The Southey Sound – Edition 5 – February 2012

IN THIS EDITION…

The Southey Logos

What are the new Southey Logos?

 

Clients

tips on dealing with customers.

 

Project News

Internal Boiler Scaffolding at Duvha PS.

 

Did you Know?

Southey news.

 

Safety

NOSA audit

 

Quality

The quality objective

 

Southey Staff

Who works for us?

 

On the lighter side

Just for laughs

 

NEW LOGOS FOR SOUTHEY

The Southey Contracting logo has been revised and Southey Holdings has a complete new logo.

Southey Holdings engaged the services of Brand Alive

to undertake a review of the current Southey branding. After extensive and professional opinions, it was decided to change from the present to a new branding approach.

Firstly, Southey Holding got a complete new look with a new and logo.

Furthermore, a slogan (or in branding speak – endorsement) was added. After much deliberation and many proposals, it was agreed that “Investors in Excellence” was appropriate and aptly reflected the business of the holding company.

The logo thus looks like this :

Southey Holdings Logo

 

The Southey Contracting division was a little different.

The name was well recognized, however, it was felt that the logo was looking a little tired and wasn’t perhaps as relevant as it was when first introduced.

The logo was “evolved”

into the one shown below. There are a number of subtleties contained in this logo and they will become more apparent as you study it.

The logo now looks like this:

 

Southey Contracting Logo

 

The mis-use of the logo and associated branding

is a big problem and this was made very evident when a container arrived at the Linbro Park office as depicted in the photograph below.

 

Hopefully misuse of the Southey logo, as seen on this container, will now come to a stop

 

This type of misuse of the logo is not acceptable

and therefore a number of “brand ambassadors” will be appointed to ensure that the new logo is not abused. These “brand ambassadors” or “logo cops” will be trained as to where and how the logo is to be applied.

If they notice that it has been misused,

they will have the right to get it withdrawn and replaced at the cost of the person who abused it. They will therefore be in an advisory position with regard to the use of the logo and ensure that the guidelines for its use are complied with.

 

TIPS ON CUSTOMER SERVICE

We all deal with Customers (who ultimately pay our salaries) and therefore we provide some tips on how to deal with them:

We may deliver the best product at the best price

but if we don’t look after the customer, we may not be able to survive in the long term. There are a number of tips worth considering and using to assist in a service environment:

  • Answer your phone
  • Listen and respond
  • Apply courtesy
  • Go the Extra mile
  • Promise and deliver
  • Resolve complaints
  • Training
  • Do a bit more

 

PROJECT NEWS

Duvha Power Station scaffold their entire boilers out during the General Outages (GOs) and this is part of the Critical Path for the outage.

 

As we are all aware, the reserve power margin

operated by Eskom is very tight due to the current power demand, limited supply opportunities and the need to maintain current installations. The existing power stations are getting older and older and therefore, like any piece of equipment, require more and more maintenance, therefore robbing Eskom of power capacity.

It is therefore essential

that the maximum amount of work is completed in the shortest time period during maintenance periods.

One of the power stations 

where we undertake the Scaffolding and Insulation maintenance is the Duvha Power Station. Situated just outside Witbank, it has 6 boilers with a capacity of 600 Mega Watts each.

This coal fired power station

was built between 1975 and 1984 and boasted (at the time) chimneys (300m high) which were the tallest free standing structures as well as the largest open cast colliery in the Southern Hemisphere.

Southey was awarded

the Insulation and Scaffolding maintenance contract in 2006 and this includes the provision of scaffolding services for the work undertaken during the outages. These outages range from 8 days to 55 days and their work scope is equally variable.

During the General Outages

(GOs), Duvha Power Station elect to scaffold the entire boiler out. This process requires the installation of bespoke support structures and the erection of approximately 250 tons of scaffolding material.

This process is very carefully controlled

with the start being the design of the support trusses and certification by qualified structural engineers, the installation of these members and verification by 3rd parties and the accurate erection of the scaffolding structure.

The base of the structure is critical

as any misalignment of this will pose enormous problems as the structure is built.

 

Duvha Power Station (courtesy of Eskom website)

 

In order to achieve the Eskom goal

of undertaking the maximum amount of work during these GOs, Southey have risen to the challenge and have committed to ensuring that the mechanical contractors are provided safe access to this structure as soon as possible.

Whilst Southey strive to complete the work

as quickly as possible, the need to undertake this particularly hazardous work as safely as possible is always at the forefront of the company’s agenda.

The most recent GO

Unit 1 commenced in September 2011 and was completed in January 2012. Our contracts staff at Duvha Power Station rose to the challenge and completed the erection of the internal scaffolding on Unit 1 within 10 shifts.

The challenge was again extended

at the end of November when Eskom gave the go ahead to dismantle the boiler internal structure. In the spirit of giving Eskom the best opportunity to get the Unit back on line, the Southey team again attacked the work fronts with renewed vigor and completed the dismantling and removal of the scaffolding material in a matter of 54 hours without a safety incident.

Considering the statistics, this is an alarming achievement in that

tons of scaffolding material per hour was dismantled and removed from the boiler. All of this material has to be taken out of 2 openings measuring about 1.2m in diameter at the bottom of the boiler. This then has to be moved away to packing and loading areas.

Southey believes that by undertaking this work as it does,

it provides Eskom with the best opportunity to perform the maximum amount of work that it can within the allowable time thus, reducing the risk factors for power outages.

Well done to Frank Botha (Contracts Manager: Duvha Power Station)

and his committed and competent personnel who have again raised the bar with regard to performance and safety.

 

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR COMPANY?

Did you know…

R.J. Southey Properties

a division of Southey Holdings (Pty) Ltd, has very recently purchased the old Soviet clothing building in Linbro Park. The high profile property (facing onto the N3) will be the new home to the Onshore African business units as well as the Corporate offices of Southey Holdings. Renovations are currently underway and it is planned that they will move into the premises during the course of April 2012

 

Artists impression of reception area of new building for Southey Holdings and Southey Contracting (Africa)

 

Due to the growing demand in Zinc and Aluminium metal spray,

a new division, under the leadership of Rudi Erasmus has been formed and is called SOUTHEY METAL SPRAY. They are a very well equipped unit that has the capacity to undertake any sized metal spray work.

 

Southey Contracting – Cape,

has been awarded the scaffolding and insulation maintenance contract at the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station.

 

Southey Tanzania

has been awarded a number of offshore maintenance contracts for the provision of skilled and trained personnel.

 

SAFETY

Every company needs to benchmark itself in order to ensure that it is competitive and relevant. For Safety verification we use NOSA to do this comparison.

Early in February, NOSA were engaged

to undertake an audit of our safety systems and procedures at the Linbro Park offices as well as our sites. This process involved the review of our entire safety manual, the procedures and work practices and a system audit.

This was then extended

to include visits to all of the permanent sites for verification of the implementation of the systems and auditing of the compliance with the standards and procedures.

NOSA personnel were deployed

with our safety management staff over the period of a week to be sure that any deficiencies were picked up and highlighted. Their efforts were thorough and precise as they looked high and low and left very few stones unturned in ensuring that we “said what we do and do what we said we would”.

The preliminary feedback

has been exceptionally positive however, we do not have their final audit results and expect to get this result before mid March.

Malcolm Mountford and his team of Safety personnel

are to be congratulated for displaying a high level of professionalism during the course of this audit. Thank you very much!

 

QUALITY

An ISO9001-2008 requirement is that we have a Quality Policy. We explain ours.

 

As you know, we are audited and accredited by SGS

with regard to our Quality Management System and therefore are able to use the ISO9001-2008 logo. One of the principals of this system is that we have a Quality Policy. To quote from the ISO9001-2008 standard :

 

“5.3 Quality Policy

Top management shall ensure that the quality policy

  1. is appropriate to the purpose of the organization,
  2. includes a commitment to comply with requirements and continually improve the effectiveness of the quality management system,
  3. provides a framework for establishing and reviewing quality objectives,
  4. is communicated and understood within the organization, and
  5. is reviewed for continuing”

 In line with this, the Quality Review Committee

have developed the following Quality Policy which it believes complies with the requirements of the Standard and clearly (albeit in a very verbose way) the intentions to make this an ‘inclusive-of-all-personnel’ policy.

 

In the development of the Quality Management System in accordance with ISO9001-2008 in which the Organisation and the assignment of authorities are depicted, it shall be recognized by Southey that the aspect of Quality Management is an interdisciplinary function encompassing all the major functions and activities of the Company, and therefore, extends to all levels and divisions. The Company is also committed to continually improve its quality management system throughout all of the organization.”

The responsibility for quality and quality management activities is not, therefore, vested in the Quality Representatives and Quality Control personnel, but shall be the responsibility of each and every person in the Company from the Managing Director to the lowest ranked employee.”

“The Management of Southey is committed to implementing the Quality Management System to ensure that the highest standard of quality is maintained throughout all stages of the contact as customer satisfaction is considered to be of the utmost importance.”

 

GETTING TO KNOW OUR STAFF

We highlight some of the individuals who make up the staff of the Contracting Division who may not be known to you :

Lizette Visser

Lizette Visser

 

Position :                                                     Site Administrator – Kendal PS

Date Joined Southey :                               February 2011

Where Born:                                               Witbank – Mpumalanga

Married/Single:                                         Single

Favorite Food :                                           KFC

Person I would most like to meet :        John Sina (WWE Wrestler)

Things I dislike the most :                       Dishonesty

Best TV Program :                                     Scrubs

Dream Holiday :                                        Cape Town – Table Mountain

 

Frans Nkoana

Frans Nkoana

 

Position:                                                       Senior Supervisor–Komati PS

Date Joined Southey:                                August 2007

Where Born:                                                Pietersburg

Married/Single:                                           Single

Person I would most like to meet:           Simphiwe Tshabalala

Favorite Food :                                             Pap & Vleis

Things I dislike the most:                           Not being able to go to church

Best TV Program:                                         Medical Detectives

Dream Holiday :                                           Port Elizabeth

 

On the lighter side…

Little Billy, a 3-year old boy is sitting on the toilet. His mother thinks has has been in there a little too long, so she goes in to see what’s up. Billy is sitting on the toilet reading a book, but every 10 seconds or so, he puts the book down, grips onto the toilet seat with his left hand and hits himself on the head with his right hand. His mother says : “Billy are you all right? You’ve been in here for a long time.” Billy replies : “ I’m fine Mom … just haven’t done it yet.” Mother says : “Ok, you can stay a bit longer but why are you hitting yourself on the head?” Billy comes back : “MOM! IT WORKS WITH THE TOMATO SAUCE……”

AND….

I went to the mall on Saturday, and I was in there for only about 5 minutes. When I came out there was a Metro cop writing a parking ticket.

So I went up to him and said, “Come on…, how about giving a guy a break?” He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. So I called him a pencil-necked member of the Boerebond. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tyres! So I called him a verkrampte old dude. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windscreen with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket, for the cracked windscreen! This went on for about 20 minutes.

The more I abused him, the more tickets he wrote. “Vetgat” I screamed at him. Yet another ticket. “Vetgat with a boep-pens!” I shouted again. His hand wrote furiously as his neck went a deeper shade of purple and his blood pressure mounted and his breathing got heavier and heavier.

I then walked off to get into my own car…..