Electricity and Control September 2022

TRANSFORMERS, SUBSTATIONS + CABLES : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

Building local manufacturing capability

assembles boxed gensets and gear motors. Werninghaus emphasises that Zest WEG has put specific focused effort into building up a network of local suppliers, who contribute to the manufacturing process. “We don’t do this just to meet government mandated targets on local procurement, but because it is something that WEG has always done,” he says. “The company started operating in the early ‘60s in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, which was then very

Over the past 12 years Zest WEG, the South African subsidiary of Brazilian motor and controls manufacturer WEG, has evolved from being primarily a sales and distri bution company to a fully-fledged manufacturer working to the best global standards. Newly appointed Group CEO of Zest WEG, Eduardo Werninghaus, says, “It was in 2010 that WEG acquired a majority shareholding in Zest, which was the WEG dis tributor in South Africa. Although Zest had some manu facturing capability, its focus was on distributing WEG’s range in the sub-Saharan market. Once WEG assumed control, the decision was taken to expand the company’s local manufacturing capability progressively.” Werninghaus adds that WEG, founded in 1961, is a global manufacturer, with factories on five continents. “In all, WEG manufactures in 12 countries outside of Brazil and the plants in these countries account for almost 50% of WEG’s production. Manufacturing is in WEG’s DNA and is now part of the DNA of the South African operation. Currently, at its manufacturing facilities in South Africa, Zest WEG can produce a range of equipment with varying levels of local content – more than 90% in the case of transformers and close to 70% for panels and E-houses.” In Gauteng, Zest WEG has two transformer man ufacturing facilities, one in Wadeville and the other in Heidelberg. “These facilities were acquired when we bought out two local manufacturers in 2013 and in 2015,” says Werninghaus. “Here we have the capability to lo cally manufacture transformers up to 45 MVA capacity.” Zest WEG has upgraded and extended the facilities and they are fitted with state-of-the-art equipment – in cluding an impulse voltage generator at the Heidelberg factory which allows for in-house testing of transformers. Also in Gauteng, Zest WEG – through its automation division – produces a wide range of electrical panels in Robertsham and E-houses and electrical enclosures in Heidelberg. In Cape Town, the company has a genset factory and a panel manufacturing facility. The genset site is dedicated to producing custom-engineered gensets and is complemented by an assembly line at Zest WEG’s headquarters in Longlake, Johannesburg, which

Eduardo Werninghaus, newly appointed CEO at Zest WEG.

undeveloped, so WEG had no choice but to develop local suppliers. The process worked well and is now standard throughout our global operations.” Although Zest WEG’s manufacturing drive has been successful, it has not been without its chal lenges, says Werning haus. “WEG is an ag gressive company when it comes to manufactur

The Zest WEG manufacturing facility for large transformers in Heidelberg.

ing and is very focused on efficiency and productivity and it was not easy to translate this WEG culture to the South African manufacturing operations,” he remarks. “Nevertheless, our efforts have been rewarded and our South African plants now perform as well as those any where else in the global WEG group and work to exactly the same quality standards.” On the benefits of local manufacture, Werninghaus highlights that it helps control costs, allows for the cus tomisation of products and gives Zest WEG the ability to adapt much faster to changing specifications and regu lations. “Most of all, however, it gives us a significant ad vantage in supplying the African market. South Africa is the gateway to much of the continent and it is a strategic imperative for WEG to have a strong manufacturing and supply hub serving the African region.”

For more information contact Zest WEG. Visit: www.zestweg.com

SEPTEMBER 2022 Electricity + Control

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