Anouar Benabdallah Business Development Manager North Africa interview

In North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), we are present with the main customers of the industry: Cement, Energy, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, etc... and our services range from the supply of equipment, through project management, commissioning, and after-sales service of your equipment.

We interviewed Anouar Benabdallah, in charge of the North African sector, to better understand the stakes of our presence in this sector.

In North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), we are present with the main customers of the industry: Cement, Energy, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, etc... and our services range from the supply of equipment, through project management, commissioning, and after-sales service of your equipment.

We interviewed Anouar Benabdallah, in charge of the North Africa sector, to better understand the stakes of our presence in this sector.

SICK France : Hello Anouar, can you tell us more about your background and your tasks at SICK ?

Anouar Benabdallah : I have been working for 16 years in the North Middle East Africa market as a Bussines Developer. I am therefore familiar with large accounts in the heavy industry such as cement companies, chemical and oil & gas complexes, or power plants. My role at SICK France is to be the sales representative. I have been doing this for eight years now. In concrete terms, I identify the needs. If we can meet this need in our product portfolio, my role is to offer the right industrial solution.

SICK France : How is SICK positioned in the North African market ? 

Anouar Benabdallah : We are professionals in the world of analysis, we master the entire value chain. We are therefore able to detect needs with precision and accuracy and to advise our customers, both large and small, in the best possible way. We are referenced by our customers as a supplier of quality products and solutions for industrial analysis. 

SICK France : What does SICK offer in these 3 countries? 

Anouar Benabdallah : Today, we have gained experience from the projects we have implemented in these countries. So when a registered customer contacts the SICK platform, we can direct them to the right technology. Either "hot" technology, for all process measurement and emission control issues. Or a "cold" technology, for everything concerning natural gas, as in Algeria. Four people with complementary skills are dedicated to this market and these specific solutions.

As far as the delivery of spare parts is concerned, we are in charge of all customs matters in these countries. A person is exclusively in charge of these particular questions.

Through our branch office in Morocco, SICK Maroc Services, we can operate locally and invoice locally. For our customers, this is a considerable administrative gain. SICK Maroc Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SICK France, which is responsible for providing services directly to Moroccan customers.

We also support all the activities of international groups (Japanese, Italian, German, etc), which represents 40% of our time. They sell our solutions to engineering companies in their countries that these EPCs will deliver in turn in Algeria. We are therefore the commercial interface between the end customer, the EPCs and the other SICK subsidiaries.

There is also a certification part of the equipment in these markets. 

We have products where there are market barriers at the local level to sell in Algeria. It is necessary to be certified ONML (Office National de Métrologie Légale), the entry ticket to sell transactional gas meters on the Algerian market. This is a long and sensitive administrative procedure. For reasons of communication and language, our parent company subcontracts this task to us. 

SICK France : How is SICK organized and what are its resources?

Anouar Benabdallah : SICK France is in active development mode in North Africa. As I mentioned earlier, as soon as I joined SICK France, we set up "SICK Maroc Services" to provide services.

In addition to the 4 technical sales representatives available directly by telephone, we are now also involved in pre-sales with a product manager. Afterwards, two people are in charge of developing and refining a technical solution to meet the customer's needs.

Once the sale is made, the after-sales service takes over to accompany the customer. An expert from the parent company in Germany can also intervene, as export markets are considerable.

Finally, there is a physical accompaniment of a Strategic Industry Manager from the parent company to customers in North Africa because these are large projects or the applications are specialized.

After the order is placed, a project team of 6 to 8 people takes care of the design.

On the after-sales service side, from delivery to training, including commissioning and after-sales parts, there is a dedicated team. 

The market is configured by country, i.e. :

• Algeria has the worldwide reputation of being a major actor on the GAS part. Algeria is the 3rd largest exporter of gas in the world, so there is a need for instrumentation at the level of analysis and metering. So Algeria is very oil & gas oriented and to a lesser degree cement (LafargeHolcim / GICA) and power (Sonelgaz).

• Morocco is the 3rd largest producer of phosphate in the world and is also a major player in the production of ammonia and fertilizers.

OCP has two divisions: the mining part and the chemical part. We have emission measurement solutions for both of them. We are trying to diversify into other activities such as detection or plant safety. We are in a position to become the number one supplier to this customer for the analysis part. The cement industry is also a growth sector, and our customers such as Ciments du Maroc / HeidelbergCement Group, Asment Temara Vototantim Cimentos, LafargeHolcim and many others use our SICK analyzers in any cement plant in Morocco.

• Tunisia is very close to Morocco in terms of industrial configuration, i.e. they are major players in fertilizer production as well as in the cement industry. 

SICK France : What are your development plans ? 

Anouar Benabdallah : We want to structure and build on our successes, which means that every achievement must be a success.

Whether for export or in France, our customers benefit from the same level of rigor: the same installation reliability, with availability rates close to 100% on process measurement. We also make our installations more reliable. The subsidiary set up in Morocco is proof of our desire to be closer to the customer and to be responsive. We can intervene within 24 hours. Each sale of equipment is accompanied by a maintenance contract to ensure the durability of the investment. We manage the entire value chain, even for the availability of spare parts.  We wish to develop our notoriety and to be a recognized brand on the Maghreb for the industrial analysis part from 2018.