A successful diversification strategy has seen I-CAT expand two of its biggest growth areas at the moment, namely its Fire and Agri-Forestry Divisions.

The period 2016 to 2017 saw I-CAT focus mainly on its Fire Division, putting in place products and staff to support significant growth. “This year we are focusing largely on our Agri-Forestry Division, capitalising on our products and services in this regard,” I-CAT Director Winston Warries reiterates.

"The change in our socio-economic environment highlights the need for environmental companies to contribute more to South Africa’s progress. The government is focusing on key business markets that we specialise in, with the recent State of the Nation Address highlighting mining fatalities and the importance of agriculture to our economic growth.”

Warries highlights that some of the internal changes effected within I-CAT have been to assist the latter Divisions in playing a more significant role within the respective markets, especially with regard to supply-and-demand. “We look forward to overcoming all the barriers within the markets that we operate in, as we definitely have the efficiency and capabilities to grow here.”

Highlighting the ongoing efforts of I-CAT’s research and development efforts across its divisions, Warries notes it is continuously developing and testing new and innovative products to meet the needs of an increasing demand for better yields and efficiencies within the Agri-forestry markets.

“The same innovative approach has been adopted within the Fire Division, where we continuously strive to introduce new ways of tackling age-old problems, which we like to refer to as ‘disruptive technologies’, while sticking to our core offering of being environment-friendly,” Warries elaborates.

The diversification represented by the burgeoning growth in the Agri-Forestry and Fire Divisions, in particular, began six years ago. “We began investing in developing products to fit into the ‘new global economy’ to ensure we are not reliant on just a single product and service offering, which at that time was our Dust Suppression Division,” he stresses.

“Being reliant on just one market segment was not something that we envisioned I-CAT doing, as we wanted to be a company that offers a total end-to-end environmental solution. For this reason, it was important for us to mature our product offerings into many different market segments to adequately promote the I-CAT brand.

“We take great pride in entering diverse markets where we manufacture our own products and service offerings, and have invested a great deal in developing innovative and market-leading products that continue to set the industry benchmark both locally and internationally,” Warries points out.

The effectiveness of I-CAT’s strategy can be seen in the fact that the business continues to outperform year-on-year. “Like any business, I-CAT faces many challenges, but we continue to persevere through every obstacle we face by working harder, with the necessary passion to drive us to be better year-on-year.

“We have survived some very difficult years, and the fact that we were able to overcome these challenges points to the potential of the business going forward. In the last nine years, we have been able to grow our product offering and services to many different market segments, which is testament to the resilience and innovation of the I-CAT brand. We have a positive outlook for 2018, both locally and internationally,” Winston concludes.