AFRICA news
Crushing and screening specialists and southern African Metso distributor
Pilot Crushtec International recently demonstrated how it can assist
customers to increase output significantly while reducing operating costs. According to CEO Sandro Scherf, the customer— a major quarry owner with a network of operations supplying producers countrywide— had reached its maximum capacity threshold using its existing plant. By substituting the existing crusher with a new Metso HP300 static cone crusher, the quarry has been able to increases its in-spec dust production output by 50 % and its benchmark plant capacity by 40 %. The current suite of Metso equipment at an important quarry site comprises a Metso C100 jaw crusher with B feeder, a Metso CVB1845 four-deck screen, both an HP 200 and an HP 300 static cone crusher, and a CVB 1845 four-deck screen with selective flop gates.
The Zest WEG Group is innovating its empowerment initiatives by facilitating ownership of its shares by two black-owned non-profit organisations( NPOs)— one in the education sector and one in the micro-enterprise support sector— with the aim of creating a broader based, more sustainable ownership foundation for compliance with the new B-BBEE codes. The two NPOs, together with the company’ s Employees Trust, now hold 51.6 % of Zest WEG Electric, the South African arm of the Zest WEG Group, with the shareholding comprising 31.68 % black female beneficiaries.“ Our Level 2 B-BBEE status is certainly one of the best, if not the only such one, in our market sector, and we believe this initiative breaks new ground for empowerment in South Africa,” says Zest WEG Group CEO, Louis Meiring. Zest WEG Group provides a range of skills development resources to schools, universities, and the broader community, including teaching, equipment, financial aid, and infrastructure. These aim to develop local talent and capacity, bringing young learners into the business and industry.
Bell commits to greater investment in its people
Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the Bell Equipment Training Centre in August, Bell Equipment CEO Gary Bell made a commitment to increase the company’ s investment in the development of its employees so that the company can continue to grow and compete internationally. At the ceremony, Gary Bell congratulated 20 employees who had completed an Operations Management Development Programme under the auspices of the Production Management Institute of South Africa( PMI), as well as four employees who had completed a Fundamental Management Programme( FMP) through the UNISA Graduate School of Business Leadership.
The executive manager: Manufacturing, Clive Hodgson, was the guest speaker and explained the background to the PMI Operations Management Development Programme, which Bell introduced in 2008 when the company experienced rapid growth of production volumes but found it difficult to bring in external supervisors and managers, because they lacked an understanding of the Bell culture and products.
At the same time, the company realised that it had formidable employees on the shop floor with the necessary technical abilities and product experience, but without the qualifications that would allow them to apply for supervisory and managerial positions. Thus, the PMI development programme was born, and several groups have now attended the course and progressed in their careers.
The year-long PMI course has lectures every Saturday, which can be challenging given that many supervisors would either go to class directly after coming off a third shift, or would finish their lectures and go straight onto their weekend overtime shift.“ The results have been incredible,” said Hodgson, who pointed out that the lowest mark achieved was 64 %, and some great ideas on cost reduction were covered in the final presentations.
Bell also put four trainee supervisors through the UNISA FMP, which, aside from a single contact session with the lecturers, was done entirely via self-study, with no lectures. All four have since been appointed fully fledged supervisors.
Thanduxolo Taboshe, a supplier quality engineer based in the Bell Supplier Quality Team in Richards Bay, was named Top Student with the highest average in the class, as well as the highest average for the programme in KwaZulu-Natal. He plans to go on to the NQF6 Diploma in Operations Management and will attend PMI’ s public classes in Durban. In recognition of his efforts, Taboshe received a bursary from PMI to the value of R35 000, as well as a promise from Bell to cover the other costs related to the programme.
Gary Bell thanked PMI for its assistance in putting the Bell candidates through the programme, as well as the graduates for giving up their time to further their studies.
Bell Equipment
Bell Equipment held a graduation ceremony at its training centre for 24 employees who had completed either an Operations Management Development Programme or a Fundamental Management Programme.
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NOVEMBER 2017