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Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
PRETORIA Portland Cement (PPC) remains positive about the future of Zimbabwe despite the present challenges facing the economy.
Speaking at a function to launch a state-of-the-art palletiser and plastic cover wrapping machine at the Bulawayo plant on Friday, the company’s managing director Lekula Njombo said the company, one of the country’s biggest cement producers, had transformed substantially over the last few years.
“I am very positive about the future of Zimbabwe although at the moment there are a lot of challenges in the economy such as liquidity crisis, high interest rates and competition from imports,” he said.
He said PPC Zimbabwe would use technological advancement and innovative marketing strategies in order to provide a world-class product and service delivery.
The palletiser is the first of its kind in the country’s cement industry.
The machine, which is automated, packs cement bags onto a pallet in a neatly designed unit. Njombo said it is a more efficient working system.
“Our aim is to provide our customers with innovative, industry-first product and service. In recent years, we have been using the stern loading system, which is our old system installed in 1997 and it was the best at the time. Its disadvantages were that it was an integrated system where loading was directed from the silo into your truck and when there are power cuts everything stops.
“Stern loading is a thing of the past because it is slow loading. Palletised cement is loaded and off-loaded by forklift making it less labour intensive thus reducing labour costs,” he said.
The palletiser is PPC Zimbabwe’s most recent acquisition and was more efficient.
“It (palletiser) offers improved output, better service and turnaround times for our customers, enhancing PPC’s service delivery while ensuring that PPC remains the supplier of choice within Zimbabwe and beyond in the region,” he said.
PPC operates in central Sadc, an emerging market.
“As these markets develop, PPC, supported by its vision to be the cement industry leader in its geographical markets, stands poised to grow and expand, while realising its mission to remain the preferred source of cement and cement products in the region,” said Njombo.
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