Housing in Southern Africa February 2015

Industry Buzz, Events & Products

global win

31% reduction by tuning all mate- rial stocks to meet realistic sales forecasts. The South African entries for the global final phase of the competi- tion included: Lafarge Lichtenburg H&S Team; Team Leader: Conrad van der Westhuizen; Initiative: Electronic Visible Felt Leadership (VFL) System enhances impact on safety; Category: Health and Safety; Lafarge Readymix Projects; Team leader: DaveMiles; Initiative: Electronic Proof of Delivery (EPOD) saves time and cost; Category: Cash flows and EBITDA; Lafarge Moregrove Quarry; Team Leader: Peter Willemse; Ini- tiative: Innovative finesmanagement gives better returns; Category: Capital Allocation; Lafarge Aggregates Con- tinuous Process Improvement; Team leader: Peter Deering; Initia- tive: Introduction of best operating practices enhances production and cuts costs; Category: Managers’ Leadership. Special sub-categories • Lafarge Ninians Quarry • Team Leader: Stewart Chislett; Initiative: Proactive maintenance reduces energy costs; Category: Energy Consumption • Lafarge Blue Rock Quarry • Team leader: Andre van Heerden; Initiative: Unique Light Duty Ve- hicle loading scheme gives quicker stock turnover; Category: Invento- ries reduction Communications Manager of Lafarge South Africa, Chantál Stewart, who was responsible for rolling out and managing the Lafarge Awards in South Africa says: “The success of the global winners was shared and cel- ebrated internationally and locally. The awards are a valuable source of inspiration for new local initiatives and benchmarking our own projects against the rest of the Lafarge world.” Lafarge places innovation at the heart of its priorities, working for sustainable construction and archi- tectural creativity to help build better cities around the world: more beauti- ful cities that are better connected, have more housing and are more compact and durable. These Global Awards honour and recognise the in- novation of its employees who work so hard to meet the high standards set by Lafarge ■

Special Sub-categories • Category: Energy Consumption – Winning Country: United Arab Emirates; Initiative: Comparing poorly against competitors, the Fu- jairahcement plant implementeda powermastery plan and is on track for a 5% reduction in energy costs. • Category: Inventories reduction – Winning Country: Serbia; Initia- tive: Aiming to reduce inventory levels by 20%, Serbia achieved a

of its operation to reduce variable and fixed costs, while also steering cement price negotiations. • Category: Managers’ Leadership – Winning Country: India; Initia- tive: Implemented WAVE (Women Adding Value & Excellence) to cre- ate a more inclusive workplace. A variety of programmes contributed to India achieving a higher ma- turity index and a greater sense of belonging amongst female employees.

February 2015