12 MEA MARKETS / Q2 2021 , Dec20372 The transportation of various products in tankers brings unique problems that require unique solutions. One of the most critical factors is ensuring that these tankers are cleaned thoroughly and efficiently. It is work that the teamat Tanker Cleaning Service NTL is passionate about and at which it excels at. This passion has resulted in TCS being named both Best Tanker Cleaning Specialists - South Africa and Excellence Award for Crisis-Time Business Resilience 2020 in the MEA Business Awards, we thought it time to take a closer look at this essential business. Tanks a Lot! Based in South Africa, TCS has become an industry leader, focusing in on the storage and cleaning of tank containers. Tankers have become the life blood of many industries, and the services TCS have provided over the many years has proven incredibly popular and has help drive the exponential growth of the industry in Southern Africa. When the firm opened its doors in 1998, there was a single owner, with five employees. Now the team services over 1,000 tankers a month and the number grow ever higher. TCS has always been a family business at heart, founded by Henk Grove who later welcomed both his young sons into the business. His vision was to pass on the mantle to his two boys who grew with the business. Fast forward a few years to 2015, these two men, Franscious and Nickolaai, decided it was time to expand what their father had bestowed upon them and grew TCS significantly. Having pioneered many of the operating and cleaning procedures for tank containers in Southern Africa, the personnel are well experienced and proficient in washing chemical and food grade tank containers, providing cosmetic and major refurbishments, importing and exporting tank preps, as well as undertaking pitting repairs and mandatory 2½-year and 5-year periodic testing. The business has become a hub for those within the industry, and the team are highly regarded for their work. For over a decade, TCS was the only accredited Sasol, BASF and ISOGENE facility, as well as NCP’s preferred food grade depot. The team dispatched 887 tank containers during 2019, which shows the trust that these organizations hold in the firm. NCP has incredibly stringent loading site conditions, which makes this achievement all the more impressive. Quality and attention to detail are the founding pillars on which TCS basis its primary business practices on. It is thanks to this and a desire to always go above and beyond that has helped such success. Since the business first opened its doors, the tanker industry in South Africa has changed dramatically. Where there were once three operators, with tank units ranging between one hundred and two hundred, now the market has grown to include multiple tank operators bringing their tank containers into South Africa for export trade. The team has been kept enormously busy by the shifting nature of the industry, and with a shortage of tankers available to meet export demand, there is pressure to have tank containers washed and made available as soon as possible. This pressure was not alleviated by the strain of COVID-19. The company has had to push hard to survive over the last eighteen months, with the team pulling together to make a real difference. Despite the pandemic, tank container imports into South Africa increased, which saw the team at TCS receive over 5,800 tank containers for washing. This number was up 31% year-on-year. Recently, the firm has branched out into other areas of tanker treatment, offering major refurbishment to ISO tanks, which are cosmetically modified to increase brand awareness. This project started with one tank in January 2020 but has been such a success that the team have international clients asking them to complete around twenty tanks a month. This growth is entirely organic, passed around by word-of-mouth. The trust which businesses place in TCS is reflective of the quality of their work. Over the years, as the industry has grown, this is a team that has made the effort to grow alongside it. It’s the secret behind their remarkable success, and why they will continue to thrive for years to come. Company: Tanker Cleaning Services Name: Courtney Grove Email: [email protected]
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