Moroccan site a springboard for African ambitions.

As SNR celebrates 60 years’ presence in Morocco, NTN-SNR has inaugurated its new premises in the heart of Casablanca’s Aïn Sebaâ industrial area. Present for the opening on 29th March 2012 were Didier Sépulchre de Condé, NTN-SNR ROULEMENTS Managing Director and Managing Director Europe and Africa Regions; Patrick Désire, Industry Sales Director and Sales Divisions Director, and Rachid Dannoun, Director of the Morocco division. The brand new premises of 1,100 m2 show just how much NTN-SNR is developing its Moroccan market and will provide the perfect base for the company to take forward ambitious growth plans for the whole African continent.

New premises - new projects

A starting point

NTN-SNR’s new premises in Casablanca are as much about raising the company’s visibility and creating a “window" of quality for the whole continent as about optimising efficiency. The plant is literally a concrete expression of the growth in NTN-SNR Morocco's turnover, up from 8 to 12 million euros in three years. "Our ambition now is to reach a turnover of 20 million euros within five years,” said Rachid Dannoun, director of the NTN-SNR Morocco subsidiary. “Beyond that, this new set-up will enable us to target the sub-Saharan Africa market. We are developing a strategic vision for the next 10 years."
Didier Sépulchre de Condé, Managing Director NTN-SNR ROULEMENTS and Europe and Africa Regions added: "Rachid Dannoun and Patrick Désire’s development ambitions are totally in line with our global development strategy for international markets whether in Europe, Africa or Latin America."

Optimised efficiency

The new premises comprise some 1,100 m2 over two floors. On top of that, NTN-SNR has built a new single warehouse facility of 5,000 m2 just outside Casablanca, with easy access to key transport routes including the motorway. This replaces the two existing platforms and enables the company to considerably improve supply flow efficiency. Within the warehouse is a 500 m2 workshop for repairing rolling conveyor belts (one of NTN-SNR’s major activities in Morocco).
Besides the new administrative and commercial departments, the new premises in Aïn Sebaâ include a 150 m2 area entirely dedicated to training. The importance placed on customer service and being local is also evident in the arrival of the Experts & Tools department’s Bearing Box. This type of bearing maintenance service is a first in Morocco and the Bearing Box has proved hugely popular with clients eager to discover new on-site diagnostic and intervention possibilities.

Morocco, a booming market

A historical presence

SNR created its Moroccan division back in 1952. Today, NTN-SNR is the only bearings manufacturer with a subsidiary in the country. As such, it is heavily involved in all sectors of Moroccan industry including mines and quarries – particularly phosphate mines - the cement and steel industries, agribusiness and electricity production. And to meet the specific needs of the Moroccan market, NTN-SNR has diversified into the transmission sector and is now the first supplier of conveyor belts in the kingdom.

Buoyant markets and promising prospects

NTN-SNR is currently focusing strongly on the Moroccan rail market. This is a strategic sector in which NTN-SNR is already heavily involved in Europe, and the growth outlook in Morocco is highly promising. NTN-SNR already works closely with Morocco’s national rail office, the ONCF, and has secured 50% of the parts market for locomotive and carriage bearings, for both passenger and freight trains. The ONCF is planning a major expansion of rail transport and NTN-SNR fully intends to be part of this. In addition, the tramways planned for Rabat and Casablanca also offer real opportunities.

Other prospects on the horizon include the opening of a new Renault plant in Tangiers which will eventually produce 400,000 vehicles per year. This represents important parts and assembly line market potential. Then there is the niche market of renewable energies in Morocco. Projects underway include developing wind farms, a sector in which NTN-SNR has international standing.

Africa, a market to conquer

NTN-SNR sees great potential in the African market and intends to use its Morocco division as a springboard for its ambitions. Rachid Dannoun explains: "The French-speaking African market represents 50 million euros alone with very strong activity in mines and quarries as well as in cement works. Naturally, there is a role for us in it. We anticipate recruiting from the second half of 2012, especially in Mauritania, Senegal and Gabon. This will enable us to build up the local workforces needed to follow the markets as closely as possible and be able to react quickly. It will also enable us to demonstrate our ability to accompany some of our most important clients around the world, especially in cement and steel works. "

NTN-SNR in Morocco, dates and figures

1952: SNR sets up a division in Casablanca
29th March 2012: the Aïn Sebaâ premises are inaugurated
Premises covering 1,100 m2 include a 150 m2 training area
Warehouse of 5,000 m2 includes a 500 m2 workshop
50 members of staff - 20 in production, maintenance and training and 30 in marketing and administration departments.
12 Bln #8364; turnover in 2011 - 65% in industry (mines and quarries, cement works, rail, etc.) and 35% in automotive parts.

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