Hwange Colliery Unveils Strategic Overhaul for Competitive Repositioning
HCCL Holdings formerly Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) has embarked on a transformative journey through the launch of a comprehensive organizational reform strategy known as the Business Improvement Project (BIP), Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
The initiative according to the company CEO William Gambiza is designed to address the company’s operational inefficiencies and reposition it as Zimbabwe’s leading coal producer, capable of competing on both regional and global markets.
The BIP is a bold move aimed at safeguarding shareholder value while ensuring that employees, local communities, and business partners continue to benefit from HCCL’s operations.
Central to the project is the objective of reducing business risks and streamlining processes for optimal performance.
Speaking to Mining Zimbabwe Gambiza, emphasized that the Business Improvement Project is more than a corporate restructuring effort—it is a complete overhaul of the company’s business culture.
“I’m thrilled to be part of this exciting phase in HCCL’s journey towards rebuilding itself. The BIP is focused on re-examining every aspect of our operations. We need to evaluate all our ongoing and future projects, retaining only those that make business sense and abandoning the rest. It’s about ensuring that our business moves in the right direction and adapts to shifting market dynamics,” Gambiza remarked.
According to Gambiza, the success of the BIP hinges on its ability to enable HCCL Holdings to continuously manage costs, protect its margins, and maintain competitiveness in a volatile market. The initiative will prioritize high-margin opportunities and low-cost production, key factors in the company’s future success.
Enhancing Productivity and Cost Control
Gambiza said the Business Improvement Project aims to boost productivity by maximizing output per worker shift, controlling organizational spending, and ensuring efficient management of contractors. A significant focus will also be placed on managing debts and growing market share, areas which Gambiza views as essential for long-term sustainability.
He said that the BIP is also about building a unified team that shares the company’s vision and purpose.
“We’re focusing on nurturing a workforce that aligns with HCCL’s core values. Everyone needs to understand the bigger picture—this is how we build a team that moves in unison towards a common goal,” said Gambiza.
The project also aims to modernize mine planning by adopting a dynamic investment policy. This approach will allow HCCL Holdings to quickly respond to market changes, whether they signal a growth phase requiring expansion or a contraction phase necessitating the scaling down of operations.
“If we identify a high-growth opportunity, we can ramp up operations by increasing shifts and developing new business assets. However, if the environment shifts negatively, we’ll need to be agile enough to scale back, as we’ve done with our 3-Main Underground mine, currently under care and maintenance,” Gambiza elaborated.
Strategic Investments in Infrastructure
As part of HCCL’s long-term growth strategy, the BIP will focus on optimizing the company’s product portfolio to prioritize high-value products that maximize cash flow and profitability. This includes significant investments in infrastructure, such as the development of modular coal washing plants and the construction of a new coke oven battery.
These strategic investments, according to Mr. Gambiza, will help the company achieve its broader goal of improving cash flow and enhancing its overall market position.
“We’re not just looking at volume, we’re focusing on value. The modular coal plants and coke oven battery are steps towards achieving this,” he said.
Customer-Centric Approach
A key component of the Business Improvement Project is the introduction of a Customer Value Management (CVM) strategy, which will fundamentally shift the company’s focus towards meeting customer needs. CVM is a business model that emphasizes creating, delivering, and capturing value for customers by tailoring services to their demands.
“The coal business is driven by customer needs. We are transitioning from a production-oriented mindset to a marketing-focused one. It’s about understanding what the customer wants and crafting our business strategies around that,” Gambiza said.
To support this shift, HCCL will establish a series of key commercial metrics, including customer lifetime value, retention ratios, acquisition costs, and recurring revenues. The company will also revisit its coal supply chain to identify areas where more value can be generated for both HCCL and its customers.
People-Centered Transformation
Gambiza highlighted that the success of BIP relies not only on numbers and operational efficiencies but also on the people behind the processes.
“People are the business. While numbers and efficiencies matter, it’s the people who make the difference. We aim to work with world-class talent, bringing in experts from diverse fields to improve processes and upskill our team,” he noted.
The CEO further explained that key deliverables for the BIP would revolve around improving safety, enhancing environmental stewardship, reducing costs, boosting market share, and ensuring that HCCL remains compliant with local regulations. The company will also focus on improving its return on capital employed and optimizing its balance sheet.
Change Management and Implementation
To ensure the effective implementation of the BIP, HCCL has rolled out employee roadshows and introduced a change management model based on Kotter’s 8-Step process. This model emphasizes urgency, vision, empowerment, and the creation of short-term wins as part of a broader cultural shift within the company.
“Change agents will be appointed and trained to oversee the implementation of this transformative project across different departments. This is a journey we are taking together as a company, and the involvement of everyone is crucial to its success,” Gambiza concluded.
In summary, HCCL Holdings Business Improvement Project is poised to transform the company’s operational landscape by introducing modern business practices, optimizing its product portfolio, and focusing on customer-centric strategies. This multi-year project is expected to position Hwange Colliery as a leading player in Zimbabwe’s coal industry, offering long-term value for shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders alike.