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ISSUE No. 49 | www.bus-ex.com

allana potash:

A class

apart Building on the results of its recent feasibility study

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air mauritius:

ossa:

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editorial Martin Ashcroft Editor In Chief

Martin has edited business magazines for 15 years and has been editor-in-chief since Business Excellence began in 2006. mashcroft@bus-ex.com

Will Daynes Editor

Will has been a business writer for three years. He joined the Business Excellence team in September 2012. wdaynes@bus-ex.com

John O’Hanlon Editor

John has contributed to Business Excellence since its inception: he joined the in-house editorial team in February 2013. johanlon@bus-ex.com

CONTRIBUTORS George F. Brown, Jr.

George is the CEO and cofounder of Blue Canyon Partners, Inc., a consulting firm working with leading companies on growth strategy.

charlie mayes

Charlie has more than 22 years’ experience in the IT services industry covering full life cycle development and systems integration projects, as well as the critical service delivery of ‘live’ services.

Tel: +44 (0) 203 137 7100 Fax: +44 (0) 1603 666466

www.bus-ex.com The content of this magazine is copyright of Infinity Business Media Ltd. Redistribution or reproduction of any content is prohibited. © Copyright 2013 Infinity Business Media Ltd.

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issue No.49

10

6 comment: change

Errors, ignorance and self-interest

How companies find that their greatest challenge will be leading change.

10 Management

Remote control

Home working cut at Yahoo – flexible work backlash or just a storm in a teacup?

16 Allana Potash A class apart

The results of Allana Potash’s recent feasibility study on its Danakhil Potash Project in Ethiopia and how the company plans to build on this going forward.

16 26

26 OSSA

Tunnel vision Technical director, Íñigo Núñez Blanco discusses how international expansion and the adopting of innovative technologies have been key to OSSA’s growth.

32 Tridum e-Security LLC Safe and secure

Tridum e-Security is one of Mongolia’s leading providers of security and infrastructure services and solutions.

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contents

34

34 Air Mauritius

Flying into recovery Mauritius may seem remote but it is strategically placed, with a network reaching Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia – Air Mauritius has worked out ways of using that advantage to be a profitable carrier as well as a national asset.

46 Avis UAE

Total Transportation Avis UAE is so much more than the leading car rental business in the Emirates, built on Avis core values while developing a business model tailor made for its market.

54 DHL Global Forwarding – Sub Saharan Africa Always moving forward

46

64

How the business is striving to become the first choice solutions provider for its customers and the wealth of opportunities Africa has to offer.

64 Er-Bakir

Mixing knowledge with quality Er-Bakir has come a long way in three decades.

BE Directory 72 h logistics

THE POWER TO DELIVER ON TIME ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

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Errors Ignorance and Self-Interes by: George F. Brown, Jr.

st

comment: Change

O

ne of my fearless forecasts for 2013 has been that more and more companies will find that their greatest challenge will be leading change, even more so than planning change.

The motivation for changes to business models and organizations has become ever more clear in recent years – a shift in the center of growth to emerging markets, a new wave of fierce competitors from those same countries, customer demands for “solutions” that incorporate information and services along with physical products, and supply and competenc y shortages affecting operations are only part of the list. And along with the understanding of these forces has come the development of strategies designed to address them.

In an earlier article in Business Excellence, I reported on the factors that were most frequently cited as the reasons why changes to business models yielded less-thananticipated results. At the top of the list were “internal

resistance to change” and “implementation process was poorly managed”. Those findings generated strong reactions among those that read the article.

Many individuals offered their own examples of disappointing outcomes that could be traced to those two problems.

But a number of individuals argued that internal pockets of resistance to change were rare and an anomaly, particularly in today’s climate of high unemployment and job insecurity. My reaction to them has involved a citation of the work done by Robert K. Merton in the 1930s, on the topic of “unintended consequences”. He argued that actions of people, companies, and governments almost always produce outcomes that are unintended and unanticipated. Among the reasons for this that he cited were errors, ignorance, and self-interest.

Errors are frequent when firms implement changes to their business model. By definition, such changes will take the firm and its employees into unfamiliar and often uncharted waters.

It is easy to make a mistake

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do you have something to say?

We’re always looking for industry experts with an opinion.

Get in touch to share yours with us...

editorial@bus-ex.com

comment: Change just because of knowledge gaps.

In the Business Excellence article cited earlier, I provided a case study of a firm that introduced a new service offering that created multiple costly and disruptive problems, all unintended and all unanticipated. An executive from that firm summarized his experience by saying “I didn’t even know what our business model was.

But I’ve learned my lesson – whatever it is, beware of making changes to it”.

The problem of ignorance is similar to that of errors, and the case study mentioned above includes elements of both. What you don’t know can get you into trouble.

One firm implemented a change to its business system without recognizing that it would require changes in the systems in place at all of its distributors. Another firm introduced a new technology into its products without recognizing that its customers placed high importance on compatibility with their installed base, handing that advantage to a key competitor. Another company made a major bet on a technology that had

failed to achieve regulatory approval.

All of those organizations look back on those experiences and say “Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all”.

Self-interest surfaces in multiple ways. I have seen frequent examples of choices made that were motivated far more by incentive plan elements than by the company’s statements on strategy and priorities. Far too frequently, there is a

fundamental inconsistency between the changes to the business model defined by the long-range strategic plan and the goals and metrics defined in the current year operational plan. In one instance, an executive caught in that trap remarked that “Even if I was willing to accept the financial consequences of missing my bonus targets, I don’t want to go to each month’s review meeting and get pounded for being off targets. Is there any question which plan wins?”

Remembering the law of unintended consequences can be valuable for companies making changes to their business model, even those that are confident that there will be no deliberate resistance to the changes that must take place. Even in such circumstances, the factors cited by Merton can rear their ugly heads and derail an important initiative.

George F. Brown, Jr. is the CEO and cofounder of Blue Canyon Partners, Inc., a consulting firm working with leading companies on growth strategy. He is the coauthor of CoDestiny: Overcome Your Growth Challenges by Helping Your Customers Overcome Theirs. www.bluecanyonpartners.com

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remote control Home working cut at Yahoo – flexible work backlash or just a storm in a teacup?

written by: Charlie Mayes

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Management

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W

h e n Yahoo!’s Marissa Mayer recently sent a memo to employees announcing that flexible working practices would be stopped and all home workers were due to report back to the office it created much furor. A supposedly progressive company – and a tech one at that – banning remote workers? From many quarters this prompted a level of surprise, and from others tacit agreement. The press has since been awash with articles and the message boards have been lively.

And it’s not just the press, it seems anywhere you go employees and managers alike have strong opinions.

Richard Branson was one of the first high profile figures to wade in on the debate. He suggested that in this day and age, mandatory

office hours for all workers was a sign of ‘old school thinking’. In an age when remote working is easier and more effective than ever, he said the decision seemed like a backwards step.

Vodafone came out soon after and publicly declared a ‘fight back’ against Yahoo!’s home working ban. Vodafone says that the practice encourages smarter, more cost-effective ways of working and they have figures to back it up. According to a recent study undertaken by Vodafone, British business can save up to £34bn a year by freeing up desk space and reducing overhead costs when workers aren’t present in the office.

While the figures are indeed impressive, I imagine what’s going on at Yahoo! isn’t really about saving money.

According to Mayer the ban at Yahoo! was taken to foster greater ‘communication

and collaboration’ between employees. The idea being that important conversations and creative thinking occurred around the water cooler and during casual conversation over lunch or informal meetings when staff are together. If staff are not in the same place, it becomes more tricky to create the kind of environment where this can happen easily.

According to Richard Branson however, to successfully work with other people you have to trust each other. And a big part of this is trusting people to get their work done wherever they are, without supervision.

Trust of course is a big part of the wider debate.

According to Vodafone, a quarter in the survey worried that flexible working would lead to workers abusing the system. Trust or a lack of trust, sparking creativity by working in close proximity

“the ban at Yahoo! was taken to foster greater ‘communication and collaboration’ between employees” 12 | Be weekly

Management

or the freedom to think, create and work from wherever you are – whatever side of the fence you’re on, unsurprisingly, it’s not so cut and dry.

At DAV we have worked with companies of all sizes across many different industries - from small, close knit groups to large, geographically dispersed organisations with teams working together across different countries and time zones. Each structure

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had its own challenges, strengths and weaknesses.

Technology is a great enabler but above all what really matters is how you use it and to what end that makes a difference. Clearly certain roles are more suited to the office environment and others benefit from on the road or at home access. And it is impossible to say that everyone working together from an office is more efficient and productive than those working on the road

or at home. Some aspects of some roles definitely call for more flexibility of location at different times, depending on the task in hand.

The reality is that work patterns are changing and technology has enabled the world to be increasingly connected. 9-5 is a thing of the past with technology now supporting 24/7 business operation. For a business like ours, the very nature of the work we undertake means our people are often

Management

“the move to more flexible, work at home scenarios is on the increase, With the promise of substantial cost savings and greater employee satisfaction” widely dispersed for many months at a time. They therefore need to be strong independent thinkers and self-contained team players who can function in any type of environment. We trust them to be in the right place

at the right time, working in a collaborative environment when that is what’s called for or perhaps remotely when they need the time to think and reflect.

One thing is for sure, when you are working to deliver a large and complex business change programme, good leadership is key. And to perform at this level you have to be in and around your team for a good deal of the time. It’s about having the judgment and flexibility to be where you need to be, when you need to be, in order to get the job done.

Whether or not Yahoo! got it right remains to be

seen. Generally however, the move to more flexible, work at home scenarios is on the increase. With the promise of substantial cost savings and greater employee satisfaction, especially in those markets where attracting and retaining talent is difficult, remote working has its definite advantages. However, for others it may not be such a great fit. Ultimately, success will be dependent on how a business goes about managing its team environment to create a productive remote and distributed workforce that will make the difference between success and failure.

DAV is an independent project and programme management company. Through a combination of expertise, experience and an outstanding work ethic, we help our clients deal with the challenge and uncertainty of complex business and IT change, leading from the front to deliver outcomes that realise maximum business benefits. www.davmgt.co.uk

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Ac

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Allana Potash

class apart Senior vice president of corporate development, Richard Kelertas, discusses the results of Allana Potash’s recent feasibility study on its Danakhil Potash Project in Ethiopia and how the company plans to build on this going forward

written by: Will Daynes research by: Marcus Lewis

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Meridian drilling operations with CS14 drill rig

Allana Potash

T

he first several months of 2012 were optimistic times for the potash industry, with a recent acceleration in world demand for the product showing no initial signs of wavering. What we now know is that a number of combining factors in the latter half of 2012 would conspire to negatively impact upon the potash market.

“From an external perspective,” explains senior vice president of corporate development, Richard Kelertas, “I believe the biggest contributing factors to the decline in demand for potash were a series of environmental issues caused by both severe drought and major flooding disasters across the planet. Around the same time, India, traditionally a major potash buyer, decided to scale back its buying commitments in the aftermath of the government reducing various farming subsidies.”

The reduction of these subsidies meant that said farmers began turning to urea and phosphate fertilisers as an alternative to potash, which is misplaced because there are no substitutes for this critical nutrient.

Given this tumultuous backdrop, it comes as little surprise that by the turn of the year the market valuations for the vast majority of junior, and even some senior potash producers had fallen considerably.

Fortunately, the first weeks of 2013 saw the potash industry welcome several positive developments, one of which was the release of the results from Allana Potash’s feasibility study from its flagship Danakhil Potash Project, in the first week of February. This study was prepared by

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Highland canyon trek in search of freshwater sources

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Ercosplan Ingenieurgesellschaft Geotechnik und Bergbau (ERCOSPLAN). The technical report, prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to the feasibility study and the mineral resource and reserve estimates forming the basis of the report is available under Allana Potash Corp’s profile on SEDAR, confirms the project as being one of the few economically viable greenfield potash developments in the world.

The feasibility study and the mineral resource and reserve estimates were completed

by ERCOSPLAN under the supervision of Dr. Henry Rauche, PhD, EurGeol, Managing Director, CEO ERCOSPLAN and Dr. Sebastiaan van der Klauw, Ph.D., EurGeol, Consulting Geologist, ERCOSPLAN who are both independent Qualified Persons for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

The feasibility study itself was based on commercial operations that produce one million tonnes per year of a standard grade muriate of potash, or MOP, product over an initial estimated operating life of approximately 25 years from sylvinite reserves at Allana’s Danakhil Project. The study yielded, on an unlevered basis, an after-tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 33 percent and an after-tax net present value (NPV) of $ 1.32 billion based on a ten percent discount rate.

The feasibility estimates include all infrastructure required to operate a potash solution mine and bring the product to market. This includes cavern and wellfield installation, a three stage processing plant, product storage facilities, load out, trucking

Allana Potash

Production water well wellhead assembly

fleet and the necessary port storage facilities.

Even with current potash market realities driving the lower potash price forecast of $430 per tonne used in the study, the favourable total production CAPEX of about $579 million and port and transport CAPEX of $63 million make this project one of the lowest cost and potentially highest return greenfield potash projects worldwide. Similarly, the very competitive production OPEX at $69.25 per

tonne, within a total, loaded-on-ship, OPEX of $98.75 per tonne FOB, is among one of the lowest greenfield potash projects currently under development.

ERCOSPLAN modelled the production of one million tonnes of MOP from just the sylvinite zone on the project, excluding future potential production from the extensive carnallite and sulphate-based kainite resources. The feasibility study’s extremely

“In the grand scheme of things we are very happy with where we stand today with our business model and strategy” be weekly | 21

positive results have understandably given Allana Potash great confidence in advancing its project to development and securing project finance and off take agreements.

Aside from Allana Potash’s own exciting developments, Kelertas is also able to point to several other recent events that are helping bring some much needed confidence back to the sector. “In recent months we have seen

one or two significant contracts being signed by the Chinese, Brazilians and Indians.

Inventory levels of potash have come down somewhat as well and shipment levels are now rising.”

As the industry continues to firm up steadily, Allana Potash finds itself ideally positioned with enough resource on its property to advance from its one

“One of the things that really differentiates us from our competitors is that we have the financial security required to keep the lights on”

NBB water well and solution well drilling with nordmeyer drill rig

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Allana Potash

Solution well leach string

million tonne production target for midto-late 2017, to between two and three million tonnes per year thereafter should conditions remain in its favour. Allana also has the possibility of producing SOP (sulphate of potash), which is a premium priced product compared to NOP (nitrate of potash), the standard fertiliser that most of the world uses. It should be noted however that Allana’s ability to expand production beyond one million tonnes per year has not been the subject of a feasibility study as yet and there is no certainty that the proposed expansion will be economically viable.

“In the grand scheme of things,” Kelertas enthuses, “we are very happy with where

we stand today with our business model and strategy. Indeed, if you look at various other operations across the world, we compare extremely well with any project currently being undertaken, even the numerous established brownfield expansions.”

Nevertheless, it is the company’s aim right now not to get too far ahead of itself. “What we are currently looking at,” Kelertas says, “is making sure we have all of our financing in place before then proceeding to actually getting out into the field and putting that first shovel in the ground.”

When asked what the long term future might hold for the company, it is clear that while it does aim to grow at a comfortable

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Allana Potash

$28 million In capital that Allana Potash retained in the bank as of the end of January 2013 place, Allana Potash does have a number of ideas about where it might be in fiveto-ten years’ time.

“One of the things we must continue to examine on an on-going basis,” Kelertas states, “is the potential for us to upgrade our production levels. Further down the road there is also the possibility that the project could move away from its dependency on diesel and fuel oil, possibly onto solar, geothermal or wind power, making it a totally green operation.”

As of the end of January 2013, it was estimated that the company retained over $28 million in capital in the bank (and no debt), with between $15 million and $20 million predicted to remain when it commences its pre-construction phase. “One of the things that really differentiates us from our competitors is that we have the financial security required to keep the lights on, so to speak,” Kelertas concludes. “This stands us in good stead as we now embark on getting that first shovel in the ground, before commencing with construction, which we plan to have underway by the end of 2013.”

For more information about Allana Potash visit: www.allanapotash.com

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Tunnel

vision Technical director, Íñigo Núñez Blanco discusses how international expansion and the adopting of innovative technologies have been key to OSSA’s growth

written by: Will Daynes research by: Gary Smith

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OSSA

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Hydro Power Plant tunnel

OSSA

F

ounded as a family owned mining established connections, and also booming company in Spain in 1952, economies such as Asia, where underground OSSA is today active across the infrastructure continues to develop rapidly.” globe and recognised as being a The company’s most important goal is to leading figure in the underground transform OSSA into a globally recognised construction sector specialising in three core tunnelling brand. Meanwhile, as Blanco business segments, those being construction, goes on to highlight, another crucial aim for energy and mining.

OSSA is to become what he refers to as a Over the last six decades the company global reference in the market for its high has been responsible for the excavation of quality standards and reliable solutions. “Our more than 700 kilometres of underground commitment to investing in research and tunnels, 75 kilometres of shafts and more development has allowed us to remain at the than 500,000 cubic metres of caverns cutting edge of new technologies and this in on behalf of clients such as Rio Tinto, Southern turn has resulted in increased productivity.”

Perú Copper Co, CODELCO, While global expansion is Narcea Goldmines, Somincor, vital to the company’s longPizarras Expiz, Iberpotash, term strategy, it does continue to value its mining operations Hullera Vasco-Leonesa and Hunosa. in Spain, where it currently Today the mining segment holds two contacts, one with The year that OSSA accounts for around ten León’s Santa Lucia coal mine was established and the other with Huelva’s percent of OSSA’s total Aguablanca nickel mine. activit y, with further Further afield, OSSA has recently been growth expected as investment in the industry continues in line with the rising awarded a contract from Anglo American price of metals such as copper and gold. in Brazil. “This particular contract, which Considering this, you might well say that involves digging a tunnel around 250 metres the OSSA of 2013 is starting to return to in length, while not the biggest we have ever its mining roots. It is doing so by carrying received, represents our first foray into Brazil,” out projects in Chile, Peru and Brazil, while Blanco enthuses. “This provides us with a also tendering for new opportunities in great opportunity to further establish OSSA other Latin American countries. as an important global mining company.”

“The international expansion of our Elsewhere, OSSA is to participate in a large operations has certainly been one of the main joint venture project on behalf of CODELCO drivers of our growth in recent times,” explains in the Andina sector of Chile’s mining sector. technical director, Íñigo Núñez Blanco. “In Work on this particular project is expected that sense our focus is very much on Latin to commence in the first quarter of 2014 and America, due to our cultural influence and OSSA is very keen to contribute its experience

1952

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700 KM Total tunnel length OSSA has excavated over its 60 years

Construction at the Hydro Power Plant, Cortes de Pallás

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to what may well turn out to be one of the region’s more significant undertakings in the years to come.

The last 12-to-18 months have also seen the company make a number of important internal moves, namely the preparation of its first Communication of Progress statement, something that will result in the company adopting a more comprehensive social responsibility governance framework when it is completed around July of this year.

In addition to this, 2012 also saw OSSA develop an Ethics Code of Conduct, which encompasses critical issues such as safety, labour and the environment, and will be published on its website in the weeks to come.

Looking ahead to what the future holds for the business, Blanco is aware that while the high price of minerals is currently the driving force behind the mining boom in many countries, such a situation is not sustainable in the long-term, meaning a downward trend in mineral prices is all but inevitable. When such a situation does arise it will result in new project investment falling and will create a scenario where new developments in the sector will be analysed according to a more demanding set of criteria.

“With this in mind,” Blanco concludes, “it is

OSSA

Bifurcation at the Carrasconte Mine for Minero Siderúrgica

“The company needs to continue its legacy of betting on innovation and investment in research and development” clear to all of us within OSSA that the company needs to continue its legacy of betting on innovation and investment in research and development, which we see as the best way of creating a sustainable company that has the ability to succeed in the long-run. One of the ways we will look to do this is by adopting new technologies, including those from other industries, particularly those related to the monitoring and automation of processes, to

increasing productivity and of course further guaranteeing worker safety. In turn we hope this improves the overall efficiency of our mining operations and our contribution to a more sustainable sector in general.”

For more information about OSSA visit: www.ossaint.com

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Safe and

secure One of Mongolia’s leading providers of security and infrastructure services and solutions

written by: Will Daynes research by: Will Kirby

Tridum e-Security LLC

S

ince 2005, Tridum e-Security has been providing high quality services and solutions to all manner of industry fields including the finance, enter pr ise, t e l e c o m mu n i c a t i o n s , transportation, logistics, mining and government sectors.

Today the company is recognised for offering information and communication systems securit y and professional network infrastructure services, as well as being an expert provider of planning, implementat ion a nd maintena nce solutions that are linked to banking software and hardware.

Tridum e-Security boasts a workforce made up of qualified and experienced individuals, among them certified engineers who have graduated from both domestic and foreign universities, and have a track record of exchanging experience with specialists from the likes of Cisco, Thales, and many other wellknown companies.

These employees are one of the primary reasons for the company’s success and are fundamental to its ability to provide its clients with customised solutions. It also provides professional services in the form of network architect, architecture design, security and encryption product development and evaluation, information security, unified communications, a liaison centre, data centre, and application delivery and service management.

Tridum e-Security commits itself to guaranteeing stable network performance

and excellent efficiency via best practice and advanced technologies so as to help customers to reduce operation costs.

The company’s mission is to be a leading company that provides update information and technology with its customers on the basis of demand for aggregated solutions of information and communication, using revolutionary techniques.

For its part, Tridum e-Security has formed business and technical alliances with some of the world’s leading providers of IT solutions such as Cisco Systems, Thales Group, Diebold Inc., Hewlett Packard (HP), Giesecke&Devrient. Therefore, the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) has recognised Tridum e-Security LLC as an Accredited Training Centre in Mongolia.

Tridum e-Security possesses a long list of successful projects that have taken place across Mongolia on behalf of all manner of clients, from the Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism and the Information, Communication, Technology and Post Authority to Khan Bank, Mobicom Corporation and of course Oyu Tolgoi Co., LTD. For the latter, the company has completed projects including the supply and installation of network equipment, the configuration of various software platforms and the first two phases of IP phone development.

For more information about Tridum e-Security visit: www.tridum.mn

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Flying into

Mauritius may seem remote but it is reaching Europe, Africa, Asia and Austra of using that advantage to be a profita

written by: jo research by:

34 | Be weekly

Air Mauritius

o recovery

strategically placed, with a network alia – Air Mauritius has worked out ways able carrier as well as a national asset

ohn o’hanlon : vince kielty

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Business class cabin

Air Mauritius

A

nyone with an eye on the travel industry will see that there has been a lot of activity around Air Mauritius in the last year and that it has begun to make ripples that will get it noticed even by its biggest competitors. The fact is that Air Mauritius is not simply a regional airline but one that flies each week to four continents and is punching way above its weight in the global industry. As an example, this month alone it announced that it is about to re-establish two weekly direct flights to Durban, one of South Africa’s most vibrant commercial centres, and had expanded its services to Johannesburg and Nairobi in order to reinforce connectivity to Africa and better position Air Mauritius as a bridge between Africa and Asia.

Mauritius has economic, political and cultural ties with Europe, Asia and Africa. On the other hand, from an airline connectivity perspective it is not ideally situated and is at a disadvantage compared to hubs in the Middle East, Johannesburg, Nairobi or Addis Ababa. The status of the country as a leading tourist destination and financial centre has been hugely supported by air connectivity as reflected by the Air Mauritius network that has managed to overcome the geographical disadvantage of Mauritius and made it a potential hub for the region.

So, also this month, the airline said it would start flying direct to Beijing on July 6 2013. Following the introduction of twiceweekly direct flights to Shanghai earlier this year and adding flights to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur that provide connections to mainland China, the direct link to the latter’s

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€6.1 million Profit in Q3, FY 2011/12

André Viljoen, CEO Air Mauritius

38 | Be weekly

capital, Beijing will be yet another catalyst for the development of the Chinese market, said Air Mauritius’s CEO André Viljoen. “It opens new avenues for the consolidation of ties between our two countries and allows Mauritius to further tap into the opportunities offered by one of the world’s fastest growing economies.” All this activity is part of the ongoing implementation of a new ‘7-Step Plan’ that he has put in place to turn Air Mauritius’ business around from the lossmaking situation it was in when he came on board in 2009. Formerly, Andre Viljoen was the CEO of SAA, where he restructured the organisation and oversaw the replacement of its entire fleet.

Dating back to 1967, just as the island was gaining its independence, when it was set up as a joint venture between the government of Mauritius, Mauritian company Rogers, Air France and BOAC, Air Mauritius is based at the capital Port Louis and operates out of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. Over more than four decades it has grown to become the fourth largest carrier in sub-Saharan Africa. While it is the flag carrier of an independent nation, it has suffered from being a destination airline, whose main business was seen as bringing tourists and visitors to what is after all one of

Air Mauritius

the most idyllic and attractive places to visit, with its appealing French ambiance, though it remained predominantly under British influence since the early 19th century.

And Air Mauritius had to face negative financial results in recent years. In the fourth quarter of 2011 alone the airline lost €3.6 million. But reel back to when Viljoen joined the company in 2009 as CFO at the time of the US sub-prime crisis. “We faced a huge challenge,” he says, “but we managed to get out of a fuel hedging loss of €150 million

– and the following year we turned that into a profit of €10 million. However at the start of the 2011 financial year oil prices shot up from 90 to 120 dollars a barrel and the Euro fell against the dollar.”

Air Mauritius receives most of its income in Euros, while fuel, representing around 40 percent of all its costs, is paid for in dollars. “Those market shocks are not in our control any more than the weather,” says Viljoen. It all goes to show how volatile the market is. The company recorded losses of

“All this activity is part of the ongoing implementation of a new ‘7-Step Plan’ put in place to turn Air Mauritius’ business around” Be weekly | 39

“We needed to make some radical changes, changes that would not be accepted by our shareholders unless they were supported by an independent professional services company” €21.2 million in the nine months to December 31 2011: however in the third quarter ending December 31 2012 it made a profit of €6.1 million, against a €3.6 million loss in the corresponding period the previous year.

These green shoots, he says, can be credited to the company’s 7 Step Recovery Plan. What he refers to as market shocks may not be in an

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airline’s control, but there is a smarter way to manage the business, he believed. Right at the beginning of 2012 he called in Seabury APG, a consultancy that specialises in the airline industry. “We chose Seabury above all other consultants,” Viljoen explains, “because they had some impressive tools. Some consultants just tell you the time using your own watch!

Air Mauritius

Air Mauritius pilots

We needed to make some radical changes, changes that would not be accepted by our shareholders unless they were supported by an independent professional services company.

Seabury did some interesting diagnostics.

They started by asking whether our business model was challenged only because of fuel prices and the Euro, or was there more? Well, we knew there was more! They helped us put it concisely into presentations we could show to our stakeholders and shareholders.”

Using these diagnostic tools, Seabury was able to predict that if Air Mauritius carried on business as usual, with its current fleet flying over its current network, it would make losses between €27 and €33 million in each of the years to 2017. “The time had come to revisit the business model,” he says. Seabury

worked with the airline over five months, examining every detail of the business, making constant presentations and in the end put a very convincing argument forward to the shareholders that if nothing was done there would be no Air Mauritius in a year’s time.

The first task for Seabury was to approach a hundred stakeholders from government right down to the hotel and bar owners on the island, to find out exactly what kind of an airline they wished Air Mauritius to be. “They found that everyone loves Air Mauritius – they see it as their national carrier – but they all had different ideas. Some thought we should be like Emirates: that the government should give us a blank cheque to renew our fleet and bring the world and his wife to Mauritius.

It all centred on whether our main purpose

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should be profits or national interest.”

The trouble is that Mauritius does not have any oil or natural resources of its own so it can’t afford to support a loss making airline of the ‘National Developer’ type, whose core objective is to stimulate the country’s economy. “We concluded that our primary purpose is to be profitable in the national interest – the two are not mutually exclusive.

Once you are in profit, then you can start to

think about being the flag carrier. Our role is to be a profitable national airline.”

Seabury helped Air Mauritius to create a matrix, the quality of service index (QSI) that determine the passengers’ choice of an airline.

Among the parameters, the more frequent the flights, the more ‘friendly’ the times of those flights, and the better the connections with other airlines, the higher the QSI. Armed with the QSI, supported by a global database,

“Air Mauritius has demonstrated its ability to adapt and we have every reason to believe that we are equipped to meet the challenges ahead”

Premium class check-in area

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Air Mauritius

Air Mauritius cabin crew

he says, it is possible to make competitors. Today BA flies to Mauritius four times a changes that will increase it – deals with other airlines, week from Gatwick: we fly changes to flight times – then the same number of flights work out whether the entire from Heathrow. Neither gives Number of Air Mauritius travel industry, down to a perfect service; but if we employees. individual agents, are giving work together we can cover Air Mauritius the market the entire week.” share that is its due.

The 7 Step Plan grew out An important factor affecting the airline’s of Seabury APG’s network model, which uses credibility in the market was the frequency of planning and financial evaluation tools to its long haul flights, which at 2.2 per week put estimate the market share the airline should it on a par with charter companies. Emirates achieve. The first step is to concentrate the has competed successfully in Mauritius network, with fewer destinations, greater precisely because it grew its frequency from frequency and more alliances like the one three to five, and then to seven flights a Viljoen outlines while suspending unprofitable week, Viljoen says. “Frequency stimulates routes. Step 2 identified ways of maximising the market and takes people away from revenues. The company initiated a number of

3,000

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Air Mauritius measures to boost sales, like rewarding frequent flyers better, making better use of e-commerce and entering partnerships with other airlines, banks or car hire companies. Cost reduction across the board and disposal of non-core assets were taken care of in Steps 3 and 4.

Step 5, described as a game-changer by Viljoen, would see the replacement of Air Mauritius’s fleet of old A340-300 aircraft with new generation Airbus A350 or Boeing 787s, attracting partner airlines and saving up to 25 percent in fuel. That will take some time to implement, of course and is expected to be complete by 2017. Meanwhile the move to dramatically upgrade levels of service by Air Mauritius’s 3,000 employees is just about fully implemented via a training programme delivered by the management guru Ron Kaufman. That’s Step 6: the final step, Step 7, involves leveraging the company’s human capital by instilling a performance management culture, including a performance related bonus plan.

In contrast to the bleak scenario of the ‘business as before’ model, Air Mauritius is now set on a path of profitability this year and beyond, André Viljoen believes.

“Since we undertook a review of our business model and embarked on the path of transformation Air Mauritius has demonstrated its ability to adapt and we have every reason to believe that we are equipped to meet the challenges ahead.”

For more information about Air Mauritius visit: www.airmauritius.com

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To

Tr

The on A

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Avis UAE

otal

ransportation

leading car rental business in the Emirates, built Avis core values and tailor made for its market

tten by: John O’Hanlon earch by: james boyle be weekly | 47

Avis UAE

A

vis UAE commenced operations in the UAE in 1975 as a car rental franchisee with the diverse Mohamed Hareb Al Otaiba Group. Today, the company has a network of 40 branches, a fleet of over 4,000 vehicles and employs more than 1,800 people has the largest number of branches, and is the only car rental brand that is under the same ownership throughout the Emirates.

Car rental in the UAE is an extremely competitive, with brands like Budget, Hertz, Europcar and a host of local contenders well represented. Avis in the Emirates has evolved to meet the demands of the vibrant oil, construction, trading and tourism driven economy. Avis UAE’s General Manager Joe Thomas explains: “As time passed, individuals & companies wanted to lease cars so we started car leasing in the early 1990s.”

Bus transportation was never part of Avis’s core business but faced with a clear demand from hotels and other businesses for niche services like guest and employee transportation and chauffeur-driven services, Avis UAE decided it should oblige.

“Customers preferred to deal with one single, reputed supplier for related services like self drive car hire or lease, bus transport and chauffeur services. That was the main reason Avis UAE got into the bus business in the late 1990s,” Joe adds.

When Emirates Airlines introduced a pickup-and-drop service for its first and business class customers, it engaged with Avis UAE to provide this service, in view of Avis UAE’s unique positioning in this segment. The

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contract was awarded to Avis UAE, and since that time it has provided this service.

“Emirates Airlines is a very demanding customer,” Joe observes, “and meeting this key customer’s exacting requirements meant that Avis UAE further improved its chauffeur services. As a result of all that fine tuning I believe we have the best service in the UAE at the moment,” he says.

Avis UAE is the only company in this industry that has ISO certifications covering quality, environmental performance, health and safety for their bus division. “We will be rolling these standards out to the rental and chauffeur drive services as well over the next couple of years – for us these certifications are not just mere box ticking – we practice these daily.”

In 2009, international financial uncertainty, combined with the poor judgements of boom mindset that prevailed earlier hurt the business for a while. “The recession was not so much to blame, as the over-expectations in the home market,” he says. The fleet had been increased in expectation of a large increase in demand that didn’t materialise. Avis UAE found itself with more cars than it needed.

The situation was tricky when Joe stepped in to make sense of the numbers and begin to correct the situation. Four years on Avis UAE

has got the better of the market, he feels, and the company is in much better shape.

In an ideal world, capital assets like a rental fleet should be kept as close as possible to full utilisation. Over capacity is equivalent to waste, especially if it has been funded by debt. “We realised we were sitting on surplus fleet so we had to dispose of it. We had to take a hit because the resale values dropped but since we needed to clear our liabilities, that

“We don’t anticipate the future – we build it. That’s a very far reaching statement” 50 | be weekly

Avis UAE

was the only thing to do.� actually citizens, he says. Avis By downsizing in 2009 UAE employs 35 nationalities and 2010, it was possible to including Pakistanis, Indians, keep all of the businesses Arabs, Filipinos and Russians. going and the company was The rental, leasing, Vehicles in fleet back on track by 2011, leaner, c h au f feu r a nd bu s consolidated and stable. One businesses are close to being of the things Avis UAE did equal in size now, though at was to reshuffle or reduce staff and add one time leasing accounted for 40 percent new talent. Going forward, Avis UAE will of turnover. However, leases that were recruit the best people and train them to not profitable were not renewed and that Avis standards. A full time in-house trainer is business was right-sized to its present 20 now in place and a professional Avis manager percent of annual turnover, he says. will be brought in from Avis corporate HQ to Some of the more sophisticated bring the Avis culture to Avis UAE. innovations familiar in Europe have not Recruitment is a constant challenge in the yet reached the UAE. Automation does UAE, whose population of seven million is not suit the rental market here, and most mainly expatriate. Only about 1.2 million are transactions are person-to-person, including

4,000

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Avis UAE hand-over and pick up. Handheld devices may be introduced in 2014.

There are lots of reasons to hire or lease a car rather than owning one if you are an Emirates resident, so the fundamentals of this business are sound. Avis UAE’s greatest asset is the brand name, which attracts the cosmopolitan customers who are looking for the best in breed rather than someone who can simply provide four wheels.

“The UAE is a very dynamic place”, Joe enthuses. “Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and vice president of the UAE has said: ‘We don’t anticipate the future – we build it’. That’s a very far reaching statement,” says Joe, “but that’s what is happening here. Significant infrastructure and development projects have been announced that will fuel the economy over the next few years. The possibility of the 2020 World Expo being awarded to the UAE is high and if that happens, all the businesses in the country will benefit. Dubai International Airport is now the second busiest international airport in the world after Heathrow.

So the original expansion plan may not have been that far off the mark. “We believe that it was right to downsize when we did: now we are expanding the fleet again, but in a more controlled way. We will keep a close eye on our utilisation levels and grow systematically to meet our customers expectation.”

For more information about Avis UAE visit: www.avisuae.ae

DHL Global Forwarding - Sub Saharan Africa

Always moving forward

CEO of DHL Global Forwarding – Sub Saharan Africa, Roger Olsson, discusses the wealth of opportunities Africa has to offer and how the business is striving to become the first choice solutions provider for its customers

written by: Will Daynes research by: Paul Bradley

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H

eadquartered in Bonn, Germany, and today employing in excess of 470,000 people in over 220 countries and territories worldwide, Deutsche Post DHL has become a name synonymous with couriering and logistics. The world’s leading mail and logistics group, it generated revenues of €55.5 billion during 2012, representing an increase of 5.1 percent comparing to previous year. This increase mainly reflects the exceptional market position that DHL maintains in the world’s growth regions, such as Asia and Africa When it comes to Global Forwarding, DHL is the world leader in air freight services and one of the biggest providers of ocean freight services. Through the work of its 30,000 employees, DHL Global Forwarding (DGF) helps ensure the transport of all manner of goods by air or sea on a daily basis.

“At the beginning of 2012,” states Roger Olsson, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding – Sub Saharan Africa, “DGF merged three previously separate regions, Europe, the Middle East and Africa into a single EMEA region. This consolidation allowed DGF to better coordinate its commercial activities and improve operational efficiencies between countries.”

Meanwhile, this event also brought about the establishment of some subregional offices, one of which would open in Johannesburg, South Africa. “From this office,” Olsson continues, “we have a regional team committed to improving the group’s activities in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. It also means that for the very first

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DHL Global Forwarding - Sub Saharan Africa

DHL DHL Global Forwarding - Sub Saharan Africa DHLDHL feature text to go elit, sed do eiusmod tempor time, is now running here.......Lorem ipsum dolor sit incididunt ut labore et dolore its African operations from amet, consectetur adipisicing magna aliqua. Ut enim ad within the continent itself.” elit, sed do eiusmod tempor minim veniam, quis nostrud Sub-Saharan Africa is incididunt ut labore et dolore exercitation ullamco laboris made up of no fewer than magna aliqua.

Ut enimwith ad nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo 48 different countries, minimtoday veniam, quis nostrud consequat. Duis aute irure DHL boasting offices exercitation ullamco and capabilities in laboris 41 of dolor in reprehenderit in nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo these.

The remaining seven voluptate velit esse cillum consequat.

Duis aute irure are covered through the dolore eu fugiat nulla groups’ with credible dolor inwork reprehenderit in pariatur. Excepteur sint local partners. support global volunteernon day voluptate velit esse cillum This is a caption this is a caption DHL occaecat cupidatat “Wheneu it comes dolore fugiatto DGF’s nulla proident, sunt in culpa qui pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat vital. officia deserunt mollitwe anim est laborum. operation in Africa,” Olsson explains, In addition, areidalso able to non proident, suntoverall in culpa qui officia Lorem ipsum amet, consectetur “having the biggest coverage of any leverage our dolor globalsitpresence to cater deserunt mollit provider anim id est Lorem for other logistics is laborum. understandably adipisicing sed do tempor the vastelit, number of eiusmod businesses that ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

HATFIELD VW At Hatfield VW Commercial, there are no middlemen. Your service consultant is also your auto technician. Having recently achieved the highest customer satisfaction index in the country, we at Hatfield VW Commercial continue to strive for service excellence.

With supreme customer service being top of mind and a partnership that has thrived for over nine years, it is no wonder that Hatfield VW Commercial and DHL Express have jointly been associated as the leaders in customer service in all aspects of their respective businesses. Operating from a brand new showroom facility in Hatfield Pretoria, Hatfield VW Commercial and the highly versatile and dependable Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles fleet continue to proudly satisfy the needs of DHL nationally. In addition, the Hatfield

service workshop has received International Recognition for its high customer service levels, thus it is inevitable that the market leader in logistics are affiliated to a dealership that is consistently rated number one in service. The success of this partnership is based on an open, honest and frank relationship and having an understanding of each other’s business and its needs. Together, Hatfield VW Commercial and DHL Express continue to set the benchmark in supreme customer service. www.hatfieldcommercialvehicles.co.za

Commercial Vehicles

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CARGO WITH CARE With our 777-200F, 757-260F and MD-11 mixed fleet freighters, Ethiopian Airlines Cargo takes the lead as Africa‘s premier cargo operator. We take your goods safer, faster, further and more economically to more destinations.

Our heavy lift capability opens up more business opportunities to you.

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DHL Global Forwarding - Sub Saharan Africa

Airfreight

are working to bring cargo into and out With its GDP growth outlook estimated of the continent.” to remain around 5.5 percent over the Olsson also shares the belief held next three years, Sub-Saharan Africa is throughout DHL that the people that make up expected to remain the region with the its workforce are just as vital a component to its second highest growth rates worldwide, success as its global coverage. after Asia for the foreseeable “We have dedicated people future. Some of the more throughout the business who tangible opportunities for know better than anyone else a multinational logistics how to expertly deliver the player like DHL are the type of services we provide. recent oil & gas discoveries At the end of the day you in Eastern Africa, and can have the largest network the immense natural and in the world, but without mining resources found Revenue generated the right people on hand to throughout the region.

by Deutsche Post make it work you will never It is however important DHL in 2012 get very far.” not to ignore the more

€55.5 Billion

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traditional logistics sectors that DHL serves, namely engineering, automotive and the consumer-sector.

“The oil and gas industry,” Olsson reveals, “accounts for roughly half of our entire business today in the Sub-Saharan space. It is for this very reason alone that we continue to invest more and more in this area of our operations as the opportunities available to us are simply unbelievable, particularly as major oil and gas undertakings further help put countries like Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda on the map. Following just behind in terms of importance is the mining sector where we also have a special focus, leveraging our global expertise when it comes to the industry to assist in the development of business across SubSaharan Africa.”

As an organisation, the work of DHL goes beyond simply doing business with its customers. One of the achievements it is most proud of has been the development of a comprehensive strategy to fulfil its Corporate Social Responsibility requirements. In Africa it has helped spearhead the “Go Teach” programme. Sustained through an existing partnership with SOS Children’s Villages, the programme aims to provide disadvantaged youths with the confidence,

knowledge and skills needed to enter the world of employment. Furthermore, DHL supports Global Volunteers Day, an annual event that sees thousands of its employees volunteer to carry out environmental and community related activities.

“DGF plans to deliver the same kind of door-to-door service in Africa that it currently does elsewhere in the world” 62 | be weekly

DHL Global Forwarding - Sub Saharan Africa

Warehouse office in Gabon

As DGF makes plans for the future its focus looks set to revolve around increasing its service offerings and capabilities in such a way that it will be able to deliver the same kind of door-to-door service in Africa that it currently does elsewhere in the world.

“Achieving this goal,” Olsson concludes, “will no doubt bring with it challenges of its own. Nevertheless we see it as absolutely fundamental to our business that we are able to deliver ever-improving service levels and product offerings that allow us to service the entire logistics chain here in Africa, from origin to final destination. What we benefit

from is having a clear strategy and vision for the future, one that we hope will result in DGF being the first choice solutions provider for its customers in Sub-Saharan Africa, growing up our market share in the process. This will be accomplished by expanding into sectors with a seamless end-to-end service offering and a broad product portfolio, by developing bestin-class operational capabilities.”

For more information about DHL Global Forwarding - Sub Saharan Africa visit: www.dhl.co.za

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Mixing knowledge with quality Er-Bakir has come a long way in three decades

written by: Will Daynes research by: Abi Abagun

64 | be weekly

Er-Bakir

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B

efore he established Er-Bakir, brought Er-Bakir to the point where today it A. Nuri Erikoglu had already has one of the largest electrolyte copper wire forged his own reputation production facilities in the world. From this through the building of hand- facility the company produces all manner crafted home purpose copper of copper wire based products, from wire products including boilers, braisers and rod to braid wire. Er-Bakir’s copper wire trays. A visionary in many ways, Erikoglu rods are produced in its continuous casting was one of very few individuals to foresee unit and conform to ASTM B 49 and DIN the future potential of copper. With this 17652 standards. The majority of the wire vision and his unique entrepreneurial spirit rod it produces is used as inlet wire in wire he would go on to create Er-Bakir with the drawing units, with the remaining product mission of producing copper wire in electric packaged in accordance to its customer’s cable, a product now used individual requirements. on a mass global scale in all Er-Bakir’s single copper areas of life. plain wires are processed, With Er-Bakir existing as annealed or hard, in specially a small workshop for only designed rod breakdown a couple of years it was in machine groups. They can 1984 that the company then be used as inlet wire Er-Bakir’s annual set out along the road in other units of the wire production capacity drawing plant, sold packaged to transformation when in steel reels or packed in Erikoglu entered into a partnership with close friend and respected cartons or steel baskets. These wires can also be used as inlet wire for tin or nickel plating. industrialist, Cafer Sadik Abalioglu.

In the almost three decades since the Other single wires produced by the company partnership was formed Er-Bakir has are tin and nickel plated copper wires. Wires undergone a period of significant expansion tin plated by electrolytic plating machines are and development. In 1985 the company packaged either in carbon baskets or reels possessed the capacity to produce some 32 before being directly sold to customers, or tonnes of wire rod per month, whereas today placed in steel baskets for use in the wire it boasts annual production of approximately drawing unit of Er-Bakir’s plant. These wires 200,000 tonnes. In 1985 Er-Bakir also are produced with dimensions ranging from commenced with the export of its products one millimetre to 2.60 millimetres and can be with its first deliveries being made to Iraq and tin plated to a wall thickness of 25 microns.

Iran. Fast-forward to 2013 and the company Similarly, wires that are nickel plated is now exporting to 30 technologically are packaged for direct sale or put to advanced countries. use in the company’s wire drawing unit.

Years of continuous investment have These wires come in dimensions ranging

200,000 tonnes

66 | be weekly

Er-Bakir

Er-Bakir ER-BAKIR from Er-Bakir 0.80 text millimetres to go here.... to elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore 2.60 Loremmillimetres ipsum dolor and sit amet, can consectetur adipisicing magna aliqua. Ut enim ad be nickel plated up toelit, 27 minim veniam, quis nostrud sed do by eiusmod percent weight.tempor Both intermediate incididunt ut and labore fineettin dolore and exercitation ullamco laboris nickel magnaplated aliqua.wires Ut enim are also ad nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo able minim to be veniam, packaged quisinto nostrud reels consequat. Duis aute irure of exercitation variousullamco sizes laboris and dolor in reprehenderit in dimensions nisi ut aliquip that ex meet ea commodo specific voluptate velit esse cillum customer consequat. demands.

Duis aute irure This is a caption this is a caption dolore eu fugiat nulla Elsewhere inside its facility dolor in reprehenderit in pariatur. Excepteur sint bare, voluptate tin and velit nickel esse cillum plateddolore eu fugiat occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in wires nulla drawn pariatur. by theExcepteur company’s sint occaecat culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id drawing cupidatat non machine proident, group sunt in areculpa wound qui officia onto est 1.00laborum. millimetres by being putdolor through cold Lorem ipsum sit aamet, steel deserunt or plastic mollit reels, anim id before est laborum. being reduced Lorem working consectetur process adipisicing and then elit, annealed. sed do As eiusmod many in diameter 0.05 millimetres and as 24 wires can be at themagna same ipsum dolor to sitbetween amet, consectetur adipisicing tempor incididunt ut processed labore et dolore

FREKANS MAKINA In 1997, FREKANS has been established in Denizli aiming to be a leader in cable industry, worldwide company with professional staff expert on cable machinery manufacturing becomes stronger than ever in cable industry Frekans improves process enabling training of staff under team spirit, motivation, implements all services with the qualified staff applying requirements of Quality management system, ERP. Frekans pays great attention for R&D, has been still working on adding new patented products to existing 6 and aims to produce the first machines in our country has been achieved to be the first many times.

New design, Multi- functional Multi Strander 10 can strand Copper and aluminum and armor with steel wire produces with 500 rpm rotation

speed and 60-120 meter per minute line speed up to 1000 mm2.

Products; • Rod Breakdown Line (Progressing) • Extrusion (Insulation-Sheathing) Lines with Maillefer extruders • Stranding and Armoring Lines • Mica taping machines Chairman of Frekans, Mustafa DÜNDAR has been awarded 1st prize for R&D and Innovation Award in the ceremony of KOSGEB. Frekans continues towards the target to take a part in the BEST in machinery manufacturing field in domestic and overseas market with products exceeding expectations day by day. www.frekansmakina.com.tr

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time and then wound onto reels by static or dynamic methods. These products are sold directly in this form or can be used as inlet wire for bunching or bobbin machines.

Bare and tin plated wires manufactured by bobbin wire take-up machines on the other hand are coiled onto four bobbins simultaneously. Bobbins are then packaged in 12 carrier and 16 carrier boxes.

Bare, tin or nickel plated annealed wires processed by single and multi-wire drawing machines are used as inlet wire for bunching machines. These wires are bunched in double twist, single twist, Planet Strander and Rigid Strander machines in cross sections, with areas ranging from 0.05 square millimetres to 360 square millimetres. They also come in various geometrical shapes and in pitches in accordance with the customers’ requests and standards, then wound onto steel or plastic reels before being transported away from the facility.

Er-Bakir’s products are sold across Europe and throughout the Americas. Their products also play a vital role in the operations of a number of Eurasian companies based in countries including Kazakhstan and Israel.

As a way of both supporting its international clients and extending its own

reach the company has sales agents based in all of its core export markets that ensure that it engages its clients on a one-to-one basis and has the ability to identify new opportunities as they arise. The company supplies to a host of major industries including the automotive and electronics sectors, with its products currently being sold to several illustrious organisations including the likes of NASA and Boeing.

“continuous investment have brought Er-Bakir to the point where it today has one of the largest electrolyte copper wire production facilities in the world” 70 | be weekly

Er-Bakir

Away from its facilities, Er-Bakir has been involved, and continues to be involved, in several notable social responsibility programmes. One of its greatest accomplishments was the construction of the Er-Bak覺r Science High School in 1999.

Funded by $1.2 million of investment capital the school is today managed by the Ministry for Education and provides education to around 500 students.

More recently, in November 2009, the company brought its waste water treatment plan into operation. The plant itself has a water processing capacity of 40 cubic metres a day, with the treated water free of metal ions and thus presenting no threat to the environment whatsoever.

The plant itself also houses a separate

unit for destructing waste emulsions. Waste emulsions are processed in this unit so that oil is separated from the water. This means that harmful waste is not subsequently released into the environment.

Operations throughout Er-Bakir are all very integrated in nature, allowing the company to make considerable cost savings and also control the quality of its activities. Having helped breed such positive results for its business over the years, there is little chance that the company will feel the need to change its ways anytime soon - and rightfully so.

For more information about Er-Bakir visit: www.erbakir.com.tr

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P

roviding procurement, order consolidation, government inspection and warehousing for air/ sea freights and urgent courier consignments, H-Logistics’ clients can access our trusted and growing network of quality suppliers

“ Integrity, efficiency and detail at the core of everything we do”

72 | be directory

and consultants worldwide.

With partners including Caterpillar, Hitachi, Komatsu and Liebherr to name a few, H-Logistics offers an inexhaustible range of premium brands, including PPE, 4x4 Vehicles, Tyres & Mining Consumables which can stand up to the rigours of these

H Logistics

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H-Logistics minimise interruptions to our clients critical supply chain.

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be directory | 73

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 •

To find out how to get involved contact: vincent@bus-ex.com