Prodin Pty (Ltd): General Fabrication to Furnace Kings and Beyond DATE: 02 Nov 2009
Prodin is a company originally well known for being furnace specialists but now is considered in a whole new light
Written by Ben Lobel & Produced by Alex Barron
When you think of Prodin, you think of a company originally well known in the furnace industry but one which has evolved in accordance with a changing strategy to suit the requirements of clients. And what a development it has been.
The company was established in 1986 in a small 4,000 square metre workshop and, about six years ago, purchased a significantly larger 56,000 square metre yard, with a 25,000 square metre workshop facility. Business Development and Contracts Director David Wafer came into the company as a Director in 2008 and is now a shareholder, and presently he is very proud of the firm’s ability to defy the recession. “We’ve managed to grow our company in the middle of this economic downturn,” he reveals. “In 2007 we achieved a turnover of around 80 million rand; we then managed to grow the company to 100 million in 2008 and we are trending towards 115 million at 87the end of this year,” he says.
Impressive indeed, as it equates to a 25 percent increase from 2007 to 2008, a 15 percent increase from 2008 to 2009. Furthermore, the firm is forecasting sales of 150 million in 2010 which is a further 25 percent increase. “I’d like to say it’s all our own doing,” says Wafer. “But whilst we put in strategies to take out the troughs in our traditional industries, we obviously had a lot of luck as well.”
Significantly, the industry had evolved from the furnace and smelting industry and general fabrication. “We took a decision a couple of years ago to focus on a broader range of clients and industries,” says Wafer. These included the power industry and mining industry. During the downturn, the furnace and smelting industry was significantly impacted but fortunately for Prodin the firm picked up some large projects in the power sector which more than compensated for the downturn in the other sectors.
EVOLUTION FROM FURNACES
As mentioned, Prodin had originally become very well known in the furnace industry, starting off as a general fabricator but then evolving. “One could say our primary sales were achieved in the furnace sector but that was one of the reasons why we were almost typecast as a furnace/smelter specialist,” says Wafer.
The firm changed its strategy and refocused its skills and capabilities to the market. “It became very clear to a number of other clients that the skills that we deploy in the furnace industry are required in a number of other industries as well,” says Wafer.
This adaptability has kept Prodin ahead of its competition. “We have been able to provide a complete range of services to the furnace & smelting sector,” says Wafer. The firm will have a number of competitors in each specialised component, such as electrode columns, furnace roofs, furnace shells and hearths, water cooled ducting, bustubes and a variety of other specialised components but as far as the company is aware, it does not have a competitor that provides every single one of those services.
Another strategic development was the introduction of Prodin Projects which is the construction arm of the group company. “Our clients more and more required a turnkey solution,” explains Wafer. “We started that company two years ago, and together with our partners, have successfully grown that company as well.”
Prodin recruited some key resources during the downturn, within the same period that a number of companies were retrenching and putting pay freezes in place. “10 of our current employees have been with us from 10 to 15 years,” says Wafer. “Our objective is to optimise the use of our staff. We don’t have a top heavy overhead; all the shareholders work full-time in the business and the staff growth is commensurate, obviously with increase in sales. Our priority focus is to optimise use of staff to maintain a competitive overhead,” he adds. “Prodin holds full ISO 2001:2008 certification, which gives our new clients, in particular if they have never worked with us before, a high level of comfort. The Prodin name really has become synonymous with an uncompromising commitment to quality.”
The company is one of the few firms in the industry that continues to employ apprentices; it currently has seven and is employing another five next year. Prodin also has a strict training programme for constant development and growth of our management team.
DREAM WITH A DEADLINE
On the contract front, Prodin’s focus, together with the other two directors and founding shareholders, Charl van der Westhuizen and Carel de Bruin, has been to try and find more long-term work so that it has a balance of short-term, which tends to be the tradition in certain areas of the industry, and long three to four year projects where it can grow the business based on a solid platform.
This has enabled the firm to start looking at optimising how it uses equipment and machinery in the shop. There has been made significant investment in new equipment to allow for all processing of its materials to be done in-house, further maintaining a competitive edge. Wafer outlines the firm’s ‘dream with a deadline’ approach – the company vision is to be known and respected and working for all the key players in its focus sectors both locally and internationally within the next 5 years. “We already work for a number of key players, both locally and internationally” says Wafer. “We want to be working with blue chip organisations and continue providing the same high quality service we have done for many years.”
The Projects Division was brought into the stable in 2007. Prodin was previously only a fabrication company, but now it can take its clients’ design right through to a commissioned product, facility or plant, on site – a cradle to grave solution. It is these solutions that will help the company stay one step ahead of the competition for generations to come.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
COMPANY NAME: Prodin (Pty) Ltd BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND CONTRACTS DIRECTOR: David Wafer OPERATIONS: Medium to heavy engineering fabrication ESTABLISHED: 1986 EMPLOYEES: 250 REVENUE: R200 million
