Cummins South Africa (Cummins SA) serves the varied needs of its customers with world class coolant, filtration and fuel additive products.
THE ENGINE OF AFRICA
Cummins SA design and manufacture industry leading and innovative filtration and air intake products for diesel engines and gas powered equipment in sub-Saharan Africa. Formally established back in 2010, Cummins SA is the African operation of Cummins Inc., who since 1946 have had a footprint on the continent and launched its first African manufacturing plant for filtration services in 1998. Since that time, the company has built a stellar reputation in pioneering technology and first class aftermarket support and service. From their headquarters in Kelvin, Johannesburg, Cummins has expanded to include approved dealers in Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia and employ over 1,000 staff directly and 3,000 indirectly. On the back of this expansion and development in Africa, the Johannesburg office has become the nucleus for the African operations with the company having additional subsidiary companies in Botswana and Zambia.
PRODUCTS FOR THE MARKETS
Diesel engines and generators play a vital role in various African markets, ranging from off-road trucks to cell tower power generation. However, the engines, while sturdy and built to last, are no match for Mother Nature and on a continent with a very diverse and demanding topography, ensuring that those engines remain in running smoothly is imperative. Two of the biggest problems for engines on the continent are remaining at optimum running temperature during the day and ensuring dust, sand and other particles are kept outside the engine’s inner workings. Cummins SA have been manufacturing and selling cutting edge technology designed to combat and reduce the probability of engine failure due to either problem.
From air filters offering multi layered protection specifically optimised for the rough African landscape, to coolant systems designed to operate at cold or hot temperatures, Cummins SA have worked tirelessly to ensure that all of their products are held to the highest international standards. The company proudly hold internationally accredited ISO Certifications 9001:2008, 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007. Cummins SA are strong advocates of sustaining a cleaner, healthier and safer environment by going further than just safety and industrial compliance. The business proactively seek improvements to products and procedures and will continue to not only offer environmentally friendlier goods, but constantly refine and reinvent those products to be even greener without compensating for performance.
CLEANER EMISSIONS SOLUTIONS
With the global push to reduce CO2 emissions across the entire world, Cummins SA have stepped up to the challenges with gusto. The company design, manufacture and distribute leading aftermarket exhaust technology and commercial solutions for many vehicle specifications such as off-road trucks, light and heavy vehicles and high horsepower engines. With increasingly stringent regulations concerning emissions being introduced by governing bodies, Cummins Emission Solutions are dedicated to developing systems and products that produce lesser levels of air contaminants while maintaining the need for smarter fuel efficiency and performance for the customer.
It is not just the reduction of CO2 that is being highlighted globally at present but also a reduction in levels of NOx (Oxides of Nitrogen), Hydrocarbons (a key component of smog) SOx (Sulphur Oxide) and CO (Carbon Monoxide).
One of Cummins SA products, the Selective Catalytic Reduction unit (SCR) has played a critical role in reducing the level of NOx being pumped into the atmosphere in Africa and Europe. The reducing unit works by mixing an agent with NOx to change the pollutants into Nitrogen, Water and small levels of CO2, all of which are natural elements found in the atmosphere and more eco-friendly than its original compound. SCR’s are manufactured in the Cummins facility in Pretoria and as of 2013, over 500,000 units have been built and distributed across the continent and into Europe. This mammoth milestone is a testament to the dedication of the company in trying to create a greener future for all and showcases industry willingness to comply with regulations and to lessen their own carbon footprint.
VALUES TO DO BUSINESS BY
All successful businesses have a creed and ethos by which they conduct themselves in all aspects of their work. For Cummins SA, these values are the very basis of what drives the company forward. The values set out for the whole Cummins brand are focused on ensuring that the company is always looking to better both its own products and the impact they have on local and international industries.
DISTRIBUTION OF POWER
Although Cummins SA works predominantly in the filtration and emissions solutions markets, they also have an extensive distribution network across the continent, specialising in the supply of genuine Cummins products. Cummins Inc. have an extensive portfolio of goods ranging from diesel engines, generators and fuel systems, all the way through to electronic control modules and turbo chargers. The overall goal of Cummins is to bring more of their products to more countries via the supply network in Africa and with the building of new regional distribution centres- such as the one in Ghana -this goal is becoming closer than ever. The new RDC (Regional Distribution Centre) opened in July this year and will not only create more jobs in the country but by having a hub for supply in the country, fulfilment turnaround times for stock orders and urgent orders are greatly lessened. With the RDC in Ghana allowing Cummins a gateway into the Western African markets, it will only be a matter of time before the company launches a new RDC in Africa, furthering the expansion of Cummins SA’s already sizeable supply network.
Cummins SA takes great pride in their products and their ability to serve the needs of their customers. The company believes that it is the creativity and commitment of their employees that makes it possible for the company to remain market leaders across the continent. Having invested in training their employees to a high standard and giving them the necessary tools and services to do the best job possible, Cummins SA are confident that satisfaction among employees will in turn lead to satisfaction among consumers by means of innovative products that are created by innovative employees.
It is not just the engineers and designers that have made Cummins SA such a strong company but also the outstanding customer service and assistance employees provide clients on a daily basis. Cummins SA believe in keeping customers for life and in order to do this, they aim for total satisfaction with every aspect of the business, from products to servicing and customer service. The company also conduct customer satisfaction surveys, work with focus groups to better understand the consumer drivers and meet with customer councils. Cummins encourage customers to get in touch with them and offer suggestions on how they can better their customer satisfaction and services through various channels such as social media and online contact forms.
SUPPORTING THE INDUSTRY AND ENVIRONMENT
With renewable energy projects in South Africa growing, Cummins SA have been quick to align themselves with the developments. In 2013, the company supplied power generation to a R3 billion solar project during its construction phase in the form of 19 Cummins Power Generation 17 kVA single-phase generator sets which ensure dependable power backup for the plant’s onsite motor control centres.
Cummins SA sees CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) as not just investing and participating in social programmes, but as the development of a social profile that has a responsibility to use parts of the company’s resources to respond to the needs of society. Cummins SA’s success as a company will be influenced by their ability to appreciate and comprehend the societies where they do business and with 15 community involvement teams in Africa,
communities can be sure that their thoughts and feedback will be heard by the company. Cummins believe community participation not only builds positive communities but also helps entice the finest employees who want to make a difference in their communities in any way possible.
With a strong, creative and resourceful workforce designing and manufacturing revolutionary products for the market, Cummins SA have quickly become one of the most dominant players in the sub-Saharan African diesel engine products and service technologies industry. With the continued investment in African expansion from Cummins Inc., the company’s footprint will continue to grow steadily backed by a customer base who demands only the finest products from the finest company, something Cummins SA are renowned for.
