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Business and training: PROFILE
The power of one
The managing director of Franke South Africa, Craig McIntyre, tells
Plumbing Africa what gets him up in the morning, and talks about the
recent merger between Franke Kitchen Systems and Franke Water Heating.
Taking on this role entails leading and managing
the strategic direction of the business and affairs
of Franke in sub-Saharan Africa, McIntyre says. His
responsibilities are to grow the Franke brand in subSaharan Africa in a sustainable and profitable way.
Currently, this means overseeing three divisions
of the Franke Group in South Africa, being Kitchen
Systems, Water Systems, and Water Heating.
Managing director of Franke
South Africa, Craig McIntyre.
Franke’s manufacturing
site in Midrand.
Managing and developing people
“I absolutely love what I do, mainly because it involves
managing and developing people,” says McIntyre,
who has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical
Engineering from the University of Durban-Westville.
“I am fortunate at Franke to have many really good
people who understand the need to continuously develop
and improve. I also enjoy the fact that no two days are
the same.
“I’m positive about the future,” he says. Franke in South
Africa — and in some of the sub-Saharan African
countries — is well established as a leading provider of
innovative, distinctive solutions for kitchens and baths to
residential and commercial customers.
All images courtesy of Franke South Africa
An aerial shot of
Franke’s manufacturing
site in Durban.
He started his career at Defy Appliances in Durban
as a product development engineer, gaining valuable
experience in project management, manufacturing,
and product design and development over a period of
six years. McIntyre has been with Franke for 14 years
and says that when he joined, he wasn’t looking for
an ‘industry’ — he was simply trying to gain as much
experience as he could.
November 2016 Volume 22 I Number 9
According to McIntyre, there is still much work to be
done in many other sub-Saharan African countries. In
the short term, with the added responsibility of Franke’s
Water Heating Division, he sees a great opportunity to
leverage Franke’s existing infrastructure, experience and
relationships to provide a competitively priced quality
product to customers, backed by a strong after sales
service. Kitchen sinks are only a small part of what
Franke has to offer globally, and it aims to continue
to offer new and innovative products to customers
in the years ahead. “My work philosophy is to have
a continuous improvement mindset that encourages
us to learn from our mistakes and to challenge the
status quo. In all relationships, I’m looking for mutually
beneficial solutions. This mindset, along with honesty
and hard work, will lead to long term sustainable
profitable growth.”
Concerning the merger, the two previous legal entities
of Franke Kitchen Systems and Franke Water Heating
Systems were amalgamated on 1 July 2016 to form
Franke South Africa. The amalgamation allows the
company to eradicate the inefficiencies and overheads
required to have two separate legal entities.
Acting as one company
“The majority of customers also regard Franke as one
company and this simply gives us the opportunity to truly
act as one,” he says.
Franke now employs about 300 people at two
manufacturing sites in Midrand and Durban, as well as
at sales offices around South Africa.
Already, the company has made tremendous
improvements, especially in the areas of sales, after
sales, quality, and logistics. At the moment the water
heating industry is extremely competitive and more
improvement is still required, but on the whole the
merger has been extremely successful. “This would not
have been possible without the dedicated, hardworking
employees of Franke South Africa, as well as the support
from our customers,” McIntyre says.
The Franke that customers knew with regard to stainless
steel products is now the same Franke that they will see
in Franke’s plumbing products. PA
www.plumbingafrica.co.za