Electricity and Control November 2025

Plant maintenance, test + measurement: Products + services

A longstanding partnership

Omniflex today provides a central monitoring solution that covers three Sasol sites.

Sasol first partnered with Omniflex, then known as Conlog, in the 1960s, marking the beginning of a longstanding relationship that continues to this day. During this time, Sasol has expanded its production to encompass three sites and is now transitioning from fossil fuels to the clean energy sector. Here, Ian Loudon, responsible for international sales and marketing at remote monitoring specialist Omniflex, reflects on the longevity of the partnership with Sasol, key technology milestones along the way, and the most recent project in South Africa. It was towards the end of the 1960s that Sasol first approached Conlog, based in Durban, to supply instrumentation and interface equipment. Conlog provided the key alarm logic equipment as the company developed its reputation in engineering and Sasol expanded its chemical production to include fertilisers and solvents. Expansion The partnership was strengthened in the 1970s as global oil crises boosted interest in alternative energy and independence from global oil supply chains. To increase production, Sasol built plants Two and Three and Conlog was tasked with supplying over 22 000 critical alarm points for the plant, as well as the entire logic control and plant marshalling interface system, making the company the second largest contractor on site behind Honeywell. Much of the plant interface system was designed by Halliburton in the USA, using Conlog personnel to ensure technological independence for Conlog and Sasol. At the time, Anglo American acquired 50% of Conlog shares and that allowed the company to scale up its o¤ering; it became the largest local manufacturer of industrial electronics with capacity to tackle large-scale projects. This laid the foundations for the technical relationship

that continues today. Sasol 2 and 3 became operational in the 1980s with Conlog’s support instrumental in the design and supply of the logic and interface systems. The Conet network, one of the world’s first industrial local area networks, was shaped in part by the needs of Sasol’s industrial sites for high-integrity and long-distance monitoring. The system is still in operation today. Conlog becomes Omniflex In 1997, Conlog’s industrial division became Omniflex. Although operating under a di¤erent name, the company continued to provide remote monitoring o¤-site and has since advanced its technologies from hard-wired alarm annunciators to remote, high-volume real time monitoring across entire plants. Its familiarity with Sasol’s people and systems led to Sasol approaching Omniflex to provide solutions to improve productivity and maintenance responsiveness. Omniflex then introduced real time monitoring of the electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) across 17 substations. This meant Omniflex was trusted with installing Maxiflex monitors for motors, auxiliary equipment, panels and alarms to provide wider visibility of the plant. The technology overcame the need for manual inspections across its east and west sites, allowing one person to monitor the plant remotely from a control room and conduct a full inspection within five minutes, compared to the previous inspection method which required 48 field controllers checking the plants over a time of about five hours. Sasol maintenance electrician Johan Oosthuizen says, “I’d rate the project a nine out of ten. It’s doing exactly what we wanted it to do. My bosses are happy, which means I’m happy too. “One aspect that especially impressed me was how helpful and responsive Omniflex were – even though they weren’t on site, we always got the support we needed.” Its work with Sasol is one example of Omniflex’s 60 years of innovation. The company this year celebrates its 60th anniversary.

NOVEMBER 2025 Electricity + Control

25