Three years ago Phahama Systems Development (PSD) came into being, filling a critical gap in the empowerment of the electronics manufacturing sector.
Derick van Basten, the company's CEO, was involved with a number of companies that had to subcontract much of their electronics manufacturing out, and they were also facing the challenge of transforming their companies in line with the criteria set by the Department of Trade and Industry.
"Finding a suitable black partner who will buy 40% of your company, especially in electronic manufacturing where capital investment is huge, is a challenge," explains van Basten. "Added to that, South Africa does not produce enough skilled black people in engineering to cope with transformation targets. The combination of these two challenges can easily lead a company to end up in survival rather than empowerment."
However, van Basten did meet one in Hosia Matlou, now PSD's operations manager, and they decided to start a company from scratch. Together with two other shareholders - Gladys Kgorane, general manager, and Bea Botha, financial manager - they built empowerment into the very foundations of the company.
"Where we are now and what we have, was contributed by the shareholders," says van Basten. "To date we have contributed about R5 million to the company and have a further R3 million on the books for the next two financial years. PSD is a manufacturing company that invests in plant machinery and the training of its personnel. To my mind, this is a real success story in terms of a black empowerment company starting from nothing and we can be a BEE role model for the electronics industry. We intend to maintain a fully-empowered company that will provide our customers with products and services that will meet all of their requirements."
Further to this aim, PSD's vision is to be the leading authority in the electronics industry with regard to the development, manufacturing and testing of turnkey systems and components.
"We are different from our competitors in that we are an electronic systems house," explains van Basten. "This means that we employ all the capabilities to take a product or system from concept stage to manufacturing, testing and industrialisation. In the event that we do not have the skills, we will outsource, therefore enabling us to focus on our core business."
PSD focuses on smaller volume, high technology products and plans to stay in that niche market. They also put an emphasis on research and development and are involved in developing control systems for Spoornet's locomotive fleet. One complete electronic control system is already running at Impala Plats mines. The company is currently busy with the in-house development of other products normally developed by large, international companies and van Basten is proud of the fact that PSD is the first fully BEE, South African company to get involved in such projects.
"The electronics industry is undoubtedly one of the most important industries," notes van Basten. "It is at the heart of economic growth and development in South Africa, and feeds all other industries," He also suggests that the richness of any country is related to the number of engineers that it can produce and maintain, citing China's success in relation to the fact that it produces more than 400 000 engineers annually.
As a result, PSD is committed to remaining on the cutting edge of technology through state-of-the-art processes, continual training of its staff and the maintenance of quality standards, such as the ISO and IPC standards. Its commitment to BEE is also critical to the ongoing health of the company and the industry as a whole.
"We are investing in the electronics industry of tomorrow," concludes van Basten.
Reprinted with permission from CEO magazine
For more information contact Hosia Matlou, Phahama Systems Development, +27 (0)12 665 4750, [email protected]
| Tel: | +27 12 023 1994 |
| Fax: | +27 12 665 4755 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.phahama.com |
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