Consultancy company Curve Group has acquired the specialist developer of integrated solutions that cut down paper-based admin, Paperless Software Solutions. Curve group says this will further its efforts to empower businesses and end customers to be financially and digitally enabled.
According to Curve Group CEO Fred Baumhardt, the acquisition is critical for growing its business. Having liked Paperless Software Solutions' set of solutions to mining and industrial customers, Baumhardt says today's growing need for automated processes makes this an alluring bid as Curve Group looks to leverage such expertise across its client base. "Curve group hopes to expand the relevance of Paperless to its current customers by giving them a much wider selection of cost-efficient services from a broader Curve Group", says Baumhardt.
Paperless Software Solutions was founded over a decade ago and has had a strong presence within the mining and industrial sectors. Its main offerings have been services that make it possible for companies to move from manual processes to more efficient digital processes of collecting, reporting and analysing data. The company says they offered a unique service which afforded them a lot of growth.
"We were progressive in our thinking and created a service that no one else was offering at the time. It has enabled us to deliver a niche service in key sectors and build a strong brand identity in the market," says Paperless Software Solutions MD, Patrick Schoeman.
The joint capabilities of both companies will mean a single element of an industrial, mineral or heavy manufacturing business solution can be run at half the cost compared to segmented vendors. The company sees this as a big growth opportunity and will also look at increasing the number of engineers for paperless solutions. They hope to expand paperless solutions into the rest of Africa, "We are approaching the final stages of expansion into Tanzania, where we will be taking the paperless technology into the region's mines and heavy industries. We will be able to provide holistic and integrated solutions to address various issues that African companies face," says Baumhardt.
Curve Group says it is confident of success as it is entering the market at a discounted rate compared with companies in the same space who charge premiums of up to 60% to 70%. It will be 50% cheaper than average competitors in the space, says the company, adding that this is crucial for its Africa growth strategy.
"The disruptor is breaking the price/quality assumption of older less efficient vendors. It's possible to deliver cutting-edge process efficiencies to African businesses that use modern process with double the efficiency at half the cost if the solutions are tightly integrated. That's exactly the synergy we're after and the customer benefits," says Baumhardt.
The company will continue to operate under Curve Systems, the entrepreneurial development arm of Curve Group, as a separate brand. Schoeman will work alongside his retained team from Paperless Software Solutions and also with newly gained resources from Curve Group as the newly appointed group sales director for the group. "Curve Group plans to expand the Paperless Software Solutions brand into financial services, logistics, and retail in South Africa to facilitate and automate paper processing for major institutions."
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