New local boss keen to crank up Cummins
Cummins Southern Africa’s new MD, Thierry Pimi, will oversee the distribution business of the world’s largest diesel engine maker in SA, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi and Madagascar.
His mandate, he says, is to take over a business that is good and “make it great”. He has previously been GM of Cummins North and West Africa, overseeing Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Pimi, a mechanical engineer with more than 16 years of experience in the power generation, manufacturing and mining industries, has held a number of senior management positions at Cummins in the US.
He joined Cummins in 2008 as corporate strategy manager based at the head office in Columbus, later taking the role of mining business leader for Africa, but also based in the US.
“I am fortunate to be back in Africa … there is nowhere I would rather be,” he says.
The Johannesburg office from where he works became the southern African hub for the American multinational in 2011. It will now join with the Cummins office in Dubai to create a super-region encompassing the continent and the Middle East.
The Columbus, Indianabased group saw turnover of $19bn in 2015, earning $1.4bn in sales. It designs, manufactures, distributes and services diesel and alternative-fuel engines from 2.8 litres to 95 litres, and electrical generator sets ranging from 2.5kW to 3,500kW.
Cummins employs about 55,000 people worldwide and operates in 190 countries through a network of about 600 company-owned and independent distributors, and another 7,200 dealers.
Pimi has taken the reins in southern Africa from Schuyla Goodson Bell, who has become vice-president for operations in the northern area of Cummins Pacific region in the US.
Cummins is investing in its African operations, Pimi says. “We play in the heart of what is needed in Africa today,” he says. This includes electricity generating sets for power, mining, marine applications, oil and gas, construction work, agriculture and railways, and engines for buses and trucks.
“But these are tough times. We need to treat our customers well. Cummins has about 10,000 products in place in Africa, deriving most of its revenues from after-market services among hundreds of clients,” he says.
Despite energy now coming from renewable sources, Pimi says baseload power from diesel and gases remains critical to economies. “I think the internal combustion engine will be around for some time to come.”
Many companies build engines, but Cummins has few direct competitors, Pimi says. Caterpillar in the US and Japan’s Hitachi and Komatsu mainly build engines for construction, industrial and mining vehicles.
PIMI, A MECHANICAL ENGINEER WITH MORE THAN 16 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, HAS HELD SENIOR POSITIONS AT CUMMINS IN THE US