Laduma Q4 2011

4th Quarter 2011

LADUMA

Best wishes and happy holidays

COGEN 2 – on the cards – page 3 SAFETY – time to intervene – page 2

ONE TEAM - ONE GOAL !

MESSAGE FROM THE MD As 2011 draws to a close, I’m very glad I live in South Africa and not Europe. The ongoing debt crisis is definitely having an impact on our country’s growth and increasingly volatile exchange rate, but at least we are not speculating whether South Africa will be bankrupt by next week or our currency exist the week thereafter.

The rand is currently 17% weaker than it was a year ago and while this assists our export sales the high volatility and the resultant impact on our forward cover positions has offset the benefit somewhat. Alcohol demand has remained strong throughout the year and we expect slightly improved financial performance over 2010 at an operating income level. Having just completed our budget for 2012 which includes further recovery in the local sugar cane crop, we are forecasting a healthy improvement in operating margins with world prices and demand remaining high.

The Board has recently approved a significant capital expenditure programme for 2012 which will include the second phase of our COGEN (Co-Generation of Power) programme and refurbishment of the bottom distillery. This refurbishment was part of our original 2005 expansion programme, but was held over as a result of the strengthening rand at that time. The initiation of these programmes is dependent on completion of certain agreements with the eThekwini Municipality, but on envisaged completion by the end of 2012, our COGEN supply to the municipality will increase from the current 0.4 MW to 2.6 MW and potential distillation capacity will increase by approximately 20%. In

INTERVENE! One of the key words in industrial safety is: INTERVENE. Of course, it is usually not easy to intervene. You have to know the rules, and you have to move out of your comfort zone. It will usually be inconvenient, and yes, it might occasionally turn ugly, but WE HAVE TO INTERVENE. Imagine if you do NOT intervene when you see an unsafe act or situation. Your colleagues will notice you have not intervened, and will think you are not serious about safety. If we intervene, we will be respected for it.

Imagine you do not intervene, and your colleague gets hurt. How are you going to feel? How are you going to face him or her in the future? Intervening is making a statement about how we care about our colleagues, about what we hold as important, about the choices we make.

Of course, before we intervene, we should know we are correct. The way to do that is to know the safety rules.

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INTERVENE WHEN NECESSARY

addition we intend to increase our onsite storage for molasses and CMS by 85%, which project will be due for commissioning by the start of the new sugar season in May 2012.

During the year we have undergone numerous audits and successfully retained our ISO 9001; ISO 14001 and HACCP status; in addition our first OHSAS 18001 audit was completed in November.

Enjoy the festive season, if you are taking some time off, relax with your families and travel safely. I look forward to a successful 2012, best wishes and happy holidays.

Peter Starling

REPORT IT! Something we need to focus on to help us achieve our safety goals, is the reporting of near-miss accidents or incidents. IT IS VITAL to report all near-misses.

It will also help us all go home uninjured at the end of the day or shift.

!

It is well known in industry that accidents are usually preceded by near-misses or some other type of warning. So, here’s the deal:

• Report any and all near-misses that you see or experience • Consider what lesson was learned • Our SHEQ division will conduct a root-cause analysis to understand how the near-miss happened • Using a process of continuous improvement, a number of interventions could now take place, including training and feedback.

Remember: Safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Front cover: Looks like Christmas has gone to (Operations Controller) Bongani Nkosi’s head!

Two exciting projects on the cards

Before Phase 2, Operations Controller Avril Chetty in the Boiler House with Turbine 2.

The board has recently given the go-ahead for two innovative projects which will make a significant contribution toward improving NCP’s bottom line in the near future.

Phase One of the COGEN project has already seen the installation of sophisticated equipment to enable us to sell our surplus electricity to eThekwini Electricity.

Phase Two, which is expected to be commissioned in the latter half of 2012, will see NCP boosting its potential electricity sales from 400 kW up to 2600 kW. The contract is currently with the eThekwini Legal Department, having been approved in principle by the city council.

As Gary Bregovits, Operations Executive, explains, “This is a winwin situation for the two parties with the local authority receiving a reliable supply of power which will prove valuable for its residents and for NCPA an important additional revenue stream.

“There are also important environmental benefits as this power will be derived from a methane-rich gas source. This latest product will be made possible as a result of us having a spare high-pressure boiler and turbine, both of which require some refurbishing.”

Besides offering greater reliability

in terms of plant uptime, the project has offered new opportunities: • Firstly, it provides us with increased incentive to reduce onsite power consumption, and • Secondly, to manage the timing of electricity demand to maximise sales in peak periods when pricing is more attractive.

Give that man a recliner!

The second project is to upgrade the old potable distillery which will give NCP the capacity to produce an additional 20 kilolitres per day of extra-neutral potable ethanol.

Says Gary, “It would mean replacing our existing five columns with one, which brings efficiencies when it comes to quality control and assurance, steam consumption, as well as the opportunity to consolidate storage.”

Enoch Ndlovu retired from NCP as an Electrician after 30 years of service. His colleagues in Engineering decided that he deserved to kick back and relax in a most convenient way after all those years on the plant. Ngiyabonga Baba Enoch, Hamba Kahle.

YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE SAFETY RULES

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Simply Super Site Logistics staff Site Logistics is one of those hard-core departments at NCP that simply gets on and makes a significant and safe contribution to the overall effectiveness of the company; there is very little songand-dance.

The team of eleven’s responsibilities starts at the gate, loading the right product for the right customer at the right time, safely.

The product they load is usually alcohol, vinegar, isoamyl alcohol, fusel oil or coloured methylated spirits.

Most of the work involves bulk-loading 42 000-litre road tankers or 25 000-litre isotanks; or filling 25-litre or 250-litre drums, or 1000-litre bins, and packing them into containers.

Loading requires specialised PPE (personal protective equipment), and special safety measures.

Says Logan Naicker, Site Logistics Supervisor, “There is no one secret to our success. It’s a combination of factors like regular safety meetings, fire training, mode-of-transport checklist training, honesty, communication, and

Seen down at the loading bay are the Site Logistics team, from left, front, Ronnie Anamd (Logistics Specialist), Khulukani Sikhosana (Usizo), Ivan M. Pillay (Usizo), Fraser Vezi (Materials Handler), Ranjith Umrao (Materials Operator), Ricky Jaynarayan (Usizo Team Leader) and Logan Naicker (Site Logistics Supervisor); and back, Welcome Zulu (Usizo), Leonard Nzama (Materials Handler), Siyabonga Xulu (Usizo), Radesh Singh (Usizo) and Themba Gumede (Materials Handler). the invaluable experience of our guys – one has 33 years’ service, others have more than 12 years.” So, take a bow, Site Logistics.

Thomas moves the news When you’ve worked on site for 35 years, you know your way around. That’s why Thomas Ngcobo, messenger/cleaner, is the ideal man for the job of distributing important information, whether it is in the form of letters, or small posters for the company’s News Boards.

You could say, if it were not for Thomas, information delivered in traditional form such as letters, notices and hardcopy magazines would not circulate.

Says Thomas, “I arrive on site each day at 6.30 am, and prepare myself for the day – which starts at 7.00 am. Basically, I distribute the in-coming mail to people’s intrays, and I collect mail like invoices from

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WORK SAFE, MY MATE

Moving the news, that’s Thomas Ngcobo. some departments, frank the envelopes and get them ready for posting.

I also collect from people’s trays for internal distribution.”

Thomas also distributes notices to the company’s communication facilitators and puts posters in eye catching flashboards at nine sites throughout the plant.

André pushing NCP ahead Talk to André van der Westhuizen for a while, and you soon realise NCP Alcohols is blessed to have such a mind heading up the IT function. But not just heading it up, he is driving it, driving it fast, no, racing it, pushing it, pushing it ahead of the chasing pack – such is his passion for the power of IT. He is also on the Exco Team and in addition to the IT portfolio his focus is on Business Development.

“IT is a tool. It’s like a trowel; you can build a smart house with a trowel, but you have to actually use the trowel and know the type of house you need to build; make it work for you.

“At NCP, we use IT to transform raw information into knowledge, and of course knowledge is power. But the question is what kind of knowledge do I want or need to monitor to be more effective? And, what’s on my dashboard that assists me in playing my part in the successful implementation of NCP Alcohols’ strategic goals and objective? As the saying goes, ‘We only manage what we measure’!”

Technology can move a company forward only as far as its business processes allow. The technology’s effectiveness is inhibited by the processes that feed data into the system and the movement of that data across the organisation.

“We are now at the point where we are getting the raw data into our Enterprise Resource and Planning

Beep beep ... André van der Westhuizen with server.

(ERP) system, Microsoft AX Dynamics, faster and we have more time to consider what we want the data to tell us. For example, you might want it to tell you how to become more cost-effective in your area. I would like to see individuals taking ownership of the data, I would like to see them asking us for certain facilities, and telling us what they want to do with the info.

“We’ve been pretty aggressive and come a long way in the last five years, and my feeling is it is time now to slow down, take stock of the situation, and consolidate and fully implement what we have. How do we get a return on investment on the IT “tools” we have. Take SharePoint; it’s a marvellous tool for managing work-flow processes, and presenting and sharing information, but we need to think about exactly how we want to benefit from it.

“Or take AX Dynamics. We are achieving functionality now, but next year we want to enhance that, we want to hear people saying, ‘Wow, look at this’.”

André has 29 years’ service in the group; he has an MSc in industrial micro-biology, and has worked within the group in departments such as research and development, production, business analysis, market analysis and supply chain.

Elvis is alive and painting NCP

Yes, it’s true. We recently spotted Elvis pretending to be Les Appalsamy and preparing to paint our new wall in the car park! As you can see, he was not quite sure what colours and designs to use, so we thought we should ask you, the staff of NCP, for some input. And, there’s a reward ...

Says Rodgers Niranjan, who is driving the project, “We have had a number of ideas, for example, putting graffiti on the wall, company branding, safety or environment slogans, abstract patterns, African patterns, an enviro-mural, and so on. Please email me your ideas.”

“And, if you have skills in these areas and would like to get involved, please let us know.” Suggestions can be e-mailed to info@ncpalcohols.com.

Don’t be blank. Tell us what you’d like to see on THE WALL.

WORK SAFE, GO HOME SAFE

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Meet our money moguls ...

These four play an important role in making NCP’s world go around – they are our money team, also called the Finance department.

What we all call customers, they call debtors. And in the vital role of dealing with our debtors is Noorie Bobat, who says, “Our debtors situation is pretty healthy. It all starts with management who have taken a conservative approach and insist on insurance cover on our debtors.

Complete checks are done in advance on potential debtors. That process filters out most of the problems. I find a friendly attitude goes a long way, and quite honestly most people, certainly locally, pay in 30 days and that takes the pain away.

Vigna Naidoo manages the cash flow situation by working with vendor and debtor forecasts. Says Vigna, “We have to plan for the big payments, and we commit to paying those in 30 days.”

Handling our suppliers or vendors, also known as creditors, is Mzo Jama, a creditor controller. “We pay our small creditors promptly, like within a week.

It’s a win-win, because it assists them while also creating goodwill towards us, and helping to improve relationships and build trust. We take all our suppliers, even the smallest ones, seriously – it’s part of protecting the NCP brand.”

Members of the Finance team are, from left, Noorie Bobat, Alfred Ngema (Creditors Clerk), Vigna Naidoo and Mzo Jama.

NCP has friends in high places NCP staff recently came up with enough money to sponsor Phoenix, a Cape Vulture, and Insomnia, a Barn Owl, for a year.

This after Toni Baptista-Gray (Exports Assistant), who has a heart for animals, pleaded their plight with our staff. Toni also sponsors two Burrowing Owls, Merlyn & Arwyn, at the African Birds of Prey Sanctuary, and runs Phoenix’s Facebook profile in order to create awareness for Cape Vultures – an endangered species.

“I encourage everyone to visit the sanctuary, which is located right out in the country near the Lion Park, just before Pietermartizburg.

There, they will also see the NCP name listed on the ‘Feathered Friends’ board. I find it very uplifting to know I am supporting these birds, some of whom are from endangered species, and boosting awareness of them. And yes, there are more birds looking for sponsors. Two that are very near and dear to me are a Long-Crested Eagle, and Alpha, the Spotted Eagle Owl.” NCP has its own bird-feeding scheme, and boasts a couple of feeders near the entrance to the main building. Toni, who does most of the feeding, says, “I started taking more of an interest in the area when I became a safety, health and environment representative for the car park area; it’s not unusual to see manikins, sparrows, doves and weavers at the feeders – all at the same time.”

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REPORT ALL NEAR MISSES

Toni Baptista-Gray with Insomnia, a Barn Owl.

They were moved for a for a cause

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Relay fo d do d n a t c or walke Lab Proje who each ran taff our 37 s

WORK SAFE, PLAY SAFE

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NCP continues to sponsor Fulton School for the Deaf The Fulton School for the Deaf had their annual Madiba concert, portraying the life of former President Nelson Mandela, on 27 September.

The young performers, ranging in age from 2 to 18, were full of go as they signed away with a narrator translating for the non-signing audience members.

NCP is a proud sponsor of the school and will sponsor one learner through the school’s Adopta-child programme in 2012. With this programme, many learners get the opportunity to receive specialised education through the medium of South African Sign Language by a teacher dedicated to the education of deaf children.

Situated in Gillitts, the Fulton School provides boarding facilities for deaf learners from the age of two years who cannot attend schools in their community and live too far away to travel daily.

The advantage of boarding is that a deaf child learns to communicate quickly in an environment where everyone is communicating in the same language – which results in a fundamental difference to their academic ability in later years.

For the orphaned and destitute children, the hostel provides stability and well-balanced meals.

Visit the school’s website for more information at www.fulton.org.za.

Supporting the performing arts NCP Alcohols is now a proud member of Business Arts South Africa (BASA), and aims to support the arts to enhance the company’s social investment in communities through various performing art development and education work.

The Flatfoot Dance Company was introduced to NCP by BASA because it has developed a unique identity as a contemporary South African dance company that is known to offer socially charged dance theatre to address social issues among the youth.

Next year will see NCP sponsoring the dance company’s transport to the various workshops that will be taking place in areas around Durban such as Newlands East, Umlazi and KwaMashu.

During these workshops the dance instructors will offer the children dance theatre work that has won awards, commissions and invitations from all over the world.

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REPORT ALL NEAR MISSES

A troupe of young girls from the FlatFoot Dance Company’s Umlazi-based Project Dudlu Ntombi. The photo was taken at a November 2011 performance at the Sneddon Theatre.