FACE-TO-FACE
RG: The manufacturing facility has a lot of old
machines — is it possible to retrofit machines
that are old to improve on energy efficiency,
or will you need to replace some of them?
QA: When doing the feasibility study, we
are looking at an end-to-end approach,
and so what we have really started
looking at is the high utilisation areas of
the workshop, because that is where we
see potential opportunities for retrofit. It
does not make financial sense to retrofit a
machine with quite a low productivity that
is a fully amortised asset that is operating
100%. The only impact is perhaps the high
consumption, but if it is only operating
for 20% of the productive hours, then we
need to look at what the impact is on total
production. Basically, we are looking at it
on a holistic level to make sure that the
decisions we make are the right decisions
for the business.
RG: Do you feel that your background
gives you an advantage in terms of offering
different or interesting approaches during
this process, compared to other companies
in a similar situation?
QA: That is a difficult question for me to
answer. What I can say is that the entire
efficient programme. And obviously making
sure that our head office in Jet Park is also
running an energy-efficiency programme.
Among the services offered at Metso’s Vereeniging facility
are crusher upgrades.
team at Metso South Africa brings fresh
perspectives. I joined Metso in February
2017, our administrative MD, Julian Palliam,
joined Metso in October 2016, also from
an energy background, and we are both
quite young, under 35. Then we have
Mikhail Kirienko, our VP for operations, who
joined us from Russia in November 2016,
and our HR director, Shanitha Singh, who
joined in September 2017 from a similar
industry, coming from WSP Africa. So, I
think if you start looking at differentiating
factors, we have quite a dynamic team that
is really looking at every single aspect of
the business and asking what we can do
differently — and if we need to. Because
the idea is not to reinvent the wheel, but
to understand what the potential minor or
major improvements are to improve the
organisation. ■