Mechanical Technology June 2015

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6 Mechanical Technology — June 2015
⎪ Industry forum ⎪
Xylem South Africa, a division of the
global water technology leader, Xylem
Inc, recently announced the appoint-
ment of its new managing director, Pierre
Fourie. After an exhaustive local and in-
ternational search for the right candidate,
Fourie’s skills set, technical background
and solid management experience was a
“perfect fit” for this important leadership
role within the company.
“I am extremely excited about work-
ing with the talented pool of people at
Xylem,” Fourie says. “Especially due to
Xylem’s involvement with a vast range
of clients in the mining; municipal and
agricultural spheres.
“Water is a global concern, in terms of
scarcity and accessibility for day-to-day
consumption and within commercial
processes – especially within Africa. With
the top-tier products in Xylem’s arsenal
of products; including globally renowned
brands such as Flygt and Godwin pumps;
the company is poised to assist clients
and communities to gain access to water
for a variety of uses, while helping them
to conserve fresh water and limiting en-
ergy usage.” Fourie underlines this com-
mitment to world-leading water solutions
on the African continent saying, “we are
uniquely positioned to deliver what cli-
ents need within an African context – and
our team is set to roll out a few excellent
initiatives in the near future. I am proud
to be a part of it.”
Fourie is deeply committed to em-
ployee development: “It is a key motivator
for me to harness the collective skills of
SANSA launches SPOT 6 and SPOT 7
The South African National Space Agency
(SANSA) reached another milestone with
the launch of its high-resolution SPOT 6
and 7 National Mosaics satellite imagery
and ortho-bundle (mapping) data at the
CSIR Convention Centre in Pretoria. High-
level researchers and representatives of
various government departments, as well
as public and private institutions attended
the launch.
With a resolution of 1.5 m, the SPOT 6
and 7 earth observation satellites are sure to
enter the SPOT series into a new era. These
two satellites form a small constellation,
and were deployed into the same orbit on
September 9, 2012 (SPOT 6) and June 20,
2014 (SPOT 7). The two satellites replace
a single satellite, SPOT 5 that was decom-
missioned at the end of March 2015.
“We are very excited to harness the
potential benefits of the SPOT 6 and SPOT
7 satellite imagery products to further ad-
dress national issues, including tackling
food security, agricultural issues, energy,
rural development and urban planning,
especially at local government level,” says
SANSA CEO, Dr Sandile Malinga.
He adds: “SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 are
crucial decision-supporting tools for South
Africa. The defence, intelligence and police
departments will benefit greatly from these
highly responsive sensors that increase
acquisition capacity and simplify data
access.”
SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 cover wide areas
in record time and their agility capability
makes them useful for disaster monitor-
ing. Both products can accommodate
last-minute urgent task requests with high
levels of data detail.
“Using satellite data provides repeti-
tive, reliable and consistent information
about the planet on a global scale. When
combined with ‘in-situ’ observations, it’s an
extremely powerful tool for monitoring our
environment, including low-cost housing
mapping, which helps government with
future planning and development. More
importantly, with the two satellite we are in
a position to provide two seasonal mosaics
per year,” says SANSA Earth Observation
managing director, Dr Jane Olwoch.
SPOT 6 will aid agriculture by making
available information about vegetation and
providing water quality analysis. Among
other data, these products are strategically
in line with the SANSA goal to collect, as-
similate and disseminate earth observation
data to support South Africa’s policy mak-
ing, decision making, economic growth and
sustainable development initiatives.
New MD at Xylem South Africa
all our employees into a cohesive whole.
I want employees to feel free to approach
me and their managers with new ideas. I
want them to be able to identify and
seize opportunities knowing that they
are supported by management and the
wider team at our company.” This ties
in with Fourie’s strong focus on skills
development for employees.
Upcoming initiatives include: the
opening of its new rental depot in
Johannesburg later this year, which will
be the largest pump rental hub in Africa;
and the opening of Xylem’s first branch in
the Eastern Cape. Fourie will be heading
up these initiatives and managing the
South African team from the company’s
head office in Boksburg, Gauteng.
Xylem South Africa’s new MD, Pierre Fourie.
Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum
pump agency secured
Integrated Pump Technology has secured
the agency and distributorship for Oer-
likon Leybold Vacuum, for sub-Saharan
Africa. The agreement covers the full line
of fore- and high-vacuum pumps, sys-
tems, vacuum systems, vacuum gauges,
leak detecting instruments, flanges, fit-
tings, valves and accessories.
Graham Russell, CEO of Integrated
Pump Technology, points out that this
will allow the company to broaden its
product offering to include vacuum
technology. “This underlines Integrated
Pump Technology’s business philosophy
of partnering with leading specialist
suppliers of technology solutions that
add value to complex processes.” The
Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum is already well
known in South Africa, with a relatively
large installed base of products.
Russell explains that fore vacuum
pumps are used in general industrial
applications such as pick-and-place sys-
tems, food and packaging and as back-
ing pumps for high vacuum application.
High vacuum pumps are typically used
in research laboratories and the coatings
industry. pump-technology.com
A single stage rotary vane vacuum pump
from Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum.