1. What is your professional background and why did you decide to found “Dry Ice Solutions”?
My professional background is Sales and Marketing Management, where I have been actively involved in sales for the past 19 years. I studied professional cooking and then later on did my B-Com in sales and marketing management. I was introduced to the dry ice industry back in November 2011, and since then I have developed a desire and passion for the industry. Despite my success as a sales representative for a dry ice company here in South Africa, I believed that there was so much more that I could bring to the market and so decided after five years in sales to become an owner and director of our own dry ice company. That is when Dry Ice Solutions South Africa was birthed!
2. What are your main customers and how do you help them with dry ice blasting?
We focus intensively on four industries that we have found to need dry ice cleaning on a day to day bases, and through this we have seen great success with our dry ice cleaning services.
Automotive industry; This industry generates up to 40 % of all dry ice cleaning done in our overall monthly turnover within the dry ice cleaning division.
Printing Industry; The printing industry is governed by high volume production, and so regular cleaning every month is challenging. However we have devised a systematic approach that sees us cleaning in this industry every quarter, this is one of my personal favourites industries to work in.
Food preparation industry; With lots of focus into the food preparation industry, we have seen huge growth in the need for dry ice cleaning. With nothing less than 60 hours of cleaning every month it is not surprising to see that this industry generates up to 35 % of our overall turnover in the dry ice blasting division every month.
Plastics industry: – The plastic industry would be our slower clients, we have found that they are more interested in purchasing the equipment rather than obtaining the service. This is absolutely fine with us, as we now offer an exciting range of Asco dry ice blasters; making us a total solutions based company in the field of dry ice cleaning.
3. What was the most defying dry ice blasting job? How did you solve the challenge?
It is really hard to point out a specific job that was challenging, as each job or potential job you take on comes with its own unique requirements. Our motto is to shoot first and aim later! We will not turn down an opportunity nor will we walk away from a job that is too big or too small. There have been times where the team and myself have blasted for 17 hours continuously with minimal rest, and there have been times where the sheer physicality of the location or area that needs to be cleaned has been demanding; yet a fairly simple clean once we started cleaning. So I would have to say, that not all jobs are the same and that we overcome each job by applying team work and good business ethics.
4. Dry Ice Solutions is a brand new dealer for ASCO dry ice blasting technology. What was the deciding factor for that decision?
It was really a simple decision to make! As a company, we strive to be the best in every aspect of our business; and to be the best you have to work with the best and have the best tools available to you. With over 17 years of dry ice cleaning experience combined as a team, we understand the importance of working with only the best dry ice cleaning equipment. We had the privilege of working with the Ascojet 1701; in a huge shutdown cleaning project, at one of the biggest automotive car manufacturers here in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. We were really impressed by its output, and I remember saying to our operations director “ Now that is a machine and company that I could work with every day” and since then, I made it my priority to get involved with Asco to become a partner with them.
Dry Ice Solutions LTD
1451 North Coast Road, Unit 8 Greenfield Business Centre
4051 Redhill
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Tel.: +27 72 717 8762
Website: www.dryicesolutions.co.za
Contact person:
Duncan Goodburn
Sales and Marketing Director
duncan@dryicesolutions.co.za