Mechanical Technology November 2015

⎪ Industry forum ⎪

WearCheck mini-lab provides maxi service

Ten full-service WearCheck laborato- ries operate across the African continent and beyond, and are situated in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, with international laboratories in India, Dubai, Ghana, Mozambique and Zambia – at Lumwana mine and Kitwe. WearCheck also has a presence in Cape Town, Rustenburg, Steelpoort, Port Elizabeth, Zimbabwe and Namibia. An eleventh full-service laboratory is scheduled to open soon in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on-site at the new Kibali Gold Mine, potentially the largest gold mine in Africa. www.wearcheck.co.za

Condition monitoring specialist, Wear- Check, has set up a comprehensive network of world-class, full-service laboratories. One of these sits alongside its full-service primary laboratory in Pinetown. While one of the core functions of the Pinetown mini-lab is to do preparation for aircraft filter analysis, it also provides several other monitoring services and speciality tests on samples from around the country, where speciality analysis is required. Specialty tests conducted include the analysis of grease, coolant, Karl Fischer moisture, VPR (varnish potential rating), and aircraft and

Following the successful implementation of a DST Firm Technology Assistance Package (FTAP), South African compo- nent manufacture Daliff Precision Engi- neering has become globally competitive. The company specialises in complex machined components for the aerospace, defence and rail industries. According to Daliff chairman, Rowland Chutè, “The installation of Vericut Software enables us to verify and opti- DDL Equipment, a leading manufacturer and supplier of docking systems to South Africa’s materials handling market, has new owners. Private equity investment company, Helikaon Investments, has taken 100% ownership of the company and installed a new management team to increase local sales and expand into countries abroad. Helikaon Investments, a majority black-owned private equity investment company with wide experience of manu- facturing and logistics has placed its own people at DDL’s helm to oversee day-to- day operations and capital allocation. DDL is widely recognised as having driven the development of professional docking in South Africa. In addition to locally manufactured dock-levelling and cold-chain dock sealing systems, it is the sole authorised distributor for two leading European door brands, Nergeco and Alpha. “We have commissioned a new ERP system to provide a better overview of transactions and stock, and enable us to better communicate stock availability to the customer base,” Winter says. DDL’s new owners set course for growth refrigeration filtration analysis. The three highly specialised technical staff members who operate the mini-lab also conduct field visits to customers in a variety of industries, such as Illovo, Tongaat Hulett, Gud filters, and more. They take samples from gearboxes, turbines, compressors and any other component that needs monitoring. These samples are then processed and analysed in the mini-lab, and the results sent to the customer, with recommendations on what corrective maintenance action should be taken, if any is needed.

“With that in place, we are now reorganising and expanding the ser- vice department, in- creasing staff levels and re-equipping with new tools, new

August Winter, managing director DDL Equipment.

Trevor Pillay (left, at microscope) is the senior mini-lab technician, and has been at WearCheck for 26 years. With him is field and lab technician Shashay Rampersad, who has clocked up 13 years at WearCheck.

vehicles and a stockholding of critical parts for quicker turnaround times. This represents a significant expansion and improvement of the old facility,” he adds. He points out that increasing electric- ity costs were forcing cold storage users to re-examine the efficiency of their en- vironmental control, and users involved in maintaining the cold chain would seek the best possible sealing solutions. “Our big advantage is that we manufacture our sealing solutions locally, enabling quicker installation and a very much quicker service turnaround times than rival companies, which import components from Europe and elsewhere,” says Winter. “I believe that DDL will enjoy an excit- ing future, beginning now and continuing into the longer term,” Winter concludes. www.ddl.co.za mise all our CNC programs prior to run- ning the first article on a CNC machine. With Vericut, which we would not have been able to afford without the assistance of the TLIU, Daliff has been elevated to a globally competitive level.” The machine set-up time and ma- chining cycle time of Daliff Precision Engineering were both reduced by 20% as a result of the intervention. www.daliff.co.za

Monitoring service for reduced distraction risk

Caterpillar has launched of a 24/7 equipment operator monitoring service to provide custom- ers the power to see, mitigate and manage the primary variable impacting their operations – the human factor. Through industry-leading in-cab and wearable safety technologies, Caterpillar can provide customers with visibility to both machine and operator information. Inside Caterpillar’s 24/7 Monitoring Centre, analysts correlate data about the health and productivity of operators and equipment to re- veal conditions such as fatigue and distraction and their impact on operations. “Our customers want better visibility to the interaction between operators and machines, and how behaviour impacts safety and pro- ductivity,” says Tim Crane, Caterpillar Safety Services manager. “This innovative solution offers our customers the opportunity to mitigate risk and improve productivity. No organisation is in a better position to provide customers these sustainable improvement solutions than Caterpillar,” he believes. The solutions include Driver Safety System (DSS™), developed by Seeing Machines, an alliance partner of Caterpillar; and the wrist- worn Cat ® Smartband, an actigraphy solution powered by Fatigue Science. www.cat.com

Local component manufacturer goes global

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Mechanical Technology — November 2015