MechChem Africa November-December 2024

WEG steps up local manufacturing capability in Africa

MCA talks to Anderson Kohler and Arno Broodryk of WEG about the expansion and upgrading of the company’s facility in Robertsham, South Africa, for the manufacture of the WEG range of medium voltage (MV) switchgear, MV soft starters, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and containerised solutions.

These two product ranges remain our flag ship, but we are now in the process of adding manufacturing processes in order to raise quality standards to the highest international benchmarks, extend the locally manufactured product range and to ensure we meet growing demand across Africa,” he tells MCA. As part of the company’s offering, WEG also manufactures customised and containerised solutions that are popu lated using the MCC and industrial DB switchgear and controls manufactured

in the Robertsham factory on the South side of Johannesburg. “We now have several additional product lines that are being locally produced. We used to focus on low voltage (LV) switchgear for this facility, but we are now set up to also manufacture WEG medium volt age (MV) switchgear, which we used to import from Brazil. “We have brought in manufacturing technology to do this MV work locally, and this includes WEG’s range of MV soft starters. Coming soon, we also intend to start manufacturing WEG battery en ergy storage systems (BESS) to support the localisation of the renewable en ergy infrastructure in South Africa and across the continent,” adds Anderson Kohler, the general senior manager of the Robertsham facility. For the time being, variable speed/ variable frequency inverter (VSDs/ VFDs) will still be imported directly from Brazil for use in both panel mounted and containerised electrical control centres. “The demand for VSDs continues to grow and we now have dedicated factories in Brazil and China that we can access for both panel mounted and freestanding VSDs, which we can incorporate into our MCCs to more effectively and efficiently control motors of any size,” adds Kohler. Also accelerating over the past few years is WEG’s E-house offering. “We moved into a premises in Heidelberg back in 2018 and we have been invest ing in upgrading the facility ever since,” continues Broodryk. “The largest E-House we have made to date is 35 m long and 19 m wide, so the ‘sheds’ we build them in have to be mas sive,” he says, adding that the Heidelburg facility also now has a large band saw to cut the structural steel beams, and sandblasting and spray painting booths. “Our E-houses are mostly fitted with the switchgear needed for substations, but we can include MCCs and it’s great to also have the option of including locally manufactured MV switchgear. In addition, transformers are almost always required, which can be locally

“L ocalisation is a big differen tiator for us,” begins Arno Broodryk, the mechanical su pervisor for WEG. “We have been manufacturing motor control centres (MCCs) and distribution boards (DBs) here in Robertsham, Johannesburg for many years.

WEG has installed two laser cutting machines – 3.0 kW and 4.0 kW – which give far better flexibility, accuracy and production efficiency.

Also helping to maximise WEG’s manufacturing efficiency on the sheet metal side are three new 150 t bending brakes.

40 ¦ MechChem Africa • November-December 2024