Company Report: Hawker Siddeley Electric Africa (Pty) Ltd
Powering Industry Energy Digital profiles Hawker Siddeley Electric Africa, a leading manufacturer of high quality transformers and switchgear

Hawker Siddeley Electric Africa (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of Yemurai (S.A) (Pty) Ltd, is a leading manufacturer of high quality transformers and switchgear. The company has vast experience in the industry and regularly receives orders from the likes of Eskom, Zesco and Botswana Power Corporation.

"Our brand is very strong and we continue to strengthen it," says Simon Chiwaka, CEO. "Over the years, we have successfully designed and manufactured a lot of equipment and our customers see us as a trusted partner that can deliver because of that."

Hawker Siddeley bills itself as a "supreme manufacturer" and Energy Digital is inclined to agree. It certainly seems to have a degree of supremacy over its competitors and this is evident in the expansion that has seen it move into Angola, the DRC, Namibia, and Mozambique.

There are good prospects for the West African market too and expansion will surely follow there also. "There is potential," Chiwaka says.

But why is that? Well, the power industry in Africa is a growing dynamic industry and there is something of a supply backlog. "We have, over time, capitalised on that demand," adds Chiwaka, who says that Hawker Siddeley, prior to the financial crisis, has enjoyed ten-fold revenue growth over the past five years.

"It is a phenomenal achievement," he says.

NEVER SATISFIED
However, the company will almost certainly not rest on its laurels and aims to continue efforts in "adding value", striving to improve products and reduce costs. That is correct," says Chiwaka. "I would say that we have pride in all we do and, above all else, we enjoy what we do and always strive for better."

This approach has seen Hawker Siddeley maintain a place at the cutting edge of the transformer and switchgear industry and it continually invests in ongoing research and technological innovation in order to maintain that position. "Some of our strong points are that we have a near zero product failure rate," says Chiwaka. "That shows we are committed to engineering excellence, product quality and creating value."

On that theme, Hawker Siddeley has the capacity to deliver minisubs and distribution transformers within eight to 12 weeks, and power and special application transformers within 16 to 24 weeks - impressive indeed.

DELIVERING VALUE
For Hawker Siddeley, delivering value and service is everything and it runs right the way through the business. "That's something we can't stress enough," says Chiwaka, who explained that all of its products are manufactured to meet SABS specifications. It also specialises in custom design and manufacture for customers with unique requirements.

"Our goal is to understand what our customers want and deliver it," Chiwaka adds. "Our motivated and well trained employees play a big part in that, as do the equipment, tools and processes we use. We want to, and do, offer outstanding customer value."

THE MARKET
If there is another thing we've learnt from Chiwaka, it is that while the high demand for reliable products in South Africa has played a significant role in the company's growth, the expanding export market has played its part too.

According to Chiwaka, Hawker Siddeley has become more visible in the southern African region in recent years and has gained a reputation for responding to every customer, no matter how geographically distant or small the prospective order may be. "We are growing all the time," he says.

Hawker Siddeley is headed in the right direction and is in a strong cashflow position. It clearly realises keeping customers happy is the key to business success.

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