African Fusion March 2017

March 2017

AFRICAN FUSION

ESAB’s new

REBEL will soon be

accompanied by a

dedicated 300 A TIG welder

called the Renegade ES300i.

For the mechanised CNC cutting

side, large-format profile cutting

systems connected to laser,

plasma, oxy-fuel or waterjet

(HydroCut) cutting systems and

any combination of

these are available.

Cameron lifts out the ESAB WELD 70S-6

GMAW wire and the ESAB WELD 6013

general purpose rutile electrode as:

“high-end Tier 2 consumables that are

cost effectivewithout sacrificing quality

and performance”.

ESAB is in the process of releasing a

newly developed flux-coredwire, which

will meet the high-level specification

required for thedoorframes of wind tow-

ers. “Our R&D facility is currently finalis-

ing the approvals for the consumable

and we expect it to be made available

soon,” Cameron says.

Standard welding and

automation equipment

Keith Saunders looks after the standard

welding equipment and machines:

ESAB’s automation systems – column

and boomsystems, rotators andmanip-

ulators – along with customengineered

solutions such as its pull-through beam

and profile welding systems.

“I handle the bread and butter MIG,

TIG and stick welding machines along

with our semi-automatic A2 and A6 sub-

merged-arc systems, and units such as

the flexible but simple MechTrac beam

welding machine, which is equipped

with A2 or A6 welding equipment for

SAW,” Saunders explains.

ESAB has also recently launched

the “little REBEL”, which is “the perfect

machine for mobile and field applica-

tions”. Compact and portable, the high-

end REBEL 215ic has full multi-process

capabilities and is ideal for stickwelding

with themore difficult electrodes, solid-

wire GMAW and flux-cored wire welding

or TIGwelding in farming, construction,

maintenance/repair and mechanical

contracting applications.

“It will soon be accompanied by a

dedicated 300 A TIG welder called the

Renegade ES300i, a 15 kg mobile unit

that has the highest power to weight

ratio in its class,” Saunders tells

African

Fusion

His outlook for thewelding industry?

“Things are picking up,” he responds.

We are getting a significant number of

enquiries from National Government-

owned companies as well as heavy

local equipment manufacturers. More

exciting than the number of enquiries,

though, is the size of the individual en-

quiries. Industry definitely seems to be

preparing for an upswing.”

Mechanised CNC cutting systems

and gas equipment

“I am responsible for the mechanised

CNC cutting side, large-format profile

cutting systems connected to laser,

plasma, oxy-fuel or waterjet (HydroCut)

cutting systems and any combination of

these,” says Van Dyk, who is also ESAB’s

regional productmanager for gas equip-

ment, PPE and accessories.

“We alsooffer new-technology fibre-

laser machines, which are a little more

expensive than traditional CO

lasers,

but they offer significantly cheaper

costs per cut,” he says, adding that ESAB

concentrates on large format lasers,

that is table widths of 4.0 m in lengths

of between 8.0 and 20 m.

In the lower cost CNC space, ESAB

has recently introduced the new A-

series. “The A120, for example, is an au-

tomated version of the CutMaster. It can

be coupledwith any CNC table, either as

a retrofit or to the lowcost systems being

custom built by local manufacturers,”

Van Dyk says.

ESAB is also the owner of the Victor

Technologies gas equipment brands.

“The Victor® EDGE™ 2.0 heavy-duty gas

regulator recently won an iF Design

Award in the Product - Industry/Skilled

Trades category. iF International is

Germany’s oldest independent design

organisation and has been highlighting

thebest indesignall over theworld since

1953. So this is a real honour for us,” he

tells

African Fusion

Durable and compact, EDGE series

regulators have easy to read gaugeswith

enhanced graphics, colour coded knobs

for quick gas identification and offer

more natural and safer hand/body po-

sitioning for adjusting delivery pressure.

The expanding service offering

In order to further the support for all

ESAB equipment in the region, the com-

pany’s service division through ESAB SA

is currently being expanded.

Together with expanding the cur-

rent service centre at Howden Donkin’s

Booysens premises, service divisions in

Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town

are being established. “All new ESAB

serviced centres andwill be staffedwith

qualified technicians andmobileunits to

enable both site- and workshop-based

equipment repairs,” says Saunders.

“We are determined to improve

spare parts availability and reaction

times to break downs we will also be

introducing SLA contracts. ESAB is com-

mitted to this region, expanding and

here to stay,” he concludes.