The next chapter By the early 1990s Ravago could no longer be considered a small company and the culture and systems created by Van Gorp had begun to reap dividends. Sadly, he was not to see the fulmination of his humbly inspired plan: he died at the relatively young age of 62 in 1993. Although people in the industry had begun to see him as something of a ‘guru’ in the material supply market, Van Gorp was a regular guy to the end: he still played cards with friends in Arendonk, wrote weekly sport columns for the local newspaper and visited the chip shop near the Ravago offices. Fortunately for Ravago, a succession plan was in place: his daughter Gunhilde van Gorp and her husband, Theo Roussis, took over the management of the business. Roussis, who hailed from Greece originally and who initially struggled with the language, at first faced unspoken prejudices. But Roussis rose to the occasion and, with astute business acumen, set out to continue the work of his fatherin-law. The partnership of Roussis and Gunhilde van Gorp proved very successful for the Ravago group: where Roussis focused on the strategic side of the business, Van Gorp’s daughter offered a sympathetic ear to colleagues and, if anything, the business culture created by Raf van Gorp blossomed fully. During the 1990s, and virtually unchanged by the passing away of Raf Gorp (which is probably the greatest achievement by any leader), Ravago continued along its chosen path, that of growth. Acquisitions and joint ventures around the world followed: among the entities which came into being were Entec in the USA, Ravago Hong Kong, Polymed (Middle East) and Ravago Turkey, as well as Plastomark in South Africa which joined the network in what was clearly becoming one of the most successful material supply operations in the industry. On the manufacturing side, Ravago invested in and expanded its compounding activities and also improved its capabilities in the areas of engineering plastics and specialty products. The fact that it had customers in different regions and was able to move materials around among the group companies effectively meant that it was able to support its customers very convincingly. Ravago’s wide spread activities involved the continuous supply of: • producer-branded polymers;
One of the warehouses operated by Ravago group companies
Semi-processed scrap material is today possibly as popular, or even more popular, than in the 1960s; Reprocessing of scrap material from petrochemical plants is an important part of the group’s service
Transition
Theo Roussis, originally from Greece, and his wife Gunhilde van Gorp have carried on the work started by Raf van Gorp that has seen the company develop even further
• global brand of certified prime polymers; • eco-friendly products • custom-formulated polyolefin compounds • wide specification polymers • post-industrial and post-recycled materials. Besides material compounding, recycling and supply, Ravago is also a supplier of a wide range of finished products, including insulation, geotextiles and roof membranes, building panels, extruded sheet, pipes and fittings and building films and bags. As in the case with material supply, Ravago’s specialty remains its high level of service: namely the effective and reliable supply of these goods.
Ravago was able to make the transition from manual management into the computer era, which took place largely during the 1990s, along with introduction of internet-based operations, with comparative ease. The acquisition of Muehlstein group in 2006 strengthened the group significantly. Founded in 1911, Muehlstein was the pioneer of polymer distribution in North America and its integration into the Ravago group made it very clear that Ravago had become one of the world leaders in the sector. The fact that these mergers went off so successfully is probably also testament to the work of founder Van Gorp, as well as the diplomatic nature of the Belgians. • THE RAVAGO COMPANIES IN SOUTH AFRICA INCLUDE THE MATERIAL SUPPLY OPERATIONS PLASTOMARK AND ULTRA POLYMERS.
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