Capital Equipment News March 2019

area to head up the business on the continent. In the few weeks he has been in this position, we have already seen better interaction between the business units operating on the continent than before. MS: Why Qasim Abrahams? PV: The people factor is very important in every company. We make equipment and cutting-edge technologies but people are behind everything that happens in the company. It’s important to have the right person with the right profile and personality to head up such an important market area. We have seen that Qasim Abrahams has those qualities of leading up the team here and has the potential to take the Metso business to the next level. MS: Why is the Africanisation strategy important to Metso? PV: Our Africanisation strategy is largely a focus on what’s happening on this important market area of ours. We are aware that there are some big mining companies operating on the continent, some of them major international players in the industry. They are strongly present and have established their roots in Africa. Africa plays a major role in their current global expansion plans. We want to have a better understanding of what they expect from us. For us to be able to achieve that, it’s important to have a management team that is close to the market to understand the operational dynamics on the continent. MS: How important is Africa to Metso? PV: We have 13 market areas globally and Africa is just more than €200-million in sales at the moment, which is just below 10% of our global business. It’s a very important market with a lot of growth potential, hence the strategic decision to have it run closely by a dedicated team that understands the local operational conditions. There is still a lot of mining to happen on the continent, which represents a lot of untapped potential for Metso. We have also been able to grow our aggregates business here. We also have recycling, which is not a big market locally at the moment but showing a lot of potential. There is also room for growth in the oil and gas business where we already have some strategic customers such as Sasol. We also see growth potential in the paper and pulp

industry where we already have big players such as Sappi and Mondi as our key customers. MS: You mentioned that there is growth potential here. What sort of growth are you targeting this year? PV: Based on our projections, we expect to see double-digit growth. Of course there is some cyclicality in our business areas, with mining probably being the most cyclical industry that we operate in, but as long as mining continues on reasonable levels like we are on right now, I am confident that we will see considerable growth this year and we will be successful in growing our business. MS: You mentioned some interesting trends in the mining sector, automation and digitalisation. How big a focus is that for Metso? PV: We are investing a lot in digitalisation. We have just introduced Metso Metrics by end 2018, which is about connected machines. Metso Metrics is designed to provide global mining customers with improved visibility and new insights into their equipment and processes with analytics, condition monitoring and predictive maintenance – all backed by expert support from Metso. The combination of advanced technology and expertise will bring Metso services closer to customers by improving collaboration, asset reliability and optimisation. Optimisation of existing assets and processes is now the key to driving productivity at mine sites. This is where digitalisation coupled with expert support really comes into play – connecting the right data with the right people. With innovative digital tools like Metso Metrics, minerals processing plants can shift from reactive-mode to being proactive and focused on continuous improvement. The target now is to grow the number of connected machines so that we can start getting more data into the system. Data ownership is a hot topic currently – there is need for openness when it comes to sharing of the data between the customer and the OEM. Without data sharing, we will not get to Industry 4.0 quickly enough. This is a discussion we are having with several of our customers. MS: You have also recently shipped the first 3D parts to a customer. Is the future here? PV: We are at the forefront of using 3D printing in valve applications,

ABOUT PEKKA VAURAMO

Pekka assumed his role as CEO and President of Metso Corp on November 1, 2018. Prior to his appointment at Metso, he served as President and CEO of Finnair 2013. Before that, he held several management positions at Cargotec (2007-2013) and Sandvik (1985-2007).

MS: You have also implemented the Africanisation strategy. Tell me more about it. PV: One of the key decisions we have made in the first few months of my tenure is to declare Africa an independent market area within the Metso organisation. I felt so strongly about it when I joined the company and when I discussed it with the management team everyone was more or less aligned to the idea. We had a well-run market area when Africa was still combined with the Middle East, but the management team was based in Dubai and we felt that the distance was not favourable for quick turnaround on key decisions. There are so many things that are happening here in Africa that I feel the rest of the company was a little further away from. By the end of February this year, we appointed Qasim Abrahams the senior vice- president for the Africa market

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