Mar 03, 2021 Dekra Industrial SA, Johan Gerber, Eddie Van Hansen
Dekra Industrial one safe and strategic step at a time
“Dekra Industrial’s sole reason for existence is safety,” says Johan Gerber, Director at Dekra Industrial RSA, and it is evident that these are more than just words.
Since 1925, when Dekra began its journey into safety services in the international automotive industry, the company has continued to pursue a strategy which enshrines and elevates the importance of safety throughout the many industrial sectors in which the company works, and in more than 50 countries worldwide. Dekra Industrial has grown into the largest industrial inspection entity worldwide under private ownership, and the local business – Dekra Industrial RSA - has been building on its parent company’s key safety ethos in South Africa for the past 38 years.
As such, Dekra Industrial RSA provides accredited Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) services, material testing, laboratory services, advanced NDT, asset integrity services and industry training to various industry sectors. These include the nuclear, power generation, oil and gas, construction, petrochemical, manufacturing, fabrication, pulp and paper, rail, mining, steel, and foundries industries in South Africa and pan-Africa. Dekra Industrial RSA is in the process of becoming RD 0034 compliant – an important nuclear safety compliance standard - and is one of the few NDT companies locally to hold the ISO 45001: 2018 certification.
Gerber explains: “We are fortunate, in that we have cultivated a footprint in a cross-section of industries and are putting plans into place to expand into others – renewables (wind and solar energy) and remote inspections for example. In 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to think out of the box, and initiate new and more innovative ways of working. One of the biggest and most significant of these changes was making our operation entirely paperless. As an inspection company, we have to retain reports and inspection documents for a minimum of five years. By going paperless, we have improved on our proactivity levels – by between 200 and 300 percent - and can now access those documents instantly. Going paperless has therefore turbo-charged our efficiency, and drastically reduced our reaction time. And despite the understandable challenges due to COVID-19 last year, we were able to achieve our targets for 2020.”
2020 also saw Dekra successfully registering Dekra Industrial Inspection LDA Mozambique. This will form a vital gateway into the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, and a key base from which to target the major Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and power generation projects in the region.
Eddie Van Hansen, General Manager of Dekra Industrial agrees, adding: “Brands are not defined by what they do, but by how and why they do it. As Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos once remarked, ‘Your brand is what other people say about you when you are not in the room’. At Dekra Industrial, it is our aim to build a brand that is talked about as being synonymous with quality, integrity, safety and - most of all - the advocacy of our service within our key target market sectors. “We aim to change the prevailing misperception, that NDT is a ‘grudge purchase’. There should never be any compromise in terms of safety and quality.
Gerber is confident that the strategic plans the company has in place to move the business forward in 2021 and into the future, are set to see Dekra Industrial increasing its footprint into untapped industries; and thereby further differentiating the company from its competitors.
Van Hansen adds: “Another key differentiator for Dekra Industrial is that we are able to collaborate with our international colleagues. For example, we can quickly obtain valuable market intelligence by drawing on the Group’s extensive research and development and Services divisions; or in sourcing equipment which we may not have available locally. This is an invaluable resource, which helps us to maximise our turnaround time and efficiency. It also saves costs, as we would not have to purchase the equipment in question locally. “Intelligence from our international counterparts and divisions is hugely valuable. Dekra is on five continents and in more than 50 countries; and we are thereby able to tap into the very latest, cutting-edge NDT and inspection strategies, software and procedures – all of which add significant value to our clients on a daily basis,” Gerber points out.
We inspire this level of advocacy from our clients, by providing everyone with the same level of service excellence, quality and above all, safety. We will continue to provide the best after sales service, and we have the capacity to grow with our clients as we continue to build awareness of NDT throughout sub-Saharan Africa,” Van Hansen concludes.
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