Construction World August 2022

READYMIX

Sibusiso Hlatshwayo started his journey as MD of CHRYSO Southern Africa on 1 July. He took over the reins from Norman Seymore who retired at the end of June. Construction World spoke to him about how CHRYSO Southern Africa is working towards using admixtures to promote green building and the post-pandemic challenges the admixture industry is facing in its quest to do so. GREEN SOLUTIONS IN A GREEN WAY

Sibusiso Hlatshwayo, Managing Director of CHRYSO Southern Africa.

H latshwayo regards the current global supply chain dynamics as the biggest challenge most businesses are faced with. “COVID-19 caused a supply chain squeeze. The industry thought that it had reached the height of that kind of squeeze during the pandemic, but the current supply chain challenges are worse than at the height of COVID,” he says. “The cost of sea freight has ballooned and there is a massive backlog which means that supply and demand are out of kilt.”Just l ike many competitors, CHRYSO is looking for alternatives as raw materials cannot easily be imported. “This creates incredibly difficult inflationary pressures – way beyond CPI,” | Hlatshwayo says. It is Hlatshwayo’s challenge to help the team navigate the current environment. “We do not only want to survive, but continue to grow while navigating this environment,” he says.

Agility, responsiveness and innovation For him CHRYSO Southern Africa’s unique sell ing point is its flexibil ity. “The company has an abil ity to respond to changing customer needs. It is part of our DNA. We do not just have the speed to innovate, but also the precision to pinpoint what the customers’ needs are and respond. .” CHRYSO Southern Africa’s headquarter in Johannesburg has one of the most advanced research and development (R&D) centres in Africa. “Here the advanced polycarboxylate polymers (PCPs) are produced for our admixtures,” says Hlatshwayo. He explains that there are five of these centres in the CHRYSO group. “We're one of the pioneers. We have the advantage of designing and manufacturing these polymers locally, instead of importing them wholly.” In addition to the R&D facil ity, the headquarter also houses concrete, cement, product appl ication and qual ity control labs. “We're fortunate because we not only have the

38 CONSTRUCTION WORLD AUGUST 2022