Every six months, future-focused engineering services company Pragma, awards industry achievers in the mining, retail, government, manufacturing and oil and gas sectors for their meaningful contribution to their respective organisations.

Pragma aims at helping their clients to perform at their peak while balancing asset management, cost and risk. Diversified and dynamic mining group Exxaro, is one such enterprise that continues to achieve success in all these areas, striving for excellence in every operation.

Four of the company’s employees – Lizile Xulu, Adel van der Merwe, Mpendulo Makhanya and Heinrich Fouche – were announced as Pragma Value Add Ambassador (VAA) Winners for the period 1 December 2019 to 30 June 2020.

VAAs are recognised for their exceptional service and commitment to unlocking extraordinary value, improving efficiencies and saving money for Pragma’s clients.

Belfast’s Lizile Xulu shared first place with Exxaro Coal Central’s Adel van der Merwe and Mpendulo Makhanya in the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control) category. Lizile responded quickly to a leaking gland seal, leading the team to implement an effective solution that went on to save Exxaro millions, improve their safety and reduce their environmental impact. Adel and Mpendulo were instrumental in analysing the company’s downtime root causes, and actioned strategies that improved overall production.

Lizile also achieved first place in the Improvement Project category for his crusher lubrication plan, saving Exxaro 13 hours of production downtime a month, equating to approximately 6240 tons and R4,02 million in coal.

Heinrich Fouche from Leeuwpan took third place in the General Added Value category for his high-level training guide for conveyor systems, offering general mining knowledge for new ACC team members.

“We are incredibly proud of our Exxaro team and the great lengths they go, to optimise productivity, performance and cost-savings. Our people are just as committed to business excellence as we are as an organisation. That dedication filters through in everything we do,” concludes Mzila Mthenjane, Executive Head of Stakeholder Affairs at Exxaro.

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