Saiccor - The First 50 Years 5.8 MB - Sappi

The First Fifty Years
Saiccor proposed piping the exhaust from the Hagglund towers (the
highest source of sulphur dioxide emissions) to the venturis in the
magnesium plant� The Department of Health was happy with the
proposal� The project went ahead and was commissioned in June
1988, just two months after the first official gas complaint from
Umkomaas and Ilfracombe�
In late 1986 Gordon Campbell sold the Lido because it was not
profitable� It was probably never profitable, but was kept as a
convenience for functions and guests� Oakley Tainton insisted on
Saiccor guests staying at the Lido, which had ensured some occupancy,
but when Oakley retired the practise ceased, leading to a decline in
occupancy with its inevitable consequence� The Lido was so much a
part of Saiccor’s history, it was sad to see it go�
Production dropped from 1 170 t/d to 1 153 t/d in the last calendar
quarter of 1986, and continued to fall to 1 115 t/d in the second
quarter of 1987� Morale had started to deteriorate� The organisation
was changing, which could be accepted, but there was a feeling that
longer-serving employees, particularly the Italians, were not
recognised for the contribution they had made to the success of the
business� There were too many new positions and too many new
people in senior positions� The Italians, who were then nearly all in
their mid to late fifties, believed that although they had given their
lives to making Saiccor a success, no one now even knew what they
had achieved, nor did they care �
Gordon Campbell asked me in the second quarter of 1987 what we
needed to do to make 1 200 t/d� I suggested we give out 30 company
motor cars� Gordon answered that he would be happy to give one or
two cars if that could solve the problem, but 30 were out of the question�
‘Do you know that in Grimsby only the factory manager has a company
car?’ was his response� He would not accept that the practice in South
Africa was different from that in the UK� At that time only Saiccor’s
Management Committee had company cars, which was far less than
other comparable companies in South Africa�
Early in 1987 Norman Boulter announced he would be retiring at
the end of May 1987� Gordon Campbell reorganised fairly quickly� I
was to become Works Manager and John Hinck Technical Manager,
from 1 April 1987� However, the role of Technical Manager had been
redefined to include quality assurance, product and process
development, process specification, and to provide technical support
through his department�
Bryan Thomas reported to John Hinck� Mike Howlett transferred
to the technical department as a development engineer, and other
transfers to the technical department from the production
department were Wayne Weston, a young chemical engineer who
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