Cummins West Africa Ltd. (CWAL), a branch of Cummins Inc., a diesel and natural gas engine manufacturer has inaugurated a N35 million worth of facility in Lagos aimed at providing quality service to its Nigerian market.
Located in the prominent business district between Mobolaji Johnson Avenue and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the new facility will give the 100 years company easy access to its target market.
Serving the market which includes: Automotive, construction, financial institutions, telecommunications & technology, mining, marine, oil & gas, and power generation, Cummins West Africa Ltd is optimistic that the new facility will increase service satisfaction.
“We are confident the facility will increase service satisfaction from where it is today, we’re sure it will improve better quality products leaving this facility because most things are done with the use of automated system; less human error,” Mark oni-Okeke, Commercial Manager, Cummins West Africa said during the recent inauguration, assuring that the efficiency of the workforce will get better because of the conducive environment.
For the West Africa arm of the New York-listed group company, the move sends a strong signal that Nigeria is critical to its regional operations.
According to Kwame Gyan-Tawiah, Director Cummins Distribution, the recently launched facility in Lagos is one of the company’s biggest in the world.
“Apart from our factories, this facility is the biggest in the world, so for Cummins, Africa is part of their agenda; if you look around because the company believes in local talents every member of the leadership teams is a Nigerian except for one and even that one is a West African,” Tawiah assured saying that Cummins believes Africa is for Africans.
Explaining the importance of Nigeria to the Company, Okeke said Africa’s largest economy has the biggest market for Cummins in Africa and even in the Africa/middle east region; Nigeria remains the country that is getting a lot of attention. “We see all the opportunities and with such investments we want customers to know that we are here for a long time”
The investment is the company’s strategy to not only provide service for their Nigerian market but also targeted at increasing Africa’s contribution to its bottom as the US currently accounts for 55 percent of its revenue.
“If you look at our revenue, about 55 percent comes from the US, but practically Africa is not going to start contributing as much as the US anytime soon, however, it is a good scope that Africa contributes more and so as Nigeria’s economy, for example, grows it will be good for a company like ours,” Ade Obatoyinbo, Managing Director, CWAL said.
According to the Company, Nigeria has a lot to benefit from the new facility as it has the potential to create employment. Currently, 99 percent of the workforce in CWAL are Nigerians.
“The investment we have made in this facility is our biggest in Nigeria. When one of our colleagues who have visited most our factories around the world said some Uk locations are not as advanced as what we have deployed here in Nigeria,” Obatoyinbo said.
With several building clusters in the new facility, the 25,300 m2 brownfield development has three-floor administrative building, training centre, which also houses the staff canteen, clinic, nursing mothers’ room, and meditation room; warehouse comprising a separate genset and parts storage areas, as well as parts-sales offices to serve walk-in customers, climate-controlled workshop with a mezzanine office floor for technical staff.
The workshop is fitted with a dynamometer for testing lose rebuilt or repaired engines, amongst other modern equipment.
“If we have to succeed in Nigeria we have to provide world-class facilities not just for our employees but also for customers to have confidence in the quality of services that we’re pushing out, so it was worth the investment,” Okeke said.
