Process & Operations

As the global automotive industry transitions at pace and scale to more Electric Vehicles (EVs), battery innovation is driving sector evolution. This shift affects both passenger and commercial categories. Manufacturers now face pressure to deliver faster charging and higher energy density batteries. They must also improve battery lifetimes.

We quite rightly talk about the importance of planting trees. We talk about their role in absorbing carbon, protecting biodiversity and supporting healthy landscapes. These are important conversations. However, after many years working in forestry and the bioeconomy, I have come to believe that we sometimes make the relationship between people and trees sound shallower than it really is.

South Africa’s agricultural sector is under growing pressure to produce more food with fewer resources. Rising input costs, infrastructure strain, and climate volatility are reshaping the risk commercial farming landscape. Margins continue to tighten. As operational buffers shrink, farming businesses are becoming increasingly exposed to production, financial and market vulnerabilities.

South Africans are rethinking what makes a car worth its price. German engineering, driving dynamics and badge appeal remain powerful. However, Chinese brands are countering with generous equipment, long warranties and lower entry prices.

What we wear every day is the result of a global supply chain that few people ever see. That chain often begins far earlier than most realise and increasingly raises questions about the materials used to make our clothes. In many cases, it starts - believe it or not - in a forest plantation. Not in an abstract sense, but quite literally. Wood grown in South African forest plantations is processed into dissolving wood pulp. Producers export that pulp, and manufacturers convert it into fibre elsewhere. They eventually turn that fibre into fabric

As industrial automation becomes increasingly software-driven and AI-enabled, the channel partner's role is undergoing a profound shift. The next generation of partners will be evaluated not on the products they sell, but on their ability to design, integrate, and support outcome-based solutions in complex, connected environments.

Recent severe weather events across South Africa have once again highlighted the agricultural sector's growing exposure to climate-related risks. While hail has historically been one of the most visible threats, farmers increasingly face a combination of hazards. These include strong winds, heavy rainfall, localised flooding and unseasonal weather patterns. Often, these hazards occur within the same production cycle.

South Africa could spend billions connecting people to the internet and still fail to deliver a truly digital economy. However, municipalities must maintain the infrastructure underneath it. That may sound like an odd claim in an industry obsessed with fibre, spectrum, 5G and data centres. Yet connectivity does not float above the physical world. Fibre needs roads, servitudes, electricity, water, poles, ducts and functioning municipal systems.

For years, many businesses have treated Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as another compliance requirement that could wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow has arrived. Enforcement under Section 18 of the National Environmental Management Waste Act is now a reality. Organisations that continue to ignore their obligations are exposing themselves to regulatory action, financial penalties and reputational damage.

Contaminated land is rarely a contained technical problem. A site may have a defined boundary on a map. However, its risks can change as groundwater moves, land use shifts, climate conditions become less predictable and surrounding land uses change over time.