African Fusion March 2018

POPUP skills for social upliftment

KEMPER extraction growth consistent T he demand for products and services from KEMPERGmbHcontinues to rise. Last year, the manufacturer of extraction and filtration systems once again achieved a high sales growth. While KEMPER achieved solid growth of 5.0% in the lo- cal Germanmarket, total revenues rose by almost 14%. KEMPER generated around 60% of its total sales abroadwithmarkets such as Poland and the Czech Republic becoming growth engines. In Switzerland, the Netherlands, Great Britain and France, KEMPER also closed the past financial year with high growth rates. With an increase of 24%compared to the previous year, the sale of the standard extraction units boosted sales growth. WithMaxiFil alone, the extractionunitwith the largest filter area available on the market in this quality segment, the manufacturer’s sales were 50% higher than in 2016. “We are optimistic about 2018. As things stand at present, we will expand our business overall to a comparable level of growth,” predicts KEMPER MDBjörnKemper. “We are gradually digitising our product portfolio and in 2018, wewill launch three new products that are compatible with Industry 4.0 and can communicate digitally with other systems,” he says. www.kemper.eu

supplies cost-effective expert solutions and specialist equipment. The company is ex- perienced inmotion control, fine-precision mechanics, optics, specialised cameras and high-speed photography. Horne Technologies CC specialises in extremely highquality smallmotion control systems: miniature DC, brushed, brushless, and stepper motors, gearheads, precision bearings and allied equipment. High qual- ity ranges of Italian-made normal stepper motors, drives and controllers are also represented, togetherwith rotary and linear F ollowing the successful inauguration in 2016 of Afrox’s first tertiary weld- ing facility in Soshanguve, in partner- ship with POPUP (People Upliftment Programme), the facility has, to date, qualified 11 learners with various weld- ing skills. The welding school consists of 12 fully equippedwelding bays suitable for training in shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW), tungsten inert gas welding (GTAW), and oxy-fuel welding and cutting processes. Students are also taught how to correct- ly use power and hand tools with safety standards and regulations a focal point. Through this direct focus on tech- nical skills training and up-skilling programmes, Afrox aims to contribute towards the development of entrepre- neurial skills and upliftment of South Africa’s unemployed youth, with an emphasis on welding as an in-demand route to sustainable careers or self- employment. Executive director for POPUP Mar- lene Freislich says that Afrox and POPUP first crossed paths in 2012 at Afrox’s annual Bumbanani Day, one of the com- pany’s social responsibility initiatives. The possibility of establishing awelding school was identified and since then Afrox has provided invaluable support to the programme. “From providing gas and gas equip- ment for cooking meals through to the opening of thewelding school four years later, Afrox has been instrumental in get- ting facilities at thePOPUP centre inSos- hanguve up and running,” says Freislich. Robert Sekwele, skills development facilitator for POPUP, echoes these sen-

timents and adds that Afrox’s decision to base a welding school at the POPUP centre inSoshanguve is openingup skills to people who need them the most. “The rural areas surrounding Sos- hanguve are home to some of the poorest andmost under-privileged com- munities in the country andmuch of our learner intake comes from people who walk off the street,” he explains. He adds that welding has become a scarce skill in South Africa and that Afrox’s easily accessible welding school allows the most destitute, who cannot afford transportation costs, to fulfil their basic needs, equip themselves with skills, and ultimately find employment or become self-employed ina sector that lacks qualified welding artisans. With the assistance of Afrox, POPUP is actively implementing a new ap- proach to the steel product manu- facturing market, which will result in upliftment, empowerment, and skills development, while addressing three of South Africa’s major challenges: job creation, skills development and socio- economic development. POPUP also plans to partner with lo- cal engineering companies, developers and construction companies, retailers of pre-manufactured steel products, and steel manufacturing companies that sell welded commodities such as palisade fencing, window frames and burglar proofing. The proceeds of prod- uct sales will be put back into sustaining the programme. The welding school is currently awaiting CHIETA and QCTO (Quality Council for Trades and Occupation) ac- creditation. www.afrox.co.za

Fine-precision mechanics, optics and high-speed photography H orne Technologies CC is a small, flex- ible and competitive company that

bearings, rails, actuators, encoders, connec- tors and machine-building components. Furthermore, complementary to the high quality motors, Horne Technologies offers precision optics, optomechanics and specialised camera systems. Standard as well as custom optics are available, together with lab bench equipment. Very high-end thermal and visual high-speed cameras are also offered. New to the market is the Seek Thermal range of entry-level hand-held thermal cameras – including models fitting to IOS and Android mobiles. The company has several high-speed

cameras available for rental. These cameras are available on a daily basis, and come with an operator. Access to a number of other cameras and systems is available. Also recently introducing fromStelltron (www.stelltron.co.za) is an Internet-based platformtobring learningandhobby-based electronic products to the high school, uni- versity student and hobbyist market. The website is anonline store enablingdevelop- ers to source all their project components quickly and easily – and an email ordering service is available for items not in stock or listed on the site. www.hornetechnologies.co.za

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March 2018

AFRICAN FUSION