Cummins celebrates 70 years in Africa

On Wednesday, February 1, the Cummins South Africa regional office celebrated 70 years of distribution in Africa.

Rachid Quenniche, Cummins MD of distribution in Africa and the Middle East, was present at the celebration to hand over a long-service award to recently appointed Cummins South Africa MD, Thierry Pimi, and his team.

Pimi says: “I am ecstatic to receive this award on behalf of my team. I would like to specifically acknowledge the contribution of Phistos Katisi, a receiving supervisor, and George Lymberopoulos, a warrenty administrator – who have both been with the team for more than 40 years.”

“Without our team in South Africa, it would have taken us much longer to anchor ourselves in Africa,” says Quenniche.

Pimi says knowing this continent’s history and the struggles companies have had to go through – where some even had to close down – Cummins Africa is grateful for the support it has received, especially when the head office was established in South Africa in 2000.

Pimi adds that the skilled and experienced workers have contributed most to the success of Cummins in Africa, but its investment in technology has also played a major role.

“The fact that we are an independent engine manufacturer and have in-house core technologies that drive performance gives us an edge. We are constantly at the forefront of technology,” says Pimi.

Quenniche says that in the past they had to guess when engines needed a service, or why the engine had failed.

“New electronics and GPS technology has made us a lot more pro-active. We now have the ability to track engine capability to prevent downtime and schedule repairs ahead of time, which saves our customers a lot of money,” says Quenniche.

When asked what he wants Cummins to achieve in the next 70 years, Quenniche jokingly says: “World domination.”

“At the moment we are a top brand in the industry, but we want to become ‘the’ top brand in the markets in Africa. We have the ability, the knowhow, the determination and experience to get there,” says Quenniche.