Schneider Electric recently celebrated 30 years in South Africa with a glittering banquet held at the Vodadome in Midrand. Attended by 500 customers, channel partners, press and employees, the glamorous black-tie event was the talk of the industry with fire-dancers, light shows, and the party of the year which continued into the not-so-wee hours of the next morning! This is how it all began:
When two French brothers, Eugene and Adolphe Schneider, took over the Cruesot mining concern in 1836 they would have found it hard to imagine that 164 years later Schneider Electric would have 9000 sales outlets in over 130 countries across the globe. The company has 67 500 staff members generating annual sales in excess of 8,4 billion euros.
When Schneider Electric started opening subsidiaries all over the world in the late 60s, South Africa was seen as a major growth point with the establishment of a Square D assembly facility. In 1971 the Schneider name was registered, followed by Telemecanique, a few years later Merlin Gerin, and 10 years later, Hoist-Tec was founded. In 1994 Schneider Electric was established, incorporating the brands of Merlin Gerin, Square D and Telemecanique. Two years later, Schneider Automation was established, including the integration of Modicon activities.
Thirty years after arriving in this country the company now boasts a workforce of over 250 people with branches in all the major centres as well as all over Africa.
Its reach into Africa has been consolidated by taking over the commercial responsibilities of two major regions in Africa. Zambezi Africa, including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Botswana; and the East African region of Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Schneider SA now manages all these countries.
Together with its customers, Schneider Electric South Africa has created a network of powerful partnerships enabling the company to be the success that it is today. In recent years Schneider has been on an aggressive acquisition and joint venture campaign, having acquired Nu-Lec, Conlog, SteepleChase Software, SIG Positec and Crouzet. A joint venture has been created with the Toshiba Corporation as well as a strategic partnership with Adroit Technologies.
The company has also formed a strategic alliance with the Malesela Group, the leading black empowerment company involved in the electrical market.
More recently, Schneider Electric South Africa has been awarded the listing for its Quality Management System, which is based on the new ISO 9001:2000 standard. Schneider is the first South African company in the electrical industry to have been listed by the South African Bureau of Standards. Its employees are also proud to be the first entity within the Schneider Group to be recognised by an external accreditation body for this achievement.
An official presentation of the listing certificate was made to Schneider Electric South Africa on 8 June 2001. The attainment of this milestone is seen as the first significant step on the road towards the realisation of expectations of all stakeholders, customers, employees and shareholders.
Schneider Electric South Africa
(011) 254 6400
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