Having listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange last year, the supply chain management and industrial IT solutions company, Streamworks, has grown significantly.
With CEO Russell Kleyn and COO Peter Mostert at the helm, the company states plainly that it intends to become a dominant player in the local supply chain management and industrial automations solutions business. In this vein, it has made a number of key acquisitions intended to grow Streamworks' range of expertise as well as its national base.
The company has embarked on an expansion drive over the past six months in order to consolidate its widespread national base and to better support the wide range of industries it serves. Through the acquisitions of Logicon in KwaZulu-Natal, Peak Automation in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, and DLRA Projects in Gauteng, the company is proud to report that it now has a truly national base. The company recently passed the 100-employee mark and has plans to grow further still.
These plans include the opening of a professional services division that will address the 'supporting' business functions of the customer ie procurement, plant maintenance, stores administration and process control. Terry Jensen heads this new division. He clarifies: "Streamworks believes that the IT outsourcing net can be widened even further than its present paradigms. As part of its business, Streamworks is involved in streamlining processes for clients involved in the manufacturing and distribution industries. We offer outsourcing of the supporting business functions underpinning the supply chain between the business' suppliers and customers."
Gary Rippon and Geoff Dall, former employees of Logicon, both used to head up the company. Gary is now Streamworks' Durban Office Manager, while Geoff is the Engineering Manager. The acquisition of Logicon was an important step in growing Streamworks' national network. Streamworks CEO Russell Kleyn reports: "Although Logicon operated at the lower end of the Industrial IT sector of our business, the business had a good fit with our own. At the same time we are able to offer Logicon's clients a range of professional industrial IT and supply chain management solutions."
The combined client base in KwaZulu-Natal now includes Sasko, Toyota SA, Wayne Rubber, Robertson Spices, Mercedes Benz SA, Resinkem, Huntsman Tioxide, SA Breweries and Umgeni Water.
In the Western and Eastern Cape, Streamworks has absorbed the staff and premises of Peak Automation, which has supplied first-rate services to the Western Cape market for many years. In addition, Streamworks can now offer the following services: supply and design of AC and DC drive systems; supply and design of PLC/MCC panels and their programming scada system configuration, and MES systems such as Wonderware InTrack and its links into ERP systems such as SAP and BAAN.
Streamworks' key new players here include Dave Morrison, who heads up Streamworks' Cape Town branch, and Donovan Mansfield at the Port Elizabeth office. The client base in the Cape includes Delta Motor Corporation, Samcor PE, Ceres Fruit Juices, Kromco, Nampak Tissue and Parmalat.
John Duncan and Abel Acuña join Streamworks from DLRA Projects in Gauteng. Duncan is now Streamworks' Sales Manager while Acuña is heading up the day to day running of the projects division. DLRA supplied excellent levels of service in the automation market since the mid 1980's, and has been a significant player in the local process control and systems integration market since mid-1990. From 1995, the company expanded its portfolio of services to offer more comprehensive engineering management capabilities, including higher levels of automation solutions such as manufacturing execution systems.
As a result of this merger Streamworks, incorporating DLRA Projects, is now able to offer the same levels of service both companies are known for. The range of competencies extends from PLC and scada systems right through to the integration of ERP and logistics systems or engineering, project management, testing and commissioning, procurement and validation, and development and training. Thanks to the merger with DLRA, Streamworks' client base has been swelled by the additions of Yskor, Siemens, Sasol Coal, Saldahna Steel, Eskom and Cadbury's Sweets and Chocolates (PE).
In addition to expanding its base nationally, Streamworks has also been extending its frontiers into the e-commerce arena. Their involvement links back to their supply chain management expertise, which is assuming huge importance worldwide as e-commerce and e-business continue to grow exponentially around the globe. Streamworks is responsible for making sure that items ordered in cyberspace actually get physically delivered in the real world. For a working example, have a look at www.winedirectonline.co.za (order yourself a couple of good bottles of wine - our great South African heritage! - at the same time?) Other website involvements are in the pipeline, including a venture with a home shopping mall company.
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