Sparks Electrical News August 2020

MOTOR CONTROL CENTRES AND MOTOR PROTECTION

7

Zest WEG grows Africa base with local partners “T he key to sustainable growth in Africa is partnering with locally owned companies that have proven track records, are tech- nically sound, have a strong market knowledge and business culture aligned with our own,” says Taylor Milan, Africa business develop- ment executive at Zest WEG.

cently with the appointment of established local company Panaco as its VAR in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Magare Company Limited in Tanzania, and Repelectric in Kenya with a number of other appointments currently being finalised across sub-Saharan Africa. “Zest WEG’s Africa network is also increasing the number of local re- pair facilities that meet OEM standards,” Milan says. “It is of considerable benefit for customers to have localised WEG-ac- credited repair facilities in-country,” he says. “This increases local support, while ensuring that equipment repairs are carried out in accordance with WEG specifications to deliver the performance and longevity that cus- tomers and OEMs expect from WEG products.”

electric motors, the company now promotes a comprehensive portfolio of electrical products and solutions,” he says. “These include geared mo- tors, low and medium voltage drives and automation, panels, MCCs, E- houses, power and distribution transformers, mini-substations, a selection of traditional and renewable and hybrid power generation solutions as well as electrical infrastructure and mobile solutions.” Milan notes that the business is also diversifying beyond mining into other sectors, notably oil and gas. On a global level, WEG has been active in this industry for many years and has built a strong industry specific product portfolio and knowledge base. Other sectors where gains are be- ing made in sub-Saharan Africa are agriculture, general industry, water, cement and utilities. The company’s on-the-ground presence has been strengthened re-

The company, a fully owned subsidiary of WEG, currently has 28 ap- pointed partners in 22 sub-Saharan African countries outside of South Africa and is expanding its footprint into new sectors across the regions. With extensive manufacturing and assembly facilities in South Africa, Zest WEG is driving its African growth strategy through local partnerships with carefully selected Value-Added Resellers (VARs). “The local content mandate is playing an increasingly important role in the supply of equipment and services into the formal business sector

Enquiries: www.zestweg.com

across the African continent,” says Milan. “It brings services closer to the customer, while empowering local business and building local economies.” He highlights that the company’s VARs are also chosen for their technical and operational capability and capacity to offer customers more of Zest WEG’s portfolio of products and services. “While our early offerings focused primarily on

W ith regular load-shedding expected to be a reality for the foreseeable future as electricity utility Eskom embarks on a structured maintenance and refurbishment programme, Cummins has put several meas- ures in place to ensure its customers have ac- cess to its latest technology and solutions. These include a dedicated web page and two 24/7 telephone lines to allow customers to con- tact Cummins at any time of day or night, for customer and aftermarket service, or technical support, back-up, and expert advice. In addition, the Cummins Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) in Johannesburg maintains a full stockholding of gensets and critical spares to be able to meet customer requirements in any kind of contin- gency. Gensets and parts and critical spares are also kept at its branches in South Africa in Cape Town, Durban, Kathu and Middleburg. “The main aim is to limit the impact of load shedding for our customers, and to ensure they have minimal downtime,” Cummins Power Gen- eration Sales Manager Zivai Zvinokona explains. An innovative solution in this regard is the Pow- erCommandCloud® 550 remote monitoring system, which is ideal for large-scale customers such as financial institutions that operate multi- ple gensets. Zvinokona highlights that Cummins has a full range of alternative power solutions on offer. Its technology is particularly suited to dealing with load shedding due to features such as full load acceptance for critical equipment. In addition, its energy-efficient engines not only comply with international emission stand- ards, but also have a high fuel tolerance level, which makes them ideal for arduous African op- erating conditions. In terms of automatic start- up, Cummins gensets have one of the best re- sponse times on the market. Remote monitoring takes the hassle out of load shedding

Enquiries: www.cummins.com

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

AUGUST 2020