MechChem Africa April 2017

⎪ Products and industry news ⎪

Investment in Africa offers shortcuts

“We conduct training not only for our own staff but for our customers too,” Meiring says. “We see this as vital in ad- dressing the skills void invarious segments oftheelectricmotorsector,createdduring the late nineties and early 2000s when becoming an artisan was not considered to be a career of choice.” He says that, as a committed partner and a leading manufacturer of electric motors worldwide, WEG has continued the training ethos long established by Zest WEG Group. Its training interven- tions extend beyond SouthAfrica to other African countries, with the training officer regularly travelling across the continent to ensure that the relevant technology is shared wherever necessary. The focus on skills is not only on the technical side of industry, but should also extend to management capacity to ensure that high levels of technical ability are properly implemented in the work process. www.zestweg.com Thetestbunkershavebeenengineered to the company’s exacting standards and in line with the industry’s demands for specific tests, such as fugitive emissions, PR2 or type approval testing combined with Mokveld’s large dimension, high pressure valves that offer extreme speci- fications that are not available in standard testing equipment. By commissioning the test bunkers, Mokveld has placed itself at the forefront of what is possible in terms of both pres- sure and temperature testing of valve sys- tems. “A great advantage of having these facilities in-house is that we no longer need to involve third parties in our work- flow,” says Chris van Assem, marketing andcommunicationmanager forMokveld. The bunkers allow pressure test- ing with nitrogen and helium at up to 1 200 bar and temperature testing is pos- sible within a range of -196 °C to 200 °C. www.energas.co.za

Mokveld Valves BV in the Netherlands, for whom Energas Technologies is the SouthAfrican distributor, provides expert knowledge and highly advanced engi- neered valve systems for critical control and safety applications to the gas and oil industries andhas recently commissioned two new test bunkers for testing critical, high quality valve systems. Over the years, Mokveld has seen in- creasingcustomerdemandintermsofboth qualityandsafety.Inresponseandtobetter fulfilcustomerneeds,Mokveldhasdesigned and engineered two new unique test bun- kers that were both developed internally. technology transfer, as we have the re- sources to skill and train our people,” he says. “Once again, however, there is more to technology transfer than just training.” Technology transfer also shows the benefit of lessons learnt in the process of research and development (R&D). “These lessons, which have been learnt by the WEG Group through decades of experi- ence, will have an immeasurable impact on our local operations, due to the high levels of R&D already conducted,” says Meiring. “This technology is then transferred to the local operation without us having to incur the cost or the time to develop it.” Zest WEG Group has long been an ac- tiveplayer in skills upliftment, with a repu- tation for the quality of its training centre and training programmes: all of which are accredited by the relevant authorities for the provision of continuous professional development (CPD) points. hub. “Stimulating the local economy is of im- mense strategic importance to Rand-Air. We understand that expansion is the most effec- tive, most economical and most sustainable way of creating jobs, which is paramount to a healthy economy,” Erasmus continues. As the economy continues to develop, it has become more important than ever for large operations to focus extensively on their primary core-business. Outsourcing is a popular method to enable this as it fa- cilitates operational efficiencies. Not only does outsourcing alleviate the pressure of maintaining equipment, but it is also themost cost-effective option as no capital outlay is required. www.randair.co.za

According to Louis Meiring, CEO of the Johannesburg-basedZestWEGGroup, by far the most important aspects of foreign investment are the access to global opera- tions, the transfer of technology, and the ongoing training and skills upliftment. “WEG initiated a programme to uplift the Zest WEG Group facilities to become world class,” says Meiring. “This puts our local manufacturing facilities onto an in- ternational platform so our products can be considered for international markets, including the existing WEG network of operations worldwide.” He says Zest WEG Group will also use the WEG world network as a source for enquiries, to create business opportuni- ties and bringmuch-needed international business to South Africa. “This is all perfectly feasible through

Test bunkers commissioned for valves

WEG Transformers Africa’s manufacturing facility.

Rand-Air docks at Saldanha Bay Leading compressor and generator hire com- pany, Rand-Air, is determined to provide un- compromised service to its customers, aswell as reliable and well-maintained equipment. As part of this commitment, the company re- cently opened a branch in Saldanha Bay, in an effort to expand its reach across the country. “The need to support the steel industry and related contractors within this sector was imminent. Rand-Air recognised this as an opportunity to service this market in a better way,” explains Louwrens Erasmus, general manager at Rand-Air.

The Saldanha Bay project aims to create a world-class, internationally recognised and respected South African marine engineering

Mokveld Valves in the Netherlands has recently commissioned two new test bunkers.

34 ¦ MechChem Africa • April 2017