what’s - actom · 2016. 10. 4. · control and power systems. “high voltage equipment, for...

Wha

t’s June 2013

n Excellent medium-term prospects

n John Thompson wins Chairman’s Award

n Opening of ACTOM Energy Lab

FEATURE

ACTOM (Pty) Ltd A South African B-BBEE Company

www.actom.co.za

What’s Watt June 2013 2

Corporate Focus

Excellent medium-term business opportunities available in tough environment

What’s InsideACTOM/Alstom Grid partnership agreement Pg 3

Wits Energy Lab opening Pg 4

Success of tutoring project Pg 5

2013 Chairman’s Award presentation Pg 6

Launch of new MicroGen boiler Pg 7

R130-million power stations motors contract Pg 9

Air Pollution Control commended for good work Pg 10

Power Systems wins Kouga Wind Farm contract Pg 11

MV Switchgear’s wind farm contract Pg 13

Largest-ever double-wound transformer produced Pg 14

Prized export contract for Power Transformers Pg 15

Distribution Transformers’ renewables orders Pg 16

LHM acquires laser cutter Pg 17

R&M focusses on exports Pg 19

Contact Engineering modernises plant Pg 21

M&C conducts on-site repairs at Konkola Pg 22

Wilec launches industrial chains brand Pg 24

Vent fan contracts won by Mechanical Equipment Pg 25

Good demand for Outside Training courses Pg 26

Senior appointments Pg 26

R&M bursary helps student Pg 28

Air Pollution Control staffer in Iron Man Pg 29

CoverMembers of a special team sent by Marthinusen & Coutts to the DRC to rehabilitate and repair a synchronous condenser on site for the electricity utility Société nationale d’électricité are seen in this picture working on the stator. See story on Pg 23.

The current business climate re-mains extremely challenging as the global environment continues to be un-inspiring at best, while local conditions have become more difficult recently.

The increasing mistrust between labour, government and business makes strategic planning and capital investment decisions very difficult. The latest demands being made by some of the major labour unions are causing uncertainty and these expectations will need to be managed sensitively to ensure stability in the economy and the country in the medium and longer terms.

We have to continue to be mindful of intensified competition faced locally from imported products, particularly from China and other South-East Asian countries. Although this places manu-facturing under pressure, we must retain our competitiveness and good standing in the local market. We should continue to counter the tendency among many customers to focus al-most exclusively on the selling price of a product to the exclusion of the other key considerations of lifetime cost, product quality and reliability, after-sales support and spares availability.

There are some positive develop-ments that give us good reason to be optimistic about prospects for the electrical sector, not only as far as our core market in Southern Africa is con-cerned, but also further afield.

Firstly, the weaker rand offers in-creased opportunities for us to develop and expand our export markets. This will be a key focus of the group dur-ing the current financial year. There is increasing interest in our product by ex-isting customers in the US, Indonesia and Australia, further underlining the importance of focussing our efforts on increasing our market shares in our niche markets abroad.

Other positive developments that provide room for optimism are:• Theburgeoningrenewableenergymarket, combined with government support for local manufacture. This has provided a welcome increase in orders for the group’s manufacturing businesses. • Governmentremainscommittedto

significant infrastructure spend com-bined with local manufacture, thereby allowing more scope for local industry to invest in extending and improving their manufacturing capabilities and become more globally competitive. • Rapid expansion ofmining andinfrastructure in Africa provides ad-ditional opportunities for us to expand our businesses on the continent. Consideration is being given to opening offices in Africa to help ensure that we will be able to take full advantage of the opportunities that exist for ACTOM products and services.

Skills and skills development, however, remain the key differentia-tors in determining the group’s ability to achieve its growth objectives. We must therefore continue to give priority to retaining and developing our skills capacity.

In summary, although the current environment is extremely challenging, real opportunities are available to us that we need to take full advantage of to maintain our focus and drive in the strategic areas identified to ensure the group’s on-going success.

In conclusion , we need to focus on efficiencies and cost control while mar-kets remain challenging, but continue to ensure we are adequately positioned to take advantage of medium term growth opportunities.

Mark Wilson

What’s Watt June 20133

ACTOM and Alstom sign transmission technologies cooperation agreement

Corporate

ACTOM and Alstom Grid, world-leading provider of engineered solu-tions and products for smart and con-ventional power grids, signed a three-year transmission technologies coop-eration agreement in Johannesburg on April 23.

The agreement, effective until April 2015, was signed by Jack Rowan, ACTOM’s Chairman of Transmission & Distribution, and Eric Boulot, Alstom Grid’s Commercial Vice-President for Southern Europe and Africa.

“The agreement represents the continuation of a longstanding mutu-ally beneficial cooperative association between the two groups. ACTOM’s focus has always been on maximising local content and we manufacture a number of products under licence to our international partners wherever this proves practicable, in addition to devel-oping and manufacturing products of our own,” Jack commented.

Boulot stated: “Alstom and ACTOM are partners in a number of activities such as signalling, boiler services and Metro coaches in the region and this agreement will reinforce the partner-ship and cooperation between the two groups. The renewal of the agreement has been a perfect time to review our operations together and to energise our approach to the market. We share a clear ambition to be at customers’ side when they engage in challenging programmes such as implementing

Eric Boulot (left) of Alstom Grid and Jack Rowan of ALSTOM T&D shake hands after signing the final agreement formalising the partnership between the two groups. Looking on are ACTOM’s Group CEO and Chairman Mark Wilson and Group Executive Director Andries Tshabalala.

smart grid solutions to manage newly installed renewable power generation and to manage the transmission net-work more efficiently.”

The agreement encompasses:• AtechnologyagreementthatgivesACTOM access to Alstom Grid’s world-class transmission technologies, equip-ment and systems. • Amanufacturing agreement ena-bling ACTOM to manufacture specific Alstom Grid products, sub-assemblies and components under licence. • ArepresentationagreementgivingACTOM exclusive representation rights to promote, sell and support Alstom Grid products in the Southern African region.

The agreement extends an exist-ing partnership that spans nearly half a century and formalises an interim arrangement between the two parties that has been in effect since Areva, the international nuclear power specialist company and ACTOM’s former interna-tional principal and technology partner for transmission and distribution tech-nology and equipment, sold its global transmission interests to Alstom Grid and distribution interests to Schneider Electric in 2010.

The ACTOM/Alstom Grid agree-ment is backdated to mid-2012, when the former agreement expired. The equivalent technology and representa-tion agreement for distribution equip-ment and systems between ACTOM

and Schneider Electric was finalised in September 2012.

The ACTOM business units that benefit directly from Alstom Grid’s state-of-the-art technologies and in turn represent it and its products in the local market are High Voltage Equipment, Power Transformers, Protection & Control and Power Systems.

“High Voltage Equipment, for instance, offers a mix of locally de-veloped and manufactured products along with Alstom Grid products manu-factured under licence as well as fully imported products. The company in partnership with Alstom Grid currently holds substantial Eskom frame con-tracts for high voltage circuit breakers and isolators and has previously also secured frame contracts for instrument transformers,” Jack said.

“Protection & Control frequently works in close co-operation with Alstom Grid in providing some of the most sophisticated solutions available worldwide, such as the transmis-sion energy management system for Eskom’s National Control Centre and the Wide Area Monitoring System (WAMS) solution for Eskom.”

ACTOM also provides a range of support services for the large installed base of products Alstom has supplied into the Southern African market over many years.


Corporate

ACTOM Energy Lab opened at Wits’ School of Electrical & Information Engineering

Substantial contributions of both funds and equipment by ACTOM over the past two years has enabled Wits University’s School of Electrical & Information Engineering to revamp its energy laboratory into a modern facility that is set to meet its teaching require-ments over the next 30 years.

The laboratory, named the ACTOM Energy Lab, was officially opened in February by the Head of the School, Prof Fambirai Takawira, who stated that partnerships between the uni-versity and industrial companies like ACTOM are essential nowadays for the viability and success of both, as they need to interact with each other to best achieve their respective goals. “The new laboratory is a prime example of such mutually beneficial cooperation,” he said.

Mark Wilson, ACTOM’s CEO and Chairman, said the group’s relation-ship with the university, which started more than 25 years ago, has gained in strength and importance over the years. “Our latest cooperative venture of establishing the new energy lab fits hand-in-glove with our group’s long-standing policy of encouraging local industrial growth and furthering local skills development and job creation,” he said.

Mark and Prof Takawira signed a new agreement in which ACTOM has undertaken to fund expenses relating to keeping the energy lab equipment in good order over the next five years, including paying for consumables as well as equipment and components that fail or wear out.

The new lab comprises 20 work-benches for students and a lecturer’s bench. The facility is also equipped with data projectors and a video camera to provide live relays of experiments and presentations given from the lecturer’s bench that students can follow on a large screen. The old equipment in the lab that has been replaced was in use for over 50 years and consisted of ten benches containing equipment dating back to shortly after World War II.

The items of equipment in the new facility’s workbenches include instrumentation kits containing meters, switches, circuit breakers and indicator lights. Each bench is provided with a portable combo unit containing cur-rent and voltage transformers, with all signals from them capable of being viewed on an oscilloscope. Hardware installed in the benches includes isola-

Prof Willie Cronje (second from right) discusses the equipment and capabilities of the workbenches in the energy lab with (from left) Andries Tshabalala, Prof Fambirai Takawira and Mark Wilson.

Seen here in MV Switchgear’s plant during the tour arranged for the School of Electrical & Information Engineering of ACTOM’s Knights plants in April are some of the School’s students accompanied by Prof Willie Cronje (front, second from left) and Marius van Meygaarden (left), MV Switchgear’s Business Co-ordinator.

tion transformers, variable transform-ers, rotating machines, drives, inverters and resistive load banks.

The revamp of the facility also included installation of a modern dis-tribution switchboard that can be used to individually enable power to one or all of the 20 workbenches.

Prof Willie Cronje, the School’s

Professor of Energy Efficiency, Energy Processing, Machines & Drives, who was mainly responsible for planning the new facility, said: “In the old lab we could conduct only a limited range of experiments for 80 students per semester at most. Now we can provide a much more comprehensive range of experiments for double that number.”


Corporate

Innovative tutoring project boosts Science and Maths results at township schools

Before it was acquired by ACTOM early last year, the Savcio group launched and successfully imple-mented an innovative tutoring project aimed at boosting Science and Maths teaching in selected high schools in Ekurhuleni.

Nene Mathebula, who launched the project in 2008 when he was the group’s Executive Director, Energy, said: “The East Rand was the labour pool for most of the group’s compa-nies – as it is for ACTOM as well – so we selected schools serving previ-ously disadvantaged communities in the area, the aim being to improve the basic Science and Maths education of youngsters who could potentially be employed by us in the future.

“But besides any direct benefits the group may gain from it, the project also has the wider objective of uplifting these communities, as it forms part of the group’s social responsibility programme.”

Nene left the group at the end of last year to establish his own corporate consultancy, but continues to manage the project. The schools involved are Buhlebuzile High School in Thokoza and Erasmus Monareng High School and Thuto Lesedi High School in Vosloorus.

A group of postgraduate Science students from various universities around the country were recruited to tutor the Grade 11 and 12 learners at these schools in Science and Maths, while at the same time providing men-torship where required to the teachers

of these subjects. The project is directly managed by one of the senior student tutors, Nontobeko Soyamba, who has been involved with it since inception.

“We also provided the schools with computers, laboratory equipment and other accessories they required to en-sure that the subjects could be taught as effectively as possible,” Nene said.

“In addition to being paid nominal salaries for their work, the tutors are paid incentive bonuses for distinctions achieved by learners in their Grade 12 classes. The teachers participating in the project are also paid bonuses for distinctions in Grade 12.”

The results speak for themselves. In 2010 the three schools between them attained 20 A and B symbols in the two subjects in Grades 11 and 12, compared with a total of 15 A’s and B’s in the previous two years combined. Further improvements followed in

2011 and 2012, with A and B symbols in these grades rising to 35 and 30 respectively.

“Not surprisingly, these excellent results have attracted many more applications by learners in Katlehong, Thokoza and Vosloorus to enrol at these schools. However this tends to put a strain on their resources due to overcrowding,” Nene added.

ACTOM – along with other indus-trial companies operating on the East Rand – will continue providing study bursaries for top students benefitting from the tutoring project. “To date we have provided bursaries for three students from these schools to study for various engineering degrees. More than 20 students from the programme are studying in technical and science fields at leading universities in the country,” Nene concluded.

Most of the equipment for the new lab was in place at the beginning of last year, enabling the School to use it throughout 2012 as part of its second, third and fourth year courses. Installation of the resistors, the final items of equipment to be installed in the benches, was completed in January this year. “We designed and made the resistor assemblies in-house, assisted by interns who are on a special three-year internship,” Prof Cronje added.

Prof Rob Moore, Wits University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Advancement & Partnerships, said corporate partner-ships contribute more than 50% of the

university’s annual income, with the remainder coming from fees and the government subsidy.

Partnerships with industry consist partly of fellowships, enabling the uni-versity to employ top-class academics as lecturers and researchers and to award prizes to high-achieving stu-dents. In addition, there are projects like the ACTOM Energy Lab, in which corporates provide valuable infrastruc-ture. “Without ACTOM we wouldn’t have this laboratory, including retaining the best staff,” he commented.

“Partnerships like this lie at the heart of the university’s success. The vitality of our teaching and research

owes a huge amount to our connection with people in industry doing real pro-jects and contributing to the country’s development.”

Subsequent to the above event, ACTOM invited the School of Electrical & Information Engineering to bring some of its senior students on a tour of the group’s Knights plants to familiarise them with the products manufactured and assembled there and the technolo-gies involved both in their manufacture and incorporated in the products them-selves. About 80 third-year students participated in the tour, which took place in early-April.

Gideon Masango, a postgraduate student from the University of the Western Cape, is seen here conducting a Maths class at Erasmus Monareng High School in Vosloorus.


Corporate

John Thompson wins Chairman’s Award for second year running

John Thompson has won The Chairman’s Award for the second year in a row. The award was inaugurated last year to recognise excellent man-agement performance.

At this year’s awards presentation for the financial year end-March 2013, which formed part of the group’s bi-an-nual review, Group CEO and Chairman Mark Wilson said many of the divisions are exceptionally well-managed, which made picking the winner extremely difficult.

JohnThompson merited particular recognition for its achievement in view of the fact that no orders for watertube boilers was taken during the year, which meant R200-million of incremental business had to be found. It overcame this setback by securing alternative local orders and spares & repairs business.

M a r k , w h o p r e s e n t e d t h e Chairman’s Award to Andy Abbey, Divisional CEO of the Power division,

commented: “The management team did an exceptional job in performing above budget in a difficult environ-ment, growing its customer base and exports while maintaining control of the business.”

He also presented Certificates of Excellence to three other divisions for excellent performance in a difficult trading environment. Marthinusen & Coutts, Power Conversion and Reid & Mitchell received special mention.

The Chairman’s Award’s scope has also been extended since last year to include recognition of the achievements of smaller business units, three of which were selected as having performed particularly well in the past year. These were Current Electric, Signalling and Mechanical Equipment, which were also presented Certificates.

Mark Wilson poses with recipients of Certificates of Excellence at the Chairman’s Award ceremony (Above, from left): Craig Megannon, Works Executive of Marthinusen & Coutts, Rene Rajzman, Business Development Manager of Reid & Mitchell and Paul Cuthbert, Divisional CEO of Power Conversion. Bottom picture (from left): Craig Johnston, General Manager of Mechanical Equipment, Vanessa de Swardt, General Manager of Current Electric, and Peter Colborne, General Manager of Signalling.

Andy Abbey and Mark Wilson display the Chairman’s Award trophy, which John Thompson has won for the second year in succession.


Power

John Thompson launches new MicroGen boiler

John Thompson recently intro-duced an innovative new small wa-tertube boiler designed for providing a plant’s process steam and power generation requirements.

“We have developed this new prod-uct to cater to the growing demand for small, medium-pressure boilers suited to fibrous-biomass fuel firing,” said Etienne de Villiers, John Thompson’s Technical Manager.

Dubbed MicroGen, this small wa-tertube package boiler has a steam output of 15-25 t/hr, depending on fuel properties, at a pressure up to 70 bar to match the particular requirements of the turbo-alternator set. “It is a standard modular boiler and can be used singly or in multiple combinations depending on the output required, with the capability of producing gross electrical power of anything between 1,5 and 15 MWe,” Etienne explained.

It is the first standard watertube boiler to be developed and produced by the company – all its other standard items being fire-tube boilers. “As with

the industrial watertube boilers that we design and manufacture for large pro-duction plants on a customised basis, our watertube technology is applied in the MicroGen to produce the super-heated steam and high pressures required for co-gen purposes.

“Also, like the large mono-drum watertube boilers we provide for large industrial process and co-gen applica-tions, the MicroGen is a mono-drum boiler, but being a modular unit its flexibility is enhanced in terms of in-stallation, catering to various types of applications and reducing the cost to the customer to a minimum.”

He added: “The MicroGen is suited to any process that requires steam as the heating medium and may be used at the same time for co-generation of electricity, effectively letting down high-pressure steam through a back-pres-sure turbo-alternator, while the exhaust steam is available as process steam. For a small increase in thermal input a plant can generate electricity while also generating sufficient heat to meet the

plant’s process requirements.”To optimise on thermal efficiency,

the MicroGen boiler is supplied with a heat recovery tower that incorporates a tubular air-heater and an extended-surface economiser. Besides coal, a wide variety of biomass fuels may be used, including bagasse, wood-waste, sunflower and cotton-seed husks, nut shells, grape pomace pellets, corncobs, dried-hops and torrefied biomass.

“We can undertake the complete cycle design of a plant, based on the biomass fuel quality and quantity avail-able, as well as the process steam and the electrical power requirements. This includes the heat and mass bal-ance and selection of the appropriate number of MicroGen boilers matched with a back-pressure or extraction condensing turbo alternator,” Etienne concluded, adding that the company can also package a complete power-island for customers.

A graphic representation of a MicroGen boiler installation for firing on biomass.


Electrical Machines exhibits at US scrap & recycling exhibition

Power Conversion

As the top supplier of motors to the US scrap and recycling industry, Electrical Machines again participated in the industry’s annual conference and exhibition this year, as it has done since the late-1990’s when it first gained entry into this important export market.

The three-day event, organised by the Institute of Scrap & Recycling Industries (ISRI), was held in Orlando, Florida, in early-April.

In attendance on E lect r ica l Machines’ exhibition stand at the show were Power Conversion’s Divisional CEO Paul Cuthbert , Electrical Machines’ General Manager Tony Teixeira, Commercial Manager Brian Lindsay and Large Motors’ Engineering Manager Derek Wood.

Electrical Machines has sold over 130 shredder motors internationally in the past 15 years, the bulk of them into the US market. “Our shredder motors, which range in power from 1000 kW to over 7000 kW, are world quality, very price competitive and are backed by a comprehensive after-sales capability, including warranties, by local agents,” Tony said.

Research work done over the past two years by Danie Steenkamp, Large Motors’ Design/Insulation Engineer, into Tan Delta measurements of elec-tric insulation materials has been recog-nised by the UK’s Electrical Insulation Association, resulting in him being in-

Large Motors’ Danie Steenkamp presents paper to international insulation conference

vited to present a technical paper on his findings to the International Electrical Insulation Conference (Insucon) held in Birmingham at the end of May this year.

Seen in the picture shortly before his departure for the conference are

Danie (centre) and Martin Viljoen (left), Large Motors’ Design Engineer, who accompanied him on the trip, with Ronnie Broom, the company’s General Manager, who commended Danie for his ground-breaking research work on this subject.

Tan Delta is an acceptance test to determine the condition of high and medium voltage insulation systems.

D a n i e ’s p a p e r , e n t i t l e d “Interpretation of Tan Delta test results on complete VPI stator windings of electric motors 6,6 kV – 13,8 kV” cov-ered in detail the research work he has done on the interpretation of Tan Delta measurements from complete stator windings of medium voltage motors.

He said on his return that the paper had been well accepted at the confer-ence and the feedback he has received on its content has been extremely positive. “It is, to our knowledge, the first time that a manufacturer has put this information in the public domain for consideration,” he added.

“The timing came at the right

Fitter/Finisher Michael Zwane with a shredder motor ready for dispatch to a US customer.


Power Conversion

Contracts Engineer Mpho Motloung checks over some of the motors produced for Eskom’s power stations.

Electrical Machines wins R130-million power plants MV motors replacement contract

Intense competition for a major contract by Eskom for the manufac-ture and supply of medium voltage motors to replace most of the aging units operating in its coal-fired power plants was aroused globally when the utility invited tenders for the contract in mid-2010.

A combination of favourable fac-tors in Electrical Machines’ bid for this highly sought-after contract resulted in it winning it in August last year.

Chief among these were the fact that the company, as a longstanding major local manufacturer and em-ployer, is geared to satisfy the skills development and localisation (SDL) requirements of the contract and has excellent broad based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) credentials, in addition to fully meeting the contract’s stringent technical, quality and proce-dural requirements.

The contract, dubbed the Motor Upgrade Programme (MUP), is worth R130-million and encompasses design, manufacture and supply of a total of 125 motors for 10 of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations, namely Arnot, Komati, Camden, Hendrina, Kriel, Matla, Duvha, Lethabo, Grootvlei and Kendal. The company commenced deliveries of the new motors in November last year and is scheduled to complete them in mid-2014.

The motors, consisting of a mix of Electrical Machines’ well-known UNIBOX and MS4 series customised units, range in power from 200 kW to 10 MW and are for use in a wide variety of applications that include ID fans, FD fans, PA fans, mills, conveyors, boiler feeds and cooling water pumps.

Tony Teixeira, Electrical Machines’ General Manager, said an important factor forming part of the technical qualifications that counted in the company’s favour in being awarded the contract was the great care that was taken by its engineering team in ensuring complete mechanical inter-changeability between the new and the old motors.

“This is a key requirement of the contract, for which we as the supplier carry the responsibility. It involved a lot of painstaking and time-consuming work visiting all the sites to confirm that our dimensions and other param-eters for the existing motors were

correct to ensure that the new ones would be fully interchangeable with them,” he explained.

“We also had the advantage of hav-ing produced and supplied the majority of the original motors in conjunction with our international technology part-ners at the time, so we were already familiar with their performance and load characteristics.”

He also noted that new motors supplied under the present contract that have been put into operation have proven to be substantially more energy efficient than those they have replaced.

Most of the existing motors have been in operation for over 30 years.

moment because there has been a lot of debate recently about the interpretation of Tan Delta measure-ments, both locally and internationally. A working group is currently review-ing Tan Delta limits of motorettes for the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), which has increased interest in the subject.”

He said the data in his paper was presented on a normalised basis. “The actual values are not that important in this analysis. It is the sensitivity of Tan Delta measurements towards

design voltage, number of poles and motor size that is of importance,” he explained.

“Normalisation makes it possible to analyse other datasets based on different insulation systems for the same trend, without disclosing the actual values. The influence of different stress grading materials, as well as the influence that voltage conditioning has on Tan Delta measurements, was also addressed in the paper.”

Both manufacturers and end-users stand to benefit from the research.

“This knowledge will improve the un-derstanding in variations found when doing Tan Delta measurements on complete stator windings and subse-quently prevent unrealistic expecta-tions from these measurements,” he pointed out.

Large Motors participates in a Tan Delta work group, the aim of which is to create a quantitative framework on how to perform and interpret Tan Delta measurements done on complete sta-tor windings.


Power Conversion

Air Pollution Control recently com-pleted contracts to upgrade the dust control systems at two of PPC’s ce-ment plants – De Hoek near Piketburg in the Western Cape and Slurry near Mafikeng, North West Province.

In both cases the company has been commended by PPC for its ef-ficiency in executing these contracts.

The turnkey De Hoek contract, completed a month ahead of schedule, involved installation of a 350 000 m3/hr capacity bag filter to de-dust kiln 6 and raw mill 6 as part of an extensive up-grade and expansion of the plant. The filter had to be erected in a confined area on the foundations of the elec-trostatic precipitator (ESP) it replaced.

The new system, in addition to providing a substantially higher air moving capacity than its predecessor, was required to reduce dust emissions to less than 20 mg/Nm3. In fact, it far exceeded this requirement, achieving emission levels of less than 1 mg/Nm3.

Lizé Welgemoed, PPC’s Senior Project Manager responsible for the De Hoek upgrade and expansion pro-ject, said: “We have a longstanding excellent relationship with ACTOM. We were never in doubt about their ability

Air Pollution Control commended for good work at PPC’s De Hoek and Slurry factories

The completed 76 000 Am3/hour reverse pulse bag filter for PPC’s Slurry cement plant’s Finishing Mill 4.

to perform the contract in accordance with the project conditions and perfor-mance guarantees.

“In addition ACTOM has achieved several noteworthy successes over and above fully meeting the contract requirements. These include emissions reductions well below the guarantee level and completion of the contract ahead of schedule.”

She added: “ACTOM Air Pollution Control is one of the well-respected contractors that have given PPC good service over many years. They have proven to be technically competent, reliable and innovative, demonstrated by their highly satisfactory execution of the De Hoek 6 contract.”

Similarly, at the Slurry plant, Air Pollution Control was required to re-place an ESP with a reverse pulse bag filter – in this instance with a capacity of a 76 000 Am3/hour – in Finishing Mill 4. In addition, two bag filters, each with an air moving capacity of 16 000 Am3/hour, were supplied to de-dust two new high efficiency separators that were installed as part of the plant upgrade.

“The challenging part of the con-tract was to install all three bag filters

during the allocated eight-week shut-down period,” said Raymond Hopkins, the company’s Project Manager on the contract.

“The work that was completed dur-ing this shutdown period involved the dismantling and removal of the existing ESP, the installation of the new mill bag filter on the original steelwork and concrete structure that supported the old ESP and the installation of the new bag filters for the two new separators. Furthermore, all three filters and asso-ciated ducting had to be insulated and cladded during the shutdown phase.

“A contractual condition, due to the short shutdown schedule, required sharing the site with the other contrac-tors involved in the upgrade.”

The contract was completed on schedule at the end of April this year.

Dipeen Dama, PPC’s Senior Project Manager, said Air Pollution Control im-plemented all stages of the contract efficiently, from design through to installation. “Early indications are that performance testing of the bag filters should not be problematic as we are currently satisfied visually that the required emission targets are being met,” he commented.


Engineering Projects & Contracts

Power Systems wins Kouga Wind Farm electrical balance of plant contract

Power Systems has been awarded the electrical balance of plant subcon-tract for the 80 MW Kouga Wind Farm at Oyster Bay in the Eastern Cape.

The R150-million contract, awarded in April this year by Nordex Energy SA, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the project, encompasses the design and turnkey provision of the electrical installation from the base of the wind turbine generators (WTG’s) up to the Eskom point of connection for the power generated by the Kouga Wind Farm’s 32 x 2,5 MW WTG’s.

It comprises mounting 0,66/33 kV compact substations at the base of each WTG, installing a total of 111 km of single-phase MV cable for the col-lector network and building a 33/132 kV step-up substation at the point of connection with Eskom’s distribution network.

The Kouga Wind Farm is one of eight wind energy facilities ap-proved under the first round “Window 1” of government’s Independent Power Producers Renewable Energy Programme launched in November last year and comprising a total of 28 wind and solar projects earmarked to increment the highly stressed national grid with 1400 MW of power genera-tion capacity.

All the substation equipment re-quired for the contract, which is sched-uled for completion in November 2014, is being manufactured and/or supplied from within the ACTOM group. These are Power Transformers for the two 60 MVA power transformers, High Voltage Equipment for the 33 kV indoor gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) and 132 kV substation equipment, Protection & Control for the substation automa-tion and control system, Distribution Transformers for the WTG transform-ers, MV Switchgear for the compact substations and Static Power for the battery tripping units.

CBI Electric, which is not an ACTOM company, is subcontracted to supply the MV cable for the collector network.

“In line with the spirit of what gov-ernment’s renewable programme is aiming to achieve in terms of stimulat-ing the local economy and redressing socio-economic imbalances, ACTOM’s solution maximised the local content contribution in terms of both manu-factured product and workforce, which is a key factor in aligning the balance of plant component in the renewable

projects market,” commented John McClure, Power Systems’ General Manager.

“An overall local content minimum target of 45% applies in the case the Window 1 projects and this require-ment is set to increase progressively as new Windows are introduced an-nually. ACTOM, with its longstanding commitment to local manufacture, is particularly well-placed to satisfy the high local content requirements of these projects and will continue to keep its manufacturing capabilities abreast as they unfold.”

Other key factors that counted in Power Systems’ favour in being se-lected for the balance of plant contract for the Kouga Wind Farm were its broad-based black economic empower-ment (BBBEE) credentials and its abil-ity to contribute towards the project’s Economic Development Obligations which relate to the likes of focussed job creation, small business development and advancing the interest of women-owned businesses.

“However, the commercial and technical approach to wind energy pro-

jects is new to our fledgling renewable industry, so we devoted a lot of effort beforehand familiarising ourselves and aligning our offering with market expectations,” John explained.

“We were given invaluable advice and assistance in this regard by Nordex Energy SA, with their extensive experi-ence of such projects worldwide. We in turn were able to reciprocate with some information pertaining to South African peculiarities and norms.”

Nordex Energy SA is the local subsidiary of Nordex Energy GmbH of Germany, a leading global wind farm EPC contractor and supplier of wind turbine generators.

In line with the social responsibility requirements placed on all the inde-pendent power producers (IPP’s) and contractors involved in South Africa’s renewable energy programme, the Kouga Wind Farm is committed to establishing a trust to fund long-term education, health and other upliftment initiatives involving local communities, which are supported by Nordex Energy SA and Power Systems.

A typical wind farm. Picture from: www.sxc.hu


Engineering Projects & Contracts

Signalling successfully completes R90-million upgrade contract for Transnet Capital Projects

Signalling successfully completed a major contract for Transnet Capital Projects in the Northern Cape recently.

The R90-million contract, which consisted of replacing the old block-working system on the 200 km section of the line between Postmasburg and Kamfersdam station near Kimberley, commenced in September 2011 and completed two months ahead of schedule in October 2012.

“The old copper cable based sys-tem had been in operation for close on 50 years. Our task was to replace it with a modern optical fibre cable based blockworking system, involving installation of modern axle-counter equipment incorporating failsafe data transmission (FSDT) and upgrading the existing CS90 remote control system to accommodate the new axle-coun-ters, while also interfacing the new system with the old interlocking sys-tem that continues to operate at all the

stations,” explained Gerrie Coetzer, Signalling’s Contracts Manager.

“Among the various difficulties we faced were a very tight schedule for completion of the first half of the project, logistical problems arising from the great overall distance covered, as well as punishing working conditions, with temperatures rising to as much as 40 degrees C at times, and tough trenching conditions in places.”

The contract required completion of 50% of the work within 10 months of commencement. “This part of the contract, between Kamfersdam and Koopmansfontein, was extremely fast track and very challenging, but we com-pleted it on time,” Gerrie commented.

The full distance covered by the contract was about 200 km, of which 86 km required trenching.

“The long distances involved ne-cessitated deployment of three sepa-rate complete working teams, each

comprising trenching, cable-laying and installation personnel, with two testing teams to serve the three sections,” Gerrie explained.

Some of the sites presented ex-tremely rocky trenching conditions – particularly at Barkly West, Ulco-Ghaap and Limeacres. “Another com-plication we faced was at the start of the contract between Kamfersdam and Macfarlane, where the line was under water due to flooding from Kamfersdam Dam, which had over-flowed onto the line. This forced us to postpone occupation there until the end of the contract period,” he added.

No lost time injuries were incurred throughout the contract. “On comple-tion of the first half of the contract Transnet Capital Projects presented us with a 100 000 hours lost time injury free award,” Gerrie concluded.

Pine Pienaar, Signalling’s Project Manager, is seen here being presented with a 100 000 hours lost time injury free award by Christellel Govender, Transnet Capital Projects’ Safety Manager, in Kimberley in July, 2012, after completion of the first half of the Kamfersdam-Postmasburg signalling upgrade contract. No lost time incidents/injuries were incurred throughout the entire contract.


Medium Voltage & Protection

MV Switchgear wins R66-million contract for transformer kiosks for Jeffreys Bay wind farm

A R66-million contract for design, manufacture and supply of 60 pad-mounted transformer kiosks for the 138 MW Jeffreys Bay wind farm in the Eastern Cape was awarded to MV Switchgear earlier this year.

The Jeffreys Bay wind farm is one of 28 renewable energy projects being established by independent power producers (IPP’s) as part of a government-approved plan to provide additional power for South Africa to supplement that generated by Eskom’s power stations.

MV Switchgear was awarded the contract in early-February this year by Midrand-based electrical infrastruc-ture construction and development company Consolidated Power Projects (CONCO), which is contracted to erect

A graphic image of the pad-mounted transformer kiosk MV Switchgear has custom designed for the Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm, for which it is contracted to produce kiosks required for 60 wind turbines.

the Eskom and IPP substations, trans-mission lines and underground collec-tor cabling network linking the wind turbines to the national power grid.

Okkie van Zyl, MV Switchgear’s Commercial Manager, said each pad-mounted transformer kiosk (PTK) will contain a customised 2,7 MVA 33 kV/690 V distribution transformer, a 33 kV gas-insulated ring main unit and low voltage equipment.

“ACTOM, with its extensive local manufacturing facilities and expertise, is well placed to meet the local content requirements of the renewable energy projects now being established, with many more to come over the next two decades,” he commented.

MV Switchgear, in conjunction with sister company Distribution

Transformers and in consultation with substation project management con-tractors like CONCO, has developed PTK’s specially for such applications.

“The 12,4 t renewable energy PTK is a heftier version of the miniature substation used in standard distribution and industrial applications, but with the major difference of containing a trans-former with very low load and no-load losses,” Okkie explained.

“In addition, the voltages and other requirements often differ from one renewable energy project to another, so there’s a much greater level of cus-tomisation involved.”

Deliveries to CONCO of the PTK’s for the Jeffreys Bay wind farm are scheduled to start in July this year and to be completed by November.

A temperature rise test conducted by MV Switchgear on a prototype pad-mounted transformer kiosk (PTK) designed for the Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm has shown that the PTK is opti-mally matched to the transformer it contains.

The test, which was witnessed by the SA Bureau of Standards, was conducted at the end of May in the

Test proves that MV Switchgear’s PTK for wind farms is optimally designed

Distribution Transformers’ plant, where the purpose-made transformers for the PTK’s are manufactured. The test was carried out in accordance with the SANS/IEC 62271-202, the international standard for prefabricated substations.

“The test proves that the PTK de-sign is efficient, because the full rating of the transformer can be achieved within the enclosure. Had this not been

so it would have been necessary to de-rate the PTK to a rating lower than that of the transformer,” explained Greg Whyte, MV Switchgear’s Design & Development Manager.

He attributes this achievement to the close cooperation achieved be-tween MV Switchgear and Distribution

To Page 14


Medium Voltage & Protection/Power Transformers

Orders rece i ved by Power Transformers for transformers for a variety of renewable energy projects currently being established in South Africa include a 160 MVA 33 kV/132 kV double-wound transformer for the 138 MW Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm in the Eastern Cape.

“This will be the largest double-wound transformer to be designed and manufactured by us to date. The previous largest was a 120 MVA unit we produced for George Municipality’s Schaapkop main intake substation in 2010,” said Ronnie Russell, Power Transformers’ Divisional CEO.

The transformer, to be installed in the HV substation that will feed the power generated by the Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm into the national electricity grid, was one of a number of transform-ers ordered from Power Transformers by electrical infrastructure construction company Consolidated Power Projects (CONCO) for various wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in which it is involved in the “Window 1” first round of the renewable energy programme.

In addition, Power Transformers has received orders from several other contractors, including sister compa-nies Power Systems and Electrical Products. It will produce two 60 MVA transformers for Power Systems for

Power Transformers to produce its largest-ever double-wound transformer for wind farm

the 33 kV/132 kV substation that will serve the 80 MW Kouga wind farm in the Eastern Cape and a number of lower rated transformers for Electrical Products for various solar PV parks it is contracted to supply HV and MV equipment for.

“Our orders for renewable energy projects, received between December last year and May this year, amount to a total of R120-million in value. They are all based on the Eskom spec, but incorporate design changes that we have made with the assistance of the international design consultants Felber Engineering of Austria,” Ronnie said.

“The power load changes that oc-cur on renewable energy plants and consequently transformers necessitate a careful approach to the insulation layout on the active part of the trans-formers,” he explained.

The company’s success in manufac-turing 40 and 80 MVA transformers for Eskom has gone a long way towards preparing it to meet the standards re-quired for the power transformers for the renewable energy projects. “We have also benefitted from the high local content requirements of these projects,” Ronnie added.

Transformers in designing the PTK and transformer so as to be fully compatible.

From Page 13

MV Switchgear’s prototype pad-mounted transformer kiosk for the Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm undergoing a temperature rise test in Distribution Transformer’s plant in May.

The 2,7 MVA 33 kV/690 V PTK’s for the Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm are the first of a number of different PTK’s MV

Switchgear has been contracted to manufacture for wind farms that form part of the first round “Window 1” of the government’s Renewable Energy Programme.

“This type test, besides proving the suitability of the PTK’s for the Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm in particular, also pro-vides a sound foundation for the PTK’s we are due to manufacture for other wind farms in the ‘Window 1’ round of projects, as well as for others later, because they all have a similar rating,” Greg pointed out.

He added that the low voltage assembly of the PTK’s for Jeffrey’s Bay and other wind farm projects has been designed in accordance with the SANS 1973-1 quality standard for low voltage switchgear and control-gear as-semblies with respect to short-circuit withstand forces, temperature rise and insulation co-ordination.

Rein Dijkstra (left), CONCO’s Manager, Renewable Energy, and Gert Kriel, Power Transformers’ Sales Manager, review drawings of the 160 MVA transformer for the Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm.


Power Transformers was successful in winning a fiercely contested contract for customised power transformers as part of the construction of Canadian company First Quantum Minerals’ new Sentinel copper mine and smelter project in Zambia’s North Western Province.

Sentinel, which has an estimated mine life of 25 years, is part of the Trident copper/nickel project being

Power Transformers wins prized contract for Sentinel copper mine

Willi Felber of Felber Engineering of Austria, Power Transformers’ transformer design consultants, discusses the designs of the transformers for the Sentinel copper mine and smelter project with Peke Chokoe (left), the company’s Chief Designer, and Solo Matlabe, Deputy Chief Draughtsman.

developed by First Quantum’s local subsidiary Kalumbila Minerals.

The US$1,7-million (about R17-million) power transformers contract was awarded to Power Transformers late last year for completion in mid-2013 and comprises six 20/25 MVA and two 10 MVA purpose-designed trans-formers, all at voltages of 33/6,6 kV.

The company’s main rivals for the contract were South East Asian manu-

facturers. “We were able to match them on price, while an important additional factor that also counted in our favour is our longstanding good re-lationship with First Quantum Minerals, which we have supplied power trans-formers to for various projects in Africa over the past 15 years,” commented Divisional CEO Ronnie Russell.

The transformers on order are of a specialised design and construction to meet the loading requirements for the project, which consist of over 80% vari-able speed drive loading. “The designs have been reviewed and approved by Felber Engineering of Austria, the renowned transformer design con-sultants, to ensure that they meet the special loading requirements as effectively and efficiently as possible,” Ronnie said.

“The special loading requirements incorporate the inclusion of additional cooling ducts in the core. This better controls the higher harmonic flux com-ponent in the yoke, thereby reducing the resultant stray losses set up by the multiple frequencies.”

Power Transformers/Distribution Transformers

Distribution Transformers has re-placed its previous manually operated test-bay with a highly efficient state-of-the-art automated test facility.

The new facility, which conducts tests on transformers manufactured on both the small and large production lines, has a significantly higher through-put than its predecessor, in which each component of the routine test had to be conducted separately, with the data then having to be recorded and separately captured by the test techni-cian. “Now these processes are done automatically, more speedily and more accurately overall, as the risk of human error is now practically negligible,” com-mented Alan Buchholtz, Distribution Transformers’ Divisional CEO.

Transformers on the small produc-tion line, ranging from 16 kVA to 100 kVA, are now tested at the rate of between 70 and 100 units per day, compared with a previous maximum of 50 units, while on the large line, 17 to 20 transformers from 200 kVA up to 2500 kVA can be tested daily, against 12 previously.

The new facility, which was pur-chased and installed at a cost of R3,5-

Distribution Transformers installs advanced automated test facility

million, is progammed to conduct routine and type tests to SANS 780/IEC 76, as follows: Routine testing:• Resistance• Ratio,vectorandpolarity• Insulationresistance

• No-loadlossandloadloss• ImpedanceType tests:• Temperaturerise• Inducedovervoltage• SeparatesourceHVtest

The new automated test facility in action manned by Test Technician Stefan Molefe (left) and Chief of Test Harness Mashicila.


Distribution Transformers

Distribution Transformers develops three new transformers for renewable energy projects

Distribution Transformers has devel-oped three new designs of transform-ers for a variety of projects forming part of the “Window 1” first round of the government-backed long-term renew-able energy programme launched at the end of last year.

The company has to date received R95-million worth of orders for spe-cially designed transformers for a total

of six projects, comprising two wind farm projects and four solar photo-voltaic (PV) projects.

The wind farm projects are the 138 MW Jeffrey’s Bay and the 80 MW Kouga wind farms in the Eastern Cape for which Distribution Transformer’s sister company MV Switchgear is contracted to supply customised 690 V/33 kV and 660 V/33 kV compact

substations respectively to be linked to each of the farms’ wind generators.

Distribution Transformers has been contracted to design and manufacture the specialised 2,7 MVA distribution transformers for these compact sub-stations. MV Switchgear has also assigned it the task of developing and producing an 800 kVA transformer of a different design for a total of 38 x 400 V/22 kV compact substations it is producing for two solar PV projects, Greefspan and Herbert.

The other two solar PV projects, for which Siemens is contracted, require transformers of a different design and Distribution Transformers has duly developed a third specialised trans-former with extra-low losses to suit and is in the process of manufactur-ing a total 156 x 630 kVA 690 V/22 kV transformers required for the De Aar and Droogfontein solar parks.

“All three of the newly developed transformers have been fully type tested, including temperature rise and impulse tests, in accordance with the SANS 780/IEC 76-3 international stand-ards,” commented Alan Buchholtz, Distribution Transformers’ Divisional CEO.

Manufacturing Manager Deon Muller and Production Manager Jaco Jansen van Vuuren with the three different types of transformers the company has developed for renewable energy projects: A 690 V/22 kV transformer for the De Aar/ Droogfontein solar parks (front), a 400 V/22 kV transformer for the Greefspan/Herbert solar parks (centre) and some of the 690 V/33 kV transformers for the Jeffrey’s Bay wind farm (back).

Eskom awards Distribution Transformers pilot contract for new energy-saving units

Eskom recently awarded a R5-million pilot contract to Distribution Transformers to design and manufac-ture a new advanced type of trans-former that is more efficient and has a number of other significant advantages over the conventional units currently in use.

“The Amorphous low-loss trans-former has already been proven else-where around the world as being supe-rior to the conventional type,” said Alan Buchholtz, Distribution Transformers’ Divisional CEO.

“Its other benefits, apart from its overall greater efficiency as a result of no-load losses of 20 to 30% of a conventional transformer, are increased reliability, with less heat generation due to lower losses, and reduced impact on the aging of transformer insulation materials.

“Furthermore, total ownership cost is reduced over the life of the trans-former, thereby reducing the cost of generation. In addition, greenhouse gas

emissions from generation facilities are substantially lower compared with a conventional transformer.”

The contract, awarded in early-May for deliver in August, is for 500 x 16 kVA/22 kV units. “The prototype unit we designed and produced for this contract has been fully type and special tested to Eskom’s DSP 240-42837724 specification and a key factor that Eskom took into account in awarding us the contract is that the amorphous core technology is ideally suited to our wound core design,” Alan pointed out.

“It is Eskom’s intention, depending on the success of the pilot project, to have all single-phase distribution trans-formers manufactured as Amorphous low-loss transformers in future,” he concluded.

Amorphous 16 kVA/22 kV cores.


LH Marthinusen

LHM plays key role in providing reliable power supply to Moma Sands mine

LH Marthinusen recently played a key role in providing the solution to the provision of a reliable power supply to the Moma Sands titanium minerals mine in northern Mozambique.

Kenmare Resources, the Ireland-based company that owns and oper-ates the mine, assigned LHM the task of procuring, assessing, refurbishing and testing an existing 44 MVA syn-chronous condenser (SCO) that had previously been in use elsewhere as a generator. LHM’s contract also included delivering the machine to the mine after refurbishing and testing it at its Denver, Johannesburg, plant.

“The SCO was used as the main component of what is known as a ‘Dip Doctor’, which is a dynamic version of an SCO that is designed specifically to reinforce voltage dips on weak power networks, which was the problem en-countered at Moma Sands,” said Rob Melaia, LHM’s Technical Executive, Rotating Machines.

The problem arises typically at high voltage installations located at the end of a long power line supply, with associated high inductive impedance. “Moma Sands is a classic example of where such a problem occurs, as it has a relatively high power requirement of 20 MW, remotely situated as it is at the end of a 167 km long dedicated power line from Nampula. Consequently the voltage at the Moma Sands substation varies outside acceptable limits for sta-ble operation,” Rob explained.

“The patented ‘Dip Doctor’ system, comprising the refurbished SCO fitted with a pony motor to start it and some controls and ancillaries, provides the so-lution by compensating the inductance with a variable capacitance, which also limits undervoltage and other quality of supply issues,”he concluded.

The synchronous condenser for Moma Sands is seen here undergoing factory acceptance testing in LHM’s Rotating Machines workshop.

LH Marthinusen recently installed a state-of-the-art high-speed linear drive Carbon Dioxide laser lamination cutting machine in the Rotating Machines division of its main plant in Denver, Johannesburg.

The new facility, which is equipped with two cutting heads, is LHM’s first

LHM installs high-speed laminations laser cutter in Rotating Machines plant

venture into lamination production. “Not only does the machine operate

extremely fast, at a rate of 5 m/sec, with the two cutting heads operating simultaneously, but this technology also guarantees an extremely clean cut. Being CO2 laser-based, it has the added benefit of being able to accurately cut

steel plate up to 20 mm thick,” com-mented Rob Melaia, LHM’s Technical Executive, Rotating Machines.

“It is, we believe, the first dedicat-ed high-speed laser facility for electrical steel laminations in Southern Africa. It allows us to produce a complete new

To Page 18


LH Marthinusen

spare core for almost any motor very quickly – usually within two weeks, depend-ing on the size of the core.

“Furthermore, it enables us to rewind machines which would otherwise have been scrapped due to the cost and delivery impli-cations of traditional core replacements.

“In addition, it gives us the distinct advantage of being able to increase rewound motor efficien-cies by rapidly replacing the original stator cores with high-efficiency units, utilis-ing modern low-loss electri-cal steel,” Rob concluded.

LH Marthinusen recently com-pleted a fast-track contract designing, manufacturing and supplying 20 rotor coils and pole assemblies as replace-ments for old units for a hydro power station in Mexico.

The company won the contract against stiff competition from rivals in the US, Europe and Asia.

“The contract was complicated by the fact that all that was provided by the customer were some hand sketches and photos of the existing assemblies and a sample of the bare pole shoe,” said Mark Abbott, LHM’s Divisional Executive, Commercial & Manufacturing.

“In addition, due to the nature of the insulation required on the copper conductor for the coils, local wire manufacture was not possible and this material had to be imported from the USA.”

LHM sourced the additional insula-tion components that were required from companies within the ACTOM group, as well as manufacturing some of them itself, and subcontracted Laminations & Tooling in Benoni to manufacture the pole shoes.

LHM wins manufacturing contract for Mexico hydro power station

“Tight tolerances on the windings and tricky connection configurations necessitated the manufacture of purpose-built tooling to ensure con-

formance of the product to the high quality demanded of generator rotor coils,” Mark added.

Technician Carel Appel and Chargehand Thabiso Masoeu with the newly-installed high-speed cutting machine.

From Page 17

Senior Test Technician Wesley Houghton passes a critical eye over some of the completed assemblies prior to packing and shipment.


R&M develops enhanced products in bid to boost export growth

Reid & Mitchell

Reid & Mitchell embarked on a major drive in 2008 to break into some of the major opencast mining markets abroad as a provider of repair and sup-port services and products for dragline motors and off-highway vehicle motors.

It has focussed mainly on gaining a foothold in the North African and United States markets, in both of which it has appointed well-established agents and partners to represent it and provide services on its behalf.

This has proven particularly suc-cessful in North Africa, which currently accounts for about 70% of the com-pany’s total export business.

“Conditions are more favourable in North Africa for our type of business because international competition is less intense in this market than in other major world markets like the US and Australia,” commented Rene Rajzman, who was recently appointed to the newly-created post of

Business Development Manager, focussing mainly on growing the com-

pany’s export business. One of the first steps the company

took when it entered the export market was that it internalised many of the technological development processes that it had previously farmed out to other local companies involved in the manufacture and repair of large indus-trial electric motors. “Among other benefits, this gave us more scope to add value and it also enabled us to exercise better control over quality,” commented Gert van Wyk, the com-pany’s Divisional Operations Executive.

More recently, the company has taken a further important step aimed at ensuring that external customers receive the best possible service. “Taking into account the fact that our customers abroad are being served by a rewind shop as an intermediary – not by ourselves directly as applies to our customers in the local market – we’ve developed enhanced products that are packaged in a ready-to-use form where possible to ensure that a high level of

quality and service is maintained,” Gert explained.

“Consequently, in the case of dragline motors, for instance, we now provide to our agents abroad enhanced armature rewind kits, motor and gen-erator field coils and armature equaliser kits that we have developed for their use. Similarly we have enhanced some of our products for off-highway vehicle motors.

“This has enabled us to meet the more stringent quality standards that apply in world markets, but it has had the positive spinoff of further raising the quality of the products and services we offer in the local market as well,” Gert added.

To achieve these improvements has involved a great deal of research and development work. It has also ne-cessitated investing in advanced new production equipment to manufacture the enhanced products.

Divisional Operations Executive Gert van Wyk and Divisional CEO Mervyn Naidoo observe the automatic cutting line in the Armature Coils department.


Reid & Mitchell

Over the past 15 years Reid & Mitchell has made maximum use of its Skills Development & Employment Equity Committee as a forum for staff at all levels to address a wide variety of issues relating to the working envi-ronment, in addition to performing its primary functions.

R&M’s committee is recognised as one of the most active and effective Skills Development & Employment Equity Committees in ACTOM. Not only has it operated continuously and actively since 1998, but it has had the same chairman, Robert Maleka, R&M’s Transport Co-ordinator, for 14 years, who has provided valuable leadership and contributed a great deal towards maintaining continuity in ensuring that all issues that are brought to the attention of the committee are dealt with fully.

Most importantly, the committee is consistently attentive to complying with the skills development and em-ployment equity processes required of all designated employers as set out in the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 and the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998.

“The committee’s primary re-sponsibility, as we see it, is to ensure maximum participation and interaction between every level of the workforce and management, with the aim of pro-moting opportunity and employment within the company and prevent dis-crimination,” says Sylvester Makamu, the company’s Human Resources Manager.

He emphasises that only through addressing skills development properly can employment equity be applied ef-fectively, as lack of the former is the main hindrance to achieving the latter. Consequently a lot of the committee’s attention is devoted to devising means of enhancing the skills of the compa-ny’s lesser skilled employees to enable them to advance to higher levels.

To achieve this goal the company has put into effect an initiative over a number of years whereby it sets out to groom and develop unskilled and lower skilled employees to higher skilled lev-els. “Our policy in short is to develop our own employees. Consequently when we have to find someone to fill a vacancy within the company our first point of call is to appoint an exist-ing employee, provided he or she is qualified to fill it, but in most cases we achieve this because we are constantly

R&M’s Skills Development & Employment Equity Committee works a dream

raising the levels of skills of our existing workforce,” he says.

“We only appoint someone from outside if no one within it qualifies for it, but the focus on uplifting our own employees is given top priority and therefore in most instances we are able to promote our own people to higher positions and skills rather than recruit them from outside.”

In addition to improving employees’ skills and opening up opportunities for their advancement to more responsi-ble and lucrative positions, this policy has very tangible positive spinoffs for the company as a whole as it encour-ages stronger loyalty among employ-ees, keeps labour turnover low and maintains the company culture more effectively than applies when people from outside are regularly hired to fill vacant posts.

“People brought in from other companies have their own company culture which may not gel with ours. At worst they could have a disruptive influence on our way of doing things and at best they would take some time to adjust to our culture, but an exist-ing employee when promoted into a higher position is already in tune with the company’s culture from the start,” Sylvester points out.

The committee is also attentive to having a proper performance manage-ment system in place to ensure that employees are evaluated properly at all times and, in addition, it takes

great care to advertise vacant posi-tions as widely around the company as possible to ensure that employees at all levels are notified about them. “A further most important role that the committee is attentive to is monitoring everything it decides upon to make sure its instructions are carried out,” Sylvester adds.

But in addition to performing its primary role of promoting skills and employment equity, the committee also deals with other issues relating to harmony in the work place – what Sylvester refers to broadly as “cultural issues”. This refers mainly to problems arising around race and gender.

“The committee therefore is also a forum for all groups to air their con-cerns and make recommendations to improve the working environment, not only in terms of the work that has to be done, but also in the wider context of how people relate to each other. It therefore serves as the key forum for clearing up racial and gender misunder-standings and incidents. It also serves as a safety valve to deal with any kind of misunderstandings or grievances that may arise among employees and between employees and manage-ment,” Sylvester explains.

“It is the one place where everyone has an opportunity via a suitable person representing them on the committee to raise their concerns and have them addressed.

“For this reason all groups are

The members of R&M’s Skills Development & Employment Equity Committee seen here illustrates its full representativeness of the various categories of employees and other groups within the company. Seated are Chairman Robert Maleka and Divisional CEO Mervyn Naidoo and standing (from left) are: Gert van Zyl, Divisional Operations Executive, Phumzile Zondani, Costing Clerk, Sylvester Makamu, HR Manager, Suzette Venter, Payroll Manager, and Simphiwe Radebe, Shop Steward.


Reid & Mitchell

represented on the committee, rang-ing from, for instance, shop stewards representing the unions, to representa-tives of the work force at various skills levels, to black and white women, vari-ous racial groups, management and so on, so that every group has a voice.”

If anyone is still in doubt about

the effectiveness of R&M’s Skills Development & Employment Equity Committee’s approach, here’s some clear evidence that it works. Of a total of 63 employees who have been devel-oped internally over the past few years:• 17were unskilled and are nowsemi-skilled

• 27were unskilled and are nowskilled (junior management)• 13weresemi-skilledandarenowskilled (junior management)• 5weresemi-skilledandarenowinmiddle management• 1wasinmiddlemanagementandis now in senior management

Contact Engineering recently in-vested in state-of-the-art manufactur-ing equipment to replace outdated equipment as part of a drive to improve production efficiencies at its Boksburg plant.

“Management has identified that we need to enhance efficiencies to make us more competitive. This move has been triggered mainly by the increased competition we are facing from products imported from South-East Asia, particularly commuta-tors and slip-rings,” explained Phillip van der Westhuizen, the company’s General Manager.

Contact Engineering manufactures and refurbishes commutators for lo-comotive traction motors and the DC motor repair market and manufactures a diverse range of electro-mechanical components that include slip-ring as-semblies, electrical contacts and flex-ible connectors.

The new equipment that has been purchased for the company’s Boksburg

Contact Engineering modernises plant to boost competitiveness

North factory are a CNC busbar bend-ing machine and a CNC riser cutter for commutators, both of which replace manual operations, resulting in more consistent product quality, speedier output, quicker deliveries and reduced prices to customers.

The busbar bending machine, which has been in operation since the end of January this year, cuts up to 25 mm thick copper busbars and shapes and punches them in one operation. “The previous method was an unwieldy and time-consuming operation in which repeated bending and checking had to be carried out and the shaping and punching had to be done separately,” Phillip commented.

“Similarly, the riser cutter, which will be installed in July, is a big advance on the previous manual process of slotting the segment bars one at a time. The CNC riser cutter slots all the segment bars automatically once the commutator is fully assembled.

“We have also purchased a high

speed CNC lathe to improve our ef-ficiencies on the small high quantity components.”

In addition, the company has im-proved the layout of the factory and removed redundant machinery to achieve a more efficient and speedier work flow. “We have also improved it ergonomically by illuminating the fac-tory with more natural light and making it less reliant on electric lighting. We have improved the ventilation, installed a modern new spray booth and imple-mented more efficient house-keeping and safety procedures. Our risk assess-ment rating has been upgraded as a result,” Phillip remarked.

“Not only are our factory staff more satisfied and their efficiency has improved, but we’ve received positive feedback from customers. We there-fore expect the changes to contribute substantially towards increasing our competitiveness and sales in the cur-rent financial year,” he concluded.

Phillip van der Westhuizen (right) with Operator Ian Mason at the new CNC busbar bending machine.


M&C repairs large DC motor on site at Konkola Copper Mine

Marthinusen & Coutts

Marthinusen & Coutts recently per-formed a comprehensive on-site repair of a large DC winder motor at Konkola Copper Mine in Zambia.

The 8260 kW motor, which is one of the largest slow-speed DC motors in operation worldwide, was acquired by Konkola from a South African gold mine several years ago and was installed on the multi-rope winder at Konkola’s No.4 Shaft.

“After successfully completing a four-year shaft sinking programme at Konkola, the motor indicated some overheating while the mine was in the process of converting the winder from shaft sinking to permanent duty operation,” said Ian Solomon, M&C’s Field Services Manager.

“The repair job assigned to us had to be done on a breakdown basis to ensure that any disruption of the mine’s construction schedule was kept to a minimum.”

M&C immediately sent a team to the mine to assess the condition of the motor under the supervision of sister company ACTOM Industry, the suppli-ers of the electrical winding system. They were closely followed by a team equipped to do all the repair work on site. The motor had to be fully disman-tled. Careful preparation beforehand for mobilising of the materials and re-sources was an essential procedure, as most of these were unavailable locally.

The repair work, performed 24 hours a day in about six days, involved cleaning, re-soldering and re-insulating all the compensating bars and compole connections on the field frame. “It also required continual testing of the components to ensure integrity of each progressive task. All work was carried out under the supervision of ACTOM Industry,” said Ian.

In addition, the commutator had to be skimmed and polished with special

custom-made brush boxes fitted onto a portable lathe that was installed on the existing brush gear.

Ian said Adam Hughes, M&C’s Resident Engineer in Zambia, made an important contribution to the success of the project with his invaluable input of engineering expertise and provision of local resources.

He added: “The success of this project has further enhanced the good reputation M&C enjoys in Africa for repairing rotating electrical equipment in fast turnaround times.

“While planning is important, flex-ibility above all is a key requirement. You have to have the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and produce uncompromising quality in the face of often daunting time constraints and logistical problems, as applied in this case.”

M&C’s site team fitting the brush gear to the DC winder motor at Konkola Copper Mine.


M&C’s successful on-site rehabilitation of synchronous condenser in DRC

Marthinusen & Coutts/Wilec

Marthinusen & Coutts has success-fully executed an onerous contract for the Democratic Republic of Congo’s electricity utility, Société nationale d’électricité (SNEL), involving the reha-bilitation and repair on site of a 70 MW synchronous condenser.

The condenser is one of a number of condensers that operate in the DC/AC convertor station in Kolwezi to convert power supplied from Inga pow-er station in the north of the country to the copper mining region in Katanga Province in the south.

M&C was given eight months to perform the work required to get the condenser back into proper working order.

“The condenser is critical for the operation of the converter station in that it provides a source of reactive power which cannot be transmitted via the DC transmission line and can-not be provided by the converter. It helps to provide the necessary inertia needed for the whole system because of the mass of the rotating assembly of the condenser and this also aids the stability of the AC system,” explained Richard Botton, M&C’s Divisional CEO.

“All the tools and equipment re-quired by the repair team had to be shipped from Johannesburg, as no facilities were available on site. Furthermore, the logistical planning and controls for the job were extremely complex, with many spares and com-ponents having to be brought in from different parts in the world.”

Wilec has introduced an environ-mentally friendly non-mineral trans-former oil that offers a host of advan-tages over conventional mineral oils.

The new product, Biotemp, is well-proven and widely used internationally. “It is environmentally friendly, which mineral oil is not, and it’s also more reliable because it is much less com-bustible,” said Wilma Muller, Business Development Manager of Wilec’s Transformer Division.

“The risk of transformer failures is greatly reduced because of Biotemp’s superior fire resistance, high tempera-ture stability and excellent dielectric characteristics. Its fire point of 360

Wilec introduces environmentally friendly transformer oil into local market

degrees C is twice mineral oil’s fire point.

“In addition, Biotemp is 99% biodegradable, whereas mineral oil has to be treated as toxic waste, and Biotemp’s ability to hold 10 times more moisture allows for higher hot-spot temperatures without shorten-ing the life of the insulation system. Cellulose insulation, for instance, lasts approximately four times longer in Biotemp than in mineral oil,” she pointed out

She added that the marginally high-er price of Biotemp compared with mineral oil is more than compensated for by its cost-saving advantages,

particularly in terms of its contribution towards reducing transformers’ life-time costs, apart from its safety and environmental benefits.

A further important characteristic of the new product is that it doesn’t contain any genetically modified in-gredients. “It is made of 100% natural high oleic sunflower, grown mainly in Europe and North America,” Wilma stated.

Wilec enjoys exclusivity as the local supplier of Biotemp in Southern Africa in terms of its distribution agree-ment with the supplier, a reputable international manufacturer of electrical equipment.

The stator bars and some of the rotor components were among the new items that had to be obtained from abroad. The rehabilitation and repair work included, inter alia, rewind-ing the stator, removing and replacing faulty salient pole coils from the rotor, manufacturing and replacing damper bars and quadrants and manufacturing

and installing new coolers.“All the work was done in accord-

ance with IEEE specifications. An on-site quality control programme, with ongoing testing and checking, together with inspection sign-offs was implemented, by which we were able to provide proof of exemplary work-manship,” Richard concluded.

The synchronous condenser that M&C rehabilitated on site in the DRC.


Wilec introduces high quality new brand of industrial chains

Wilec/Electrical Equipment

Wilec’s Mechanical Division, which supplies and supports a range of well-known brands of industrial bearings and associated components, will soon launch a high quality new brand of industrial and transmission chains into the local market.

The product will be available off the shelf at the end of July or early-August.

The new range bears the brand name Matco and is manufactured by a world-leading China-based producer of industrial chains. Wilec is the sole distributor locally and will initially hold stocks of various types of stand-ard range chains to launch the new product.

The local stockholding will be ex-tended progressively as the product

becomes more widely known in the local market. “The range of available products from source is extensive and we can order practically every type of industrial chain that customers may require,” said Frans Odendaal, the Mechanical Division’s Product Specialist.

“The most important point is that the new brand is both competitive and world class, conforming to international quality standards. We are therefore confident about gaining a healthy share of the market in the medium term, once we have made users aware of the product, which is ideally suited to local conditions. We have already supplied it for use in harsh underground mining machine applications, where these

qualities have been fully demonstrated and proven.

“We also offer a comprehensive after-sales service in partnership with the manufacturers,” he added.

Wilec’s initial stockholding of chains comprises British and American stand-ard roller chains, ANSI heavy duty series roller chains, double-pitch roller chains, heavy and light duty leaf chains and chains for the agricultural industry.

Frans emphasised that the full Matco range caters to numerous appli-cations that include mining, metallurgy, mineral processing, bulk handling, road construction, the petrochemical industry, cement manufacturing, water treatment, the automotive industry and the food & beverage industry.

Electrical Products has been award-ed several contracts for supply of elec-trical equipment for solar photo-voltaic (PV) parks included in the “Window 1“ first round of the government’s long-term renewable energy generation pro-gramme launched at the end of 2012.

A contract for the 75 MW Kalkbult solar PV park near De Aar in the Northern Cape is the largest of the three renewable energy supply con-tracts the company has won to date.

The R23-million contract, awarded to Electrical Products by Kalkbult’s developer, Scatec Solar SA, a leading solar solutions company, is for the procurement and supply of high and

Electrical Products awarded three supply contracts for solar PV parks

medium voltage equipment required for the project. Thabile Engineering designed and is responsible for the construction of the 22 kV/132 kV infrastructure required for network integration.

AC TO M c o m p a n i e s Powe r Transformers and High Voltage Equipment are to supply the HV equip-ment for the 22 kV/132 kV substation that is being built to link the solar generators to the national power grid.

Power Transformers is to design and manufacture two 40 MVA power transformers, while High Voltage Equipment is to provide the circuit breakers, isolators, voltage transform-

ers and current transformers for the substation. The remaining equipment covered by the contract, consisting of MV switchgear and cabling to convert and transfer power from the solar generators to the substation, has been subcontracted to companies outside the group.

The other two solar PV projects for which Electrical Products has been contracted to provide a similar range of equipment are the 37 MW Linde solar park in the Northern Cape and the 73 MW Dreunberg solar park in the Eastern Cape.

A typical solar PV installation.


Electrical Equipment

Mechanical Equipment wins R50-million vent fan contracts for Bathopele Mine’s Expansion 5

Mechanical Equipment has been awarded two contracts in succession, totalling over R50-million in value, for extension of the main ventilation fan system at Anglo American Platinum’s Bathopele Mine near Rustenburg in North West Province.

The contracts, awarded by Anglo American Platinum’s project manage-ment and design consultants Read, Swatman & Voigt (RSV), are for the mine’s Expansion Phase 5 being devel-oped to gain access to additional ore reserves, aimed at increasing output to 300 KTPM by 2014.

Mechanical Equipment won the first contract for the expansion of the Central Shaft mining area in April last year against stiff competition from other suppliers.

The turnkey contract, due for com-pletion at the end of July this year, involves design, manufacture, supply and installation of a 165 m3/sec capac-ity centrifugal surface ventilation fan equipped with a high-efficiency Fläkt Woods design backward curved aero-foil section impeller to extract air out of a 3,1 m diameter 60 m deep raise-bore shaft at a pressure of 3500 Pa.

“The contract also required us to conduct a computerised fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to prove the efficiency of the fan design,” said Mike van Oerle, Mechanical Equipment’s Product Manager, Mining Fans.

The scope of the contract includes supply and installation of medium and low voltage electrical switchgear and controls, as well as the civils and building of an access road to the site. The company hired local contractors in the vicinity to execute the civils and roadworks portions of the contract.

The award of the larger second contract for expansion of the West Shaft followed in December 2012 and is due for completion at the end of this year. This comprises a bifurcation fan of identical design and capacity as the first to be installed in a 4,5 m diameter and a 62 m depth raise-bore shaft to extract air at a pressure of 3500 Pa.

“This is also a full turnkey contract with the same scope as the first, ex-cept that no road is required to be built in this instance,” Mike commented.

All the fans are powered by 800 kW customised UNIBOX motors manufac-tured by Mechanical Equipment’s sister

company Large Motors.Chris de Klerk, RSV’s lead engineer

on the Bathopele expansion projects, said additional factors that counted in Mechanical Equipment’s favour in being selected for the contracts, apart from its bids being competitively priced, were its sound track record on similar vent fan contracts it has execut-ed for Anglo American Platinum in the past and the fact that it offered turnkey solutions in the present contracts and a one-year maintenance contract on all three fans.

“The CFD analyses undertaken by Mechanical Equipment as part of these contracts proved their fan designs to be of optimum drift design under the required operating conditions,” De Klerk commented.

“A further advantage of all three fans being identical and sourced from one supplier is that it enables the mine to reduce its critical spares holding to a minimum. In addition, having the two contracts running concurrently results in major savings in terms of site estab-lishment and de-establishment costs,” he concluded.

A computer-generated image of the bifurcated main ventilation fan system for Bathopele Mine’s West Shaft.


General

Good demand for Technical Training Centre’s outside training courses

The Outside Training courses that the Technical Training Centre at Knights offers to companies outside the group that don’t have complete hands-on training facilities themselves continue to be in strong demand.

The Technical Training Centre, which traditionally has confined itself over many decades to providing practical training for apprentice electricians, fitters & turners, armature winders, boilermakers and others employed by companies within the ACTOM group, introduced Outside Training in 2009 to help offset the negative impact of the economic recession on its earning power.

“The results have been very en-couraging, especially since the begin-ning of last year,” commented Training Manager Dawie Oberholzer.

“Demand for Outside Training wasn’t strong at first, but when it became more widely known and our reputation as a reliable and well-run training institution became better es-tablished in the market place, more and more companies have come knocking at our door to find out what we can offer. Consequently demand for us to provide practical training of apprentices has increased steadily.”

In 2012 three well-known com-panies based in Gauteng that supply a range of electrical equipment and services to the local market made use of Outside Training courses offered by the Technical Training Centre. One of these enrolled 11 electrician appren-tices for six months fulltime training for the hands-on training segment of the Accelerated Artisan Training

Four of the five electrician apprentices from a company outside the ACTOM group who are continuing the practical part of their apprenticeship training at the Technical Training Centre this year. With them in the picture are Training Manager Dawie Oberholzer (back row, left) and his Secretary, Betty Britz (front right).

Programme (AATP), for which the Training Centre is accredited.

The Training Centre also provided training for six electrician apprentices from one of the other companies and five from the other for the first phase of the four-phase practical training required for a full artisan training pro-gramme. Both groups were provided with fulltime training for five months last year.

“We’ve recently enrolled the five apprentices from one of these compa-nies to continue their fulltime practical training to cover the other three phas-

es, covering a period of eight months, on completion of which they will be qualified to write their trade tests. Thereafter their company will probably send them back for a short period of practical training in the first half of 2014 to prepare for their final trade test,” said Danie de Kock, the Training Centre’s Superintendent, Electrical Training.

Other companies have shown an interest in enrolling apprentices this year for some of the Outside Training programmes offered by the Training Centre.

Louis Blom has been appointed Sales & Marketing Executive at Wilec with effect from March 1, 2013.

Ronel van Straaten has been ap-pointed Commercial Manager of Wilec

Senior appointments

Louis Blom Ronel van Straaten Howard Eldridge Andre Grobbelaar Rene Rajzman

with effect from December 1, 2012. Howard Eldridge, formerly General

Manager of Transwire, has been ap-pointed Operations Executive of Wilec with effect from October 1, 2012.

Howard’s appointment coincided with the merging of Wilec and Transwire into a single company, effective from that date.

Andre Grobbelaar has been ap-


General

Ben Bouwer Elliot Moswane Neil van Blerk Louis de Villiers Martin Mqwathi

pointed National Warehouse Logistics & Security Manager at Wilec with ef-fect from January 2013.

Rene Rajzman has been appoint-ed to the new post of Business Development Manager of Reid & Mitchell with effect from January 1, 2013. He was formerly Manager, Machine Control, of the company.

Ben Bouwer, formerly Foreman of the Fans & DC department at

Marthinusen & Coutt’s Welkom branch, has been appointed Technical Training Manager at Reid & Mitchell with effect from May 1, 2013.

Elliot Moswane has been ap-pointed Branch Manager of Electrical Products’ Polokwane branch with ef-fect from April 1, 2013.

Neil van Blerk has been appointed Business Development Executive at Electrical Products with effect from

April 2, 2013. Louis de Villiers has been ap-

pointed Manufacturing Manager of MV Switchgear with effect from January 1, 2013.

Martin Mqwathi has been ap-pointed Manager, Minisubs, at MV Switchgear with effect from April 1, 2013.

This year on April 1, the date mark-ing the service anniversary of three of Power Transformers’ longest-serving employees, Divisional CEO Ronnie Russell, Technical Manager Louis Liasides and Materials Controller Albert Strydom, an informal celebra-tion was arranged during the lunch break to pay tribute to these and other long-serving staff.

Albert is currently the longest-serving among them, having served 49 years, followed by Ronnie and Louis with 47 years each, and Sales Manager Gert Kriel with 44 years’ service – all seen in the picture in that order.

Other long-servers who were in attendance included Senior Foreman Assembly Wessel Esterhuysen (42 years), Maintenance Superintendent Piet Meyer (30 years), Senior Foreman Winding Chris Swart and Chief Buyer Chris Hale (both 29 years), who par-took of the tea and cakes on offer and reminisced along with the rest about their many years of working together, their trials and triumphs.

General Manager Michael Henry also spoke briefly to the assembled company about the value of corporate memory and how much the longer-serving staffers contribute towards the success of the company. “They also

The celebratory tea-party of Power Transformers’ long-serving employees

set a good example to the younger staff about how to make the most of their careers and how to do their bit towards maintaining efficiency and productivity within the company to the benefit of everyone concerned,” he said.

He pointed out that Power Transformers has an exceptionally low staff turnover, which has been the case for many years. “This goes hand-in-hand and is further confirmed by the company’s unusually high proportion of long-serving employees,” he added.


General

Alain retires from LHM

Alain Laval , who served as Divisional Executive, Transformers, at LH Marthinusen for the past nine years, retired from the company at the end of March 2013.

At Alain’s farewell function towards the end of March LHM’s Divisional CEO Altino da Silva and one of Alain’s col-leagues in the Transformers division, Krish Naidoo, Commercial Manager, Transformers, at that date, but since appointed LHM’s Executive Manager, Manufacturing, paid tribute to him for his professionalism, enthusiasm and high work ethic.

Alain is seen in the picture with his wife Marie responding to their comments. Among other things, he touched on some of the highlights of his career, naming as the most significant and stimulating of them all his involvement in the comprehensive upgrade of LHM’s Transformer divi-sion between 2005 and 2010, which resulted in major improvements in its capacity, capability and quality control in accordance with Eskom’s requirements.

Alain commenced his working ca-reer as an apprentice electrician with the SA Railways in 1972 and within a few years of qualifying took up a sales position with an engineering company

in Johannesburg. As his experience in sales increased he rose in the ranks in various companies and in 1992 joined the then GEC-Alsthom (now ACTOM) group company Distribution Transformers as Sales Manager. This position proved to be another great highlight in his career as it took him into many parts of Africa, where he achieved much in growing the business and opening up new markets for the company, vastly helped by his French background, having been born and raised in Mauritius.

In 1997 he joined one of the local producers of distribution transformers as Sales Manager, later rising to the post of Group Marketing Manager, and in 2004 taking up the post of heading the Transformers division at LHM.

Alain and Marie have emigrated to New Zealand where one of their two daughters and her family live. There he intends devoting himself to his hobbies, which include cycling and mo-torcycling. Before leaving for NZ they went on an extended tour of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia.

Thanks to a bursary Reid & Mitchell provided for the son of one of its employees, the young man has suc-cessfully obtained a BSc degree with distinction.

In 2007 R&M awarded the bur-sary to Clement, son of James Phiri, to study for a BSc degree at the University of Johannesburg. At the time James was employed at the company as a Supervisor/Chargehand in the Coils department. He has since been promoted to Foreman.

“Clement has more than proven worthy of our support as he was named top student when he gradu-ated. He was presented with an award by UJ for his achievement and subse-quently won a scholarship from the University of Cape Town to study for a Masters in Chemistry there, which he is now doing,” commented Mervyn Naidoo, R&M’s Divisional CEO.

The picture shows Clement at his graduation at UJ.

Youngster excels with help of R&M study bursary


General

When High Voltage Equipment de-cided early this year to organise its own putt-putt tournament, with teams from the company’s various departments pitting their skills against each other in a one-day contest in February, there was no lack of staff-members keen to take part.

The big day, staged at the Top Shots

Staffers give strong support to HVE’s first in-house putt-putt tournament

Putt-Putt & Entertainment Centre in Boksburg on a Friday in February, turned out to be lucky for a few, not so fortunate for all the rest who weren’t part of the winning team, but all par-ticipants enjoyed themselves anyway.

After a full day’s play, in which all teams completed 18 holes in the first round, Isolators A and Isolators

B ended up with the lowest scores to qualify for the 9-hole final – a close con-test from which Isolators A emerged the winners.

A few days later they were present-ed with a handsome floating trophy bearing their name for posterity.

The picture shows the winning team celebrating their victory on the day. They are (from left): Temps Monique and Marisha Cronje, Trainee Draughtswoman KG Moshoma , Production Supervisor Clive Witten, Senior Contracts Administrator Anne Loxton and Draughtsman Mark Cornelius. Sharing in their victory is Top Shots’ owner Richard Liebenberg (back right).

Said Belinda Liebenberg, HVE’s Financial Accountant, who organised the event: “The tournament was so successful and well-supported that we’re planning to stage another in mid-year which I’m sure will be just as good a team-building exercise as this was – and just as much fun!”

Jacques Grobler, Cost Engineer at Air Pollution Control, is keen on staying fit.

Until this year he’d satisfied himself with participating in a couple of 94.7 cycling races, among others, as well as the occasional short running event. He’d never taken part in any open water swimming events at all.

So his colleagues and friends thought he’d gone crazy when he de-cided to enter for the Iron Man in Port Elizabeth this year. This triathlon event is of a totally different order from any-thing he’d done before, consisting as it does of a 3,8 km sea swim, followed by a 180,2 km bike ride and a 42,2 km marathon, all to be completed in 17 hours or less.

Realising what he was faced with, he allowed himself a full year to pre-pare and train for it, including hiring a swimming coach. He also changed his diet as part of his drive to prepare for the daunting challenge ahead. “I’d never done more than 100 km on a bike, or 15 km in a run and I’d never done any open water swimming – not to mention swimming in the sea,” he said.

This year’s Iron Man, staged on April 14, attracted a record entry, of

Jacques get to grips with Iron Manwhich just over 1 500 finished the race, and – yes, you guessed it – Jacques was among them, completing it in a total time of 13 hours 15 minutes. The picture shows him shortly after finish-ing, looking justifiably pleased.

Despite his thorough preparation and training for the event, in the days leading up to it his heart was in his mouth because PE was hit almost

uninterruptedly by rain and low tem-peratures and it looked like the Iron Man was going to be a repeat of the harsh conditions experienced by last year’s contestants. But mercifully the weather cleared on the day itself.

Now Jacques is hooked and is already preparing for Iron Man 2014, which will mark the 10th anniversary of the South African version.


ACTOM divisions and business units

POWERJohn Thompson, Bellville: (021) 959-8400John Thompson, Isando: (011) 392-0900John Thompson, Durban: (031) 408-9700John Thompson designs, manufactures, installs and maintains industrial boilers and environmental equipment for local and international process steam and power generation applications. Also retrofits, services and maintains utility boilers and environ-mental equipment in the power generation market.

POWER CONVERSIONElectrical Machines: (011) 899-1111Electrical Machines supplies medium and low voltage motors, starters, gearboxes, speed reducers and diesel generators and spares to the mining, industrial, processing and utilities markets.

Large Motors: (011) 899-1111Large Motors designs and manufactures medium voltage motors that include its reputable customised large UNIBOX series and its high specification MS4 totally enclosed fan-cooled (TEFC) cast-iron motors.

Laminations & Tooling: (011) 899-1111Laminations & Tooling manufactures laminated components and tooling for the electric motor manufacturing and repair industries.

Elmacast Foundry: (011) 818-3511Elmacast Foundry manufactures castings in all grades of SG iron, grey iron and high chrome irons for the mining, railways, earthmoving and pump industries.

Air Pollution Control: (011) 478-0456Air Pollution Control designs, supplies and installs dust control, product recovery and gas-cleaning equipment for the mining, mineral processing, power generation, cement, chemical, pet-rochemical and food industries.

HVAC Systems, Durban: (031) 700-3286HVAC Systems, Cape Town: (021) 981-0111HVAC Systems designs, supplies and installs industrial ventila-tion, heating and air-conditioning systems for the petrochemical, paper, pharmaceutical, mining, food, textile and various other industries.

Static Power: (011) 397-5316Static Power designs, manufactures and installs standby bat-tery chargers, distribution boards, power supplies, rectifiers, converters, inverters, capacitor trip units, solar regulators and other equipment.

Alkaline Batteries: (011) 397-5326Alkaline Batteries supplies nickel cadmium, lithium ion and nickel metal hydrate batteries to the power generation, railways, telecommunications, military and renewable energy markets.

Multi Power Systems: (011) 397-4861Multi Power Systems supplies, tests, installs, repairs and main-tains DC standby equipment, including switchmode rectifiers, uninterrupted power supply systems and lead acid and NiCd batteries.

COM 10: (011) 552-8368COM 10 supplies DC power solutions for communications applications in the wireless, telephony and broadband indus-tries. Its products include rectifiers, converters, distribution centres, power enclosures, supervisory modules and lead acid batteries.

ENGINEERING PROJECTS & CONTRACTSIndustry: (011) 430-8700Industry is a systems engineering contractor and integrator serving the public sector and the electrical, mining, processing and automotive industries.

Contracting: (011) 430-8700Contracting is an electrical and instrumentation contractor which project manages, installs and integrates cabling, racking, light-ing and other equipment on large mining, infrastructural and industrial projects.

Power Systems: (011) 430-8700Power Systems is a substation project management and con-struction contractor serving utilities, local authorities and the mining and manufacturing industries. In addition to outdoor sub-stations, it offers innovative solutions that include gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) substations, hybrid compact switchgear, dis-connector circuit breakers and series and shunt capacitor banks.

Transport: (011) 871-6600Transport comprises the Signalling and Transport Equipment & Projects (TEP) business units. Signalling designs, manufactures and installs railway signalling equipment and systemsand TEP is a contractor and supplier of railway rolling stock equipment, parts, maintenance services and specialised depot assembly machinery and test equipment.

HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTHigh Voltage Equipment: (011) 820-5033High Voltage Equipment is a designer, manufacturer and supplier of high voltage equipment to power utilities, local authorities and industry. It manufactures and supplies isolators, instrument transformers, circuit breakers and dog-box circuit breakers.

MEDIUM VOLTAGE & PROTECTIONMV Switchgear: (011) 820-5006MV Switchgear designs, manufactures, supplies and installs medium voltage air- and gas-insulated switchgear that includes indoor switchgear, miniature substations, ring main units and containerised substations, serving power utilities, local authori-ties, contractors, industry and the mining sector.

Protection & Control: (011) 820-5319Protection & Control designs and supplies power system pro-tection, control and automation systems, prepayment, AMI and other metering systems, components and LV equipment to power utilities, local authorities and industry, which includes support services such as training, commissioning and network analysis.

Current Electric: (011) 822-2300Current Electric designs, manufactures and supplies medium voltage current and voltage transformers to switchgear manu-facturers and repairers, electrical distributors and a diverse range of end-users locally and globally.

POWER TRANSFORMERSPower Transformers: (011) 824-2810Power Transformers designs, manufactures and supplies a wide range of power transformers to power utilities, electrical contractors, the mining sector, local authorities and industry locally and internationally.

DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMERSDistribution Transformers: (011) 820-5270Distribution Transformers designs, manufactures and supplies distribution transformers to power utilities, the mining sector, local authorities and industry locally and internationally.


What’s Watt is published by ACTOM (Pty) Ltd to inform staff, customers and other stakeholders of developments within the group.

Editorial contact: Julian KraftJ Kraft Public RelationsTel: (011) [email protected]

Produced by: Jeroen LuykIn Africa(011) [email protected]

ACTOM contact: Andries TshabalalaTel: (011) [email protected]

Disclaimer:This publication is designed, compiled and produced on behalf of ACTOM (Pty) Ltd by J Kraft Public Relations and In Africa. Whilst the compilation and production of What’s Watt is done with care and with every effort being made to avoid errors, ACTOM, its share-holders and staff do not accept responsibility for any errors or the consequences thereof.

LH MARTHINUSENLH Marthinusen: (011) 615-6722LH Marthinusen repairs and refurbishes transformers and ro-tating machines, including repairs to hydro and thermal power alternators. Manufacture of electric motor components, insula-tion components and specialised transformers and motors. It also provides engineering services for its products to the mining, industrial and petrochemical sectors and local authorities, as well as for the export market .

REID & MITCHELLReid & Mitchell: (011) 914-9600Reid & Mitchell repairs and manufactures electric motors, generators and alternators for draglines, shovels, off-highway vehicles and drills used in opencast mining, as well as electri-cal equipment for the rail and oil & gas industries, both locally and globally.

Metalplus: (011) 433-1880Metalplus repairs, refurbishes and manufactures a wide range of mechanical components, including turbines, impellers, rolls, shafts and traction motor and gearbox casings used in the power generation, petrochemical, mining, processing, steel, transporta-tion and marine industries.

Contact Engineering: (011) 892-3013Contact Engineering manufactures and refurbishes commuta-tors for locomotive traction motors and the DC motor repair market and manufactures a diverse range of electro-mechanical components that include slip-ring assemblies, electrical contacts and flexible connectors.

MARTHINUSEN & COUTTSMarthinusen & Coutts: (011) 616-2320Marthinusen & Coutts offers the most extensive after-market services throughout Africa. The range of 24/7 motor repairs and services covers large and small AC and DC motors, flameproof motors, traction motors and power generators up to 980 MW. M&C’s services include customised manufacture and design, on-site engineering services and unique motor management solutions that complement the repair business.

WILEC & TRANSWIREWilec: (011) 629-9300Transwire: (011) 316-2480Wilec, incorporating Transwire, specialises in the manufacture and supply of electrical products to a diverse range of indus-tries including manufacturers and repairers of transformers, AC electric motors, DC traction motors, magnets, electrical panels and power generators. The range includes enamelled wire, Kraft and thermally upgraded paper/Nomex/Mylar and Mica covered conductors, as well as a comprehensive range of insulation materials, cables, bearings and ancillary products.

ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENTElectrical Products: (011) 878-3050Electrical Products is ACTOM’s trading and representation arm, with a national network of strategically located branches. The company supplies products produced by ACTOM companies and other manufacturers, including cable, cable accessories, lighting equipment, heating and ventilation equipment, circuit breakers, distribution transformers, minisubs, protection and control equipment, electric motors, meters and fusegear.

Mechanical Equipment: (011) 878-3050Mechanical Equipment designs, manufactures, supplies and installs ventilation fan systems, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and a range of vibration-damping products to the mining, processing, air pollution control and construction industries.

Appliance Components: (021) 863-2035Appliance Components manufactures and supplies domestic and industrial heating elements, temperature controls, solar water heating components and appliance spares to the domestic appliance manufacturing industry and the chemical, mining and construction industries, among others.

ACTOM ENERGYACTOM Energy: (021) 511-9146ACTOM Energy provides electro-mechanical maintenance solu-tions for renewables and the offshore oil & gas sector

hydron hydraulics: (021) 511-9146hydron hydraulics designs and supplies hydraulic engineering systems and services to the offshore oil & gas sector interna-tionally. Equipment it designs, supplies, assembles, refurbishes, repairs and installs includes high pressure power packs, ring main units, winches, cranes, ballast systems and drilling and under-sea equipment.

Electrowave Cape: (021) 510-2550Electrowave Cape designs, supplies and services electrical and electronic engineering systems for the marine and offshore industries locally and internationally. These include design and installation of power automation and drive systems, automation and instrumentation systems and generator control systems and refurbishment, repair, installation and maintenance services.

Namibia Armature Rewinders: (00264) 64-462-886Namibia Armature Rewinders repairs electric motors, generators and other rotating equipment for a wide range of industries in Namibia.


ACTOM (Pty) Ltd: 2 Magnet Road, Knights, 1413, PO Box 13024, Knights, 1413Tel: +27 (0) 11 820 5111, Fax: +27 (0) 11 820 5044 www.actom.co.za

ACTOM, PROVIDING CUSTOMERS WITH A BALANCED OFFERING

The largest manufacturer, solution provider, repairer and distributor of electro-mechanical equipment in Africa.

ACTOM, the leading black empowered local electrical engineering group, is the largest manufacturer, repairer and distributor of electro-mechanical equipment and provider of turnkey solutions in Africa offering a winning and balanced combination of manufacturing, service, repairs, projects and distribution through its nationwide branches.

what’s - actom · 2016. 10. 4. · control and power systems. “high voltage equipment, for...

Documents