South Africa’s manufacturing sector is under enormous pressure, contracting by 8,8% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2019, according to StatsSA. This poor performance from the manufacturing sector was one of the main contributors towards the country’s GDP shrinking by 3,2% for the quarter. Against this backdrop, it has become more critical for local manufacturers […]
Africa continues to face ongoing power delivery challenges. There is no denying that without secure sources of backup power, load shedding has a significant negative impact on economic growth. From loss in turnover to the less tangible, but no less serious, impact of dwindling business and investor confidence. However, there are opportunities during this energy […]
In May 2019, Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko was quoted as saying that Telkom recently developed a roadmap concerning the proactive migration of customers to newer infrastructure. “We are hoping that in the next five years we would have exited copper entirely,” Maseko said. This means that if it is successful with its plan, Telkom’s operational […]
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is, ostensibly, upon us. The term was coined in 2016 by Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Form. Broadly, it refers to the collapsing of boundaries between the physical, digital and biological spheres. More specifically, it’s about the digitalisation of all kinds of systems and processes. […]
In many parts of Africa and the world, hundreds of millions of people still lack access to clean and safe drinking water. Among the worst affected are those living in urban areas where population growth and rapid urbanisation are outstripping already inadequate infrastructure. When considering large investments in alternative water supplies, the costs need to […]
Outsourcing the data centre has become a compelling alternative to building and managing an on-premise facility. Traditionally, expense played the major factor behind data centre outsourcing, but increasingly, customers are focusing on the value of the other services being offered by data centre providers. This article gives my top reasons why organisations across the board […]
It does not matter if times are good or bad – waste is never welcome at any proactive business. Business is primarily driven by profit and efficiency, and waste is an attack on both. But many businesses, particularly among manufacturers, overlook a major cost hidden among their operations: that of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) […]
With the Fourth Industrial Revolution in full swing, many businesses are moving to cloud computing to reap the many benefits that cloud can provide. However, a business must carefully assess legal issues that will have an impact on the ability not only to move to cloud, but also to have full beneficial use of cloud […]
I recently had a conversation with Dr Wynand Louw, president of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) and director for research and international liaison at the National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA), with the aim of creating a better understanding of the metrology and its importance. Metrology comes from the Greek words […]
