I have come upon an interesting article by Nicola Mawson on ITWeb titled “Digicore pushes boundaries“. Digicore has been the first partner to join us in the efforts to create awareness of road safety online and we would like to provide information from this article on how Digicore will grow operations in these challenging times.
I would hereby like to quote from the story on ITWeb:
“Listed vehicle-tracking company DigiCore Holdings aims to grow its international operations in expectation of the upturn in the economy, and a need from companies to trim fleet costs.
CEO Nick Vlok says the company is sending a channel manager to South America, where it will look into opening ventures in countries such as Brazil and Chile. It is also looking at possible acquisitions, but will not spend unnecessary time on assessing these, he adds.
In Europe, DigiCore is in the testing phase of hardware, which will be fitted into cars coming off the production line. Vlok did not disclose the partnering manufacturer.
The company has also renewed its export drive. “We have a solid base in place for growth,” he adds.
Vlok says the company has been expanding internationally and, in the year to June, opened an office in France and Belgium. The Belgium office reported a profit in its first year, and the office in Paris adds to the company’s current distribution network, he notes.
DigiCore has operations in Europe, Benelux, Germany, the UK and Pakistan, which has been hampered by the volatile political situation. It has been in operation since 1985 and listed on the JSE since 1998. It employs 700 staff.
Tenders rolling
In the UK, the company has provided the first 8 000 tracking units out of a 40 000 order from the Royal Mail, says Vlok. New C-track enterprise software will launch in Europe, in October, which should expand the company’s customer base, he adds.
The company has provided over 400 000 units since it entered the stolen vehicle recovery market three years ago. Its clients include SABMiller, Sony, the South African Police Service and MTN.
Bruce Richards, MD of DigiCore International, says manufacturing and sales of units have come down since last year as a result of the global economic crisis and credit crunch.
However, companies are seeking to trim costs, and one way of doing this is to manage fleets, says Richards. He adds that tender activity is buoyant at the moment, and smaller competitors are leaving the market, which bodes well for the group. “It’s time to grow and take advantage of the situation.”
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