MechChem Africa February 2017

⎪ Products and industry news ⎪

Multotec has grown its Africa footprint over almost two decades, and puts its success down to developing local capac- ity– including skills and infrastructure–as close to the customer as possible, to allow quick and effective response. “We prioritise skills transfer and Growing Africa-wide on-site maintenance capability capacity-building in our African facilities, and also train our customers’ staff in the maintenance of our equipment,” says MultotecCEOThomasHoltz. “It is becom- ing increasingly important – both to us as suppliers and to our customers, themines – to invest in local skill development as a key sustainability practice.”

learnt in tertiary studies and the practical day-to-day mechanics of working with equipment in a plant environment. “The culture of a fly-in-fly-out consul- tant is expensive and generally does not empower local professionals and opera- tors,” he says. “Where we can build local capacity to support our products, the customers appreciate that – and we’ve seen growing interest in this training over the past two to three years.” AccordingtoMultotecAfricamanaging director Jaco du Toit, the cradle-to-grave concept ensures compliance with the mine’s ISO14000environmentalmanage- ment standards – where the group pro- vides the equipment, technical expertise and maintenance, as well as the removal and recycling of the product at the end of its life. www.multotec.com

The 985 is ideal for facility mainte- nance and for use by HVAC and IAQ pro- fessionals to monitor clean rooms and to conductHVACfilter testing and IAQcom- missioning and investigations in buildings. Other applications include: contamination and quality control; energy assessment; indoor air quality investigations; filter testing and leak detection. Fluke’s 985 particle counter features: six particle size channels with a range of 0.3 µm to 10 µm, assuring accurate measurements; rugged, ultra-lightweight, ergonomic design for easy single-hand operation; in-device storage of 10 000 records for easy access to historical data; and ten hours of standard-use battery life to last a full working day. The 985 has a large 3.5 inch (8.9 cm) QVGC colour display with backlight and Multotec has for many years provided training in process-related topics in South Africa and, in recent years, has rolled this out in a more formal and structured manner in other regions. The group’s equip- ment can today be found in almost 50 countries on six continents, with a portfolio in all commodities. Holtz says the focus of the train- ing is to bridge the gap between the theory that mine staff will have

AMultotec-hosted technical workshop in Ghana: “The focus of the training is to bridge the gap between the theory that mine staff will have learnt in tertiary studies and the practical day-to-day mechanics of working with equipment in a plant environment,” says Holtz.

Particle counter delivers indoor air quality

intuitive icons, plus a large font option for easy navigation and viewing. It features configurable settings for the display, sample methods and sample size alarm. Data can be pre- sented in traditional tabu- lar or as a trend graph and exported to a USB memory stick or directly to a PC via a USB or Ethernet cable. The metermeets ISO21501, JIS B9921 and CE standards. The 985 comes with a

Fluke, represented locallybyTheComtest Group, is offering the Fluke 985 par- ticle counter, a rugged, highly accurate meter that measures airborne particles to troubleshoot and monitor indoor air quality (IAQ).

Atlas Copco sets non-financial goals

Atlas Copco, a leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions, has revised the key performance indicators (KPIs) and goals for its non-financial priorities for sustainable profitable growth. Last year Atlas Copco identified five pri- orities to support sustainable profitable growth: ethical behaviour, health and safety, competent teams, resource efficiency, and innovation. The newly established goals for the first four priorities are common for all Atlas Copco Group companies and include such items as zero fatalities, 100% of managers signing compliance to Atlas Copco’s Business Code of Practice, and continued reductionof energy consumption from operations in relation to cost of sales. The Innovation KPIs and goals are set indi- vidually by each division to be relevant to their specific businesses. These strive to ensure higher productivity, energy efficiency, safety and ergo- nomics for customers. “We achieve sustainable profitable growth by continuously developing the most energy- efficient andproductiveproducts for our custom- ers,” says Ronnie Leten, Atlas Copco’s President and CEO. www.atlascopcogroup.com

cradle for charging andUSB and Ethernet communications, ENET CAT5E cable, USB-A to MINI-B cable, 12 Vdc pow- er supply, zero count inlet-filter, filter adapter, sample inlet protective cap, hard case, getting started manual and a user manual on CD. www.comtest.co.za

Condition monitoring capacity increase

WearCheck’s oil analysis and reliability solutions services received a boost with the recent appointment of several professionals. JacquesBlignaut(right)isthenewchemistinWearCheck’s Pinetown laboratory. The capacity for this positionhas devel- oped as the laboratory becomes busier due to the company’s expansion around Africa. Blignaut, who holds a Masters Degree in chemistry, will also be assisting with research and development for WearCheck. Paul Nhlapohas beenpromoted tohandlebusiness devel-

opment and technical support for WearCheck Middelburg and the surrounding areas. Jacoba Schwartz is WearCheck’s new agent in Kathu, covering the areas from Kuruman to Upington and surrounds, developing sales, processing quotations and col- lecting filled sample bottles to dispatch to the laboratory. www.wearcheck.co.za

40 ¦ MechChem Africa • February 2017