Modern Mining October 2018

MINING News

Top empowerment rating for Zest WEG

Steadily integrating its continuous improvement efforts alongside the trans- formation of its business, the Zest WEG Group recently achieved Level 1 status in terms of Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) ratings. A subsidiary of the Brazil-based multi- national WEG, the Zest WEG Group is over 51,6 % black-owned, including a 32,1 % stake by black women, and was ranked as Level 2 last year. “Our real success here has been to ingrain our commitment to South Africa and to transformation in the everyday activities and culture of the business,” says Zest WEG Group Chief Executive Officer Louis Meiring. “Our empowerment jour- ney is not an annual tick-box exercise, but rather is driven by every staff member working to build local capacity, people and excellence.” Meiring emphasises that the business model has evolved to engage all employ- ees in maintaining the group’s focus

on quality and transformation. Reaching this pinnacle BBBEE rating has been the culmination of various efforts, according to Zest WEG Group Operations Director Juliano Vargas, and is just one indication of the investment that the group is making in the country’s economy and society. “We continue to invest in local manu- facturing and are improving our facilities to achieve high levels of quality and pro- ductivity,” says Vargas. “This also means developing the skills necessary and increasing our knowledge base in the lat- est technologies related to our production requirements.” From its position as an ISO 9001-listed business, ZestWEG Groupwas recently one of the first to upgrade to ISO 9001‑2015, making it one of only 112 companies out of 2 200 South African firms with ISO 9001 certification to reach this next level. The group has also recently invested heavily in its Heidelberg transformer

Louis Meiring (left), Zest WEG Group CEO, and Juliano Saldanha Vargas, Group Logistics and Operations Director at Zest WEG Group, with the certificate Zest WEG Electric (Pty) Ltd has received for its Level 1 BBBEE rating. manufacturing plant, where it operates one of the country’s leading test laborato- ries for transformers. 

October 2018  MODERN MINING  9