AFRICA IN BUSINESS
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Jörg Thomas
up technical expertise and capacity on a local scale. In the same year we founded our own regional center in Kenya. Since then we’ve been continuously checking where branch offices or service hubs would be prudent in line with our market development and then establishing them. In 2016 we split the market zone into six clusters, each of which is managed by a regional center (RC). West Africa and the Maghreb states have been supported from Europe to date but here, too, we’re soon to show local presence by setting up a separate branch office for this region. Thomas: The aim of these regional hubs – apart from sales organization – is to transfer our local service knowledge to the KHS Group’s entire product portfolio. This allows us to provide proximity to the customer and establish a level of expertise in the region which enables local teams to also install and commission our machinery besides just servicing it. Part of our strategy of regionalization is training, this offered not just to our own employees but also to many local customers. We’ve already opened a KHS training center in South Africa to this end. East and Central Africa are to follow, so that by 2022 we’ll have a training structure in place that covers the entire continent. Auinger: We’ve also set up a uniform SAP system. This not only facilitates administration and controlling but also functionsasaplatformforcommunication to coordinate work locally between the various KHS subsidiaries. Because we’ve identified regionalization as the key to our success, our endeavors have by no means stagnated but instead continue to be permanently further developed and optimized.
How is the corona crisis affecting Africa and the Middle East in particular and what does this mean for KHS’ business? Thomas: The wave of infection hit our regions later than Europe. Despite this, very extensive measures were adopted early on in some places, such as in South Africa. This not only introduced one of the world’s strictest lockdowns but also prohibited alcohol and tobacco – not only for consumption but also in production. Auinger: The corona crisis has hit us hard in our market zone. While our global key accounts have suspended their investments for the time being, our more regional private customers are continuing to invest. We’re also affected by travel restrictions. We’re therefore left to our own local devices much more than before. We can have greater confidence in ourselves and simply get on with the job using our local teams. Our service engineers in Nigeria have thus installed complex machinery and passed the acceptance tests without any outside help. In Saudi Arabia and Mozambique customer employees have completed the commissioning process on their own with the help of our remote support unit. We feel confirmed in our strategy of regionalization adopted over the past few years. It enables us to provide equipment and support to our customers locally despite the current situation.
We were the first engineering company to sell filling systems on this continent.
tripled in the last five years. Ninety-five percent of our workforce is comprised of local specialists. There are lots of people here with ambition who have great potential. We’re always nurturing our local personnel by inviting them to Germany for a few weeks each year to take part in training courses, for instance. What role do the prevention of waste and protection of the climate play on your markets? Thomas: In Africa people are used to working with returnable bottles in the glass segment. In the fast-growing PET segment it’s often not possible to set up a closed-loop system. More action needs to be taken here. Our big customers practice sustainability only if costs remain neutral for them. The willingness to make improvements is limited as long as governments don’t intervene. That’s why international politics needs to bring pressure to bear on the countries of Africa. There are a number of positive examples, however. In Kenya, for instance, the production, import and use of plastic bags have been prohibited since August 2017. The recycling rate for PET bottles is over 70% in South Africa, with much of the recycled material going to the clothing industry. Auinger: Our influence as machine manufacturers is limited to the provision of suitable technologies. We’re actively forging ahead with reductions in bottle weight and packaging materials, for example. And the high efficiency and low consumption of our KHS systems also actively contribute to the protection of the climate.
www.khs.com
Markus Auinger
The corona crisis has hit us hard in our market zone. While our global key accounts have suspended their investments for the time being, our more regional private customers are continuing to invest.
What role do employees play in your strategy of regionalization?
Auinger: Up until ten years ago engineers had to be sent out from Europe; we now employ over 250 people throughout the entire region. This number has more than
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