Construction World September 2016

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PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

MSA Africa’s potential for growth in local market share in 2016 is considerable, following the late-2015 acquisition of UK-based Latchways by the MSA Group. Latchways is a specialist in the design and manufacture of horizontal lifelines and vertical fall arrest systems that are used in the utilities, telecoms, construction and aircraft markets. GLOBAL ACQUISITION FOR FALL ARREST BUSINESS >

Latchways employs around 250 people glob- ally and had 2015 revenues of approximately USD50-million. The transaction is valued at around USD190-million, and significantly broadens the global MSA Group’s existing line of fall protection prod- ucts, while strengthening the company’s position in the global fall protection market, which is estimated to be up to USD2-billion globally. MSA Africa director Colin Oliver indicates that the Latchways range is entirely different, yet perfectly complementary to the MSA range of fall protection solutions. He believes that the product range now has a better reach into Africa, thanks to a larger network of existing resellers and distributors that have direct support from the OEM. “This synergistic partnership offers a high-quality turnkey solution to the market that is backed up with unrivalled after-sales service. Adding the Latchways range to our existing solutions is beneficial to our customers, as we now provide the end-user with a comprehensive portfolio of fall arrest solutions that can be used individually, or in conjunction with one another,” he states. Oliver anticipates that MSA Africa has the potential to grow its fall arrest business significantly during the course of 2016. “This acquisition holds enormous potential for us to dramatically expand our specialised fall protection portfolio to potentially become the largest across existing sub-Saharan African markets, while penetrating new sectors, such as aviation,” he concludes.

CEMENTING GROWTH OF CONCRETE PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS

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South Africa is home to a vibrant concrete product manufacturing industry, ranging from small to large scale manufacturers, with many of these turning to an independent third party to advise them on best practice in terms of concrete technologies.

AfriSam’s Centre of Product Excellence has been assisting the country’s leading concrete product manufacturers (CPMs) to optimise their concrete mix designs while at the same time reduce their total manufacturing costs by advising them on the best selection of materials for their production processes. Mike McDonald, manager of AfriSam’s Centre of Product Excellence, says having access to this level of technical input and knowledge transfer is a significant advantage for many of these companies that do not have internal cement technologists. Importantly, the AfriSam Centre of Product Excellence has also helped many new players establish a presence in the market by imparting essential knowledge on the cement, aggre- gates and sand required to manufacture a quality product, and particularly early on in the conceptualisation stages of these factories. McDonald says incorrect selection of materials not only has a significant impact on the quality of the end concrete product, but also on the cost of manufacturing. One of AfriSam’s strengths is its vast foot- print with 17 aggregate quarries countrywide that produce materials according to the South African National Standards (SANS) 1083 specification. Based on its close interaction and collabo- >

of the sophisticated Gauteng CPM market. Afri- Sam’s Rapid Hard cement meets the high early and late strength requirements of the industry. By using this AfriSam cement, CPMs have also reduced their cement consumption, while achievingbetterfinishesanddurabilitytraitsoftheir concrete products.

ration with this market, AfriSamhas also developed a cement that meets the unique requirements

CONSTRUCTION WORLD SEPTEMBER 2016