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TECSARECO APPOINTS GM
Benjamin Brits ( BB ) had the opportunity to sit down and chat with recently onboarded general manager , Marc Duthoit .
Marc Duthoit ( MD ) responded to several questions posed to him around his appointment , and what he sees as the way forward for TecsaReco in the short term .
He joined the company mid-November 2021 , and although a time of the year when most business is winding down and a lot of the team would be on leave , it was also the perfect opportunity to take a deep dive into the detail around understanding the business , what is working and what is not , and coming up with an appropriate strategy for 2022 .
BB : What does your background entail ? MD : My two prior roles have included working at Russell Hobbs , and for the last 10 years I headed up the consumer division of Philips South Africa . Both of these companies have significant involvement in electronics and small appliances – catering to the FMCG ( fast moving consumer goods ) aspects . For nearly nine of those 10 years my focus was on structuring , building and maintaining the Philips brand locally , which saw substantial growth over this period .
BB : What do you see as your strengths , and how will these be used to build on the business ? MD : I think perhaps not a strength , per se , is my ability to fit into any organisation and identify the areas that need work to achieve optimum performance through various structures and systems . This therefore ensures the company is well positioned with its clients so that no matter their need or what items need to be fixed , we will have a product or solution for them .
BB : What do some of your short-term objectives entail ? MD : Keeping in mind that there may be a number of ideas and plans to improve things that get brought forward , half of these won ’ t necessarily work out or will be impractical – for example increasing overheads or business costs in the organisation when efficiencies can be improved .
Coming into the business with fresh eyes and a different perspective , part of the process is to question the how and why on the existing practices . I feel the company has several areas where we can improve in the short term , so objectives will include building onto existing structures and systems and bringing those that are behind or outdated up to speed with the current business environment – to essentially do better . This will therefore include various measurement procedures and corrections in areas where things may be steering in the wrong direction .
TecsaReco has a wide portfolio of customers – varying
© RACA Journal | Benjamin Brits
from consumers to installers in small and large businesses , and retailers – and prides itself in terms of being able to service those customers . Making sure that we are the company in the community that can be trusted to provide a service and solutions is again key , and I think this is going to take some effort going forward to get fully back on track in this regard . Growth over these three parts of the business will naturally be a focus area .
Many companies globally ( and across many industries ) have been subjected to supply chain challenges and this sadly makes a business lose their edge by waiting for their necessary stock to arrive . Stock management will also be another key objective . It has of course been a tough two years for the industry generally , but looking at the business , in some ways it has done really well , and in others it has been a struggle – like everybody else has endured . 2022 is likely going to be another tough year , but the ‘ turning ’ year as logistics and supply chains improve . I foresee a more consistent supply will result from as early as mid-year .
Once the business has transitioned from flat to a growth phase , we can start to look at ways of introducing new things to the industry and exploring more around how we can execute bringing products to market differently .
BB : Are there any new products , services or divisions in the pipeline for TecsaReco ? MD : There are a number of cards on the table . As we will be participating at FRIGAIR 2022 , all I will say now is that this is where you can expect to see what we have that is new and what we have in the pipeline . RACA
Marc Duthoit , recently appointed general manager of TecsaReco .
www . hvacronline . co . za RACA Journal I March 2022 5