Gerhard leads McKinsey’s capital excellence work in Africa, focusing on the latest infrastructure and capital productivity tools, methodologies, and processes.
Gerhard joined McKinsey in 2012, bringing extensive knowledge of industrial plant operation transformations and capital optimization. Since joining McKinsey, he has completed more than 50 operations and digital transformations and evaluated over 100 plants in base metals, precious metals, gold, chrome, vanadium, lithium, phosphates, coal, chrome, diamonds, earth minerals, and nitrate industries. His impact has resulted in improved revenues through lean operations transformations, with up to six percent improvements in recoveries, 15 percent improvements in throughputs, and up to 20 percent reduction in costs.
Gerhard’s in-depth capital projects experience includes portfolio optimization, capital scrubbing, lean capital execution, and digital enablement in the mining, oil and gas, and power infrastructure sectors in Southern Africa and the Americas. This includes working on over 15 megaprojects with a combined value of more than $40 billion, saving more than $600 million in capital expenditure optimization and acceleration.
Gerhard holds an MBA from the University of Pretoria and a BEng from North-West University. Prior to joining McKinsey, he was a metallurgy group manager for Norilsk Nickel Africa and worked extensively in concentrator and hydrometallurgical plant capital and operations, particularly on projects in Southern Africa.