Becoming and remaining a successful consulting engineering and project company in the mining sector has less to do with trying to be everything to everyone and more to do with knowledge and skills sharing.

This is according to Harry Nieman, principal – new business at Read, Swatman & Voigt (Pty) Ltd (RSV) who says that while RSV has a very strong engineering cluster in-house, the organisation acknowledges that in order to provide customers with the best products and services they can get, it is sometimes necessary to harness the skills and resources of synergistic providers within the industry.

Nieman says that RSV, which will be exhibiting at Indaba 2009, has formed a number of strategic alliances over the years which stand it in good stead to tackle even the most challenging projects. “In addition, RV has formed new companies, with common shareholdings, that we refer to as ‘linked enterprises’. These operate in complementary sectors of the industry and differentiates us from many of our competitors by offering clients the benefit of our collective proven experience across the full spectrum of mining, metallurgical, mineral processing, industrial plant and infrastructure design, installation and commissioning.

“The past few years have seen a phenomenal growth in the mining sector and we have undertaken measures in-house to align ourselves with future trends in order to gain market share,” Nieman says.

The company, which was founded in 1991, recently restructured into three divisional entities to facilitate further growth and more effective management; both equating to improved service to clients. Each division is managed by its own CEO who is responsible for its operation and accountable for its success.

RSV offers all, or any combination of, multidisciplinary services from independent technical assessments, scoping, pre- and bankable feasibility studies to overall engineering, project management, commissioning, ramp-up and facility handover. “Our business model provides comprehensive coverage of the total life cycle of projects across all sectors of the mining industry,” Nieman says.

“By applying dynamic leadership to areas which may not previously have been considered our core, we will further enhance our responsiveness to clients,” Nieman concludes.