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IN BUSINESS AFRICA
Africa and the Middle East, for us we see a rapidly growing market for still water in PET bottles. Combined with the increasing demand for soft drinks in the Sub-Sahara, the PET container segment here now has a market share of about 80%. How do the requirements of bottlers here differ from those in other regions? Auinger: Our customers need more advice on project planning and implementation. In Africa and the Middle East we’re seen as a guarantee for the success of the beverage producer. This explains why turnkey lines areprocured insteadof single machines: with these, the responsibility for the functioning of the technology lies with a single source. Our customers value the stability and high efficiency of our machinery and reward this quality with great loyalty. Our customers also require much more support with the maintenance of their plant technology. In Central and East Africa especially we thus conclude extremely highly devised service level agreements, in which we define a certain level of efficiency for our systems over a period of many years.
Fig 1: Markus Auinger Executive vice-president of Market Zone Middle East /Africa Photo credit: KHS Group
Fig 2: Jörg Thomas Managing director of KHS South Africa
Photo credit: KHS Group
It’s therefore all the more important that we’re always accessible for our customers at a local level and able to give them the support they need at all times.
that are booming. These are juxtaposed by nations on the other that suffer a setback following a very positive development. One example is Angola that for a long time underwent a very good development. But for four years now there’s been more or less nothing doing. Saudi Arabia is investing little at the moment, too.
In which countries is KHS particularly strongly represented and why is this so?
Which strategy has KHS adopted in this market zone?
Auinger: A few years ago there were still a large number of regions we hadn’t yet covered. Our systems and solutions are now installed in every single country in our sales region and looked after by our engineers. We’re extremely successful where our branch offices are. However, we also have very good business relations with customers in Cameroon, Tanzania, Mozambique, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries with a turbulent history. At the moment, we’ve a lot to do in the Maghreb states thanks to the strong market growth there. In relation to the entire region, the overall market growth is less strong that you might imagine, however. This is due to the fact that on the one hand you always have countries
Which types of machine are in particular demand in Africa and the Middle East? What kinds of beverage are KHS systems used for?
Auinger: In 2013 the decision was made to strengthen our sales regions and build
Markus Auinger
Thomas: In our market zone we do about 95% of our business in turnkey lines – unlike in sales regions such as the USA where up to 50% is attributable to single machines. Auinger: While non-alcoholic soft drinks in cans and PET bottles are chiefly consumed in the Middle East, on the African continent returnable glass bottles for carbonated beverages have a long tradition. This is clearly changing: in North
Our customers value the stability and high efficiency of our
machinery and reward this quality with great loyalty. Our customers also require much more support with the maintenance of their plant technology.
CONNECTING COMPETENCE | ONE:21
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