Driving its leading technology through a pure play mining strategy, FLSmidth has been optimising its footprint to be closer to customers with local solutions and expertise.

Alistair McKay, FLSmidth’s Head of Site and Service Sales Sub Saharan Africa, Middle East & South Asia (SSAMESA), highlights the CORE’26 mission at the centre of this strategy. CORE’26, explains McKay, is based on the principles of sustainability, technology, service and performance.

“We go to the market through our five regional structures around the world, which deliver sales, service and order execution,” he says. “The regions are in turn supported by our global organisation and its leading product lines. The global resources are strategically located in countries such as the US, Denmark, Germany, India and South Africa, where we have a concentration of expertise to support our offerings.”

As part of the footprint optimisation, resources have been deployed and infrastructure investments made in key areas, with Johannesburg remaining as the mining hub for the SSAMESA region. World class facilities in the region include the Stormill service centre – for KREBS® pumps, valves and cyclones – and the Delmas manufacturing facility for vibrating screens and other equipment. There is also the fully integrated engineering facility and a service centre at Chloorkop, focused as a centre of excellence on refurbishing high pressure grinding rolls.

McKay highlights that the manufacturing, assembly and refurbishment capacity of these centres cater for product lines not just for this region but for FLSmidth globally.

The regional footprint includes local sales and services offices in Ghana, Saudi Arabia and India. “Our strategy allows us to get closer to customers around Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, while building the local manufacturing base as part of our global supply chain,” says McKay.

He also emphasises the importance of technical knowledge in successfully building the SSAMESA footprint. “Relevant expertise and know-how remain important enablers to our customers for projects and broader development in Africa especially,” he says.

The company’s focus on local manufacture in countries like South Africa also means that the domestic economy is supported while local skills are employed and developed. With a focus on skills development, FLSmidth contributes to the training of customers’ staff, while pursuing talent development through learnerships, apprenticeships and scholarships.

“As a technology provider of world class sustainable offerings across the full flowsheet, the expertise in our regional footprint is key,” he says. “We also prioritise research and development that supports our sustainability ambitions and our customers’ green journey.”