Continuous innovation keeps us going — PPC Zimbabwe

GIANT cement producer, PPC Zimbabwe, has vowed to continuously innovate and re-engineer its products in a bid to improve quality in line with customer expectations.

Sales manager Mr Wonderful Dube said re-engineering of products is anchored on the strategy to innovate and come up with what customers want.

Besides product re-engineering, he said PPC Zimbabwe has embraced the use of electronic platforms to widen market accessibility as well as get critical feedback from consumers.

“As PPC, there is a lot that we are doing in the innovation space.

“Right now, we have an online store, which used to be a diaspora platform, which now caters to local transactions, which brings customer convenience as they order cement from the comfort of their homes.

“Further to that, we continuously re-engineer our products in order to meet the changing tastes of our consumers,” he said.

“So, now we have got a Suretech product, which is a 52,5 cement and it’s the first here in the country that you can get through PPC.

“Through our engagement with contractors and projects that are happening across the country, we get to understand what our customers want based on the structures that they will be building.

“So, we continuously innovate to make sure that we are on top of the game.”

Meanwhile, Mr Dube said PPC has the capacity to produce cement for the local market and has applauded Government initiatives to halt imports.

“We have new players and imports, which come from other countries, but we are very excited because the Zimbabwean government supports local industries and they have managed to curb the coming in of imports,” he said.

“In terms of capacity as PPC we have got enough capacity to satisfy the local demand, we innovate and upgrade our facilities to make sure that we keep up with the times.”

Late last year the Government introduced temporary measures to curb shortages, which were due to plant maintenance at some local cement manufacturing companies, and also challenges caused by energy shortages.

This saw the Ministry of Industry and Commerce issuing import licences for companies and individuals to import cement from other countries as a gap cover.

According to the ministry, the cement sector was one of the most vibrant during the year 2023, notably because of the commendable results that have been recorded.

The sector made a giant leap in its quest to modernise, industrialise, and create jobs.

This is in line with the National Vision of attaining an upper-middle income economy by 2030. — -chronicle