Incoming chairman of the Construction
and Mining Equipment Suppliers’ Association (CONMESA), Calvin Fennell, has
walked a long path and trusts his diverse experience will give him insight to
guide the industry in challenging times.
He plans to use experience gained
through his career in civil engineering, plant hire and equipment sales, as
well as stints as an entrepreneur to give balance to the association and work
closely with all stakeholders.
CONMESA has a small, but important
membership that includes the suppliers of equipment to industries that are
instrumental in shaping both the environment and the economy. It is a
mouthpiece for the industry to ensure fair treatment of members and a level
playing field among lawmakers and within the industries served by its members.
Learning curve
Fennell is a civil engineering
technician and qualified at Natal Technikon during the 1980s with Savage and
Lovemore. He later moved to Botswana with Panda Plant doing civil and the too
Equipment Sales and Services, which was the dealer for Bell Equipment in the
area at the time.
During 2005 he moved back to South
Africa where he bought and ran his own vehicle service centre. With the global
recession of 2008 he sold up his business and once again followed his passion back
into equipment in Tanzania on contract to MACS. In 2010 he came back to South
Africa where he joined Eqstra. In 2015 he joined Wirtgen where he now holds the
position of Business Development Manager.
“I have been involved with construction
equipment my whole career from end user to supplier and enjoy identifying the right
application of equipment and the value that this adds to any operation. It has
become a very specialised industry with customers realising that to ensure
economic operations you require the right machine for the job.”
“This means that the equipment requires
specialised support from professional people and companies which is really what
sets CONMESA members apart. These are reputable and established brands that are
household names who continue to invest back into the industry and the country
with new innovations, products and services.”
Future proofing
Calvin adds that in South Africa there
is a broad band of companies covering a broad product range and CONMESA gives
them a unified voice. Where necessary it will also lobby to overcome challenges
that negatively impact, or may be harmful to the industry as a whole, and try
to address common problems within the industry.
“We remain mindful of anti-competitive
behaviour, but need to work together with stakeholders, including Government, to
ensure the right equipment is available for large-scale projects and
initiatives when required. As OEMs we can also add value to engineering
companies and contractors and want to expand our interactions with professional
bodies to foster easy communications between our members and other industry
bodies, as well as companies and interest groups.”
“CONMESA’s board also realises that it
is important for senior management of our member companies to continue to
interact at all levels within the association and work together to face common
challenges and give the association a mandate to allocate resources. It is
better to present a unified front when representing common interests,” he
concludes.
More information from Dr Jim Rankin,
Tel: +27(0) 11 453 7249, Email: [email protected]
