Nicolas Durupt recently moved into the role of GM for Aden Indonesia. Born in France, and raised in Asia, Europe and Africa, Nicolas has been based in Jakarta for the past 10 years. He has worked with Aden Indonesia for over four years, and leverages his extensive experience in full-scope operations for remote camp IFM in the energy and industrial sector, as well as his strong background in creating new business streams integrating best practices and international standards with digital technologies and sustainability/ESG targets.

How would you describe the team you are leading at Aden Indonesia?

I think we have a great mix of international outlook plus local depth and roots. On one hand, it’s a team that is deeply Indonesian, with 1,100 staff from across the country. As such, we are able to really draw on a deep understanding of the market and local conditions and also the transformation that is taking place in Indonesia. At the same time, we are part of Aden Group, and so we have a strong international orientation and strong commitment to working at international standards. Our clientele reflects that as well; we have projects with domestic mining groups like PT Merdeka, and Hillcon, and also MNCs like Signify.

I should give some special mention to our supply chain and procurement team, because this is such an important foundation for what we do, and they have done really great work building a national supply chain and hubs that can reliably serve even far away sites.

Why did you join Aden?  

I joined in mid-2019, after eight years with another national company in the facilities sector. Really, I was attracted to Aden’s spirit and approach to digitalization – being bold and advancing quite rapidly on digitalization of operational work and reporting. I saw that Aden was a facilities company that was able to be a trendsetter for facilities management, and this spirit of innovating and being action-oriented was quite in line with my own vision of what facility management can be.

Is there a ‘typical client’ who you work with at Aden Indonesia, and why do they tend to come to you?

The largest share of our business is in remote mining camp and industrial camp management. And in fact, the more remote the camp location is, the more clients tend to come to us. You have to understand that Indonesia is a vast archipelago, and even getting to a remote site can be a +24-hour journey, involving planes, boats, and 4x4s traveling over very rough tracks. So there is real value in what we do, which is combining an international level of service execution and KPIs with our practical know-how and network for facility management projects at camps that support hundreds or even thousands of employees.

In your experience, what makes Indonesia unique as a market for facility solutions and energy?

What everyone comments on is the vastness of the country and its mineral and energy resources. This is absolutely true, of course. That means a lot of projects in remote communities, and with that, you need to have really solid commitments to community building and community investment.

Besides that I think there are some other unique features about Indonesia which we have anticipated through Aden Group. First, it is well known that, especially because of the nickel boom, this is a moment of huge growth for Indonesia. The uniqueness is that this is happening in the 2020s, when companies, governments and ordinary people are paying much more attention to carbon impact, ESG and the environmental footprint of business. So, more and more, you will need to operate a camp well, and be able to track, optimize and report its environmental impact. This is something we are already able to offer through the Akila platform, and we were excited to have its first deployment in Indonesia in 2022 at the Schlumberger plants in Rumbai and Duri.

I would also mention Indonesia’s ban on export of raw nickel. This is to encourage development in the country and a move up the value chain. So, it’s forecast that there could be 80 domestic smelters by 2030. However, currently, the average smelter emits over 58.6 tons of C02 versus the international average of 48 tons. So, this is an issue Indonesia will need to tackle through retrofits, better design of new facilities, and digitalizing the operations to track and validate sustainability and safety. We see this as another area where we can build a strong alliance within the Group by joining resources between Aden Indonesia, Aden Technical Asset Management, and the digital and engineering resources of Akila.

Speaking of that, can you tell us a bit about Aden Indonesia’s move into digitalized engineering for camps?

Yes, this is very much related to the sustainability and digitalization topic I just mentioned. So, while we keep our fundamental strength in supply chain and IFM solutions – food service, dormitory management, maintenance – we can also step in at the design and engineering stage and provide the digital infrastructure to facilitate smoother planning and constriction of camp facilities, with detailed forecasting on KPIs like lifetime carbon emissions, energy efficiency, and EHS.

In one Indonesian project, for example, the client asked us to deliver three proposals for a large camp. We had to ensure the functionality for residence and IFM support, of course. But we were also able to plan and design to support target environmental certifications like LEED, and their requirement to maintain as much forest cover as possible.

You mentioned the importance of community building and CSR before. What specifically are you doing to ensure a positive relationship with local communities？

This is so important. The math is very simple – no community support, no project. So every project begins before the site opens, face to face with community leaders, in their homes and community centers.

One of our main commitments is that we recruit at least 80% of staff locally. And it’s not just giving them employment, but also training to upskill and develop their talent alongside our experts. Community purchasing is also really important, and we’ve put in place policies to buy a maximum of produce from local farmers. That’s great for the community relationship, and it also means we are emitting less carbon through supply chain logistics. And of course, during the big events in the community’s life – Ramadan, Christmas, etc. we make donations and take part in the festivities.

How is your outlook for the coming year?

We just celebrated our 10-year anniversary in Indonesia. It was a great chance to look back on the successes we’ve built up, but even more to look forward to the coming years. For sure, 2024 will be a time of acceleration and diversifying our portfolio. We believe that we have the right team, in the right place, with the right tools and expertise.