MechChem Africa March 2017

⎪ Cover story ⎪

Above: A pneumatic clamping system used in an automotive assembly plant. In South Africa SMC’s biggest market is for the Car Project (CP) range, which includes automotive solutions for passenger and commercial vehicle production. Left: Ultimately, SMC South Africa hopes to expand in terms of sophistication and scale so as to offer complete automation solutions.

production plans will have been completed. All of the Japanese approvals are in place and each line includes quality control and testing measures as well as unique recording and traceability labelling. Specialty products Aswell as being able to offer thewidest range of premium quality pneumatics and auto- mation components, SMC has some niche and uniquely different peripheral products that, to date, have been unavailable in South Africa. “We have an interesting range of air handling products, such as ionisers; air dry- ers and chillers, which are often needed in environments where pneumatics is used,” Buddingh explains. In the packaging industry, for example, static is a common problem. Plastic wrap, foam packing or labels cling and attract dust, causing misapplication or contamination. SMC offers bar, fan and nozzle ionisers, as well as static detection sensors that, together, canmonitor andminimise the effects of static electricity. “We also offer air dryers and chillers that enable the air quality in critical manufactur- ing environments, such as those in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries, to be accurately regulated. “Increasingly, we find it is these products that initially attract customers. And once people see the service levels we are able to offer through our unique peripherals, it is a

small step to becoming a preferred supplier for regular components,” he says.

Target markets “Worldwide, the food, beverage and pack- aging industries are our biggest markets. In SouthAfrica, though, our biggest is SMC’sCar Project (CP) range, which includes automo- tive solutions for passenger and commercial vehicle production. “Automotive is very healthy for us at the moment. SMC Germany has secured large projects in South Africa to large automotive manufacturers. We have good historical relationships with the likes of Toyota, and Nissan. There are also opportunities from Tier 1 suppliers to the automotive industry, such as the rubber manufacturers, which we have dealings with on an ongoing basis. “This has all led to a realignment in our thinking about distribution centres (DCs).We now intend toaccelerate theestablishment of a DC in Durban, not just for the automotive sector, but for general industry there too. Cape Town and Port Elizabeth should open shortly thereafter,” Buddingh notes. Market growth? “Automation is topical right now, so over the next five years, we expect GDP to be at around 2.0%, while au- tomatongrowthwill bea littleaheadof that at 3.0%. The nice thing about our new business is that we have a mixed application range, so when one area of industry is down, we can pick up elsewhere,” Buddingh concludes. q

Control panel design and assembly enables SMC to offer holistic customised solutions based around valve terminals, air service units and controllers.

The latest addition to the locally manufactured product offering is the large bore CS1 cylinder range, which includes bore sizes of up to 300 mm in diameter.

March 2017 • MechChem Africa ¦ 5