Q&A Water Equipment People by Kenya Farmer Magazine
Interview with Davis & Shirtliff Group Chief Executive, Alec Davis
Q. Davis & Shirtliff started when and for what reason?
A. The company was founded in 1946 by my father who had worked as a water engineer for the military in Kenya. The company’s primary business then was water supply, though today we have diversified into other product segments including boreholes, swimming pools, water treatment, solar and power generation.
Q. Describe the company and its scope?
A. Water Pumps have traditionally been our core business and we have developed from a project oriented organisation to one focusing on wholesale and distribution within East & central Africa. The strategy has been supported by the development of a branch network and Davis& Shirtliff today has 25 branches across the region. As well as developing business established markets we are now also focusing on new emerging markets such as Sudan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Q. You are best known for what?
A. Our brand – Davis & Shirtliff is well known in our markets and is synonymous with professionalism and technical expertise. However, I would say that our core competence is distribution. Our approach to logistics is scientifically driven towards efficiency and we are well resourced with an extensive warehousing facility and a fleet of delivery vehicles. Our supply chain management expertise is a great strength that enables the group to sell a wide range of products throughout the network with low stockholding and at low cost.
Q. What’s the size of your company and what can be attributed to its growth?
A. With a workforce of over 340 employees at 25 sites, our primary focus has been to improve on our technical capacity. We have doubled our size over a period of 3 to 4 years and have managed our growth to a sustainable 30 % per annum. The principal growth drivers have been the expansion of our product lines, the increase in the number of branches, the growth of the market in general and our disciplined and focused approach. The trade environment in East and Central Africa is ever more competitive and we attribute our success to our company values of quality, integrity and continuous innovation and improvement.
Q. How strong is the company brand name?
A. Put it this way, we are known by our slogan- ‘The Professionals.’ Besides, the company has invested a substantial amount in building the brand which is now a household name within our markets.
Q. Describe the latest product and how the market has responded to it?
A. New products are the life line of any business. Market research has suggested that there are opportunities in waste water management so we have developed a water recycling plant that has been an instant success due to its user friendliness and flexibility.
Q. What makes the waste water treatment plant from your company unique?
A. Our waste water recycling plant conforms to international standards and gives the user the possibility of concealing the unit underground so as save on space and reduce the environmental impact while processing raw sewage into clean, safe water.
Q. What are prospects for the company?
A. The region is growing fast and the demand for water and solar related equipment seems to be on the rise. Increased development in infrastructure as well as general economic growth will drive the demand for the company’s wide range of products. Furthermore, i foresee Davis & Shirtliff retaining its competitive edge over other companies owing to the quality of its products and its competitive pricing.
Q. How does the company give back to the society?
A. The company has a well established corporate social responsibility plan. As part of its commitment, the company focuses on installing pumps that provide a sustainable water supply to under privilege schools and communities in the rural parts of Kenya. Last year Davis & Shirtliff completed 42 projects benefiting over 30,000 people.
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The provision of water of suitable quality for consumption is a vital requirement in all societies. Mostly this is the responsibility of the public water provider, but as municipal supply becomes increasingly scarce there is a greater responsibility on the consumer to ensure that the water available is fit for human consumption. The challenge is to identify suitable cost effective equipment for the treatment requirement, Davis & Shirtliff, the acknowledged industry leaders, being especially well qualified to advice on this. Davis & Shirtliff have been providing effective water treatment solutions for over fifty years and specialises in the supply of a wide range of water treatment equipment to treat most prevailing conditions including turbidity, salinity, hardness, mineralisation and bacterial contamination. Equipment ranges in size from small domestic units to plants from small communities and the company has a treatment solution for most prevailing water conditions.
Domestic purifiers are a particular strength with a range of equipment sourced principally from So-Safe being offered. The range includes sediment filters, Ultra violet purifiers, reverse osmosis purifiers for mineralised water and extra fine filters that are suitable bacteria removal. There is also a large range of cartridges available that can be combined in series to treat specific water conditions. On a larger scale Davis & Shirtliff manufactures a range of plants for community application’s (e.g. Schools, Hospitals, factories, Estates etc.) including equipment for filtration, sediment removal, sanitisation, pure water production, softening, conditioning etc. and is the leading supplier for this type of equipment in the region. A wide range of chemicals is also available.
A new product that Davis & Shirtliff has recently introduced is a solution for waste water treatment, which is becoming an increasingly important requirement both for ecological and legislation reasons. A unique solution has been developed that provides for an equipment and design package that can be incorporated into pre-constructed treatment chambers. The fully automatic process involves settlement, aeration filtration and chemical dosage and very satisfactory results are being achieved with effluent discharge fully meeting prevailing standards. With all the products either being directly imported or manufactured in house Davis & Shirtliff can offer effective and cost competitive equipment with full lifetime service support. This combined with its unmatched experience and expertise enables Davis & Shirtliff to provide optimal solutions to all water treatment requirements, to have ‘The water you want from the water you have’.
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Davis & Shirtliff Solar division was established in 2003 after being appointed the regional distributor for large multinational manufacturer of Photo Voltaic (PV) solar modules. The division has experienced tremendous growth and is now a well-established as the major regional player in the solar industry. Though great emphasis has been assigned to water pumping applications, D&S Solar is also involved in other facets of solar which include;
Solar Hot Water Heaters are increasingly becoming popular items in both residential houses and hotels as their considerable benefits become more widely recognised. Davis & Shirtliff, East Africa’s leading water equipment specialist identified this potential and set up a project to develop a unit particularly suited to the local market. The result is the Dayliff SWD range which was launched in 2007 and already sales have exceeded expectations. Tank sizes of 160 litres, 220 litres and 320 litres are available and all are fitted with 3kW heaters to boost temperature on cold days.
Standard tanks are of direct design with the option of indirect heating is also available for highly mineralised water. Both the tanks and collectors are mounted together on a frame and the units are also completely plumbed including pressure release valves and priming cocks so installation couldn’t be simpler requiring only inlet and outlet connections. The principal benefits are durable, efficient and economical power consumption as water heating is generally the largest element of domestic demand and with electricity’s ever rising cost, considerable savings can result.
Dayliff Solar Modules – a wide range of crystalline Photo Voltaic Solar Modules are available in various sizes from 15W to 150W. Modules are sourced from Solar World, one of the world’s leading manufacturers and Yingli, a globally certified manufacturer. All are quality products available at surprisingly competitive prices to provide reliable and economical solutions for all solar energy applications. The features include;
Dayliff Solar Lighting Systems are specially designed for both residential and institutional applications and comprise quality Sundaya DC light options together with efficient ‘Apple’ charge controllers, batteries, PV modules and cabling. Various sizes are available , the carefully matched quality components providing effective, reliable and economical solutions for all off-grid lighting requirements.
Power Pumps – Solar energy is a natural way to power pumps, the combination of Davis & Shirtliff’s vast pumping experience, its solar expertise and quality Grundfos and SHurflo pumps creating effective and economic solutions for all solar pumping requirements.
Dayliff Power Backup Systems are the ideal way to ensure continuous power as an alternative to noisy costly generators. The combination of efficient Tripplite Inverters available in sizes from 750W to 6000W and reliable Gaston sealed batteries ensure instant standby power when mains failure occurs to both home and office applications.
The endurance of a power backup system is determined by battery capacity, Dayliff systems being offered with a selection of capacities depending upon backup time required. Batteries supplied are of the deep-cycle long life type and the inverters provide automatic regulation to prevent over-charge and over-discharge. Systems are also provided complete with connecting cabling between the inverter and battery pack and expert selection advice is available to assist with sizing and installation.
The components of all Dayliff Backup Systems are carefully matched in terms of quality and performance and they provide a reliable, effective and economic solution to all small scale mains standby power requirements.
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Davis & Shirtliff (D&S) quality culture draws principally from the corporate guiding principle that says “One person working alone is limited in their endeavours but many people working together have no limit to their achievements”, by Poul du Jensen founder of Grundfos. This principle is known by employees and encompasses many aspects beyond teamwork. D&S has developed a culture of hard work, integrity and transparency where information is shared widely across the company. Employees feel empowered by management and because the overall strategic direction is frequently and clearly expressed, with constant feedback, there is less internal politics.
The integration of ISO 9001:2000 into the fabric of D&S’s daily operations has made a huge difference in improving the quality processes and products from the company. The ISO certification is a system of innovations that are constantly being introduced into the company. They already heavily customized enterprise resource planning software, Navision, is always being improved by a n in-house software programmer who receives suggestions for improvement from all departments.
D&S has involved its suppliers, customers and employees in its quality efforts. The company’s primary equipment suppliers are either ISO certified or have other international quality certifications. Through the routine “How do you Rate Us?” and service questionnaires, customer feedback is regularly sought and acted upon. The annual staff survey and performance appraisals provide further opportunity to improve management of the issues raised.
The Management - August 2008
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DAVIS & SHIRTLIFF CELEBRATES 7Oth ANNIVERSARY
Davis & Shirtliff, the region’s leading supplier of energy and water supply equipment is about to celebrate a major milestone, its 70th Anniversary. Various events are planned as follows:-
Customer ‘Open Day’ - Friday 13th May
The principal external celebrations will be an Open Day hosted at Davis & Shirtliff’s Dundori Rd, Industrial Area headquarters. The event will principally be an opportunity for the company to showcase its products and resources and visitors will be shown round the premises and also various products displays will be exhibited. The main formality at 12:30pm will be opening of the company’s new Administration and Canteen block by Guest of Honour Mr Abbas Gullet, Director General of the Kenya Red Cross Society who are one of the company’s largest customers. Various other VIP visitors from the company’s main suppliers including Grundfos, Pedrollo and Davey will also be present. The event will conclude with a lunch served in the new canteen.
Staff Walk - Saturday 14th May
To commemorate the Company’s original premises location in Westlands a walk is being arranged from this site to the present Dundori Rd, Industrial Area Headquarters. About 150 staff will participate and they will be accompanied by the Police Band. The event will start from the Nyota Petrol Station off Mpaka Rd at 9:30pm.
Staff Celebration - Saturday 14th May
As befits all Anniversaries a special celebration will be held for past and present staff members at the Dundori Rd Headquarters. The event will also feature service awards and various entertainments and the Guest of Honour will be Poul Mortensen, a long time business colleague of the company.
CSR Events
As part of the celebrations the company, with the kind assistance of various suppliers, will be carrying out several CSR projects for worthy institutions for deprived and poor children. Representatives of the recipients will attend the Customer Day when the projects will be handed over.
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Davis & Shirtliff – Leaders in Water Technology
Davis & Shirtliff started as a small water supply provider after WWII. Today the company is the leading supplier of water and water energy-related equipment in the region.
Commitment and dedication are the two traits that are evidently discernible from Alec Davis’ demeanor as he sips coffee in his office from a sparkling white mug inscribed with the words ‘Altiora Peto’. The Latin words translate to ‘I seek higher things’, his old school motto. For Davis, the CEO of Davis & Shirtliff Ltd, this is the philosophy that he lives by in the pursuit of making the company the best in East Africa.
“I am guided by ‘Altiora Peto’ in encouraging and guiding my team to provide the best products, continually improve, adapt technology and keep forging forward,” he says. He adds that in life, he believes in three critical values namely quality, integrity and continuous improvement. In life, one of the most critical lessons that Davis has learnt is that there is not, and will never be, any substitute for hard work. “Even with integrity, the best quality and an unending search for the best, only determined efforts and hard work will lead to success,” he notes.
It is because of hard work that Davis & Shirtliff is today a household name in anything water not only in Kenya but in the wider eastern Africa region. The company is indisputably the leading supplier of water and water energy-related equipment, selling and servicing tens of thousands of pumps and other water related products annually. In the process, the company is positively impacting the lives of many.
Davis & Shirtliff was founded in 1946 by two engineers, Eddie Davis and Dick Shirtliff, as a water supply engineering business and in the 1950s it diversified into water treatment and swimming pool construction. Today, the company has achieved tremendous and impressive growth providing pumps of various kinds, solar heating and lighting equipment, swimming pools products and accessories, borehole equipment and generators as well as many other water supply accessories which it either imports directly or manufactures.
Having started in Kenya, the company now has a presence in seven other countries namely Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, a workforce of 600 employees and 45 branches in the eastern Africa region. All are successful and well established and most are industry leaders.
Davis’s vision is to grow the company to become a truly pan-African business with operations across the continent. “We envision remaining in our segments but expanding in size in the next five years in order to take advantage of the full potential in eastern and the rest of Africa,” he explains.
The journey to attaining the pan-African status has already begun with the introduction of its own Dayliff brand. The company locally manufactures some of the solutions and products while others are imported. “We are opening branches in different markets to expand our footprint with unique and high quality products and solutions from easily accessible outlets,” he notes.
Some of the most recent innovations by Davis & Shirtliff include the ultra-filtration and reverse osmosis water treatment processes, equipment being manufactured at their Nairobi factory. These treatment plants are often used by large institutions such as factories, hotels and refugee camps, recent projects including plants to international standards at multinationals L’Oreal and Wrigleys. The company also works closely with NGO’s such as World Vision and Oxfam to advance the humanitarian water agenda and partners with the national and county governments in the provision of water supplies, especially in the arid areas.
According to Davis, the focus of Davis & Shirtliff is to be a technology leading company and has led with many innovations over the years including solar water pumps in the 1980’s, automatic booster pumps and remote controlled and monitored pumps. In some of these innovations it has partnered with their overseas suppliers including Grundfos, the world's largest pump manufacturer based in Denmark, Pedrollo of Italy and Davey of Australia. Some of these partnerships have lasted over 50 years, which has provided stability and consistency in the business.
Davis & Shirtliff ensures that it provides the best solutions and service possible as this helps in promoting its profile and reputation in the market and it’s no surprise that it is widely respected for quality and excellent service. It is also always investing, recent projects including a new Coast HQ building in Mombasa and a four storey admin/canteen/office block at its Dundori Rd, Nairobi Head Office.
The company maintains an open culture for employees, customers and partners. It also has a culture of commitment among employees and is active in corporate social responsibility (CSR). In May this year, Davis & Shirtliff will be celebrating its 70th anniversary and CSR shall be one of its focus areas.
Several challenges exist in the market with competition increasing all the time, though this is a natural result of the country’s economic growth and spurs ‘out of the box’ thinking. According to Davis the company ensures that it has sufficient staff capacity, especially technical staff, by absorbing young talented people whom it trains in its own training school. Training is an important priority at the company and a recent innovation has been Group-wide courses streamed through the internet from the Head Office.
Davis was born in Kenya and went to St Mary School for his primary education before attending Warwick School in the UK for secondary. He then joined Loughborough University where he graduated with a Bachelors of Technology degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also holds a Master of Business administration (MBA) from Manchester Business School.
His life passion is to ensure that Davis & Shirtliff succeeds and provide the much needed services and solutions in the water sector in its various markets. Away from the busy office duties, Davis enjoys playing tennis, golf and cards and keeps fit by bike riding and swimming. He is married to Christine and has two grown sons who both work in the business.
“The water sector in the country had been greatly neglected in the past but I’m glad that the devolved structure has increased focus on the provision of water supplies, particularly through the introduction of improved structure and regulation. The sector is now growing rapidly and there is much improved efficiency in the investment in water facilities,” he observes. He feels that the re-structuring of the water industry by the creation of the Water Resources Management Authority and Water Services Regulatory Boards and water services providers in different parts of the country is a positive development contributing to improved accessibility to clean water.
That notwithstanding, water remains one of Africa’s biggest problems. Davis describes water as the most important primary requirement for any economy. “Availability of water transforms people’s lives and boosts economic development and there remains much to be done to achieve the objective of clean water for all,” he notes.
“In past administrations, Ministries of Water lacked funding and related capital to develop, tap and conserve water resources. County governments have now provided greater incentives for the water provision agenda with water executives being made more accountable,” Davis concludes.
ENDS….
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Engineering training essential to growth of engineers
Davis and Shirtliff was established in 1946 by partners Eddie Davis and Dick Shirtliff. It was based at Westlands and grew rapidly focusing on boreholes, water supplies and the coffee industry. Notable early projects included the water supply for Karen Estates, the entire water supply infrastructure until the mid-70’s being installed and maintained by D&S. Other estates supplies including Gigiri, Kitisuru, Kibagare, Rosslyn and later Runda were also D&S projects.
D&S grew with the country and in the mid-1950’s, the offices moved to new larger premises at the present location in the Industrial Area. Growth continued through the 1960’s notably the distribution of Grundfos and Davey pumps being introduced then and in 1970 Dick Shirtliff retired selling his shareholding to a long-serving employee, Devji Shingadia. The present Chairman, Alec Davis joined the company in the mid-1970’s and inherited his father’s shareholding when he passed away in 1982. 1993 was a significant year for both Kenya and D&S as economic liberalization occurred and this was the catalyst for the company’s rapid growth to the significant organization it has become today. It was also the year that Pedrollo products were introduced, now the Group’s largest supplier. These two developments enabled a distribution strategy to be developed and also establishment of the branch network, which is now so important for the Group. Initially Kenya branches in Westlands, Eldoret and Kisumu were opened and between 1995 and 2000 subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda were established. Also the pump business grew hugely with Pedrollo and new solar and power generation activities were introduced.
Davis and Shirtliff today is the regional market leader in its field specialising in activities in the energy and water sectors including water pumps, borehole equipment, water treatment, swimming pools, solar equipment and power generation. It operates through 50 branches in seven regional countries – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, South Sudan.
Brief of Alec Davis
Alec Davis was born in Kenya in 1950 initially attending St. Mary’s School before completing his secondary education in the UK. He gained an engineering degree from Loughborough University followed by an MBA at Manchester Business School and then returned to Kenya to join Davis and Shirtliff in 1976. After inheriting his father’s shareholding in 1982 he became a director and then assumed majority ownership in 1990 on the retirement of his partner. Alec has been the CEO since then though is now passing the baton to long-serving Deputy CEO David Gatende and will move to the position of Chairman.
Q. As a company that has been established for so long, what do you think is the greatest impediment to attaining universal water supply to Kenyans.
A. The country faces a number of issues notably limited engineering capacity and funding. In the urban centers water supply is reasonably organized though in the rural areas there are particular challenges due to the large number of dispersed communities and a lack of easily accessible water. It is a fact that Kenya has a low availability of water per head of population making water accessibility very expensive and to address this considerable infrastructure investment is required.
Q. What are some of the major changes you have witnessed in water supply over the years
A. There has certainly been great improvements in water accessibility as national policy has focused on water availability. The driver has been the population growth and urban center investment has grown hugely. In the rural areas there has been considerable NGO focus and also cheaper technologies and a greater number of trained engineers have made a big impact. Devolution has also helped as the County governments focus on providing water to marginalized communities.
Q. What are the projects you are proud of as D&S, why are you proud of them?
A. There are many as D&S has always been an industry leader. For example we were the designers and installers of the basic water infrastructure for Karen estates in the 1940’s. Also in the 1970’s, we installed all the water treatment plants on the KenGen Tana River hydro power stations as well as at the many new lodges that were constructed then. An added activity was swimming pools, both residential and commercial, and many were built that are still in use today including Limuru Girls School, Loreto Convent, YMCA, Braeburn and Pangani Girls, though we ceased building pools some years ago. One of the product developments I am particularly proud of is development of reverse osmosis technology which is now widely used in hotels and other institutions across the country. Other technologies we have pioneered include variable speed booster pumps, ultra-filtration, salt chlorinated swimming pools and solar pumping, which is making a big impact in the rural and arid areas. This is a technology that we introduced in partnership with our overseas suppliers and we have carried out many installations in the region.
Q. What new technologies has the company embraced in energy and water management?
A. Solar is the future as world manufacturing costs of the key component, the PV power modules, has dropped by about 85 per cent in the last five years. It has made solar powered projects much more affordable which combined with improved technology has led to a widely accepted change to the technology. The other area where great progress has been made is in remote monitoring and control, a technology that we have invested a great deal of effort in. We now have a system that can monitor equipment performance at a distance, for example in Wajir from Nairobi, and action problems when they occur. We call this iDayliff that allows users to control their water and energy systems through a phone app.
Q. How is the Water Bill 2014 going to affect the consumers and your customers?
A. The Bill will certainly impact consumers as it will raise costs and make them use water more efficiently and reduce environmental contamination. It will also make a big impact on the efficiency of water management processes in the country. Proper water regulation and management is essential in this country to ensure maximum efficiency in the use of the limited water resources we have available.
Q. How will the Water Bill 2014 and other legislations affect your business?
A. I certainly feel it will affect our business but positively. There will be a greater demand for efficient water supplies and more efficient solutions will be required to deliver it.
Q. How much does your company depend on engineering and engineers?
A. Davis and Shirtliff is an engineering company and depends hugely on qualified and experienced engineers. About 50 per cent of our staff are graduate engineers while the technicians are trained with tertiary education. We are committed to recruiting graduates of high calibre and certainly they make a big contribution to the company. We have engineers of all types including project engineers, software engineers, sales engineers and installation engineers and the operational side of this business depends mostly on engineers.
Q. Since you take up many engineering graduates please comment on the quality of engineering graduates our universities are producing?
A. Generally the quality of graduates that we recruit are well qualified and the local universities do a good job. Kenyan engineers are highly competent and we have no problems in finding the skills level that we need, especially at the graduate level. However, specialised engineers with particular skills are more difficult to find as the engineering traditions and culture do not exist here like they do in developed countries.
Q. What opportunities do you provide for your technical employees for professional development?
A. We have various formal training and development programmes for all our engineers that together with on the job experience creates rounded professionals. We have a well-equipped Training school that organizes regular courses for both internal and external participants and the particular focus is on product knowledge. Training and product management is essential to the development of our business. To become an engineer a good formal academic education is an essential foundation with a good post graduate degree being an added advantage. However, there is no substitute for practical experience and good engineers only evolve with experience and time.
Q. How can we build capacity and increase technical output in engineering firms like yours as we pursue vision 2030?
A. The key is a formalized development path that exposes engineers to different technologies and challenges that encourage innovative and creative solutions. It is important that they are given responsibility in a wide range of projects as it is the only way to learn. Working in an innovative and progressive environment is important and providing the engineer has an open and enquiring mind he or she, and we employ an increasing number of lady engineers, will develop the skills to make significant contributions to the development of the nation.
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