Executive Insight Issue 48

Executive Insight International Business Magazine

ISSUE #48

Celebrating 25 years of MTN operations in Ghana

MTN GHANA At the forefront of connectivity and digitalisation 2.0

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Executive Insight

Editors Introduction

Dear Valued Readers, It gives me great pleasure to bring you Issue 48 of Executive Insight Magazine. As the Editor, I would like to open this publication by apologising to our subscribers for the time it has taken to bring this latest edition to your inbox. We have been working tirelessly as always to get the magazine completed, however with people working remotely and still experiencing social distancing measures, it has caused a delay in terms of production.

Moving on positively, our cover interview for Issue 48 is with Patrick Afari, GM Supply Chain Management & General Services at MTN Ghana. Patrick has been overseeing numerous changes within the Supply Chain function and through his leadership, the team around him have gone from strength to strength and so have the MTN operations within Ghana. This year sees the 25th anniversary of MTN Ghana and it’s an absolute honour to share such an important milestone for the business with our readers and Patrick’s aspirations moving forward.

I also had the opportunity to speak with Rick Basson, CEO of the Rubicon Group. Rick gave us a great insight into the future of the business and their plans to expand further across the African continent. There has also been the rebrand of their province lighting operations, which is exciting for the business and integrates all operations under one brand. We also dug deeper into the group and had the pleasure of working with each of their divisional heads. This has been an exceptional project and really demonstrates their world class services in detail.

As part of the review looking at Supply Chain and Procurement leadership across the African region, I also spoke with Gary Bock, Supply Chain Manager at Maxam Dantex. Starting a new position within a company is always daunting but exciting at the same time, however during a pandemic is no easy task.

It’s clear to see though that Gary has a very promising future within the company, and we certainly wish him every success moving forward.

Other key businesses appearing within this edition are Advanced Technologies, Mazda South Africa and OLA Energy.

The Executive Insight team and I hope you enjoy reading through Issue 48. We thank you again for your patience in terms of the delayed launch and wish you all the absolute best for the forthcoming months in 2021.

Sincere regards & best wishes,

Jay Hursey - Editor Executive Insight Magazine.

Executive Insight Magazine 03.

Executive Insight CONTENTS MTN Ghana

06.

At the forefront of connectivity and digitalisation 2.0.

Rubicon

20.

Powered by precision and best practice.

Maxam

42.

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Blowing away the competion

International Business Magazine

ISSUE #47

Mazda Southern Africa

50.

Driving matters.

Ola Energy

56.

Fuelling a continent.

Advanced Technologies

62.

Delivering results against the odds.

Executive Insight Magazine is published by J S International Media ©2021

Executive Insight Magazine 05.

MTN GHANA At the forefront of connectivity and digitalisation 2.0 Patrick Afari’s vision for a more sustainable and leaner supply chain.

In Ghana, as in all nations, connectivity is king. Being one of the first countries on the continent to deregulate and liberalise its telecommunications sector, Ghana is now reaping the benefits that come with having a highly competitive, innovation-driven mobile telecom sector that has facilitated the emergence of a thriving digital economy.

Fast, reliable mobile internet access is at the centre of the modern world, allowing us to stream our favourite shows and music, interact with work colleagues and customers, and make payments on the go, anywhere, anytime, any place. Today, the country has achieved mobile penetration exceeding 120% of the population, with MTN Ghana alone providing mobile services to a 20+ million-strong subscriber base.

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Executive Insight: Patrick Afari

Patrick’s career within MTN spans just over a decade, with his current role seeing him serve as, GM Supply Chain and General Services, MTN Ghana. Since his tenure, he has seen the business expand their network reach, increase customer subscribers, maintain quality relationships with key suppliers, whilst being able to reduce spend.

Numerous qualities which therefore make Patrick a respected leader in his field.

MTN Ghana is the leading provider of mobile telecom services in Ghana, which is no small feat in so competitive a marketplace. With millions of subscribers and a market share of approximately 52%, the company offers a broad range of mobile broadband products and services to its customers inline with its vision, “To deliver a bold new digital world to customers, and to make their lives a whole lot brighter through the provision of tailored packages designed to meet the requirements of different customers and their needs. We enhance the mobile experience through value-added services and subscription services.”

Rapid economic development, which has seen the country achieve year-on-year GDP growth of 6-7% on average over the past decade, continues to lift an ever-increasing number of Ghanaians out of poverty and into the country’s expanding consumer market. As Ghana and its people grow in wealth, and the young, tech-savvy gen-Z come of age, demand for mobile services from new customers is increasing exponentially, as is the burden on MTN’s existing telecom network infrastructure.

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MTN Ghana Head Office, Accra

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innovaddb.com

@innovaddbghana

MTN Annual General Meeting 2020 Balancing customer growth with the need to increase network coverage and capacity in lockstep is a key area of business for any mobile telecom operator. Ordinarily, this is a fairly open and closed matter, however the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden unexpected surge in demand for digital services that followed caught the industry by surprise.

As a result of all of this, service revenue for MTN Ghana has increased year-on-year by over 18%.”

A supply chain veteran of nearly two decades who cut his industry teeth with Nestle, Patrick leads an award winning 130-strong supply chain department with an industry wide reputation for excellence.

As Patrick Afari, MTN Ghana’s Supply Chain Manager, explained, the company found itself in a race to deploy the additional network infrastructure needed to meet this increased demand in the new normal COVID era:“The impact of COVID-19 led to a shift in consumer behaviour and vastly increased dependency on the usage of digital options.

This significantly increased demand for digital data services which has placed a lot of pressure on the company’s network infrastructure. As a result of this we have had to accelerate the commitment of the already approved Capex spend of approximately +US$100 million this year towards improving and expanding capacity to meet the needs of Ghanaians in this era of digitalisation 2.0.

Through our investments in 2020, we have rolled out 150 2G sites, 115 3G sites, and 547 4G network sites. This has greatly improved network coverage, and supported our customers as demand for voice data, mobile money and financial services grows.

Executive Insight Magazine 11.

Operational Overview With MTN Ghana serving over 20m subscribers, investment is integral to their customer service expectations. With the recent pandemic, connectivity is key to home and work balance and with this in mind, it’s the main reason that the $100m USD investment into digitalisation 2.0 has been accelerated.

This again demonstrates why MTN are the leading provider within the country.

In his role as Supply Chain GM, his duties extend to team leadership and direct oversight, governance and responsibility for sourcing and procurement, and general services. And then there’s also demand planning and fulfilment further functions which fall within the Supply Chain remit.

The tumult of 2020 proved challenging for Patrick and his team, who worked tirelessly to ensure disruption to supply chain and procurement operations were kept to a minimum. As Patrick acknowledged, this was in no small part due to the strong support he received from his Executive Management and supply chain team and the powerful bond that has been fostered within a department committed to achieving operational excellence.

Being an open, consensus-oriented leader, Patrick is strongly committed to working closely with his people to instil confidence and inspire a can-do mindset with a view to achieving success.

Patrick’s Christian faith also has a strong bearing on his leadership style and has contributed greatly to a leadership philosophy dedicated to creating a harmonious working environment of mutual respect and employee empowerment. On this, he said: “I am of the philosophy of treating everyone I encounter as a human being. Looking out for the best in them, looking for the best from them, and looking at my team as a family with whom we will together achieve what we are supposed to achieve as a business.”

To be an effective leader, whenever and wherever possible, I take a participative leadership approach where I get all the required information to support my team to make decisions that are in the best interest 12. Executive Insight Magazine

of our department, our leadership, and the business as a whole. In doing this, I believe, besides inspiring my Supply Chain team, I gain great insight from them because my team, especially the senior managers who oversee all aspects of our supply chain operations for Ghana, are specialised in their respective areas.

There’s so much insight I gain from them by simply empowering them to take decisions for our department as a whole.”

The implementation of measures designed to achieve cost reduction combined with ongoing investment into new technologies have also set Patrick and his team in good stead. Being a telecom company, technology is very much part of MTN Ghana’s DNA: “It’s what we are, what we do,” as Patrick noted.

Supply chains thrive on the positive disruption that technology brings, and will always very much be at the centre of the change that such positive disruption causes.

Patrick told us: “When I started my career in supply chain some 18 years ago, the buzzword then was about the inception of truly centralised procurement organisations, actively based sourcing strategies. And one of the most exciting aspects back then was spend segmentation, electronic sourcing platforms and global contract suppositories. These things were all really busting and bubbling in the industry then. But today, what we’re seeing at MTN is that our supply chain has evolved into a more customer facing department.

The emergence of cutting-edge technologies, such as big data analytics, using AI to decipher information gathered, real time reaction to events: this is all supporting the business in making what is an already dynamic business even more agile.

What we’re seeing at MTN is that our supply chain has evolved into a more customer facing department.

© Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. IDEMIA | EN - 02/21 | Photos: IDEMIA.

Providing trusted solutions for seamless connectivity

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15/02/2021 12:09

IDEMIA According to GSMA, there will be an estimated over 600 million mobile subscribers in Africa by 2025. To meet this demand, IDEMIA works closely with MTN to ensure that consumers get secure mobile access wherever they are, across the continent. With a sub-region headquarters in South Africa, IDEMIA is also present across Africa, to ensure that we are only a call away to support our partners whenever they need.

As a trusted supplier to the mobile telecoms industry, IDEMIA delivers innovative SIM and associated technology that has supported the growth of the mobile communications industry globally, and in Africa. Our growth in Africa mirrors the growth and the technological advances of the mobile communications industry on the continent. For example, MTN leveraged IDEMIA’s technology to launch Blackberry services in Ghana in 2008.

As a testament of its trust in IDEMIA, MTN awarded us with Supplier of the Year and Outstanding Quality and Delivery Performance, both in 2018 and 2019.

Our relationship with MTN has grown from strength to strength, first in business then in our commitment to 14. Executive Insight Magazine

the societies that we operate in. A strong believer in grooming local technical talent, IDEMIA has actively supported MTN’s initiatives such as Innovation Day and Business App of the Year in South Africa.

IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, provides a trusted environment enabling citizens and consumers alike to perform their daily critical activities (such as pay, connect and travel), in the physical as well as digital space.

We provide Augmented Identity for international clients from Financial, Telecom, Identity, Public Security and IoT sectors. With close to 15,000 employees around the world, IDEMIA serves clients in 180 countries.

For more information please visit: www.idemia.com

MTN Data Center located at Osu We now have inbuilt ERP and data analytics capabilities, in addition to other positive disruptive technologies that enables end-to-end visibility of our supply chain to the areas of demand management, inventory optimisation, procure to pay, reverse optioning and logistics. We can now use technology to take all key decisions in the supply chain.”

Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, 2020 has proven to be a successful year for both supply chain and MTN Ghana at large, which in 2019 became the first telecom company to be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange in addition to being adjudged Ghana’s number one Club 100 ranked company for the second year running.

“I am very proud of the fact that MTN has played a significant role in the growth of Ghana’s mobile communications sector. Since the 1990s, we have worked to be the leading provider of mobile communications services to the people of Ghana. Our promise to Ghanaians is this: we commit to expand connectivity and secured mobile services for the people in the country.

supplier is IDEMIA, whom MTN has been worked with in Ghana for over a decade.

Similar to all our trusted suppliers, IDEMIA has always delivered above and beyond what is expected from them. But rather than say IDEMIA is our supplier, I would actually make it stronger – IDEMIA is a valued technology partner in MTN’s growth journey in Ghana. The growth of our partnership has mirrored the growth of MTN in the country. Leveraging supplier’s like IDEMIA’s technology, MTN has scored an impressive series of innovative products and service firsts. For example, in 2009, MTN was the first in the country to introduce commercial 3G services, and in 2019, we were the first to launch 4G plus coverage in the country.

These technology and service milestones reflect the trust we have in IDEMIA’s technology and together with other partners, serves as a testament of our strong and growing relationships.”

We were the first to introduce GSM technology into the country in 1996, and our track record of successfully introducing innovative mobile services and technology to our customers have helped us keep our pole position in the industry. We could not have achieved all this without our network of suppliers, and one notable Executive Insight Magazine 15.

Furthermore, in coordination with the company’s Dubai-based Global Sourcing and Supply Chain office, significant cost savings have been achieved for MTN Ghana to the tune of over US$30 million over the past 12 months. This was through direct discounts, implemented cost-saving initiatives, competitive tenders, and valueadd projects across most of the business.

Following on from this success, the next objective going forward is to optimise on-time and in-full product delivery for the business and to continue streamlining operations with a view to further improving functionality and agility within a digitised supply chain.

An organisation is only as nimble as its supply chain processes. With this in mind, Patrick’s goal in 2021 is to fine tune his department’s operations so as to continue creating a tech-centric, nimble supply chain that is fat-free, so to speak, and able to react quickly when opportunities and threats present themselves.

Not that he plans to reinvent the wheel – rather, he and his team will do more in 2021 of what they did in 2020, only faster and better.

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The next objective going forward is to optimise on-time and in-full product delivery for the business and to continue streamlining operations with a view to further improving functionality and agility within a digitised supply chain.

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MTN Outreach Day

On this, Patrick finished the interview, saying: “Looking to 2021, I envisage MTN Ghana will continue our journey of being a traditional mobile telcoms operator of choice for an emerging and increasingly digital society.

Our products and services outlook will remain focused on being our customers’ first-choice digital operator.

This year, our focus was on the customer, the digital experience, and next year that will be the same mantra - we’ll continue focusing on the year of the customer, continue focusing on the digital experience.

Supply chains plays a pivotal role in this in ensuring that the experience that we can bring to bear on our internal and external customer base is achieved.

So, yes, we have a very positive outlook for 2021 based on the facts of 2020, and based on the growing need for our services in an increasingly digitised environment.”

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www.mtn.com.gh

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Powered by precision and best practice

Rubicon Group has undergone a remarkable journey of transformation that has seen it evolve from being a distribution company serving the South African renewable energy and manufacturing sector into what it is today – a company that enables transformative technologies in Africa and other emerging markets.

In-line with its mission to deliver sustainable technology solutions to every business, home and community in Africa, Rubicon Group’s Energy, E-Mobility, Building Management and Lighting divisions provide a range of sustainable, automated solutions to clients, such as renewable energy generation and storage technologies, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, building and lighting automation, and analytics and monitoring solutions that fully harness the internet of things.

Rubicon Group also has an equally exciting Industrial Technology division which focusses on enabling the factory of the future through automation and connectivity.

Rubicon CEO Rick Basson Success Through Resilience As the regional champion for a number of iconic global brands, including Tesla, for whom it is the go-to local channel provider of the Powerwall, and with business booming as the group helps to drive Africa’s transition to the green economy, Rubicon continues to go from strength-to-strength.

Naturally, its Group CEO, Rick Basson, is optimistic about what the future holds, even in spite of the challenges posed by COVID-19: “We were happy with how we weathered the storm.

Last April and May were challenging for us, with all four of our divisions either unable to trade, or only allowed to trade on a limited basis. We were also affected by supply chain issues around the world which hampered our ability to bring stock in timeously.

That said, as soon as regulations allowed, our trading recovered well, and we were highly profitable over the remaining months.

I think a lot of this is due to the resilience of both our team and the markets in which we operate. Sustainable technology applications such as decentralised solar, energy storage, intelligent lighting and building management as well as the transition to smarter factories are fundamentally on a strong growth curve and this helped us to achieve good results this year, despite the overall environment.

Inspiring Teams With Passion Basson helped to establish the group by consolidating its sustainable technology and industrial technology divisions over the last five years. During this period of exponential growth, he has played a pivotal role in its expansion and strategic development.

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With passion and a determination ‘to get stuck in’ to the operational side of running a business, the senior management team have led from the front in making Rubicon what it is today, and consequently this passion has proved infectious with the wider team. Indeed, it is this ability to bring his team onboard for the journey that Basson feels is the key both to success and effective leadership: “Effective leadership styles can depend greatly on the situation and the personality of the leader. I think it is very important for a leader to project passion and optimism in a consistent way and to align the team around a shared vision and then to let your specialists execute. Staff want to be part of something meaningful and that’s what makes our goal of becoming a leading sustainable technology business an easy sell internally.

However, I believe authenticity is also key and my personal style is to try to assemble the best team possible and to then create the environment for them to thrive and take responsibility. I also like the concept of servant leadership and seeing the CEO position as one in which your job is to ensure the environment is conducive to high performance and effective collaboration by your team. Adjoined to this is the idea of being happy to give away the credit and take the blame, something that is not always easy – I’m working on it!.”

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Delivering superior product solutions

Investment in digitalisation

Given Rubicon’s growth in recent years and the calibre of its supply partner and customer base whom it works with, day in, day out, delivering superior product solutions and a world-class customer experience is another prerequisite in achieving ongoing success and realising the company’s ambitions for the future. With this in mind, the group has forged strong, warm relationships with its partners and clients, many of whom it has worked with for many years. In Basson’s view, this is an area in which Rubicon Group holds a strong competitive advantage:.

The decision to form Rubicon Group and step back from the world private equity was borne of a desire to take a more hands on role in business and step outside his comfort zone. Of course, this investment background has served Basson well in knowing where to commit funds and expenditure prudently. Like every other leader in his field, he knows full well the future lies in harnessing the potential of emerging Industry 4.0 technologies and using them to add value to Rubicon’s clients.

“Rubicon develops, imports, represents and supports the best products internationally. We ensure the products are fit for purpose for the African market, both from a price and quality perspective. We have been selected by some of the leading brands in the world to represent them in Africa and this speaks to Rubicon’s reach, technical knowledge and, crucially, our ability to support our equipment and service our clients.

Rubicon also develops its own products where we see a particular gap within the African market (or other developing markets) which is not currently being met by international manufacturers. This ensures that we have an end-to-end product basket to meet our clients’ sustainable technology needs.

Secondly, Rubicon is unique in that it bundles its equipment with a full software and services offering.

The aim of this is to allow our EPCs (engineering, procurement and construction) and installation clients to build their businesses quicker and more effectively using the Rubicon platform and toolset. This also involves a training library, access to expert engineering and technical support, tailored logistical support and access to leads on new projects. This makes Rubicon an ideal partner for EPCs and installers seeking to work on the best projects with the best equipment, and corporates and funders seeking to ensure that they have access to the best EPCs and installers. Our goal is to enable the whole eco-system”

On this, Basson closes the interview, telling us: “The majority of our capex is currently being spent on the digitalisation of our business and the buildout of our online platform to support our EPC and installation clients. We believe this will differentiate Rubicon Group and take us to the next level in terms of scalability and being able to establish ourselves in new markets quickly.

We are also now investing heavily in our ability to service the e-mobility market with a holistic offering comprising hardware, software and support services.”

Full brand integration Province Lighting is undergoing a fresh rebrand, designed to finally bring it fully into the Rubicon fold so that all divisions fit comfortably under one roof. With Rubicon’s continued vision for expansion, this rebrand will prove transformative for what is now Rubicon Lighting, and help lift the division to the next level as part of our Sustainable Technology division.

The rebrand project itself has been underway for some time, and is scheduled for completion by the end of June 2021. Customers can rest assured that, following the rebrand, Rubicon Lighting will continue to offer the highest-quality products and same standards of world-class for which it is known with the existing management team fully bought into the integrated group vision.

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Hot water from reliable, renewable energy Rubicon’s Synapse H2O is the intelligent heart of a water heating system – heating water from the sun’s energy, using your existing electric geyser and element. The H2O both remotely controls and manages the system, providing historical and up-to-the minute status and performance information on the included iOS and Android monitoring app. www.rubiconsa.com/h2o

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Residential Energy Project

Sustainable technologies focus: Energy & E-Mobility The renewable energy revolution is well and truly underway as governments around the world race to tackle the great threat of our time, climate change. Against this backdrop, green is the new gold,especially for countries like South Africa where sustainable technologies are not only recognised as a means of helping the planet, but also as the long-awaited means of developing the reliable,decentralised power infrastructure needed to level up the economy.

South Africa’s shift towards a low-carbon, e-mobile-centric future is still very much in its infancy at present, granted, but real enthusiasm for a better, greener future exists across the social spectrum. This, in-turn, is driving a surge in demand for cleantech that is growing exponentially with every passing year.

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As the adoption of sustainable technology grows, Rubicon Group’s specialist energy and e-mobility divisions are advantageously positioned to capitalise. Rubicon Energy is the industry-leading provider of equipment such as solar PV, energy storage and off-grid systems in South Africa, whilst the group’s E-Mobility division, which supports the uptake of electric vehicles in South Africa via the provision of charging stations for homes, businesses, and public spaces, is fast growing in prominence.

Together, Rubicon Energy & E-Mobility are at the centre of the group’s efforts to maximise the positive disruption that sustainable technologies will bring about.

“Our focus is to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy sources,” stated Rubicon Group’s director of Energy & E-Mobility, Greg Blandford. He continued: “The energy and e-mobility divisions are exciting and dynamic segments of our business. Within each of our product verticals we provide complete product solutions from well-known international brands with full service, support, logistics and value-added services.

Our newly established EPC services offering, which provides a wide basket of software and services to our engineering, installation, infrastructure and financing clients – as well as our ability to provide energy analytics – has become a popular addition to the energy division.

We enable our EPC clients to present professional proposals to end users though these analytics and are working on a software platform to scale this for local and later international rollout. Our core ethos is always to enable our clients and given them the tools to succeed and scale” Being an early entrant into the sustainable energy space, Rubicon Energy has grown in lockstep with the renewables sector in South Africa. Owing to its culture of dynamism and passion for innovation and cutting-edge technology, Rubicon Energy has cultivated a reputation for excellence that has made it the go-to local channel partner for iconic global tech brands like Tesla, Goodwe, Enphase and Staubli. No less importantly, however, Rubicon Energy’s success can also be attributed to a simple and yet difficult to replicate formula, according to Greg: it’s all about getting the fundamentals right.

Rubicon Energy delivers results for customers large and small, both in the B2B and B2C marketplace, providing innovative product solutions backed up by the provision of value-added services, along with excellent customer service and customer support. Additionally, this is supplemented with an omni-channel purchasing experience, and technical, engineering and logistical support services. It’s all about the basics, and yet whilst getting the basics right should be par for the course, “It is a formula which is very difficult for our competitors to replicate and as we move ahead we are adding worldclass features to our platform which will widen the gap between us and our competitors even further,” Greg said.

In spite of the difficulties posed by COVID-19, Rubicon 26. Executive Insight Magazine

Greg Blandford with Tesla Model X

Energy has started work on a new tech stack toolset for clients wishing to expand their businesses more efficiently through smart software, developed and launched a new H2O solar water heater, and established new offices in Durban, Nairobi, Amsterdam and Poland.

Going forward, there are further plans to build upon the successes of the past 12-months in 2021.

Delivery of a superior customer experience and excellent product solutions is only one side of the coin, of course.

The power of supply chain partnerships is another key pillar underpinning Rubicon Energy’s success, and over the years the division has forged strong and long-lasting relationships with an array of regional and international suppliers.

“Supply chain partnerships are extremely important to us.

Ultimately behind big brands and large corporations are people just like you and me who also have goals and aspirations. The key for us is to communicate well and

“Our focus is to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy sources,” stated Rubicon Group’s director of Energy & E-Mobility

Plettenberg Bay Energy Project

Executive Insight Magazine 27.

a partner with experience in the e have.

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services not just for today, but for the future. Our many years of experience At Stäubli Renewable Energy, we take care to develop our products and in implementing complex solutions around the world help us add long-term services not just for today, but for the future. Our many years of experience stainablevalue. change in implementing complex solutions around the world help us add long-term As a company with Swiss roots, you can rely on us. value.

As a company with Swiss roots, you can rely on us. ergy.com Stäubli – Connections for sustainable change Stäubli – Connections for sustainable change www.staubli-renewable-energy.com www.staubli-renewable-energy.com 16. Executive Insight Magazine 28.

Stäubli Renewable Energy – Connections for sustainable change Today more than 400 GW resp. nearly 50% of the globally cumulative installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity rely on Original Stäubli MC4 PV Connectors. This figure demonstrates the reliability, highest quality, and market acceptance of our products. They guarantee proper operation over their whole lifetime which can easily exceed 25 years, defy harsh environmental influences and have a positive impact on the bankability of photovoltaic projects. With this track record Stäubli makes an important contribution to the PV industry and the vision of a more sustainable future.

“Stäubli Electrical Connectors, formerly Multi-Contact, is part of the Swiss family-owned Stäubli Group, founded in 1892. We are a global mechatronics solution provider with three dedicated activities: connectors, both fluid and electrical, robotics and textile. We have over 60 years of practical experience in producing reliable electrical connectors for different industries. As pioneer and global market leader we introduced the first industrial photovoltaic connector (MC3) in 1996 followed by the original MC4 in 2002, has set the industry benchmark ever since.

Small components, big impact Today, photovoltaic installations have become extremely cost driven.

In a tough financial climate, it’s quite a challenge to find the optimal balance of CAPEX and OPEX. Traditionally, this quest has centred on cutting the cost and improving the performance of big-ticket items such as solar panels, inverters and trackers. One area that is commonly underestimated is electrical balance of system (eBoS) components such as connectors and cabling however many field surveys of research institutes and technical advisers, as well the experience of many projects owners all over the globe, show that technical failures

build strong bonds with our suppliers, helping them to fulfil their goals and at the same time build our business.

A number of companies come to mind that are essential partners to us, but maybe three stand out within the energy division due to their strong working relationships.

Tesla, Goodwe and Staubli,” Greg explained.

Rubicon’s journey with Tesla, which began in 2015, is somewhat unique in that whereas Tesla ordinarily brings products to market via its own direct channels, Rubicon’s close relationship with Tesla has seen it become the only local channel provider of products such as Tesla Powerwall in the region.

Moreover, in a move described as,

or issues with eBoS components show a high frequency of occurrence and can have the biggest impact for economic losses in PV assets.

The lifelines In order to guarantee consistently high yields from PV plants on the long-term, reliable and high-quality components are required in addition to experienced project partners. In the complete PV energy system, the eBoS is the subsystem between the power generation part and the power use and the performance and durability of the smallest components, the PV connectors, are key for the profitability of a PV plant.

Matthias Mack, Director Global Alternative Energies and member of the Management Board at Stäubli outlines: “Quality and reliability of photovoltaic connectors are essential for the economic efficiency and safety of a PV plant, because they are the lifelines of a PV system. Our 25 years of experience in the PV industry is the design, the technology know-how, the competence in manufacturing methods as well as the alignment of processes and services for the customer’s benefit.”

Constantly low contact resistance of the PV connectors is key for efficient operation and safe energy feed-in. The core of the original MC4 connectors is the unique MULTILAM contact technology which assures the highest connection quality and energy transfer thanks to its superior design, resulting in a constantly low contact resistance, ensuring safe, long-life operation and reducing downtime and service cost significantly.

For more information please visit: www.staubli-renewable-energy.com

on energy storage and electric vehicle infrastructure.

Even though this is a focus, we cannot exclude solar PV from the mix as we see the integration of these technologies. The addition of electric vehicle infrastructure places huge demand on energy grids and solutions with energy storage and solar becoming more common. Even more so in developing nations like South Africa. It is an exciting space to be involved in as we see the transition to new renewable technologies. We are very pleased to form a part of that value chain along with our partners.”

Alexander Road High School Energy Project

“A big step forward for raising the profile of renewable energy in South Africa,” Rubicon Group recently unveiled the Tesla Model X Performance Edition all-electric SUV, which will be used for marketing initiatives within the group.

The Model X will visit major cities across the country over the coming months to showcase Tesla Powerwall and electric vehicle (EV) chargers from EVBox, Delta and EO Charging, and officially launching Rubicon’s entry into the EV charging space. Just as importantly, it will give South Africans an opportunity to see up close what an electric future looks like.

When asked about growth areas for the business in 2021, Greg concluded: “We will have a strong focus Executive Insight Magazine 29.

Schneider Electric Lighting Project

30. Executive Insight Magazine

Sustainable technologies focus: Lighting & Building Management As any experienced architect knows full well, using light to illuminate a space is something of a fine art. Carefully chosen lighting highlights and transforms, not merely by brightening up a gloomy corner but by affecting our emotions, potentially lifting our mood and inspiring productivity and motivation.

It goes without saying that such things matter in business, and companies tend to be discerning when assessing lighting options for their operations with this in mind. Being a leader in its field, Rubicon Lighting is an industry go-to as far as the provision of automated lighting solutions is concerned.

Combining knowledge and industry expertise, to date, Rubicon Lighting (previously known as Province Lighting) has successfully completed numerous projects and large-scale developments for local and international clients since it opened for business in 1987. This reputation for excellence made the company an appealing proposition to Rubicon Group, who took over Province in 2018, explained Kevin Murphy, Rubicon Lighting’s co-director: “Since Rubicon made the acquisition of Province, we’ve gone from strength to strength. In particular, the Johannesburg operation has grown significantly. We now do more revenue in certain areas, one of those areas being a product line that required us to move our manufacturing facility up from Cape Town to Johannesburg during 2020.

Executive Insight Magazine 31.

Today, Kevin, along with fellow co-directors, Dereck Abbey and Jan Malan, preside over an industryleading division with a footprint spanning the length and breadth of South Africa. From its primary hubs in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and growing presence in Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Windhoek, Rubicon Lighting offers a comprehensive range of specialised retail, commercial, and industrial lighting products that perfectly blend aesthetics with function and energy savings. And as is to be expected of a company operating under the Rubicon umbrella, the division takes a progressive, sustainable approach to delivering solutions for its customers.

“We stay ahead in the technology space to make sure that what we take to market is the most efficient product that, when incorporated into our clients’ solutions, give the desired results but use less energy. We have a technical manager who keeps up to speed with international trends and technology enabling us to bring it to the local market.”

“In our building management division, we've got from fullblown Building Management Systems, which can control all aspects of a building, through to simple lighting control, whereby you can minimise the consumption on sites and in certain cases also monitor and report on that usage. This allows our customers and ourselves to fine tune the systems to really make them as efficient as possible.”

Another key trait Rubicon Lighting shares with its parent group is a passion for delivering great customer service and a commitment to going the extra mile. This trait is evident in the way that Rubicon Lighting is able to bring a business model to the table that is solution driven around a holistic offering. Due to the fact that only a portion of Rubicon Lighting’s business is dependent on its factory, with the majority coming through local and international channel partners, Kevin and his team are able to engage with their customer base to provide the optimal solution for the needs of the customer exclusively – something that many competitors struggle to do.

Kevin expanded in more detail on this, explaining: “If we were only selling from our factory, we'd always have to force our product and say ‘that is what you have to use’ because we need to keep that factory busy and that product is all we have access to.

This isn’t part of our strategy, this isn’t part of our model.

Instead, we engage with the customer base. We listen to what they want, and then we are able to bring the right solution back to the table, possibly made up from a combination of our offerings. That's probably one of the biggest differentiating factors, that we are able to say that we get it right. Well, more right than wrong let’s say.

This customer focus-centric ethos also extends to the valueadded services and resources offered to clients. From offering lighting design support to performing technical installations on site, or perhaps providing support when it comes to architecture or interior design, Rubicon Lighting will bring these options to the table in a project, 32. Executive Insight Magazine

and walk the customer journey with them all the way from the conceptual design stage through to commissioning.

A commitment to delivering premium solutions to customers and providing great service has served Rubicon Lighting well over the years, but the company has been no more immune to the disruption caused by COVID-19 than anywhere else. However, whilst it has been a tough year for business, It is telling of the work hard, play hard culture of Rubicon Group that Kevin and the leadership team have managed to keep the majority of the workforce intact. Indeed, it is one of the success stories of the past year that the team came through this difficult period safe, content and focused. The other major success was the successful transfer of manufacturing operations from Cape Town to Johannesburg following a restructure – a significant undertaking that puts Rubicon Lighting in a strong position looking ahead.

“We moved the factory up from Cape Town to Johannesburg. It just didn't make sense for raw products to be transported from Johannesburg, assembled in Cape Town and then transported back to Johannesburg as a complete product. Then there’s the fact that the business hub of South Africa sits here in Gauteng. From an R&D perspective, from a technology perspective, from a support perspective and suppliers, all of those things are located in Johannesburg. We believe that we are in a much stronger position to be located here to engage on all fronts with those channel partners.

It's been key for us to be as successful as quickly as we have been on the factory front. We have a really close working relationship with our partners. If we didn't have those relationships with our key suppliers where we could get them to buy into what we wanted to achieve, it would have slowed down the entire process. It’s important to have those relationships,” Kevin concluded.

Old Mutual Sandton

Executive Insight Magazine 33.

Industrial Technology For businesses that are seeking to achieve the productivity gains needed to really move the needle, integrating smart technologies into their operations to level-up and automate factories and manufacturing facilities has become a matter of urgency.

The advent of Industry 4.0 technologies has caused extraordinary change across what is an increasingly digitalised landscape, and yet whilst automation has caused huge disruption the basics still matter. The need for a trusted, reliable partner capable of providing bespoke service solutions and quality products tailored to the needs of your businesses is an unerring constant.

As the industry leading automation solutions

supplier to the South African manufacturing sector, Rubicon Group’s Automation division has built a reputation for excellence that is without peer. Since its inception, this specialist division has served as an indispensable partner to a number of leading manufacturers, supplying cutting-edge technology from around the world and working hand-in-hand with clients to help them extract maximum value from their processes.

When asked to provide an overview of operations, Rubicon’s Eldred Sterling explained: “Quite simply, we’re an automation solutions provider for manufacturers. Our key competence is definitely our ability to support our products technically and our commitment to providing great service. We really believe in walking the journey with the customer. A large part of our group philosophy is centred around efficiency and being at the cutting edge of industrial technology, and through this, we enable our 34. Executive Insight Magazine

Electrical Cable Production Factory

clients to achieve manufacturing excellence, to promote sustainable, continuous improvements for their operation that lower costs and increase their profitability.

We work closely with the automotive sector in the Eastern Cape which is the automotive hub of Africa. Through our competence in serving this sector, we have partnered with a number of international suppliers, and we’ve also worked closely with clients in the food and beverage and logistics sectors.

On top of this, we’ve also introduced a new portfolio which is growing our presence in mining.”

Since he joined Rubicon Group as an entry-level sales executive in 2009, Eldred has risen through the ranks to become the group’s national head of automation, which is the cornerstone of our Industrial Technology focus – a position that was held by Rubicon co-founder, Dylan Schnetler, before him.

Executive Insight Magazine 35.

HARTING Solutions for Transportation, E-mobility & Machinery HARTING Solutions for Transportation, E-mobility & Machinery

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www.harting.com www.harting.com 36. Executive Insight Magazine

HARTING TECHNOLOGY GROUP The HARTING Technology Group has been established for 75 years and is a leading global supplier of industrial connectivity technology for the three lifelines of data, signals and power.

During that time, they have built and developed strong relationships within many industries by delivering cutting-edge products and solutions for their customers.

In addition, their slogan ‘Pushing Performance’ is a challenge to constantly innovate and help push developments globally.

HARTING for Transportation: Han® HPR Varioshell HARTING’s new housing system enables easy handling and can contribute significantly to weight reduction. Standardisation, the reduction of energy consumption as well as easy handling to save installation time are major trends in the railway industry. The new Han® HPR VarioShell was developed as a highly flexible housing system especially for inter-car jumpers.

versions. HARTING Automotive’s charging cables are available in various versions suited for all globally standardised AC charging interfaces, as well as for high-power DC charging with CCS Combo. Thus, they are able to fit the three different connector systems worldwide. Special variants can be used as exchangeable cable sets for use with “in-cable” chargers (IC-CPD).

We can also produce our charging plugs and charging cables in customised designs, regardless of the brand, colour or feel.

HARTING for Machinery: Han® Modular The machine building sector continues to evolve quickly as new manufacturing machinery becomes ever more intelligent and adaptable to meet the demands of industries.

With the Han-Modular® series, you can optimally design connectors to supply machinery and equipment. This is made possible by combining individual modules for different transmission media. Signals, data, power and compressed air - in standard-sized industrial connector housings. Han-Modular® offers easy-to-handle, highly flexible solutions with a small footprint and versatile functionality.

The new Han® family member offers a huge amount of possibilities and benefits. The Han® HPR VarioShell is an open system that additionally provides counter pressure frames, cable HARTING has complemented the well-known managers and shielding plates to guide and Han-Modular® building block system with the intercept cables of different diameters. addition of the new “hinged frame plus”. Among others, the “plus” for the proven hinged frame The new housing system can be used as a classic comes in the form of an additional stainless-steel surface mounted housing or bulked mounted spring that holds the frame together in the open housing - and forms a robust alternative for and closed positions, as well as other details that distribution boxes, for example on the roof of the have been optimised. vehicle, on the outside wall or on the bogie.

Particular time and cost advantages result from HARTING for E-mobility: Charging Cables the fact that assembling the connector modules is easier and more efficient.

HARTING Automotive has charging cables that cover all standards worldwide, for charging with For more information please visit: alternating current, three-phase current or direct www.harting.com current, from 230 to 1,000 volts. These include mode-2 charging cables (featuring integrated temperature monitoring and DC fault current detection) and mode-3 charging cables in various

Executive Insight Magazine 09.

37.

Signal technology for process reliability and efficiency.

Warn · Guide · Protect www.werma.com

WERMA Signal Technology WERMA Signaltechnik is one of the world’s leading companies for optical and audible signal devices: From signal towers and signal beacons to horns and sirens - our signal devices warn, guide and protect people all over the world. Our solutions make work environments safe and processes efficient - at the machine or at manual workstations, on the factory floor or at the building.

“Clever solutions that simply work” - That’s what we at WERMA have stood for decades. Customers from all over the world confirm this to us day after day,” says WERMA Managing Director Matthias Marquardt proudly. “We set the standards for modern signal technology and define its future: for more than twenty years with the modular signal tower as the industry standard and today with networked, intelligent system solutions.

In this context, “Made in Germany” is a guarantee that today we can proudly call ourselves “Europe’s leading signal”.”

We are constantly developing - Innovations are the driving forces for us to further extend our technological lead. WERMA carries out both systematic basic and specific product development, for each of which the latest project management methods are used.

We test all new developments in our own optics and acoustics laboratories. The success of this innovation policy is evidenced by many patents, design awards and customer evaluations.

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Quality guaranteed “Made in Germany” - We manufacture plastic parts, electronics, tools, fixtures and equipment ourselves - guaranteed “made in Germany “. In manufacturing technology, we take advantage of lean production processes and intelligent automation. This makes us fast and flexible.

WERMA is certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001: 2015.

The quality of our processes and products is always strictly monitored. This guarantees consistently high quality for all WERMA products.Worldwide and on site - With our own subsidiaries in the most important European countries, China and the USA, as well as a dense network of international sales partners, we ensure the best on-site support worldwide.

Rubicon has been supporting WERMA in this respect for more than 15 years as a reliable and committed sales partner in South Africa. Over the next few years we are planning the successive establishment of joint warehouses in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Nairobi. This will ensure the fastest possible delivery and optimal on-site customer support.

We are looking forward to a continued good and successful cooperation with our distribution partner Rubicon.

For more information please visit: www.werma.com

We’re going into a time with COVID-19 where we’re finding there’s more collaborative automation advances in factories where you have a manual process which then gets checked by a collaborative process - that could be a robot, that could be a machine vision, it could be a conveyor system that takes the product to the next step.

Smart Manufacturing - Glass Sealing

After having spent 12-years with the company, Eldred has a root-and-branch understanding of Rubicon’s responsibilities to its clients and how to meet their requirements. When asked about aspects of the solution set that particularly excite him he said: Wastage is a big driving force for any company currently and with machine vision you reduce that wastage.

We’re going into a time with COVID-19 where we’re finding there’s more collaborative automation advances in factories where you have a manual process which then gets checked by a collaborative process - that could be a robot, that could be a machine vision, it could be a conveyor system that takes the product to the next step.

What we’re finding is that through machine vision, you actually get the opportunity to eliminate wastage and improve quality control.”

“I think if you look at it from that aspect, I think the power solution side is definitely something that we’re going to really focus on going forward because it offers the gateway to the Rubicon full basket of products. And then on the machine vision side, in terms of manufacturing excellency, this is something we’re really trying to support our customers with. in-line with the group’s customer experience-centric ethos, Eldred and his team believe that great service is the key to success. It is all down to communication and interaction: Rubicon is a relationshipbased business that sets out to build relationships with and understand the individual needs of clients.

“We’re not in it for the quick sale,” Eldred explained. “If we understand the customer’s business we can provide solutions that are bespoke in meeting the customer’s requirements. This is where we excel. Going forward, we’re going to further promote our enhanced online presence and continue finding better ways to support our customers through our digital platforms.”

When asked to give an example of where Rubicon’s Sustainable Technology and Industrial Technology divisions could work together, the issue of power quality within factories was front of mind: “To walk you through a conventional Power Solutions process, a customer will phone in and say, ‘we have a problem, we are spending X amount on electricity and have recurring equipment failures, can you guys please come out and help us?’

So, step one is to go out to site where we install a meter - our meters have all the bells and whistles to help us to understand a facilities’ power factor and harmonics, and what needs to be done to bring a plant’s supply back into compliance with the NRS048 standard. After one to two weeks, we bring the meter back to analyse the data and then we formulate an in depth energy report which can advise the customer on best practice: these are the concerns, these are the issues and this is what you need to address to reduce your energy consumption or lift up the power factor. Then you start walking the journey with the customer.”

Executive Insight Magazine 39.

This is where Rubicon starts working its magic.

After working through the report with the client and formulating a strategy to address its findings, Eldred and the team can then offer to look into the Group’s full solution, which includes high-level LED lighting and renewable energy in terms of its PV offering.

The customer doesn’t only get the one solution offering, however. They also have the option to use the savings from the power or the harmonic solution and get a full comprehensive offering from active power factor correction, harmonics, variable speed drives, LED lighting and a solar system on the roof, which ultimately reduces the customer’s energy bill. It’s very much a phased approach, according to Eldred: By delivering world-class levels of service to its customers and creating a work hard, play hard work culture which enables its people to shine, Rubicon Automation has managed to make a little dent in the universe for the better.

With further investments planned for its machine learning and identification division as well as trying to be the leader in modern industrial connectivity, sensing and switching in the near future and a growing list of customers to support, there is enthusiasm in Rubicon Automation for what the coming year holds.

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40. Executive Insight Magazine

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Executive Insight Magazine 41.

Maxam Dantex Blowing away the competition Maxam’s proud 148-year history, which was first built upon the shoulders of Alfred Nobel, the great master chemist, engineer and entrepreneur in 1872, is one of the more prestigious tales in business. And yet whilst the company is understandably proud of its illustrious past, its eyes and efforts are very much directed towards the future.

A century and a half on from its inception, the Maxam of today is the industrial and spiritual successor of the company Nobel co-founded in Bilbao and Paris in 1872. The company is one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of industrial explosives and blasting products, but it has not lost sight of the innovative verve and entrepreneurial spirit that propelled its initial rise to prominence over the course of the 1800 and 1900’s.

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Active in South Africa for nearly three decades, Maxam Dantex – one of Maxam’s largest and most successful subsidiaries – has firmly established itself as a regional market leader.

Today, the company continues to grow in terms of production capacity, technological prowess and its well-trained team of staff. Maxam’s success in South Africa has been driven by the delivery of high-quality, premium products to a wide range of customers locally and abroad and, of course, dynamism, innovation and world-class expertise: “We are predominantly an explosives manufacturing company, we manufacture bulk explosives, then your package explosives, which is what we classify as water gels and then your detonators, and we predominantly supply those to the open cost mines and some underground mines in South Africa. We are also the only company within southern Africa that manufactures permissible explosive, which is used in underground coal operations. Our technical team work closely with mining clients in determining blasting patterns, how many explosives they need to use per face, drilling patterns – all aspects of the design of the blast,” said Gary Bock, Supply Chain Manager for Maxam Dantex.

The supply chain has become a lot more complex and a lot more difficult this year, and we’ve had to manage it a hell of a lot better, especially with our exports into Africa and Europe, and our imports from Europe.

The company’s expansive portfolio of explosives products, RIOBLAST software and initiation systems, packaged and bulk products, and blasting-consultancy solutions have helped clients from across the mining spectrum add value to their operations and achieve cost efficiencies without compromising on quality – a proposition which continues to prove irresistible to miners that are operating in a sector that continues to grapple with rising costs, unstable energy supplies, regulatory challenges and frequent strikes.

Due to the symbiotic relationship it shares with the mining sector, and the resulting problem shared dynamic that exists as a result, the South African explosives market is a tough marketplace in which to do business, and that’s without factoring in COVID which has squeezed the sector even more. From a supply chain and logistics standpoint, COVID has caused all manner of headaches for Gary Bock and his team, but as a seasoned supply chain professional who has risen quickly since starting his supply chain career, Gary understands better than most the challenges that are most likely to arise when running a smooth functioning supply chain operation, and better still how to overcome them with a view to achieving success.

“The supply chain has become a lot more complex and a lot more difficult this year, and we’ve had to manage it a hell of a lot better, especially with our exports into Africa and Europe, and our imports from Europe,” said Gary.“A lot of our products, although we are the only country that manufacture them globally for our corporation, to try and get that past via the ports authorities and by the chief inspector of exposures, to say that it was a critical item for the continuation of 44. Executive Insight Magazine

business for our global company was quite a process.

The supply chain in terms of road freight also became a lot more difficult because of the COVID outbreak – each country had their own different sets of regulations they were implementing. But we found ways around and means to mitigate it, you know. Having a really good close relationship to the transport system and then also understanding the market and how challenging it can be, we manage.”

This can-do outlook on approaching problems and finding solutions is indicative of the systemic innovation that exists root and branch within the company. The South African mining sector succeeded in returning to profit in 2019, being buoyed by surging demand for commodities and a declining rand, but the outbreak of Coronavirus has turned the industry on its head once more. This has turned the screw on an already intensely competitive explosives market as miners look for ever smarter solutions to maintain business viability.

Executive Insight: Gary Bock Gary has been in the role of Supply Chain Manager at MAXAM Dantex now for just over a year. Taking on a new role in a new company is no easy feat, especially on the cusp of an international pandemic. Given this, Gary has really had a promising first year which will lead to further exceptional achievements throughout this year.

Gary’s skills are clear to see in his profession and the suppliers of MAXAM Dantex certainly feel the same.

Executive Insight Magazine 45.

SFT Energy (PTY) Ltd is an energy and resource distributor, with franchised filling stations, backed by reputable suppliers with superb sales and service. We commit to deliver quality products on time and build lasting relationships and to be a fuel partner of choice for all subsidiaries in Southern Africa.

We are a licensed wholesale petroleum company whom is focused on a credible customer base and a multi-faceted enterprise incorporating distribution and logistics. This bedrock on which the ethos of SFT Energy is built is based on the principle of Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment and complete customer satisfaction.

www.sftenergy.com 46. Executive Insight Magazine

admin@sftenergy.co.za

+27 13 004 0172

Company Insight SFT Energy Proprietary Limited is a resource enterprise providing sustainable energy solutions supported by major petroleum companies embraced with reputable and reliable sales and service. We are committed to deliver related commodities with the highest levels of quality timeously and to build lasting business relationships with our customers and being a preferred petroleum partner to all related organisations in the African subcontinent – Our Vision: Growth through Technology – Sustainable Renewable Energy & Greener Resources towards our future. SFT Energy is a fully licenced petroleum wholesaler and a diverse enterprise incorporating logistics with franchised retail filling stations. We focus on sales, service and a commitment to an evaluated and credible client base.

We embrace the following principles:    

We value our country’s main asset – Our Individuals.

We are customer orientated and value the aims and objectives of our clients.

We strive towards being a competitive market leader in the industry.

We always focus on quality and continued safety of all our staff.

SFT Energy is pleased, ready and willing to be understudies to new and developing businesses. We incubate with these existing or start-up businesses and create relations in sight of improvement and upliftment of their companies whom have similar visions and aspirations. We are confident that our mutual business relationships will be a mutual benefit for all parties.

SFT Energy (Pty) Ltd is a Level 1 BBBEE Certified Complaint Company. Our vision is becoming a major and viable broad based economic supplier to provide petroleum products and energy resources to the transportation sectors and mining industry for the vast Southern Continent while applying skills development and appropriate BBBEE ethics. In line with change, transformation and joint ventures, SFT Energy ultimately wishes to transform the company into a very successful empowerment business in transferring skills and expertise to individuals whom were previously disadvantaged and were not given any lucrative employment opportunities.

We are committed to actively pursue the highest standards in the petroleum sector and our goals to continually produce results that will favour our customer’s aims and objectives while offering comprehensive, personalised and cost effective services. Our intent is on being a company with motivated and dedicated employees providing efficient methods of the highest level of safety and uncompromised quality as our motto.

The transportation and logistics of all products is handled and operated by SFT Energy’s logistical department.

We assure our clients be given prompt service and efficient delivery. All products are checked, tested and sealed for contamination before delivery to ensure that our customers receive quality products of the highest standards every time.

SFT Energy has been approved by the Department of Energy and granted an approval for 10 million litres volume bulk storage of petroleum and related fuels. Currently, prospective development is in progress for a 1 million litre silo storage facility at our Witbank depot and to be completed within six months. In the future, expansion and construction will gradually continue until approved requirements have been met. Once completed, this will be one of the largest independent storage facility in Mpumalanga.

Executive Insight Magazine 47

Business is still booming to the extent that the company has succeeded in further expanding its footprint across Africa whilst achieving the cost reduction targets that he set out for supply chain. The future looks bright.

The resulting downward pressure on prices and profit margins has made cost-cutting – ever high on the supply chain list of priorities – an even greater imperative. Achieving this in any ordinary industry is no easy task, but to do so in an industry where supply chains must oversee the storage and safe movement of highly explosive, dangerous materials means that costcutting must be achieved without compromising in any way on safety: “We’re obviously always in the market looking at cost saving but with our product, that’s the biggest thing: we cannot substitute quality for price, especially in the explosive market. With what’s happened lately around the world, I mean that explosion in Lebanon with the ammonium nitrate. The vetting of processes has become a lot more involved, especially in Africa. We have a lot more constraints than in most industries.

So instead we have achieved cost savings in other ways. It’s our biggest drive at the moment. Raw materials for us is a huge cost driver. So we found a few critical raw material suppliers where they can actually provide us with the same quality product we’re getting now but for a relatively cheaper price.

Technology too, I think, within the supply chain function is exceptionally important, especially with the way that companies are set up nowadays.

A distribution centre is nowhere near your office where the documentation is done and your off-site storage 48. Executive Insight Magazine

facilities that you have. Everything needs to be linked via technology. We’re actually busy with a project to integrate new technology right now which will deliver efficiencies.”

Despite the challenges posed by 2020 and the every greater difficulty in maintaining Maxam’s competitive advantage in the region, Gary remains very optimistic going into 2021 and with good reason. The pandemic might have caused chaos but business is still booming to the extent that the company has succeeded in further expanding its footprint across Africa whilst achieving the cost reduction targets that he set out for supply chain. In his view, the future looks bright.

Gary finished, explaining: “The contracts that we negotiated over the last three months have added a significant benefit to our business. Aside from this though, I think one of the highlights in the last quarter, one of the main highlights for me personally over the last 12 months, is how we’ve managed to come through this adverse time as a stronger group of people within the company. We’ve come together.

The culture has developed and I think it’s become a great culture company to work for. In my opinion Maxam’s just going from strength to strength at this point in time.”

Executive Insight Magazine 49.

Mazda Southern Africa..

Driving Matters.

The iconic ‘’Zoom Zoom Zoom’’ brand is recognised the world over and holds a rightful place amongst the planet’s automotive giants.

From humble beginnings (starting as a cork manufacturing company in Hiroshima, circa 1920) to today being the 15th largest automobile producer globally, the Mazda Motor Corporation continue to go from strength to strength, but it hasn’t been an easy road by any stretch.

22. Executive Insight Magazine 50.

2021 Mazda Miyata

The Mazda Brand In the 60’s, when Mazda Corp. first entered the automotive industry, the organisation was faced with some significant financial difficulties and an uncertain future. If it wasn’t for a strategic partnership with the Ford Motor Company, the Mazda brand that we all know and have come to love today, might have looked very different.

Most of us associate the Mazda name with Japan (company HQ) but don’t realise that the company struggled to expand its footprint outside of Hiroshima, with national giants such as Toyota and Nissan holding a considerable market share. Mazda had to be brave in their approach to avoid the risk of being taken over by one of the bigger players, much like the Prince brand that merged with Nissan in 1960. The ability to adapt, personified by the ‘Change or Die’ slogan, has been a key factor in the brand’s longevity.

Their core value of ‘’continuous improvement’’ is part of the reason why the company stays ahead of the curve, particularly when it comes to technology.

Such innovation has extended itself to the ‘’Sky Activ Technology’’ brand, which is an umbrella name for a new wave of pristine engine models, that revolutionised the automotive industry in 2011.

The development epitomises Mazda’s ability to take risks and be successful. Mazda’s General Manager and Head of Product quoted the following.

“But the reality was, diesel engine suffered from negative public perceptions in Japan. Diesel meant air pollution because exhaust gas emitted contained toxic substances. It’s a massive engine because it uses large pistons due to the high compression ratio, so it’s not good at high rotation, it doesn’t rotate to high revs.

It wasn’t seen as the choice for passenger cars in the 21st century and beyond.”

“The entire world seemed to think that diesel would be gone in the near future because of the high cost of production, on top of being bad to the environment.

We were determined to defy convention and said, “alright then, we’ll make a diesel engine that’s clean and easily revs up to high rev range like a gasoline engine”. That’s the beginning of our quest for SKYACTIV-D.” Synonymous with Mazda’s appetite for improvement is in its expansion into new regions, and one, in particular, is exceeding expectations.. Southern Africa.

Executive Executive Insight Insight Magazine Magazine 23.

51.

2021 Mazda BT-50

Under new Leadership In 2014 Mazda Southern Africa was formed to cover sales and operations within South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, under the leadership of managing director, and all-around Mazda enthusiast, David Hughes.

Whilst Mr Hughes was at the helm, Mazda SA went from self-proclaimed ‘start-up mode’ (4,000 sales) to triple 12,000 sales in a measly 3 years, but the engine was only just getting warmed up for the newly found unit. In 2017, David was replaced as managing director by South African born, Mr Craig Roberts, who has only accelerated the organisation’s success. ”Craig Roberts is an outstanding senior manager and he has proved himself with a stellar record as Head of Sales. With a person of his experience and business acumen, we did not need to look far for our new MD. 52. Executive Insight Magazine

I am confident that he will lead our Southern Africa organization to even greater heights in the future.” comments David Hughes.

change are firmly linked to understanding personal and professional needs that will enable our people to build an even stronger organization.

Mazda Corporation has long been an organisation who have invested heavily in their leadership teams, resulting in long-lasting strategic success. In July 2000, the company launched the Mazda Business Leader Development program to develop the skills and acumen of leaders across the organisation.

“Enabling our people for the future” is one of our priority goals. We will continue to implement various measures to create a vital corporate culture through communication, education and utilization of each employee to his or her fullest potential.’’

Mazda’s current CEO, Mr Akira Marumoto, had this to say on the initiative, ‘’To understand the future, employees must comprehend and support our vision, our strategies and short-term tactics that will allow us to achieve our long-term goals. Efforts to drive understanding and, in turn, inspire commitment throughout the Company of the need for positive Executive Insight Magazine 53.

100 years of success 2020 marked a historic milestone for the company, marking 100 years of business, a staggering feat when considering the numerous challenges and risks. Mr Roberts had this to say at the 100-year celebrations, “An independent Mazda in SA has allowed us to reestablish and re-ignite the strong heritage and legacy that Mazda and its cars have always had in the South African market. The incredible product that Mazda Corporation continues to produce, and the amazing partnerships we have with our dealer partners and all our stakeholders, have made it possible to continuously grow the brand since becoming independent six years ago. Although Mazda Southern Africa has only been in existence for 6 years, we are proud to be part of the 100-year-old Mazda Brand.”

Despite its 7 years in the marketplace, Mazda Southern Africa continues to grow and position itself as a market leader in the African automotive industry.

Executive Insight Magazine looks forward to watching the organisation flourish over the coming years.

YOUR BUSINESS IS GLOBAL. YOUR BANK SHOULD BE TOO. Businesses take considerable risks to enter or expand into new markets. This is why we take considerable care to provide the right solutions. However far from home that next big opportunity might be, it’s our meticulous work in 15 countries across Africa today that’s enabling our clients to transact with confidence wherever they strive to succeed.

EMEA Finance African Banking Awards: Best Foreign Bank & Best Foreign Investment Bank African Banker Awards: Best Investment Bank Global Finance Awards: Best Corporate Institutional Bank

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2021 Mazda 3 // Carbon Edition

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Ola Energy Fuelling a Continent.

Like all areas across the world, the constant dependency of fuel whether it’s petrol or diesel, is key. Driving through North Africa, Central Africa, and the Eastern shores, one brand that will stand out prominently is OLA Energy. Their symbolic orange and blue oil droplet will be seen for miles and when those tanks are on red, it is a logo that many will be relieved to see.

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Led by their ever-respected CEO, Mr. Mazin Ramadan, the business has really gone from strength to strength since their rebrand from Oil Libya to OLA Energy back in 2018. The company has used this rebrand to expand their presence to over 17 African countries and therefore invested massively into new retail outlets / service stations taking the figure to over 1,200. With such a vast operational presence, these operational locations require a vast workforce and OLA proudly employ over 1,500 direct employees and a further indirect 20,000 employees. This just shows the importance the business has across the continent.

Looking deeper into OLA and their ongoing expansion and commitment to providing their 250,000+ daily customers with the services in which they require, OLA are investing heavily into other areas of the business and one such project which shows their commitment to growth, is the partnership with Oil giant Total in Egypt.

The Alexandria Petroleum Products Terminal (APPT) will be built and developed in the Mex Petroleum Zone.

As said by Mazin Ramadan CEO, “Guided by our core values, the balance for business agility will be met by modernizing our processes and working efficiently as a team”. With transport and logistic based businesses requiring a solid network of fuel providers, OLA Energy are positioned to be the Supply Chain partner of choice in this field.

This is a prominent direction of how the business will continue their presence and expand further across the African continent in years to come.

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Mr Ramadan continues to highlight that Corporate Social Responsibility will be at the forefront of business decisions and the need to support local communities and projects which also benefit off the back of the company success.

To the everyday consumer eye, people would see OLA as a company who operate in service stations and retail outlets, however their services go much deeper, and we’re delighted to share these in more detail with our business readers. They have commercial blending plants, refineries and storage facilities located within several different locations, therefore making distribution much easier for their business clients and increasing their well renowned commitment to customer service satisfaction. The business goes way beyond than downstream services.

With the continued increase in air passenger demand especially as areas of the world starts to return to normal after COVID-19, their Aviation fuel business plays an integral part to international airliners who travel in and out of Africa on a day-to-day basis.

Kerosene is not a product to be taken lightly either, the importance of safety in terms of transport and distribution is another commitment to the organisation’s practices in HSE. Marine and shipping is also another key area in which OLA supply to. All logistics are especially important for import and export services, whether this is by land,

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air or sea. This again shows the diversity of the business and their operational services in which are provided. Adapting to various economic country growth has been a reason of their continued expansion across Africa and will ensure that the presence of OLA will only grow further and never decrease.

To make the growth and expansion in which OLA are achieving possible, it therefore requires a fundamental support network of suppliers. These suppliers have a long-standing relationship with OLA which dates back to the Oil Libya days, and given their expansion and further investments, this will only go towards helping them achieve their goals over the next 12-18 months.

With their main corporate procurement function being based out of Dubai, this allows them to work with main international suppliers who assist with all countries of the OLA Energy business operations. Their commitment though to developing local country supply chains is admirable and this goes towards supporting business growth and developing skills, within their supply chain workforce to cope with the ever-increasing demand of their services and products by OLA. The importance of technology within supply chain is paramount to their operations too.

No business is successful just because of the CEO or top-level management and Mr Ramadan is quite quick to share his sentiments on such matters stating, “I would like to thank our talented global workforce who enable us to operate efficiently in highly diverse cultural environments. As a company we will continue to work hard to ensure that we meet the needs of our customers for years to come”..

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Executive Insight Magazine 61.

Akram Al-Haj Ad-Tech Supply Chain & Procurement Manager

Delivering results against the odds As the world grows ever smaller, international trade has boomed in recent decades, which in-turn has seen the science of operations grow to become a corner stone for the success of interactive projects between global partners. The science of supply chain science, in particular, has been key to this success.

Advanced Technologies’ (Ad-Tech’s) business model is perhaps the perfect case study.

First founded by the eminent entrepreneur, Mamoon Dawood, in 2004, Ad-Tech has grown to become one of the premiere network solutions vendors in the Jordanian and Arab Markets, and a trusted world-class technology partner to its clients. With a mission and vision both pillared on reliability, success, and efficiency, Ad-Tech provides a diverse range of services, including the design, supply, and implementation of world-leading software and hardware products, as well as catered solutions and consultancy to new and existing enterprises.

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Akram’s presentation

Advanced Technologies, having more than 70 employees and eight departments, started life 17-years ago with only Mamoon’s grand vision to build a Jordanian technology leader. Mamoon explained more about Ad-Tech’s history, saying: “Being an entrepreneur is something I wanted since day one, as I always had the goal of having an organisation that can add business value to the local and regional market. But reaching this goal, comes with its complicated challenges, for that since day the idea was to raise the bar in the quality of the services and products we provide to our clients in the region..

Advanced Technologies, having more than 70 employees and eight departments, started life 17-years ago with only Mamoon’s grand vision to build a Jordanian technology leader. Mammon explained more about AdTech’s history, saying: “Being an entrepreneur is something I wanted since day one, as I always had the goal of having an organisation that can add business value to the local and regional market. But reaching this goal, comes with its complicated challenges, for that since day the idea was to raise the bar in the quality of the services and products we provide to our clients in the region.

Ad-Tech Founder and CEO Mamoon Dawood

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Hashemite University Smart Interactive Campus project

As Advanced Technologies expanded over the years through consistent hard work, we had to think in a big way to cover all the loopholes that might appear in our business foundation, from covering all possible effective marketing technique, to having a capable and reliable operations team, and building an experienced, highly knowledgeable technical team.”

As he worked to build a technology business with the expertise and capability needed to become a regional leader in its field, Mamoon recognised quickly that to achieve his vision he would need to incorporate a supply chain & operations function into Ad-tech’s operations that is of equal high-quality as the company’s technical service offerings. Which is where Eng. Akram Al-Haj, Ad-Tech’s Supply Chain & Procurement Manager, comes in.

The story of Akram’s career advancement in supply chain is an inspiring one, centred around dedication, hard work and pursuit of a dream. In a world which is nothing if not competitive, attaining success in life and in business are goals that all aspire for and yet few achieve.

However, whilst the journey to success is fraught with challenges and adversity, the journey can be a little less arduous for those who are driven by the desire to fulfil a childhood dream – something that Akram can attest to.

“Handling a high-pressure department will always keep you busy for sure, experiencing all types of emotions, whether being stressed or excited at the same time during 64. Executive Insight Magazine

the implementation of intricate daily activities. The idea is always to be motivated, and always to be filled with new ideas and work methodologies to deliver your objectives.

Luckily for me, I had the motivation for this field since I was young, as I was always looking at images of shipping containers and manufacturing lines since I was young. My parents & brothers encouraged me to always chase my dreams and supported me in all ways possible.”

Inspired and supported by both his loving wife and children, and a boyhood fascination with the huge ships that sailed to port and the vast, towering factories around him growing up, Akram has enjoyed a stellar career in supply chain that has seen him earn a reputation as a procurement & operations thought-leader amongst his peers at Ad-Tech, as well as amongst his former colleagues at Dubai-based Mimar Group, where Akram began his professional journey; APP, Fairmont Hotel, and the Jordan River Foundation – covering several sectors like the corporate, contracting , NGO, manufacturing sectors, dealing with green & sustainable supply chains , tenders , sourcing , operations , financial and manpower challenges: all former of these employers played a formative role in his professional development.

Naturally, Akram’s long-held passion for supply chain has instilled in him a tireless drive to develop new strategies and leadership philosophies designed to improve supply chain excellence over the course of his career. How can we find new and better ways to address typical supply chain issues such as how to cut costs without compromising quality? Which philosophies will help us bypass these problems and restrictions? We want to enhance performance and streamline our processes, policies and procedures; what principles can we utilise to achieve this? How can we build better, stronger partnerships with our clients, suppliers and vendors: finding solutions to such challenges are ever on the mind for Akram and his supply chain team in their quest to fine-tune operational efficiency.

class service for which the company is renowned: “Frankly speaking, having a low and fluctuating level of certainty in the global supply channels during the pandemic era made it a pure nightmare for the supply chain managers! However, this crisis gave us all of us at Ad-Tech the opportunity to do the ultimate brain storming to find solutions, and push the boundaries of out of the box thinking. We had to keep the projects running, but the world was on lockdown - at one point, we felt that we had to re-write the books of supply chain science again! During this time, we received two critical calls from two prestigious clients with whom we were running landmark projects with.

As an example of this, Akram referred back to an objective where it was necessary to upgrade all supply chain channels and operations departmental communications in his previous company, Mimar Group, with the support of his then innovative General Manager, Amjad Hameed, explaining: “I had to apply a simple and direct strategy of high responsiveness, maintaining high-speed service based on sustainable guidelines.

The Ministry of Health asked us urgently to expedite the work of refurbishing networking equipment for government hospitals to enable them to increase their capacity so they could care for more COVID-19 patients. At the same time, Hashemite University asked us to expedite an e-Learning project that we started implementing at the beginning of 2020, as e-learning suddenly became a must in the educational sector worldwide.”

Starting from rewriting some policies and procedures internally to make the workflow smoother and production much effective, we then had to upgrade our suppliers and sub-contractors vendor list based on a new appraisal criteria depending not only on prices, but rather work capacity and service levels.

In order to succeed in meeting this new delivery schedule during what was a unique and calamitous operating environment, Akram and his supply chain team quickly set about communicating urgently with all parties who would be needed to ensure the successful handover of these projects in the requested timeframes.

Using study techniques like Six Sigma methods and SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference model), all redundant and un-necessary activities regarding purchasing or sourcing manpower and finical activates were cut short to allow space for faster responses with minimal cost.

Since we were covering the gulf region, more planning was made with our suppliers & sub-contractors to work more as partners with a more detailed communication level to plan our next projects in a smooth, organised way, and having united goals. Eventually, you need to adapt your supply chain to have a high resilience in a business environment where delivery dates are being asked to be yesterday instead of tomorrow!”

Such expertise and a commitment to finding solutions to complex departmental dilemmas has been needed more than ever by Ad-Tech over a 12-month period that has stretched the company’s supply chain operations to breaking point. Black swan events like the COVID-19 pandemic are as rare as they are ruinous, but this fact is of little comfort to Akram, Mamoon and Ad Tech’s seniors like Ahmad Jaber & Ahmad Dawood, who have worked day and night since the beginning of the outbreak to meet the needs of its clients during what has been the most difficult time in the company’s history.

But despite the numerous crises Akram has been forced to navigate, it is telling that he and his supply chain team have succeeded in delivering the same level of world-

Project Director Ahmad Dawood

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The Team at Ad-Tech

In dealing with top notch vendors like Fortinet, Juniper & Hauwei (who were they key suppliers in Adtech’s projects in the pandemic time) GTEC, and main distributers like Mindware & Exclusive Networks, Akram explained his first step of success in this crisis situation was to establish a common ground between all stakeholders related to the project, from OEMs, vendors, distributers, shipping and clearance companies to the banking and governmental sectors – “we had to unite the ultimate goal of the project between them,” he said.

“We had to re-schedule all production priorities with our vendors, contractual requirements with our distributors, re-study shipment constraints with our forwarders!”

Imagine a typical project that ordinarily needs 20-weeks of implementation being suddenly expedited to be handed over in 10-12 weeks during a worldwide crisis!

At that time our thoughts in Ad-Tech was not only about delivering customer satisfaction, now we had to think on a national and ethical obligation level.

We had 24/7 meetings with our directors and the CEO so they we could work to formulate new work plans. The beauty of it is that I got the support and buy-in from them immediately, there was no space to delay any thing.”

In rising to the occasion to meet the needs of its key clients against what could fairly be deemed nearimpossible odds, Akram, with the support of Mamoon and his team mates in the supply chain & Ad-tech’s other 66. Executive Insight Magazine

departments, has shown that the company’s reputation for world-class service excellence is well-deserved.

If the Ad-Tech team can take on and succeed in the face of the challenges posed by an event like COVID-19, it is difficult to envisage what else might hinder business success over the coming 12-months.Akram concluded, “supply chain and operations is a vast field, that for sure guarantees that you will be always be in a learning mission for the rest of your life.

Executive Insight

International Business Magazine

Executive Insight Magazine would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Featured Businesses involved in the publication of this magazine.

MTN GHANA www.mtn.com.gh

RUBICON www.rubiconsa.com

MAXAM www.maxamcorp.com

MAZDA SOUTHERN AFRICA www.mazda.co.za

OLA ENERGY www.olaenergy.com

AD-TECH www.ad-tech.com.jo

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