Laduma Dec 2012

December 2012

LADUMA REDUCING electricity consumption – page 2 SOCIAL INVESTMENT – page 6 DISTILLERY upgrade – page 7

STAFF SPORTS – page 8

ONE TEAM - ONE GOAL !

MESSAGE FROM THE MD Tough trading conditions were experienced during the year with strong competition specifically from India in the African market, and as a result NCP’s traded sales declined over the previous 12 months. It is, however, rewarding to see that the increasing focus on Africa from a total Alcogroup perspective has resulted in Group sales to Africa growing by approximately 21% for the same period. NCP’s marketing involvement on behalf of the total Alcogroup in the region has increased significantly during the year and this will continue to be developed during 2013. It will be the marketing team’s responsibility to continue the growth established in the African market on behalf of all of the divisions of the Alcogroup, leveraging the initial position developed with NCP’s own production.

This adjustment of focus will be further supported by the revised supply chain structures that are currently being implemented.

These changes are being made to increase specific focus and expertise on the supply chain activities of the business where costs of distribution have grown exponentially as we deliver increasing volumes further into African markets while at the same time increasing importing and Group trading activities.

While I realise that change is always disconcerting, we must ensure that we continually develop and adapt to business demands and consider change as a positive means of adjustment.

distribution activities in Africa as well as additional third-party production responsibilities appear to be drawing to a successful conclusion and I hope that some of these will become part of our business activities in 2013.

As always, enjoy the festive season if you are taking some time off relax with your families and travel safely. I look forward to an exciting 2013, best wishes and happy holidays.

Peter Starling

A number of extended negotiations regarding increasing

Electricity costs down Good news on the cost-cutting front is that new energy-saver down lights have been installed in the office block at NCP Alcohols.

Explained Prudence Gabela, Procurement Officer, “We have taken advantage of Eskom’s rebate of R46 000 and replaced all 281 of our 50W down lights. The new LED down lights consume only 5W each, which will generate a monthly savings of about R2400 which will repay the shortfall for the replacements in eight months. After that, it’s R2400 to the bottom line every month!

“An added benefit is a three-year warranty on the new lights, which means no cost to replace for three years. This will reduce maintenance and generate further savings.”

Having some fun with one of the old downlighters are from left, Andreas Mazibuko, Prudence Gabela and Judy Somers.

The new downlighters are in the background.

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Safety first, to last

Front cover: Siyakhula Dance Programme in KwaMashu.

NCP Alcohols is a sponsor of the Flatfoot Dance Company’s initiatives to bring about social reform through dance programmes to Durban’s youth.

Reducing gas consumption Our fuel reduction programme is well under way, bringing benefits both to the company and its people. And to the environment, because as we reduce our gas and electricity usage, we proportionately reduce our carbon dioxide emissions and thereby our carbon footprint.

With the economy likely to remain at current levels, and the gas price unlikely to go any lower, NCP Alcohols has taken pro-active steps to reduce its fuel bill. Carl Freyer, Engineering Manager, explains, “We have purchased expensive, high quality burners with high turn-down ratios, providing high efficiencies. From this baseline, fuel savings based on percentages will be small though still financially viable due to the high gas price.”

“In April 2012 all our burners were recalibrated by Saacke while Karbon Services were continuously monitoring the air/fuel ratios using new monitoring equipment capable of measuring two burners and the stack simultaneously. We achieved a further improvement in burner efficiency and reduced gas consumption.”

“We have installed variable speed drive FD fans on Boiler 3, and intend doing the same on Boiler 1; this will further improve efficiency, reduce noise levels and reduce power consumption.

Joe Naidu, Shon Roopnarain and Rakesh Sookraj with part of the Boiler 1 gas train system which complies with SANS 329 Code.

“The final phase, possibly in 2013, is to implement two-element electronic control on the FD fan speed and damper controls, integrated via oxygen and carbon monoxide sensors and the fuel control valve to continuously optimize the air/ fuel ratio throughout the entire firing range.”

According to the new OHSAct and the SA Gas Pipeline Association (SAGPA) regulations, all pipeline gas users and maintenance personnel need to be trained on gas usage. Joe Naidu, Rakesh Sookraj and Shon Roopnarain have attended a three-day training seminar and written the exams. They are registered with SAGPA and the Utilities department are currently updating documentation to comply with SAGPA.

go i n g l e a n Zinhle Mdadane, Production Manager, recently attended the Lean Summit Africa 2012 in Cape Town with a view to establishing how Lean could benefit NCP Alcohols.

The core idea of Lean is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources. Eliminating waste along entire value streams, instead of at isolated points, creates processes that need less human effort, less space, less capital, and less time to make products and services at far less cost and with fewer defects, compared with traditional business systems. Companies are able to respond to changing customer desires with high variety, high quality, low cost, and with very fast throughput times. Also, information management becomes much simpler and more accurate.

Zinhle Mdadane is going ‘Lean’ ...

Please stand by to follow her.

Said Zinhle, “It soon became abundantly clear to me that leadership is the key component in ensuring the sustainability of Lean manufacturing. I have taken a decision to use as many of the Lean tools as possible in the production department, and to lead by example.

“We have already introduced the ‘fish bone’ concept, which in a nutshell is one of the troubleshooting, problem-solving tools that is often used by Lean users.”

Be safe, not sorry

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Awards presented NEW LEVELS OF EXCELLENCE REWARDED NCP Alcohols created an annual award system, the Excellence Awards, to recognise and appreciate exceptional individual or team excellence within the company. This year recipients of excellence awards were Rodgers Niranjan, Lorraine Mudaly, Faizee Bodha and Stephen Kitching.

“The purpose of these awards is to recognise those employees that change the benchmark of what is expected, those that set new standards and raise expectations. These four employees were nominated and selected due to their outstanding performance, dedication, innovation and quality of work. Each of them set new standards of excellence, going beyond our expectations and creating a new benchmark for others to be measured against,” said Starling.

The selection of award recipients is based on nominations by heads of department of individuals or teams that they believe have delivered outstanding performance, going beyond meeting current standards to set the new standard over a period of time. These nominations are then assessed by the executive committee who put forward a final short list to the managing director for his final ratification.

Faizee Bodha, who was unable to attend the awards function.

LONG-SERVICE AWARDS At a luncheon on 25 September, Peter Starling and the executive committee team recognized and honoured employees who had completed 15 years or more in service to the company during 2012 at the company’s Long Service Awards. The luncheon was marked by an air of wisdom and many a humorous tale of earlier years was shared by all. The recipients of the awards are seen here with MD Peter Starling.

Ace Govender, Quality Manager, 25 years

Biddy Harmer, Site Logistics Manager, 25 years

Kelvin Timm, SHEQ Officer, 25 years

Mervin Kullen, Engineering Planner, 20 years

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Smart, Alert, Focused, Educated = SAFE

Errol Murran 15 years

Alan Pillay, Materials Handler, 20 years

Selby Zungu 25 years

d

Stephen Kitching, Lorraine Mudaly and Rodgers Niranjan with their awards.

TOUCHING LIVES WITH JOY THIS CHRISTMAS NCP Alcohols staff and contractors opened their hearts to bring smiles through the company’s Toy4Joy initiative. More than 100 toys were donated through this initiative to the Durban Children’s Home and according to feedback from the staff they thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity of giving a small gift that could possibly bring joy to an orphaned or vulnerable child this festive season. Here Hartmut Nowak seen with Preshina Pandarum-Moodley, puts a gift into the collection drum in the foyer at NCP Alcohols.

n, Artisan - Mechanical,

Joe Naidu, Utilities Manager, 25 years

u, Operations Controller,

Fraser Vezi, Materials Handler, 40 years

REJOICING IN THEIR HERITAGE Lungile Ntshangase, Excise Clerk, left, and Prudence Gabela, Procurement Officer, celebrated Heritage Day on 24 September; they are seen here in traditional Zulu outfits.

Safety at home, Safety at work

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Cross-training brings benefits Four people have taken part in the popular cross-training or multi-skilling development programme recently, bringing benefits to them and to the company.

Says Siphokazi Majosi who is driving the programme, “By learning to operate more than one unit on the plant, the operations controllers are developing a sense of accomplishment, receiving a financial incentive, and they are moving toward a point from which they can start ‘acting’. The company in turn has more flexibility when it comes to running the units on any given day.”

The training is done in three phases: the facilitator’s programme, on-the-job training, and the practical section where the participants work mostly on their own in their new roles.

Says Siphokazi, “Of course, the whole thing is rigorously controlled, with assessments, tests, interviews, observation and feedback.

We are trying to bring everyone up, which is challenging, but it all makes business sense and people are keen to participate.

One of the participants, Nathi Zikhali, said he found the programme “useful” and that it was “good to know how to operate more units”.

Some of those who have been trained, seen here with Siphokazi Majozi, second left, are from left, Zwe Mbele (to L2), Nathi Zikhali (at L2), Nomsa Mabaso (at L4) Senzo Makhanya (Learnership student: L1) and Simangele Mbonambi (at L4).

Thanks to NCP Alcohols, they DANCED SOME MORE ...

Durban’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre was abuzz with the thrill and excitement of a performance as FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY’s over 400 urban youth and children aged between 6 and 22 years readied themselves for their annual concert on Saturday 27 October 2012.

The Dudlu Ntombi dance group from Umlazi in action during the show.

DANCE SOME MORE 2012

After a full year of afternoon classes and workshops hosted by the six resident dancers of FLATFOOT, these children stepped up to a professional theatre environment by wowing the audience with their skill, dedication and sheer dancing beauty. Hailing from areas like Umlazi, KwaMashu, Clermont and Glenwood/Berea, these youth and children have committed themselves to the FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY arts programmes and have learned the value of hard work and having fun at the same time!

In her opening speech at the “Dance Some More 2012” concert, Artistic Director of FLATFOOT, Lliane Loots, very warmly thanked NCP Alcohols for their incredible support over the past two years in helping keep this work alive and for believing in the transformative power of the arts to ‘grow’ fully realised young South African citizens. When a business like NCP Alcohols sees the value of supporting arts development like the work FLATFOOT does, then a society has begun to understand compassion and the need to support and nurture democracy. FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY feels very proud to put NCP’s logo on all the work they do!

6

Safety by choice, not chance

Learners from the Kenneth Gardens Dance Project.

Hleshe Nsizwa is a dance group formed by children from the Umlazi area.

Most of the recent action in the distillery upgrade project has been happening off-site, but it is anticipated that from the middle of December onwards, there will be visible evidence of all the hard work that has been done by various departments.

The design and mechanical fabrication of the new condensers, tanks, re-boilers and the two new columns is being done by two companies in the Durban area, LHL and FP Engineering. The delivery date is 14 December.

Distillery upgrade project update:

Delivery of distillery columns expected

In parallel, the structural steelwork which is needed to modify the existing structures is being manufactured at Churchyard, also a Durban company. These components will be erected and bolted up by 14 December.

The project will appear to take a leap forward on 19 December when Lovemore Bros will install the two new columns using a 220-tonne crane.

The new year will see the installation of the remaining vessels, 1,1 km of piping and the instruments.

Commissioning is scheduled for the end of May or early June.

Said Stephen Kitching, Project Manager, “The distillery will be fully automated, and thus a lot easier to operate; a new work station will be installed in the central control room for this purpose. The display and functionality will be almost identical to the top distillery which will make the training and handover to operations controllers much easier.�

ABOVE: Stephen Kitching, right, with Philip Taylor of LHL Engineering, examine a tray before it goes into the potable 28-metre column being fabricated in the background.

LEFT: Lumeshni Govender, Process Technician, examines a reboiler in the fabrication stage.

Safety rules are your best tools

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And now ... sports MEDALS FOR OUR SOCCER LADS The annual NNDT Soccer Knockout Cup tournament between teams from Island View Storage, Isegen, Kaefer, NCP Alcohols, Brandhouse and Sapref was once again a great success and very well attended by NCP Alcohols supporters. NCP United Football Club (NUFC) played two good games but could not secure a win on the day, losing 2-1 to Isegen and 2-0 to Island View Storage.

“We had our chances during both games and we played good football which earned us some medals,” said Mzo Jama, NUFC Captain and NNDT event organiser at NCP Alcohols.

RUNNING FOR WELLNESS It was time to dust off the somewhat dusty running shoes for some of our 2012 KPMG Business Relay entrants.

Nine teams entered and the runners and walkers had to brave the sudden sunny spring weather on Saturday 10 November 2012. This year marked the company’s fifth entry and with the number of participants growing every year, this event is marked as a favourite in the company’s employee wellness calendar.

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Safety is MY responsibility