CELEBRATING
CORPORATE PROFILE
50 Years
57
products like milk and bread being at towns outside a
30km radius from the site.
The key to Industrial Plumbers’ success stems from
the development of relationships, says Zipp. “The
process of winning tenders is closely aligned to having
the right feel for the market through experience and
also the relationship one has with main contractors
developed over many years. Relationship building starts
with delivering quality work and on time, and thereafter
getting to know the relevant individuals not only in a
work but also social environment. Like all relationships
you have to be reliable and available to discuss and
resolve problems and ultimately come up with workable
solutions. Working in Zambia for clients from all over
the world has meant dealing with people from Japan,
China, Israel, and so on – again proving that forming and
nurturing strong relationships with our clients is vital to
our ongoing success.”
Key relationships sustain workflow
Derek Zipp, CEO of Industrial Plumbers.
While the recent demise of Group 5 is a blow, Zipp says
the company always had to tender for each job. “We
tendered on a select list basis – you get put on a list by
engineers and quantity surveyors – but ultimately you still
have to be the best or lowest price to win the job.
“Other important relationships were with the people
who have been part of the business over the years: key
people come and go and there were several ‘partners’ in
the business sometimes for ten-year stretches. Mention
must also be made of our many suppliers in this industry
that we have had association with for most of the time –
without their support we could never have grown as we
have,” says Zipp.
Diversification successes and false steps
“We have made various attempts at diversification over
the years – some succeeded and some failed – and
new alliances were formed,” says Zipp. “On the success
side we count our diversification and expansion into
fire prevention and control and building and plumbing
maintenance servicing in two major areas of their
[Sasol’s] organisation. Further we have formed alliances
with some leading manufacturers in the solar and
hot water generation industries. We are continually
researching new innovations and aim to bring these in to
give us a competitive edge.”
Less successful diversification attempts were made to
trade in certain plumbing lines. “We dabbled in certain
products like the Wavin agency for HDPE pipes which
product range competes overseas with Geberit and Valsir,
but we weren’t structured for this kind of distribution
business and that was not a successful venture.
“Lowlights for me personally have been the ending of
partner relations for various reasons in the past and
January 2020 Volume 25 I Number 11
“In addition to our strong alliance with Group 5, we have
over time worked for and developed strong relationships
with most of the large main contractors – including
Grinaker LTA, Concor, Steffanuti-Stocks, WBHO and
Liviero. We have undertaken many years of construction
of housing plumbing for Fox Lake Developers on the
Platinum belt in North-West province.
“The
longevity of
many staff is
attributable
to the
family-
culture of
the business
and the
company’s
passing on
from father
to son.”
Neil Mole, contracts director looking after local
contracts and currently focused on operations in the
Secunda-based companies.
having to retrench long-term employees – last year we had to
retrench staff for the first time in 48 years due to the decline
in the local construction industry and that was painful for
me. Some projects and contracts don’t go the way they were
planned, but we have seen all of them through to completion
no matter the cost and eventually come out smiling.
“Working almost exclusively for the big main contractors
in the past, we were ill-prepared to deal with some of the
‘weaker’ (or shall we say – less ethical) main contractors in
the past two years, who have eventually gone into liquidation
and cost us big time,” explains Zipp.
Despite such setbacks, the company has now enjoyed ten
years of unbroken growth, which started in the lead up to the
2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup for which it was appointed (as
lead partner in a JV) as the sub-contractor for the plumbing
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