Manufacturing Magazine March 2016 | Page 35

EUROPE
Turkey . Through a combination of partners and appointed representatives , Houghton has a presence in Africa ’ s two largest economies – Nigeria and South Africa .
Neil Winterbottom explains how Houghton has come a very long way from simply selling specialised high-performing chemicals and is now able to also provide a range of after-sales services to customers , which helps them improve productivity , reduce costs and minimise risks . He says : “ By recognising our customers ’ needs , we can guarantee savings while delivering real benefits and adding value – and even make their operations more competitive . We have a lot of our employees operating and working on customer sites to achieve this - they have even become part of the customer ’ s team to a certain degree . Having continually delivered in this regard , our customers have come to rely on us as their main source of technical in-house know-how .”
Mervyn Chung-Fat explains how Houghton ’ s customer alignment strategy is carried out globally : “ The key element that we ’ ve learned is that one size doesn ’ t fit all , as chemical regulations change around the world . To be able to support a customer today you have to realign yourself with how they are organised and what their specific needs are . We try to make sure we support them locally , but with this global perspective , because so many are run at a global level or are looking into it for the future . Wherever our customer ’ s plants
Kevin Smith President , Europe , Middle East and Africa
Kevin Smith has over 30 years of commercial and general management experience in global industrial , speciality chemical and consulting businesses . Prior to joining Houghton , Smith held the position of CEO , EMEA for Arysta Lifescience , a $ 1.6 billion global specialty crop protection firm , where he led the region to strong growth in revenue and profitability through acquisition , sales execution , commercial discipline , and product development .
www . houghtonintl . com 35