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March 2017
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MechChem Africa
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Cover story
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Above:
A pneumatic clamping system used in an
automotive assembly plant. In South Africa SMC’s
biggest market is for the Car Project (CP) range,
which includes automotive solutions for passenger
and commercial vehicle production.
Left:
Ultimately, SMC South Africa hopes to
expand in terms of sophistication and scale so as to
offer complete automation solutions.
Control panel design and assembly enables SMC
to offer holistic customised solutions based around
valve terminals, air service units and controllers.
The latest addition to the locally manufactured
product offering is the large bore CS1 cylinder
range, which includes bore sizes of up to 300 mm
in diameter.
production plans will have been completed.
All of the Japanese approvals are in place and
each line includes quality control and testing
measures as well as unique recording and
traceability labelling.
Specialty products
Aswell as being able to offer thewidest range
of premium quality pneumatics and auto-
mation components, SMC has some niche
and uniquely different peripheral products
that, to date, have been unavailable in South
Africa. “We have an interesting range of air
handling products, such as ionisers; air dry-
ers and chillers, which are often needed in
environments where pneumatics is used,”
Buddingh explains.
In the packaging industry, for example,
static is a common problem. Plastic wrap,
foam packing or labels cling and attract dust,
causing misapplication or contamination.
SMC offers bar, fan and nozzle ionisers, as
well as static detection sensors that, together,
canmonitor andminimise the effects of static
electricity.
“We also offer air dryers and chillers that
enable the air quality in critical manufactur-
ing environments, such as those in the food,
beverage and pharmaceutical industries, to
be accurately regulated.
“Increasingly, we find it is these products
that initially attract customers. And once
people see the service levels we are able to
offer through our unique peripherals, it is a
small step to becoming a preferred supplier
for regular components,” he says.
Target markets
“Worldwide, the food, beverage and pack-
aging industries are our biggest markets. In
SouthAfrica, though, our biggest is SMC’sCar
Project (CP) range, which includes automo-
tive solutions for passenger and commercial
vehicle production.
“Automotive is very healthy for us at the
moment. SMC Germany has secured large
projects in South Africa to large automotive
manufacturers. We have good historical
relationships with the likes of Toyota, and
Nissan. There are also opportunities from
Tier 1 suppliers to the automotive industry,
such as the rubber manufacturers, which we
have dealings with on an ongoing basis.
“This has all led to a realignment in our
thinking about distribution centres (DCs).We
now intend toaccelerate theestablishment of
a DC in Durban, not just for the automotive
sector, but for general industry there too.
Cape Town and Port Elizabeth should open
shortly thereafter,” Buddingh notes.
Market growth? “Automation is topical
right now, so over the next five years, we
expect GDP to be at around 2.0%, while au-
tomatongrowthwill bea littleaheadof that at
3.0%. The nice thing about our new business
is that we have a mixed application range, so
when one area of industry is down, we can
pick up elsewhere,” Buddingh concludes.
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