r the needs of nd gas potential

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Checking refinery

Sturrock-Grindrod Offshore

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ntil as recently as 2010 it appeared that all southern African countries had to offer in terms of oil and gas were scattered pockets of natural gas off the coasts of South Africa and Mozambique.

The event that changed this perception was the discovery of a potential 500 trillion cubic feet of gas across South Africa and Mozambique, in addition to an estimated eleven billion barrels of oil in Namibia.

Founded in 1969 as both a shipping agency and clearing and forwarding company, Sturrock Shipping, was until its merger with Grindrod, one of the largest, privately owned shipping and logistics companies in South and East Africa. Based in some of Africa’s fastest developing nations, including Ghana, Angola, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar, the company specialises in providing a full supply-chain service for the handling of sea transport and the import and export of goods into and out of sub-Saharan Africa.

“Since we spoke almost a year ago,” begins General Manager for Oil and Gas, Rob Gardner, “arguably the most significant development on the oil and gas side of the business was the bringing together of Sturrock Shipping and Grindrod Ships Agencies, a business with more than 100 years of operating within southern Africa and a vast portfolio of assets behind them, from their own fleet of vessels to warehousing, terminals and container depots.”

What the bringing together of these two entities has done is not only create a much stronger and more diverse ships agency operation, but also provided the company

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Vessel support

formally known as Sturrock Shipping with an injection of capital, infrastructure access and a plethora of diverse service offerings and know-how.

“Today,” Gardner continues, “we boast a presence in eleven African countries which, if you look at most of the other large branded ship’s agencies, gives us an unrivalled subSaharan footprint. By employing local people in these countries and combining

their hands-on skill and local expertise with the more specialised international shipping and offshore expertise that the group offers, we are reaffirming ourselves as a truly African company that possesses the ability to offer first world services and expertise wherever it is required.”

In addition to actually being able to boast that it has a physical presence on the ground in some of Africa’s most important

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Maputo Port aerial

Overseeing work

markets, Sturrock-Grindrod compared to those of a decade Offshore also has the or so ago, has contributed unique ability to offer significantly to more and several different types of more businesses looking service that few, if any, of to our shores to explore for African countries in its competitors can match. oil and gas, specifically in which Sturrock-Grindrod These include the ability places like Namibia, Kenya, is present to service and replace life Madagascar, Mozambique rafts on vessels in remote and Madagascar where African ports as part of its drilling is currently on-going. role as exclusive agents for the company Couple that with the improved technology Survi-Tech and to handle the supply and and the ability to explore at greater depths transportation of pyrotechnics, something and you can see the great level of potential which can be a technically challenging that we have here.” and time consuming task for a customer.

In addition to this potential there is also “I think it is fair to say,” Gardner states, the tremendous physical infrastructure that “that the favourable nature of Southern the country has, and will have, at its disposal.

Africa’s exploration laws today, particularly At Saldanha Bay, for example, a huge amount

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of funding has been allocated to develop what will be an exclusive oil and gas facility, one where the deep water draft is capable of accommodating the next generation of rig ships, as well as shallower facilities for traditional jack up rigs.

This type of infrastructure investment also bodes well for the country’s long term future in other areas linked to the oil and gas sector. “With the work that we have on-going

in places like Saldanha Bay,” Gardner says, “it also provides the opportunity for companies like ours to take on greater amounts of ships agency work in the fields of ship repairs, maintenance and the repatriation of crews and auxiliary vessels related to the industry.”

As optimistic as the future appears for South Africa, Sturrock-Grindrod Offshore is equally as keen to prosper in markets further afield. “While we have all this know-how and

“We look at Africa and our goal is to be the recognised company here when it comes to oil and gas related services”

Oil rig

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Sturrock-Grindrod Offshore

Rob Gardner, General Manager for Oil and Gas

expertise down here in South Africa,” Gardner highlights, “we realised the need to expand some 15 years ago and whilst we already have an extensive and well-established subSahara African footprint in place, our goal is to cover as much of Africa as possible. While Africa remains a predominantly commodity based economy, the signs are that this could be changing thanks to the well-publicised oil and gas finds in countries like Mozambique.”

It is obvious that Sturrock-Grindrod Offshore shares the view that Africa is a hugely dynamic area, yet more importantly it is clear that the company believes itself to be well positioned to grow with it in the years to come.

“If you look at the management structure of Sturrock-Grindrod,” Gardner concludes,

“you will see it is a young, highly driven team. We look at Africa and we believe we know this market and our goal is to be the recognised company here when it comes to oil and gas related services. What we want is for companies coming into the market to say to themselves that, if they want to prosper, they need to be talking to us, because we are the guys who have people on the ground, the agency crews, the logistical staff, and the supply chain staff. These are all highly qualified, dedicated people and it is they who help keep us at the top of our game.”

For more information about Sturrock-Grindrod Offshore visit: www.sturrockgrindrod.com

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Total Namibia

A total solution for Namibia As Total Namibia embarks on the next stage of its development under a new Managing Director it continues to prove its considerable worth to Namibiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s many industries and the country as a whole

written by: Will Daynes research by: Candice Nice

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Total Namibia

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aving had an established name has become synonymous with. presence in the country since Namibia has declared Vision 2030—the 1968, Total Namibia first date by which it wants to be considered as opened its doors in 1977. a developed economy. To achieve that, its Today the subsidiary of the infrastructure, particularly its port at Walvis continent’s leading petroleum marketer Bay and its railways, will require significant has a total of 28 service stations across investment. For its part Total will play a Namibia, 77 commercial sites, five sites crucial role in helping Namibia to achieve its located within its national parks and four long term target, specifically where it relates depots, which are found in Windhoek, to its own infrastructure in the country.

Otavi, Gobabis and Walvis Bay. In addition, Total Namibia also supports the While Total has always been a well- government’s skills development programme, established player in the retail fuel market, offering on-going training to staff, contractors supplying individual vehicle owners, and emerging entrepreneurs. Furthermore, it small business enterprises, continues to sponsor bursaries government vehicles and and offers an in-house internship programme. the agricultural sector, the organisation has made In this regard Total particularly strong strides Namibia continues to work in Namibia to tap into diligently to upgrade all of Service stations the its evolving commercial its facilities to bring them company has across sector, particularly the into line, and subsequently Namibia mining industry. above, its own Total Group It goes without saying safety and environmental that in the mining sector, machinery and standards. Such has been the collective equipment utilises all requires specialised effort of the company that it will not be very lubricants, greases and oils, all products that long at all now before all of its facilities and Total has a long track record of supplying infrastructure comply with not just its own across Africa. In engaging the market, internal requirements, but with the very Total Namibia has worked hard to secure highest of European standards.

OEM contracts on the back of such supply In late February of this year the company contracts that it already held, with the likes held a special event to two significant milestone events. The first was in recognition of Toyota for example.

In pushing forward with securing OEM of the inauguration of its N$10 million contracts, Total Namibia’s game plan has Ondangwa “Kings” Total Service Station. been to regularly engage companies and The opening of the station marked the launch expose people and perspective clients to the of a new environmentally friendly look for standards and best practices that the Total the business, one that will ultimately see it

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Stowe Holdings Stowe Holdings is a supplier of Innovative services related to Fuel Management Solutions & Site Systems architectures in the African Fuel and Energy Market since 1990.

Stowe specialises in Site System Automation, including Systems Integration, Equipment and Software Procurement, Asset Warehousing, Supply-chain Management, 24 hour Helpdesk, Support and On-site Maintenance.

With its strategic systems-partner accreditation structures in place, Stowe remains unique in its ability to

service our customers’ networks of site systems technologies, no matter what the architecture, make and/or model of such solutions. As a results our customers enjoy unparalleled value & services that cannot easily be matched in the very specialised field of fuel management systems and site automation.

We are proud to associate ourselves with some of the biggest names in the Petrochemical market-place, such as Total who are as committed to Service Excellence as we are” www.stowe.co.za

www.stowe.co.za

Total Namibia

revamping each and every one of its filling stations in Namibia.

This strategy embraced the T-Air global concept that first arose in April 2012. T-Air is an abbreviation of “Total Amelioration de l’image reseau” which means “Total Improvement of the Network’s Image’. From an aesthetic point of view T-Air utilises natural colours, environmentally friendly materials, low energy buildings, underground fuel storage facilities and water that is being harvested and recycled to reduce their carbon footprint. This roll-out of Total’s new look service stations is being executed through the world. Its aim is to provide the network with a well-defined identity, one that is based on a more modern brand image, with service stations that are better integrated into their landscape.

The event in February also acted as a farewell for the man who oversaw the opening of the “Kings” Service Station and the start of the T-Air rollout, outgoing Managing Director Seggy Kistasamy. Having led Total Namibia into an exciting new period in its development as a business, Kistasamy has since handed over the reins to the new Managing Director, Chris Hoffmann. Having previously headed up Total’s operations in Lesotho, Hoffmann is now taking the company forward into a new era, one driven by his own ambitious objectives and plans for Total Namibia.

For more information about Total Namibia visit: www.total.co.za

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A finer refinery

for Jamaica After giving good service for 30 years the Petrojam refinery at Kingston Jamaica is to be upgraded

written by: John Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hanlon research by: David Brogan

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Petrojam

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Petrojam

P

etrojam is a limited company in the world), has a rated capacity of 38,000 jointly owned by PDVCaribe, barrels per day (bpd) and an average daily a subsidiary of Petróleos de output of up to 35,000 barrels. Increasing Venezuela (PDVSA) which owns its capacity has clearly been needed for 40 percent of its shares, and a long time. In fact the refinery upgrade the Petroleum Company of Jamaica (PCJ). project evolved out of a memorandum of Petrojam was established in 1982 when understanding signed in August 2005 between the Government of Jamaica purchased the PJ Patterson the Jamaican prime minister at Kingston Refinery from Esso, which had the time and President Hugo Chavez, with an built and operated it since 1964. Put simply, expected 2010 completion date.

Petrojam’s job is to supply refined products to However despite the fact that the front the people and businesses of Jamaica. end engineering design (FEED) for the $1.3 As Jamaica’s primary energy company billion Refinery Upgrade Project (RUP) Petrojam now has the was completed in 2009, responsibility for managing the project was stalled by its key asset, the refinery, and changing political priorities manufacturing cost-efficient, on the part of the Venezuelan high quality products to government. But now the RUP has been brought back ensure an uninterrupted to the front of the queue. supply of energy to keep the nation on the move and Last year, in a filing to the Planned investment in US Securities and Exchange working – it is a vital part of refinery Commission (SEC), the the island’s economy. Among the services that rely on Venezuelan government said Petrojam are the supply of aviation fuel for that PDVSA has brought forward the start the airlines that fly in and out of Jamaica, date of the Jamaica project to 2014, a year bunkering for the ships that use its ports, earlier than previously expected.

The plan is to increase production at the supplying power generation plants and providing a reliable supply of affordable lead Kingston refinery from 35,000 to 50,000 bpd, and the urgency of the project was underlined free petrol and diesel to the filling stations.

The Jamaica government benefits from by Jamaica’s Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell agreements with Venezuela and Mexico under in May when he claimed the Petrojam plant which feedstock – crude oil – is supplied to could face the risk of being shut down if the the refinery. Negotiated in 1983 the current necessary works were not undertaken. The conditions of the San Jose Accord ensure the cue to its moving back to the top of the agenda supply of 29,000 bpd of crude. The Petrojam is Paulwell’s discussion with Venezuelan refinery, located on a 76 acre site on Kingston counterparts at this year’s PetroCaribe summit Harbour (the seventh largest natural harbour in June, following which he announced the

$1.3

Billion

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agreement with Venezuela that the Petrojam Jamaica, monitors product quality on a oil refinery expansion and upgrading project 24-hour basis. Staffed by specialist technicians who test, analyse and certify products against would again become a priority.

The refinery was originally built, using a internationally recognised standards, the lab simple hydroskimming model, using modern is at the heart of the operation. It also offers optimisation principles in its design, and in commercial testing to third party clients for general that has proved fit for purpose over octane levels, water and chemical analysis, the years. However the equipment and process and particulate levels in fluids. It is also able streams do need upgrading, to monitor dust, lead and CO and this investment is also a levels in the atmosphere.

Another area of best vital part of the project. The practice is to be seen refinery is a very competent facility, staffed by qualified in Petrojamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s logistics personnel and with some arrangements. Within the excellent ancillary facilities. plant a small but effective For example its laboratory, team is responsible for the Upgraded capacity of the only fully equipped economic evaluation of Petrojam refinery petroleum laboratory in incoming feedstock. The

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team co-ordinates crude oil imports, marine transportation of crude oil and finished products for export as well as to domestic customers. Delivery by sea is cheaper and safer than road transport. Refined products for the Montego Bay Terminal and supplies to large volume customers such as the light and power plants and bauxite companies are delivered by sea using Petrojam owned and chartered vessels, operating from the company’s berth in Kingston Harbour.

The next task is to update the FEED report to base it on more up-to-date figures than those available in 2008. Once that is done the real work can progress, and, as Mr Paulwell says: “It will enable us to produce those things that we use in Jamaica — LPG, gasoline, and low sulphur diesel — so that we will be almost selfsufficient, and be able to export some of it,” he said, pointing out that the by-product, petcoke, will enable the generation of 100 megawatts of cheap electricity. Upgrading of the refinery will ensure its viability in the long term and allow for the installation of treatment facilities to meet new environmental specifications for diesel oil and gasoline.

One of the many outstanding programmes of personal development that Petrojam pursues is its youth development programme.

In particular its Summer Employment

Programme, which each year selects 100 or more secondary and tertiary level students to undertake paid work and training during their long vacation. The objective is to give these students a taste of what it is like to do a real job in an industrial enterprise, and how they can gain satisfaction from adding real value to Petrojam by working on active projects.

Some of them subsequently join the company explains Production Manager Telroy Morgan, a

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Petrojam

key motivator for the students, but that is not by any means the sole object of the programme. “A number of students come back after the Summer Employment Programme and grow into key roles with Petrojam: the others get invaluable experience here and go on to contribute to the growth of the nation as a whole.”

Telroy Morgan should know: he himself came into Petrojam via this route and now occupies an important management position.

He is not alone, and the enthusiasm of the student cohort for the scheme is palpable: they are exposed to a variety of different disciplines from highly technical roles and engineering to admin and management experience that will stand them in good stead in any business.

The target date for competing the refinery upgrade project has now been set for

January 2016, giving Jamaica a world class facility capable not only of producing the quantity the island needs but of supplying it with new and improved products such as the ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) fuel that was launched in Jamaica on June 25. “If our upgrade is done in short order, Jamaica would be the only English speaking Caribbean country using and selling ULSD,” said Phillip Paulwell – this is important as only countries that can supply USDL are able to import diesel vehicles equipped with advanced emission control.

For more information about Petrojam visit: www.petrojam.com

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The secret to s

As well as being the largest sugar manufa Sugar Company is today making a name

written by: Will Daynes |

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Mumias Sugar Company

sweet success

acturing operation in East Africa, Mumias for itself in the field of power generation

| research by: Abi Abagun

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Mumias Sugar Company

L

ocated in the Western Province on importation and aim for self-sufficiency of Kenya, Mumias is home to one when it comes to sugar production. of the country’s largest and most The company’s original factory possessed established businesses, Mumias a capacity of 45,000 tonnes of sugar per year Sugar Company. The history of when it was fully operational in 1973. In the company dates back to 1967, when the the decades since the operation has grown government of Kenya first commissioned dramatically giving Mumias Sugar Company Booker Agriculture and Technical Services a facility with a capacity of 173,000 tonnes to carry out a feasibility study on the viability of sugar and 1.8 million tonnes of cane of growing sugarcane in Mumias, before then crushed per year. initiating a pilot project.

Mumias Sugar Company’s production It is fair to say that at the time the Mumias process comprise of cane production, sugar area was one of Kenya’s more underdeveloped production, cogeneration and the production locations, typified by the fact of molasses. Cane farming that what land was used accounts for approximately was only done so by farmers 80 percent of the production growing crops for subsistence of farm produce in the sugar and grazing animals. zone, and this provides While poor land utilisation, up to 90 percent of the total coupled with the remoteness cane that the company uses of the area and virtually nonas raw material. The cane Of sugar produced existent communications itself is then used to produce annually from the the primary products of infrastructure, had until company’s Mumias that point deterred economic Mumias Sugar. factory activity in Mumias, the fact Mumias Sugar Company is that land adjudication had today responsible for between been carried out and farmers had freehold 60 and 65 percent of the total amount of title to their land attracted the interest of the sugar produced annually in Kenya. This also government due to its favourable conditions makes it the largest sugar manufacturing operation in all of East Africa. Producing for sugarcane development.

On 1 July, 1971, Mumias Sugar Company both industrial sugars for local firms and was formally incorporated as the body that table sugar for individual use, the company’s would be responsible for implementing the primary markets for its products also include project. The main objectives of establishing Tanzania, Uganda and other surrounding the company were to provide a source of nations. Meanwhile, Mumias Sugar is income for farmers, create job opportunities recognised as one of East Africa’s top 100 in the local area, help curb rural-urban brands. The company also exports some of its migration, reduce Kenya’s overdependence sugar to international markets mainly in the

173,000 tonnes

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Moving together

FEIL manufactures and supplies a vast variety of agricultural equipment and farming machinery from tractors and bailers to sugar handling and land development equipment.

FEIL also provides construction equipment and heavy-duty machinery customised to suit the ever growing needs of East Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s booming construction industry.

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Mumias Sugar Company Europe, with at least 20,000 metric tonnes of sugar being exported annually.

In the eyes of many the reputation that Mumias Sugar Company has carved out for itself has been built on a foundation of having a quality product at the right price, the right weight and the highest level of consumer satisfaction. In staying true to these basic principles the company has helped itself to become a market leader and it is here that it aims to stay.

Retaining this position naturally requires

a company to give its customers what they want, the way they want it. Mumias Sugar Company has shown its ability to do this time and again over the years, not least so in its introduction of both white and brown sugar products that cater for the regional preferences that exist in Kenya, where the majority of consumers in the Nairobi region prefer the former, while those in the Mount Kenya and Eastern regions of the country sway more towards the latter.

FEIL At our state of the art fabrication division, FEILâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world-class designers use the latest technology to turn your ideas into real life products.

We provide earth moving equipment for the agriculture, forestry, mining and construction industries, and custom manufacture a range of implements including trailers, bowsers, grader attachments and front end loaders from our state of the art manufacturing facility, currently based in Kisumu. Using Auto CAD to come up with designs which are suitable to the exact customer requirements, the implements we create are made exclusively in our facility, up till painting. The utmost care is taken during this process with the implements double reinforced to ensure quality performance. Once the implements are constructed they are treated with an anti- rust spray before they are then

painted.Our after-sales service and training are second to none and most certainly our strong points. At FEIL we place a huge emphasis on sending our technicians and sales people on overseas training and towards offering training to our customers, operators and mechanics.

We currently operate seven branches in Kenya and Uganda, and one in Tanzania. Meanwhile we have our eye firmly set on expanding into South Sudan, Rwanda and DRC Congo, from where we currently operate through subdealers. In addition to this we are opening a new state-of-the-art HQ, which will be on Mombasa Road, Nairobi, that will boast technology greater than that of all our competitors.

E. feil@feil.biz www.feil.biz

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General auto hardware General Auto Hardware Ltd started as a promising wholesale and retail business set up in 1987. From then on the vision has evolved year on year and today has over 26 years experience in industrial and general hardware. The company has grown many folds and is certainly an established company and has been for this period of time had strong, vast experience in supplying products that meet required specifications as per our clients needs.

Like any company, General Auto Hardware Ltd with a sound futuristic vision to grow further, have visualized in marking our presence in the global markets. Our under mentioned products should help our clients improve efficiency

of their processes and increase competitiveness in the global scenario.

Our association with Mumias Sugar Co. Ltd is remarkable in core areas, such as the supply of: • Sealing Products - Gland Packing & Steam Gasket • Tube Cleaning Equipment (Boiler) • Roller Bearing & Cooper Split Roller BRGS • Mini Roller Grooving Tools • Boiler Tubes, Lifting Tools & Equipment • Electric Geared Motors • Insulation & Lagging Materials • Industrial Gate Valves LP & HP • Conveyor Belts gah@swiftkisumu.com

Mumias Sugar Company

Another development of interest has seen the company develop and introduce fortified sugar to the marketplace. This particular brand is fortified specifically with Vitamin A, something which resonates strongly with the needs of Kenyan children to have access to products containing important micronutrients that are essentially to a healthy upbringing.

In order to ensure a sustainable income

throughout both good and challenging economic times, Mumias Sugar Company has made a very unique effort to diversify part of its business into the power production sector. This initiative came into being back in 2005 when the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s board approved the exploration of a co-generation electric power production project, which included the construction of an ethanol plant.

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“Another positive facet of the company’s move into power production is that its technology allows for the creation of clean energy” The fact of the matter is that in Kenya the demand for electricity far outstrips supply. The company’s co-generation plant is designed to help alleviate this issue somewhat. At present the company has the capacity to produce 34MW of electricity, with 26MW supplied directly to the National Grid, thus supplementing Kenya’s ever increasing domestic demands. On-site power

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production from the project through bagasse co-generation is currently on the rise, with the company extremely confident that its potential has yet to be fully exploited.

Another positive facet of the company’s move into power production is that its technology allows for the creation of clean energy. This is because its source is primarily the by-product of the sugar production process, a fact that

Mumias Sugar Company

highlights the increasing important of sugar cane as feedstock for ethanol.

Kenyaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sugar industry, and specifically Mumias Sugar Company, has worked hard to take advantage of the concept of bio-refinery technologies or integrated sugar production processes which utilise the entire crop for a variety of environmentally favourable outcomes. Effective use of by-products in an integrated sugar plant diversifies the income stream by adding new intermediate-value and high-value products.

A number of regional factors including limited supplies of crude oil and refining capacity, and rising environmental concerns, have presented Mumias Sugar Company with the perfect opportunity to expand its product

range and it is with this in mind that it set about the construction of a distillery plant with the capacity to produce 22 million litres of ethanol annually.

To this day the company continues to champion a number of important social causes, from providing economic opportunities to more than 14,000 cane farmers to investing in the training, health care and education of its employees. It does all this while retaining its leading positions in both the consumer goods and power production markets.

For more information about Mumias Sugar Company visit: www.mumias-sugar.com

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Making a difference

For more than 50 years Seven-Up Bottling Company has been a significant contributor towards the development of Nigeria, making it one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most admired businesses

written by: Will Daynes research by: Candice Nice

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Seven-Up Bottling Company

W

ith its expanding financial, ser vice, communications and entertainment sectors, Nigeria without question possesses all the vital components necessary to be recognised as one of Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most important emerging markets. In fact, as of 2012, the country was ranked 30th in the world in terms of gross domestic product and the second largest in Africa. This places it on track to become one the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020 according to a number of experts and analysts.

As various economic sectors have improved across the country, so too has the quality of life enjoyed by a large number of Nigerians.

This improved quality of life stems from all manner of sources, but for around 3,500 men and women it comes from their employment with Seven-Up Bottling Company, one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest manufacturing companies and distributor of some of the best known, and widely consumed, brands of soft drinks.

From its nine state-of-the-art manufacturing plants, located strategically across Nigeria, Seven-Up Bottling Company produces and markets internationally recognised products including Pepsi, 7Up and Mountain Dew. These are some of the products that the company also markets through its network of more than 200 distribution centres that are spread over the length and breadth of the country.

The company was originally founded by one Mohammed El-Khalil, a Lebanese national who first arrived in Nigeria back in 1926.

Originally operating under the name El-Khalil Transport, it began life as a very successful

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SUGAR REFINERY

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Seven-Up Bottling Company transport business, growing BUA Sugar Refinery into the largest company of its Congratulations to a Bottling Giant, 7Up. It just goes to kind in the whole of Western prove that hardwork and commitment always makes a Africa. The metamorphosis difference. BUA Sugar is proud to be associated with you on of the business came on 1 the occasion of your well deserved recognition by Business October 1960, when the very Excellence Africa and Food & Drink online magazine and first bottle of 7Up rolled off wish you a much greater accomplishment ahead. www.buagroup.com the production line and out of the company’s factory in Ijora.

In the years that followed the growth of the soft drinks industry partnered the growth of the company itself, with it establishing two additional plants, in Ibadan and Ikeja, in the late 1980s. It was then in the early 1990s that Pepsi International took control of 7Up International, a move which opened the door for Seven-Up Bottling Company to introduce another world leading brand to the people of Nigeria.

Today the company retains the same core vision that it has held since day one and that is to become the most admired and innovative company in Nigeria. In order to achieve this it conducts each and every task or operation with a set of core values at its heart. The first of these revolves around the concepts of commitment and ownership. These ideas can be seen throughout the business with

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A leading supplier of PET preforms in West Africa We pride ourselves not only on product quality, but also on the technical support we provide for our customers. This includes : • Bottle design • Lightweighting of preforms • Introduction of different neck finishes • Development of new preforms for specialised applications BevPak also supplies multilayer preforms, for shelf life extension of carbonated soft drinks, beer, fruit juice, sauces, etc. In fact, any product which is sensitive to gas loss or gas entry into the bottle benefits substantially from this technology.

enquiries@bevpaknigeria.com

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Seven-Up Bottling Company employees often referring to BevPak (Nigeria) Limited Seven-Up Bottling Company BevPak (Nigeria) Limited was established in 2008, and as “our company”. This is said has rapidly become recognised as a leading supplier of PET to reflect the entrepreneurial preforms in West Africa and beyond. spirit and sense of ownership BevPak specialises in advanced technology and superior that exists within the technical support. Its multilayer technology facilitates PET’s business, traits that have use in non-traditional PET applications such as beer.

Bevpak offers a range of technical support services for helped build the organisation customers with difficult applications. into what it is today. www.bevpaknigeria.com Along a similar vein to the aforementioned characteristics is the sense of teamwork that runs throughout Seven-Up Bottling Company.

Its people also carry with them a reputation for unflinching integrity and having high ethical standards. Such qualities have allowed the management of the company to have total confidence that all employees act in the best interests of Seven-Up Bottling Company, a significant level of trust that is also extended in the opposite direction.

As a business that is so closely linked to the development of Nigeria it is not surprising to see Seven-Up Bottling Company doing its bit towards contributing to a better future for the country. One of the ways it is doing so is through the 7Up Harvard Business School Scholarship. Launched in January 2011, the program sees one deserving Nigerian youth selected to have their higher education

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“The unveiling of the scholarship program was part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Seven-Up Bottling Company in Nigeria back at the end of 2010” sponsored at the prestigious Harvard Business School. The scholarship itself covers the costs of tuition, housing and tickets to and from the United States at the start and end of the individuals’ course.

The unveiling of the scholarship program was part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Seven-Up Bottling Company in Nigeria back at the end of 2010, and came as a result of those in charge of the company deciding

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that they wanted to create a unique legacy that a further 50 years from now people would remember them for.

The theme of this legacy was to be education, a choice that is particularly significant when it comes to Nigeria due to the complaints that have been raised in the past about the quality of the products and services that came from many of the country’s institutions. It was Seven-Up Bottling Company’s desire to take

Seven-Up Bottling Company

measures to help reverse this trend, however it did not want to simply replicate what other organisations have done, and continue to do, which is provide funding towards professional training in one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s universities. In wanting to be unique the company devised the Harvard Business School Scholarship.

As previous winners, Misan Rewane in 2011 and Olujimi Williams in 2012, can attest, there is no bond attached to the recipient of the scholarship and they are not tied into working for Seven-Up Bottling Company upon their graduation. All that is asked of the recipients is that they eventually return to Nigeria, this could be some years after graduating Harvard Business School during which time they can acquire greater business experience in the US, at which time their skills can contribute

further to Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national development.

Many prominent Nigerians have walked a similar career path in their lifetime, including current Minister of Finance Dr Ngozi OkwonjoIweala and the Minister for Commerce and Investment, Dr Segun Agagan who at one point held the position of Managing Director at Sach & Sach Corporation in the US. There are of course countless other individuals in both the public and private sectors silently doing their part in making national development a reality and Seven-Up Bottling Company is proud to be contributing in its own way.

For more information about Seven-Up Bottling Company visit: www.sevenup.org

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The perfect partner Waco Industries is Southern Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest manufacturer and distributor of industrial electrical products and as such continues to play a hugely vital role in the development of numerous countries and industries

written by: Will Daynes research by: Paul Bradley

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Waco Industries

Waco Industries

W

e don’t see our customers them with a plethora of solutions and items. as just customers,” states In many ways this has created a scenario Julian Lipson, General where the wholesalers see us as something of Manager of Waco a warehouse ourselves and as such we work Industries, “we see them tirelessly to ensure that we act as a reliable, as partners that we forge close relationships constantly stocked warehouse.”

Waco has five main divisions that make with from day one as we work to meet their requirements and solve their problems.” It is up its business. Its general products division this approach to business that has seen Waco consists of products lugs and ferules, tools, grow from an importer of industrial plugs and step ladders, air conditioners and many more sockets into one of the biggest manufacturers electrical, contractor and hardware orientated and distributors of industrial electrical products, while its power products segment products in Southern Africa. consists of various technical industrial From its humble beginnings in 1949 Waco products such as rotary switches, timers, Industries grew steadily over the subsequent sensors, enclosures and LG switchgear. decades, becoming part of Waco’s lighting division the Voltex group in 1991, meanwhile consists of two which itself merged into parts, the first being light the industrial division of sources and lamps, which comprise Phillips at the top Bidvest, BidIndustrial, in Line items that the end of the market and Waco 2002. Since then Waco has company stocks branded, economically priced expanded its product range and supplies and infrastructure in South lamps, while the second Africa to the point where is light fittings. Here the today is distributes a range of well-known company supplies both locally manufactured local and international brands, such as ABB products from Prism and a range of imported Enclosures, Phillips Lighting, 3M Products, light fittings mainly for domestic use.

CCG Glands and CRC Maintenance Chemicals, The aviation warning beacons that the to the electrical wholesale trade and original company produces are particularly interesting as they link back to Waco’s invention of said equipment manufacturers.

From its 9,000 square metre distribution beacons which are today used by many large warehouse the company receives and telecommunication companies and airports. distributes its comprehensive range of more These beacons serve as warning devices that than 6,000 line items. “We have always seen can be placed on high buildings, masts, towers ourselves as something of a wholesalers and cranes. These products are very robust wholesaler,” Lipson explains, “and as such and designed to withstand Africa’s unique we have always endeavoured to act as a environmental conditions, and have become one-stop-shop for our customers, providing a highly profitable part of Waco’s business.

6,000+

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Waco Industries Last but not least is Waco’s Energizer latest venture, its fixings and Energizer, a global consumer goods leader in the dynamic fasteners division. business of providing portable power geared toward The core of Waco’s the new digital age, offers a full portfolio of products business in its early years including the Energizer MAX premium alkaline brand; centred around industry Energizer Ultimate Lithium; Energizer Advanced; Hearing plugs and sockets, and these Aid batteries; Specialty batteries and Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) – Recharge batteries and Chargers. simple yet hugely important Energizer also offers a full range of torches for all needs. products remain crucial to its These torches are Guaranteed for Life. customers, particularly those Energizer’s story began in the 1890s with its invention of in the mining sector where the first dry cell battery. Since then its pioneering spirit has virtually every mine across driven the business forward, leaving behind it a rich history the world uses a vast number than spans across numerous consumer brands. of them. These plugs and Energizer continually helps to bring consumer insight and innovation to these important household devices. sockets remain the biggest www.energizer.co.za single product that the company sells to customers in the mining sector.

“In the last several years the market around us has changed rather dramatically from being one in which the majority of products that we supply would be sourced from local manufacturers to one where anyone can source cheap goods from China,” Lipson continues.

“This has meant that we have had to rethink our own approach and this has led to our business becoming much more nimble and research focused then we were say 15 or 20 years ago.”

Another of Waco’s key objectives is to keep on expanding its product range in order to

9,000M2 The size of Waco’s distribution warehouse

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“We have always endeavoured to act as a one-stop-shop for our customers, providing them with a plethora of solutions and items” keep up with technology and the changing needs of its customers. Waco’s innovative approach ensures that its products stay up-to-date with customer needs and has to-date enabled it to develop entire systems.

The company’s research & development department develops systems from the ground up and refines customers’ needs to produce many successful end-products.

Energy is very much the source of Waco’s growth today and with the cost of energy,

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particularly in South Africa, soaring in the last five years or so the company has become more involved than ever in energy saving initiatives, primarily in the areas of water heating and lighting. In the former category Waco has been getting more and more involved in the supply and installation of heat pumps. With research showing that these devices can produce electricity savings of up to 70 percent there has been a surge in demand for these solutions,

Waco Industries

particularly from mine operators looking to make significant cost savings.

“The development of LED lighting in the last three years has also been a source of real interest for us,” Lipson says. “Energy saving initiatives will play a big role in our business over the coming months and years and we believe that the single biggest growth area for us will be LED lighting, while we anticipate reaching its peak by no later than 2015. While it is reaching this peak we will be putting in a great deal of effort in the form of research and development to establish Waco as the leading player in this field of expertise.”

Since the start of July, Waco Industries has taken over responsibility for growing the retail market for electrical products on behalf of Bid Electrical. The company’s increased involvement in the retail side of

electrical distribution comes at a time when a consumer led boom continues to spread out across African countries.

“I believe,” Lipson concludes, “that consumer consumption is going to continue playing a big role when it comes to GDP growth in South Africa and we feel that this is steadily being replicated across the rest of Africa as well.

Coupled with the growth of the mining sector across the continent and the development of oil and gas fields in and around the Western coast we are very confident that future opportunities for our company are out there and waiting for us.”

For more information about Waco Industries visit: www.wacoelec.co.za

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The future is Among the forces that bind the people of Azerbaijan together is its mobile communications network: we talk to Azercellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recently appointed CEO about the technical and social aspirations of the company

written by: John Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hanlon research by: David Brogan

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Azercell

s data

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Chiril Gaburici, CEO

Azercell

I

t is a truth universally acknowledged that by the urge to bring the latest technologies to everyone has to have a mobile phone these the market.” The people of Azerbaijan have a days and Azerbaijanis are no exception. right to the most recent technologies available 9.4 million people live in Azerbaijan, and anywhere in the world, he believes.

This is the approach that has brought while there are only a little less than 1.5 million landline subscribers there are more Azercell from number two in the market than ten million mobile network connections. to the position of market leader, with clear In this, Azerbaijan is not very different from water between it and its nearest rival. It is any other modern economy, but things have a matter of choice, and a majority of the developed faster here than in many European population has chosen Azercell as a direct countries. In 1997, the year after Azercell result, he is firmly convinced, of being able to entered the market, it had 20,371 subscribers: offer the right strategies and the best in breed today it has 4.4 million, 53 percent of a technologies. The company has invested more than $1 billion since it market it shares with two other significant players and started operating here more than 16 years ago. “We put 800 employees.

Azercell is part of the in the money and rolled out TeliaSonera group, Europe’s the service quickly, and that fifth largest telecoms operator was one of the things that based in Sweden but active differentiated us. Innovative across the Nordic region solutions and technology Azercell subscribers gave us the leadership – we as well as in Turkey, the had the first 24/7 call centre, Balkans, Spain and Russia among the 18 markets it now the Azercell Ekspress concept serves. The company is led by Chiril Gaburici, of a one stop shop where our subscribers who under TeliaSonera’s policy to rotate are receiving all the services of a first rate, its CEOs periodically came in September indeed world class phone network operator, 2012 into this challenging market from with specific business solutions provided by Moldova, 1,000 miles away and on the other third party partners in any areas to which our expertise does not extend. That way every side of the Black Sea. The idea is to circulate these successful Azercell Ekspress customer has a solution to and proven managers so that they can bring all his communications issues.” new perspectives into established markets: With access to TeliaSonera expertise “The telecoms sector is just about the fastest Azercell was able to lead in establishing 3G changing market there is,” he says. “New networks across the country, and has now technologies are being developed every day, become the first to offer a 4G service in the and the customers’ needs are changing just as capital Baku. The list of firsts seems never quick. Whenever we do anything we are driven ending: it was the first to roll out a GSM

4.4

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service, the first with its prepaid SimSim card and the first company to achieve ISO 9001/2000 accreditation. Additionally, with more network base stations than any other operator its service is available to 99.8 percent of the population.

The key to this success, says Gaburici is the excellence of the team of engineers, which has not only done a great job in Azerbaijan but has been able to export its talent to many other markets within the TeliaSonera group.

“We have our experts working in Moldova, Istanbul, Uzbekistan and Nepal. We put the subscribers right at the front of everything we do and do our best to make them happy. Our policy is to become the world’s number one service company, presenting the whole of our offering transparently and clearly so all the information is put in front of the subscriber and he does not get any surprises.”

The company’s ISO certification, he adds, extends to personal data, privacy and data security. “We have a saying in the company that the future is data! So we are investing in network quality that will give our subscribers more speed, more capacity and a more userfriendly experience. We will double our 3G network this year compared to last year to meet the huge demand that already exists. At the same time we are developing the future

– which I believe is the 4G network.” A strong mobile ecosystem is a tangible contribution to the quality of life of the nation, and he is determined to see the full package of technology and service extended to the more remote parts of the country without delay.

Meanwhile there is a constant need to work with the device and platform developers to ensure that the ever-increasing range of applications and modalities is supported

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Azercell

Azercell’s call centre operates 24/7

by the network. Here again seen. It is also manifest in Azercell takes a proactive the way Azercell picked up stance, he says, making the sponsorship of Eurovision latest smartphones available.

2012 – having won it in 2011 The company’s latest Azerbaijan hosted the event campaign is for the Samsung last year, when it was neatly Galaxy S4, which became the won by TeliaSonera’s home Amount spent fastest selling smartphone in country Sweden. “I am proud on social projects Samsung’s history when it that we were an integral part was released earlier this year. of making it happen – before Recently it was promoting Eurovision even people in the Huawei, before that HTC, and the current company had a hazy idea of where Azerbaijan campaign is for the latest Blackberry. is but afterwards they had no doubt!

The company’s mantra is “Add Value: Show But it’s no surprise that Azercell was able to Respect: Make it Happen” and this, says make Eurovision happen – its implementation Gaburici, is the litmus test he uses to judge of new technology has been nothing short every project. The last part is key to the way of unbeatable. By dint of forward planning, the company has grown, as we have already network preparation and testing the

$16

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equipment, services and frequencies it was able to get its 3G network live the day after the licence was granted. More recently, the implementation of 4G was similarly proactive and the team was able to throw the switch just a couple days from getting the go-ahead from the regulator.

And Azercell makes a lot of things happen

in the community as well. Chiril Gaburici is very proud of two mobile clinics that have been going round the country, especially places that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the best access to hospital services. One is an eye clinic that visits orphanages to make sure children have eye tests and free glasses if they need them. The other is a dental clinic. In all, the

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whenever we do anything we are driven by the urge to bring the latest technologies to the marketâ&#x20AC;?

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Azercell

Baku in Azerbaijan

company spent $16 million on social projects.

In 2009 Azercell founded the Barama Innovation Center in Baku. It is an incubator where young Azerbaijani entrepreneurs can develop their ICT and telecom-related innovations in a supportive environment before launching them in the marketplace. In partnership with Cisco Systems and USAID, up to 20 entrepreneurs at a time are given research space and resources for six to twelve months, depending on the complexity of their concept. “We don’t give them fish; but we do teach them how to fish!” he says.

There’s no doubt that Azercell is an effective telecoms company, and a feather in the cap of the country’s economy – it is

after all the largest taxpayer outside the oil and gas sector. In 2012 it contributed $115 million to the state – and in its 16-year history it has paid nearly $1.2 billion. In partnership with the world’s most recognised telecoms companies and with the support of TeliaSonera and its minority shareholder the Turkish mobile operator Turkcell it is in fine shape to take Azerbaijan into the 4G era and beyond, Gaburici promises. “The future is data!”

For more information about Azercell visit: www.azercell.com

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CWI: World-Class Wire Solutions CWI is a premier producer of mild steel wire and wire products in South Africa

C

on sol idated Wi re Industries (CWI) is co-owned by Arcelor MITTAL and The Industrial Development Corporation. Its manufacturing plant has been based in the industrial city of Vanderbijlpark since the early 1950s with the company employing in excess of 500 permanent staff.

The CWI product range is extensive.

Its products include nails, mesh fencing, barbed wire, high-tensile fencing wire, and wire for baling and binding. Most of the wire products have practical applications such as protecting,

â&#x20AC;&#x153; CWI has one of the largest and most sophisticated wire galvanising plants in South Africa which is capable of producing high volumes of wireâ&#x20AC;?

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enclosing, and fastening to assist a variety of sectors. In addition, CWI manufacturers a range of nails that are used by both formal and informal builders throughout southern Africa.

As can be expected from a worldrenowned organisation, all CWI products conform to national and international specifications. Products are sold in markets as diverse as Africa, Europe, the Far East, the Middle East, Australia, and Canada.

Its high-tensile Veldspan wire is one of the best-known products in its field.

Veldspan wire is used by various parks boards and private game farms to fence nature reserves.

CWI also believes in working closely with its customers to understand their specific requirements. As such, it provides an advisory service to farmers that involve fence erection, repair and maintenance, and the training of farm labourers. A technical advisory service is also provided thanks to the experienced staff of CWI. The latest technology wiredrawing

CWI

machines are used to produce hard drawn wire suitable for applications such as the manufacturing of nails and core wire for welding rods.

CWI has one of the largest and most sophisticated wire galvanising plants in South Africa which is capable of producing high volumes of wire. Its technology compares with the best in the world with the company able to reach galvanised coating of up to 366g/m2.

CWI is committed to ensuring that its products and service will meet or exceed the expectation of its customers.

The company aims to increase the efficiency of its activities and processes to the benefit of all stakeholders.

This is done by creating an environment that will enhance quality throughout its processes and continuously improving everything it does by applying quality management guidelines. It is committed to using new technology to continuously improve its processes and performance.

Consolidated Wire Industries (CWI) 6 Telford Street, Vanderbijlpark, 1911 - South Africa T +27 16 980 3111 Fax: +27 16 980 3291 Email: sales@cwi-wire.co.za www.cwi-wire.co.za

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Excellent Minerals Solutions

Weir Minerals has a long history in mining and engineering

T

he Weir Engineering firm was established in 1871 by brothers, George and James Weir. In 1996 the Weir Group expanded their Weir Minerals division’s offering, to the African market with the acquisition of Envirotech, which originally opened their doors in 1909 as Denver Machinery and again in 2008 with the acquisition of the CH Warman Pump Group, which was established in 1958.

Today, Weir Minerals is a specialist in delivering and supporting equipment

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solutions which includes slurry and mine dewatering equipment solutions, namely pumps, hydrocyclones, valves, screens, rubber, hoses and wearresistant linings for global mining and mineral processing, the power sector and general industry. Weir Minerals’ business is driven by our purpose and values and all of this is supported by a comprehensive aftermarket services team.

Our purpose is to work together to create engineering solutions, which help our customers deliver processes vital to society.

Forming part of a strong global company, Weir Minerals Africa has an unrivalled footprint across the African continent with a presence in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Tanzania and Ghana and also extending to the Middle East.

Weir Minerals

With the current economic climate preventing customers from investing in big capital expenditure, we work closely with customers to devise solutions to their problems and plan ahead to add benefit to the customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; growth and development requirements.

Our focus on offering the lowest cost of ownership and equipment rental options, support this philosophy.

Having over 20 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience in Ghana and across West Africa, Weir Minerals have been partners to Golden Star Resources, Gold

Fields, AngloGoldAshanti, Iam Gold Corporation (Essakane SA), Randgold Resources, etc in mineral processing.

Weir Minerals West Africa Limited No. 4, 3rd Close, Airport Residential Area P. O. Box CT 3170, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana T +233 (0) 302 785105-6 www.weirminerals.com

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Included The BE Mining Directory showcases leading mining organisations from across the world, ranging from big corporations to junior mines and their supply chains.

Be seen throughout our portfolio of magazines: • BE Mining Directory • BE Mining • BE Weekly • BE Monthly •

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