Manufacturing

Howden Africa, part of Howden Global, is showing impressive growth in meeting the needs of the burgeoning resources industry in Africa, providing ventilation and cooling systems, dust scrubbers and flue gas conditioning systems to the continent’s mines.

South Africa-based Best Shoes has been focusing its efforts on quality, customer service and strategy in order to continue growing its business.

Kuwait-based Al Fajr Al Jadid specialises in automation and control solutions for industrial applications. Director Ano Nazarian talks about the importance of innovation and keeping abreast of the latest technology.

Pratt & Whitney and IndiGo have signed a definitive agreement for PurePower PW1100G-JM engines for 150 Airbus A320neo family aircraft.

The agreement includes 300 firm PurePower PW1100G-JM engines with additional options and a long-term PureSolution maintenance agreement. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2015. 

BMW Group has today announced a £250 million investment in its UK manufacturing operations by the end of 2015.

The investment will be made at BMW’s manufacturing plant in Oxford, its steel body pressings operation at Swindon and its engine plant at Hams Hall near Birmingham, to support the company’s international growth strategy for the MINI brand with increasing volumes and up to 10 different models in the new line-up in the mid-term.

The move comes on top of the £500 million UK investment announced in June 2011 and will secure 5,500 UK jobs.

Chemicals manufacturer BASF has said it will expand its vinylformamide (VFA) capacity in Germany and China in order to meet growing global demand.

The company will expand its manufacturing plant for VFA in Ludwigshafen, Germany, as well as increasing its polymerization capacity. It will also build a new polymerization line for VFA in China for further processing of the feedstock from Ludwigshafen. This facility will be built at the Zhenjiang site, Jiangsu province.

What is the best business book you have ever read, and why?

The Wealth of Nationsby Adam Smith. It reveals the theories that have inspired powerful economic and social changes in the world.

Someone you would most like to have met, living or dead, and why?

Warren Buffet. I admire thisbillionaire investor’s unique approach to management and investment. The opportunity might arise in the near future to have lunch with him and potentially do business together.

On American Independence Day, we hear that patriotism is the US plays a big role in consumers’ choice of automobiles.

According to the July edition of the Shopper Insights Report from the AutoTrader.com trend engine, 41 percent of car shoppers recently surveyed say that it is important to purchase a vehicle built in the US by US workers, versus 28 percent who say it is important to purchase a vehicle made by a US automaker somewhere else.

US-based Parker Hannifin Corporation has successfully completed its previously announced agreement to acquire the Olaer Group, headquartered in Deeside, UK.

The Olaer Group is a leading manufacturer of advanced hydraulic accumulator and cooling technologies for energy, mobile and industrial markets. The company has sales of approximately €150 million and 550 employees.

The French multinational food group Danone has taken control of Centrale Laitière, Morocco’s leading dairy products company.

Danone raised its stake in Centrale Laitière to 67 per cent by acquiring part of SNI's shareholding for a total €550 million.

Centrale Laitière’s products are sold throughout Morocco. The company operates four production sites with around 4,000 employees, and in 2011 reported sales of 6.6 billion dirhams. The company is market leader in three core businesses: milk, fresh dairy products and cheese.