At ODI’s conference, “Cultivating a culture of Operations Excellence: A better way, every day,” held on October 22, 2026, at the Premier Hotel, O.R. Tambo, Johannesburg, our keynote speaker was Hermann Rolfes, Managing Director of Wispeco Aluminium Pty Ltd (a 100% subsidiary of Remgro Ltd). The title of Hermann’s presentation was:
“Planting in Fertile Ground: Cultivating Excellence through People”
Wispeco Aluminium, South Africa’s leading aluminium extrusion company, was one of the early adopters of the 20 Keys operations excellence (OE) philosophy. Hermann described the company’s extraordinary transformation over almost 30 years.
Wispeco melts aluminium scrap metal to produce bullets, which are pressed through dies to form extrusions (lengths of tubes and bars with different profiles), which are sold to customers to manufacture consumer products.
The Wispeco turnaround, started in 1998, culminated in a substantial market share expansion by 2025. How was this remarkable transformation achieved? Wispeco’s Operational Excellence (OE) journey offers critical, actionable insights for executives and leadership teams across South Africa.
Hermann outlined these lessons as follows:
• Commitment and the will to succeed is the critical starting point – it is amazing the energy unlocked.
• Have a plan. In Wispeco’s case, higher quality imports forced a plan to become more competitive. A primary focus was speed.
• Align objectives, cascading through all levels. Wispeco’s shared objective was to be fast.
• Develop understanding and buy-in through effective communication.
• Value your first-line managers: they are present at the coalface, make things happen, and are key to the improvement journey. Wispeco upskilled this line of managers.
• Unlock the power of diversity. This is not necessarily of race or religion, but of different ways of looking at things, different perspectives. Contrasting views are needed to challenge paradigms and unlock creativity. Don’t employ “mini-me’s”. Employees should feel safe to express their ideas.
• Focus on speed. Speed matters – it can set you apart. Wispeco started delivering products within days of order instead of weeks, meaning customers could lower their inventories.
• Provide short circuits: these are channels whereby lower-level employees can bypass middle management to communicate with top-level managers. Wispeco saw the benefit of building respect and trust between lowest and highest. This was not a problem-solving forum – issues were referred back to the appropriate managers.
• Establish a culture of ownership: workers must accept goals as their own, not imposed on them by management. Offer worthwhile incentive schemes.
People are the enabling resource of a business and form the foundation of competitive advantage. The more fertile the soil, the better the chances of a bumper crop.
To find out more about the Learnerships offered to Wispeco’s employees, please click the following links:
NQF2 Occupational Certificate – Store Person
NQF3 Supervision for Energised WorkTeams
NQF4 General Management (Management of Productivity)
NQF5 General Management (Energised Leadership)
ODI delivered various Skills Programmes for maximum operational impact.
To read more about the line-up of speakers at our recent conference, please click here.
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