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Mechanical Technology — November 2015
⎪
On the cover
⎪
T
he Hytec Group of companies is
the largest drive and control so-
lutions provider in sub-Saharan
Africa, with 34 operations sup-
plying components and turnkey systems
to the industrial and mobile equipment
markets. Now 50% owned by Bosch
Rexroth, Hytec Group companies provide
the full suite of hydraulic, pneumatic and
automation solutions: from planning and
design, manufacture and assembly, test-
ing, installation and commissioning, in
addition to having full service and repair
capabilities.
HFT is the Hytec Group company
responsible for fluid
management ser-
vices within the
Group; mobile and industrial oil filtration
cartridges; offline filtration systems;
water filters and dewatering units; con-
tamination sensors; cooling systems;
and a host of pumps, valves, flow and
pressure control components.
“Underpinning the collaboration
between HFT and Fleetguard
®
is our
overlapping company cultures,” says
Chowdary. “Cummins Filtration values
integrity and investment in the local com-
munity as core overarching principles.
We are very strong believers in corpo-
rate responsibility issues, so as well as
promoting local manufacturing to create
local jobs, we also sponsor schools and
promote skills transfer into the region,”
he tells
MechTech
. “Of all the economies
in the world, we see Africa as one that is
full of potential and we share the Hytec
Groups African expansion ambitions,”
he adds.
Cummins Filtration recently opened its
new Filtration and Coolant Manufacturing
plant at the new regional distribu-
tion centre (RDC) for Southern Africa
in the Waterfall Commercial Park in
Woodmead, Gauteng. As well as in-
corporating Cummins component
warehousing, the facility is
also the site for
local manu-
Hytec Fluid Technology (HFT), the specialist hydraulic fluid management
company within the Hytec Group, has co-invested in a distribution agreement
with Cummins Filtration to become the ‘super dealer’ for the Fleetguard
®
range of engine protection products in Southern Africa.
MechTech
talks to
HFT’s general manager, Sandor Bottyan (left), and Cummins Components
director for Africa, Feroze Chowdary (right).
The Fleetguard
®
product range is designed to protect modern diesel engines and includes: Fleetguard
ES Compleat
TM
organic acid (OAT) coolant; Fleetguard NanoNet
®
fuel filtration solutions; NanoForce
®
air
filtration technology, and much more.
facturing of Fleetguard air filters and its
modern Organic Acid Technology (OAT)
engine coolant. “We have introduced an
air filter manufacturing plant and a facil-
ity to blend the best-in-class environmen-
tally friendly Fleetguard ES Compleat
TM
organic acid (OAT) coolant formulation,”
says Chowdary.
Service delivery and overall customer
satisfaction across the Cummins supply
chain in southern Africa is set to dra-
matically improve. “Network analysis
revealed that from Pietermaritzburg,
we were about 600 km from our South
African customer base. By relocating, we
have halved that to 280 km,” he adds.
Addressing the advantages of the
collaboration from HFT’s perspec-
tive, Bottyan says that, across the
world, Fleetguard is regarded as either
Number 1 or Number 2 in the filtration
market. Cummins Filtration has sent its
top Fleetguard people over to its new
base in South Africa to launch the brand
into Africa. “Cummins and Fleetguard
are investing into this country, in terms
of technical skills, stockholding and local
manufacturing facilities for the air filter
elements and the advanced OAT diesel
engine coolant,” Bottyan tells
MechTech
.
“There are a number of synergies be-
tween our two companies,” he continues.
“We have been supporting the hydraulics
side of mobile equipment for a number
of years in the region. Bosch Rexroth, as
a hydraulics OEM, understands and has
a vested interest in delivering high qual-
ity protection for its hydraulic systems.”
Chowdary continues: “Cummins is
an engine manufacturer, and the only
one that has invested in its own filtra-
Engine protection completes HFT’s
total fluid management offering