Devan Pillay, the new Market Leader for Signify in Africa, has a deep knowledge of both the electrical and lighting industries. He believes the onus is on professionals in this space to educate customers.
Sparks: Where did you grow up?
DP: I was born on the Natal South Coast and came from a family of sugar cane farmers. My interest in electricity started from an early age as we lived opposite an electrical substation which fed the community. We often played around it because it had the most manicured lawns, so it naturally became our soccer field. I was amazed by the constant buzz of the transformers and the complex equipment that the substation housed.
Sparks: Is that what drove you to pursue a career in the electrical field?
DP: What really drew me to electricity was the fact that every now and then, the Eskom maintenance crew would arrive at the substation and conduct their maintenance procedures. Their jobs looked specialised and they were fulfilling an important role in providing much needed electricity for the community. They also appeared to be masters of their craft and I thought to myself, “This is the kind of job I want”. I got a bursary with Eskom to study electrical engineering, and my first job for Eskom was working at the Majuba Power Station when building commenced.
Sparks: That must have been quite an education?
DP: It was. As Majuba was being built, I needed to train at a working power station, and found myself spending about two years at the Hendrina power station, which was probably the most defining moment of my career.
At the time, Eskom was one of the lowest cost energy producers in the world and was at the cutting edge of technology. As such, the training they afforded their engineers was top class – I recall the on-job training was interspersed with training courses at Midrand Eskom College which were of a remarkable standard. Upon completion of my training I went back to Majuba and was given the responsibility of project managing the electrical installations on the boiler plant, units 1 and 2. Here, I became involved with multiple contractors and installation teams and made a number of contacts within the supplier base, including Siemens, General Electric, Cegelec, Alstom, WEG and so on. My counterparts in many of these companies had engineering backgrounds, but were in commercial roles, which also appealed to me.
In 1995 I transferred from Majuba to work for a few years at Eskom’s distribution business which was at a time when Eskom was rolling out a mass scale rural electrification campaign. The remit was to connect electrical energy to rudimentary dwellings at the lowest possible costs in the safest possible means. The defacto codes of practises for urban reticulation had to be cast aside and new norms and standards developed for rural electrification. We set up pilot sites in rural South Africa which led to a number of innovations, such as the aerial bundle conductors, dual phase transformers, ABC connectors, prepayment electricity metering, etc.
Sparks: How did you become involved in the commercial side of business?
DP: After I was promoted to lead this initiative nationally, I became more involved with OEM suppliers, and worked with Merlin Gerin on Ring Main Unit specifications and power interrupting devices which saw me eventually joining Schneider Electric as Product Manager for the LV Power Distribution business. Marketing and product management was completely abstract to me, but the training and support from the organisation was amazing.
I ended up as marketing manager for the entire group at the EXCO level before being headhunted by Tyco Energy who wanted to set up operations outside of South Africa. It was a great experience, setting up distribution channels, and actively participating in tenders in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria. Around this time I married my wife and returned to South Africa where I ran Tyco’s cable accessories company, Raychem, a division of the Aberdare Cables Group. After many years in the electrical discipline I wanted to broaden my experience and when General Electric was looking for a Regional Director to head up their security business, I jumped at the opportunity. GE Security was then sold to UTC, whereupon I moved to 3M in the role of General Manager for the Safety Security and Protection Business. By this time, I had completed an MBA and wanted to test my capabilities beyond the engineering world into broader business. I spent the past 11 years with them, working in multiple countries such as Turkey where I looked after the central east Europe region, then as MD of 3M Switzerland in Zurich and then at the headquarters in Minneapolis, USA as a strategy director. After 10 years away I moved back to 3M South Africa as MD. However, from a career point of view, I felt I needed a new challenge. I knew Eric Rondelat, the CEO of Signify and was inspired by his leadership while we were at Schneider. I started my tenure at Signify at the beginning of April this year.
Sparks: What is your job description?
DP: I lead the business and the interests of Signify in Africa. I have the responsibility to grow the company in Africa and expand our footprint on the continent. The African market is served from three hubs of South Africa, Egypt and Morocco.
Sparks: Where do you believe South Africa’s status on the continent currently stands?
DP: As South African’ we like to believe that we are one of the most industrialised countries on the continent, but having been abroad for over 10 years, I have been amazed at the rate of development in countries beyond South Africa. Many countries in East, West and North Africa have surpassed South Africa with respect to progressive governance, sustainability, infrastructure development as well as creating better lives for their citizens.
The past ten years of poor governance, and a lack of competitiveness on the world stage has seen South Africa’s growth stagnate compared to countries like Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, and Cote D’Ivoire. That said, I am still optimistic about South Africa as we are a complex economy with many sources of growth. Good governance and the will of our people to make a difference is fundamental to our revival as a powerhouse on the continent.
Sparks: What do you believe differentiates Signify from other lighting companies?
DP: There has been a lot of dynamism in the lighting industry in that many of the iconic brands have been sold off and rampant commoditisation has set in with the evolution of LED technology. Philips remains as one of the last surviving brands that is continually innovating to remain the leader in lighting centred around technology, quality and sustainability. This investment in cutting edge innovation has seen Signify leapfrog into the IoT space where interconnectivity is as significant a focus for us as being a leader in lighting. We recognise that lighting is part of a digital ecosystem and developing open source platforms for multiple vendors to interface with our solutions is our differentiator, along with the brand promise that many of our consumers have come to trust. This has seen brands such as Interact, which is a sister brand of Philips in the Signify stable, rising in prominence.
Sparks: What challenges have you identified in the lighting market that need to be tackled as a matter of urgency?
DP: Africa is an energy deficient continent. Energy production has not kept up with the continent’s growth and neither has our energy efficient behaviour. Despite LED technology being around for some time, the rate of adoption has been slow. Lighting constitutes a huge cost whether you are a household, commercial enterprise or municipality. It is almost irresponsible not to make a conscious choice to transition to LED which brings immediate energy savings of around 60% versus convention lighting. Authorities and general consumers need to make the leap to LEDification. Education and policy making, I would say, are the most burning challenges right now.
With the evolution from incandescent to LED, the barrier to entry to becoming a supplier in the lighting space has eroded. It is easier for new entrants to come into the market. In the old days the capital investment was significant so only a few large corporations had the requisite balance sheets to produce bulbs, but that has changed and a whole host of players are now in the market, often times making unsubstantiated claims over efficacy, quality and endurance.
Sparks: What is the role of the electrical contractor in lighting?
DP: The responsibility rests on the shoulders of professionals in the lighting industry, including contractors, to educate consumers and allow them to become discerning consumers. As I’ve mentioned, lighting is no longer just about illuminating a surface; it has many benefits that many of our consumers are unaware of. I’ve touched on some of them earlier like energy efficiency, but lighting has a lot to do with our circadian rhythms, mood lighting, scene lighting, and connected lighting being part of a digital ecosystem.
Sparks: Are there plans to engage more with the electrical contractors?
DP: The onus rests on our shoulders as the leaders in lighting to invest and lead the charge when it comes to educating and raising competencies in our markets. Being the brand that is synonymous with leading innovation since the inception of Philips, the responsibility we have is to continually meet and exceed this expectation of bringing new to market solutions to our customers, educate our consumer base on the trends and push the boundaries on the endless possibilities that IoT brings. The Electrical Contractors Association is our ambassador to further spread this knowledge and we must continue to cascade this knowledge through its members with the hope that our consumers make more informed purchasing decisions and get the value they expect and deserve.
Enquiries: www.signify.co.za