DEHN Africa (PTY) LTD has appointed a new managing director, Hannes Ackermann, and promoted incumbent technical manager Hano Oelofse to the position of technical director. DEHN Africa is the local subsidiary of Germany-based lightning and surge protection, earthing components and safety equipment manufacturer, DEHN + SÖHNE.
These recent appointments took place after DEHN Africa founder and former MD, Alexis Barwise, was promoted to director: Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) at DEHN + SÖHNE in Neumarkt, Germany.
Ackermann assumed the position of managing director effective 1 August 2017, having been previously employed by Endress+Hauser South Africa as its Africa Sales Manager for some five and a half years. “In this capacity, I was tasked with the growth and development of E+H products, services, solutions and partner networks, in nine Sub Equatorial African countries. Endress+Hauser is the world leader in instrumentation products and solutions, having offices in more than 170 countries, “ he clarifies.
“My experience also includes having worked for Siemens in industrial automation engineering and later sales for around eight years, as well as for three years for General Electric as business development manager in Sub-Saharan Africa for GE intelligent platforms.”
Ackermann notes that DEHN + SÖHNE is a market leader in its industry and the leadership team at DEHN Africa has amazing entrepreneurial spirit and vision. “I welcome the opportunity to take this four-year-old company - which is already doing very well – to even greater heights. My immediate focus for DEHN Africa remains growth and sustainable development in sales and resources, and in expanding our mostly South African focus into Africa.
Our current strategy is focused around a few pillars, namely infrastructure (factories, railway, oil and gas, and telecommunications); building technologies (rooftop, thatch, residential, commercial and industrial automation); energy (PV, wind, biogas, utilities and OEMs), and safety (mines, utilities and industry). We have already restructured our business to meet these new requirements and are now engaged on various fronts, with very interesting opportunities unfolding.”
Technical director Hano Oelofse’s promotion was also effective from 1 August. Oelofse says, “In keeping with our rapid growth, DEHN Africa has created a DEHN technical business unit within the company to take us to the next level. We’ve also established a division called DEHNservices, which offers training, consulting services, support and testing. With DEHN Africa’s experienced, dynamic technical team, we are currently consulting internationally and working with state of the art projects, and we are looking to expand our scope.”
Ackermann concludes, “At DEHN Africa, we are able to tap into more than 100 years of manufacturing experience, product development and technological evolutions.
In addition, DEHN Africa boasts extensive application experience and the ability to provide up-to-date and modern technological solutions to our customers. We do not act alone and our reputation, family and company values, drives our behaviour and actions. Our motto – DEHN Protects - says it all.”