MechChem Africa March 2020

⎪ Environmental management, waste and cleaning technologies ⎪

AfriSam’s Jukskei quarry has been part of the Waterfall community for over 60 years. adds more pressure for us to be faster and better, but this cannot be to the detriment of the environment.”

our operations. This is vital in managing the considerable risks inherent in their projects, especially in infrastructure and large building projects.” Managing the tight economicenvironment also means getting the most of operational assets, says Naidoo. He highlights the impor- tance of constantly checking basic elements like accurate measurement of material and plant equipment. “Digital communication technology is among the tools that are embraced by the group. With a world-class computerised batching system, the plant’s scale calibrations are conducted internally every two weeks. “In another such applica- tion, variances in plant performance can be communicated directly to managers’ mobile phones,” he says. An external service provider also does a full range of calibration tests every month. These are all conducted within SANAS specifications. “At Afrisam, though we are in

the business of making business, we concern ourselves with every aspect of the plant, and that includes people. We have included a public engagement element to the blasting programme, where neighbouring properties are kept informed about certain blasting activities through a roll-call list. In pursuit of safety, we also engagedwith the helipad next door to declare the quarry area a no-fly zone during blasting. “All these extra measures have been ap- plied in the quarry including lighting, surveil- lance and security, to ensure that as human settlements encroachever closer to theplant, Afrisam can still continue productions with- out encroachingon the livesof itsneighbours,” concludes Du Preez. All 40 of Afrisams ready-mix operations nationwide are certified for the ISO 9001 quality standard. They are also fully accred- ited members of the Southern Africa Ready- Mix Association (SARMA). q

Naidoo highlights that quality remains a critical factor for ready-mix in the construc- tion sector, as lives depend on concrete per- forming as expected. He also emphasises the role of technology and howAfrisam’s pursuit ofexcellencemeansthatsystemsandtechnol- ogy should always be advancing to harness productivity while prioritising control. He believes the increased risk of using ready-mix concrete suppliers without the necessary quality controls encourages customers to come back to AfriSam. “Despite the weaker demand seen by industry, our standards remain high,” Naidoo says. “This givesour customers theconfidence they need in the quality of our systems and our products. Customers rely on that fromus. They knowthat our affiliations demand rigor- ous auditing – both internal and external – of

Left: All AfriSam’s ready-mix plants are certified for the ISO 9001 quality standard and are fully accredited members of SARMA. Right: Various aggregate (stone) products are produced at AfriSam’s Jukskei quarry to meet the requirements for construction and infrastructure projects.

March 2020 • MechChem Africa ¦ 19