Global asset management company Pragma hosted its annual Asset Management Thought Leadership Conference in Cape Town recently, boasting a record attendance from the elite of the South African commercial sector.
The most notable attendees included Anglo American, Goldfields, Xstrata, Tiger brands, KWV, Nampak, Sappi, Rand Water, Airports Company of South Africa, Shell and Sasol.
According to Pragma Holdings CEO, Adriaan Scheeres, the increasing attention that's being paid to physical asset management by South African and multinational companies can be attributed to the costs-efficiencies and the improvement of asset performance that is inherent in such systems.
"The science and art of physical asset management is one in which, when properly executed, can significantly impact an organisation's bottom line by reducing maintenance costs, increasing the economical life of capital equipment, reducing company liability, and reducing the number of systems and components," explains Scheeres.
The increasing prominence of physical asset management in the global corporate sector can be evidenced by the fact that, in a recent research report conducted by IBM, 40% of CEOs now view this aspect as a key focus in strengthening financial performance in the coming years.
Asset management has its roots in the aviation industry, as planes were the first systems complex enough, and with failure consequences dramatic enough, to necessitate the development of structured techniques with which to manage their maintenance and ensure reliability.
However, the roots of asset management have spread to all sectors of the economy, as Pragma currently has maintenance and management contracts with major companies from the mining, utilities, manufacturing and petrochemical sectors.
The global expansion of the asset management firm can be further evidenced by the fact that Pragma now has 400 customers worldwide and is experiencing 32% growth a year.
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