Stephan Kotze is a manufacturing man through and through. He graduated from the University of Potchefstroom in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering—and hasn’t studied further because he believes that there is no substitute for experience. He worked for a major steel producer for 15 years, becoming the head of process automation for its South African operations. Moving to Accenture in 2006 was occasioned by his desire to work alongside people from whom he could learn new skills—and because he believed that Accenture was the best vehicle for his ambition to establish manufacturing execution systems (MES) as a force in business.
Manufacturing execution systems manage the manufacturing process, ultimately connecting the industrial control systems (SCADA or supervisory control and data acquisition systems) with the ERP system.
Kotze is Accenture’s global lead for manufacturing systems in the chemicals and natural resources industries and acts as a subject-matter specialist in manufacturing systems projects globally. During his time with Accenture, he has worked on remote monitoring and diagnostics projects for a national electrical utility, integrated quality management systems for a major steel producer, and worked on projects for a major South American mining company, as well as an European steel giant.
Taking the broad view, he believes that the majority of global companies are challenged by initiative overload, often with limited consideration of how projects interact with each other and, more importantly, how they contribute to overall strategy. “The quick-fix mentality might be to blame for the wide variety of initiatives that are put in place, whereas the solution is often much more simple and fundamental. Managers need to be able to step back and look at the totality,” he argues. “An independent consultancy such as Accenture has the responsibility of providing the thought leadership and objectivity that is required to prioritise the most important initiatives. Companies must focus on establishing the basic operations management capabilities before proceeding to implement more sophisticated systems and processes. Otherwise, one remains in fire-fighting mode.”
Kotze spends a lot of time cheering on his two teenagers who swim competitively and, along with his wife, enjoys collecting South African succulents. The whole family loves the Cape Town area, and holidays tend to get spent in the vicinity.