Capital Equipment News August 2016

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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS AUGUST 2016 35
INFORMED SUPPLY OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS,
tooling and machinery
PARTS AND MAINTENANCE
W hile access to quality tools and
equipment is a major advantage,
expertise in their use is also
essential.
To ensure that its customers get exactly that,
Elquip Solutions’ Internal Sales Engineer Dan-
iel Cox recently attended key training by two of
the company’s international principals in order
to bring this expertise to South Africa.
These training courses are a substantial in-
vestment by Elquip Solutions in its staff and
also to ensure customers receive the latest
technical expertise and product knowledge.
“It is important that we not only supply the
best products and solutions, but also ensure
our clients have the expertise to use our tools
and equipment to maximum effect,” says Mike
Cronin, Managing Director of Elquip Solutions.
July 2015 saw Cox in Munich, Germany to
attend a two-week course at Elquip’s interna-
tional tool supplier, Hoffman. In April this year,
Cox also attended a week of intensive training
in New York with Magnetic Analysis Corpora-
tion (MAC), a leader in non-destructive testing
(NDT) equipment, and also one of Elquip’s in-
ternational principals.
‘Non-destructive’ expertise
At MAC, Cox’s training focused on the
MultiMac®, an NDT device that detects
defects in newly-manufactured steel tube.
In 2015, he completed Level 1 operator
training. This year, Cox’s goal was Eddy
Current Level 2 certification, which qualifies
him to set up MultiMacs®.
In tube mills, new steel tube is passed imme-
diately beneath the eddy current coils of the
MultiMac®. Signals from the coils are fed to a
computer where smart software picks up eddy
current spikes caused by welding defects.
Keeping up with developments
While he spent most of his time in lectures
taking in all the formulas and trigonometry,
Cox was also required to get ‘hands on’.
“In MAC’s workshops, we saw how the sys-
tems are assembled,” he explains. As a bo-
nus, he was also given the opportunity to ac-
quaint himself with other advanced MAC NDT
equipment.
Cox successfully completed a closely-in-
vigilated practical end-of-course examina-
tion, during which he had to pick up defects
in the test pipe. In the future, he is looking
forward to completing Eddy Current Level 3
certification, which covers aspects such as
MAC’s Ultrasound and Rotary NDT equipment.
With this training behind him, Cox will be re-
sponsible for maintaining MAC installations
in South Africa. “I am now able to help our
customers’ shop floor operators set up their
MultiMacs® correctly and sort out any opera-
tional problems they might have,” he explains.
Training in tools
International tool distributor Hoffmann made
a successful entry into South Africa when
Elquip took on this distinguished agency in
early 2015.
Hoffmann’s key sales tool is its innovative
and extensive catalogue of the 100 000
various tools it supplies. In South Africa,
customers place orders for tools which
Elquip imports, allowing South African cus-
tomers to source high-quality tools from
Hoffmann at affordable prices.
“Hoffmann stocks all of the major tool brands
– those brands that every artisan or techni-
cian wants to have,” says Cox. By approaching
the world’s best tool manufacturers to manu-
facture specifically for it, Hoffmann accesses
vast experience and expertise for the benefit
of its customers.
In addition, Hoffmann also has its own
extremely competitively-priced in-house
brands, Garant and Holex, comprising premi-
um-quality and industrial tool ranges re-
spectively.
The catalogue – a powerful tool
“The catalogue is a major tool on its own,”
explains Cox. Far more than simply a list
of tools, it is also a source of application
knowledge.
“For example, if you are cutting a certain
grade of steel, the catalogue will specify the
correct tool for the job,” he adds. b
Elquip Solutions’ Internal Sales Engineer,
Daniel Cox.
Mike Cronin, Managing Director
of Elquip Solutions.