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SEIFSA Awards For Excellence 2019

The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) invites companies operating in the metals and engineering sector to submit their entries for the 2019 SEIFSA Awards for Excellence – which are open to all employers in the sector, including those which are not members of SEIFSA.

Now in their fifth year, the annual SEIFSA Awards for Excellence were born out of the need to encourage growth and celebrate excellence in the metals and engineering sector. The Awards offer a wonderful opportunity for companies operating in this crucial sector to receive well-deserved acknowledgement and respect by industry peers for their capabilities, expertise and innovation.

“In the current tough economic conditions, we at SEIFSA believe that it is critically important for those companies that excel at what they do to get the acknowledgement and recognition they so richly deserve,” SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba said.

Entrants will be assessed on their performance in the period July 1 2017 to December 31 2018 in seven different categories, namely:

  • The Most Innovative Company of the Year, which will be awarded to a company that showed the best level of innovation in research and development or production in 2018;
  • The Health and Safety Award of the Year will be offered to a company with the best legal compliance record in Health and Safety or the lowest Lost- Time Injury Frequency rate in 2018;
  • Entries are also invited from companies whose Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme/s in 2018 had a major impact on the lives of their beneficiaries;
  • The company rated the highest in customer service performance in 2018 will receive the Customer Service Award of the Year;
  • The Most Transformed Company of the Year Award will be received by a company that showed the highest transformation level in ownership, the composition of its Board of Directors, Executive Management and Managerial Team in 2018 (this award category pits companies employing fewer than 100 people against those of similar size and companies employing more than 100 companies against others of similar size);
  • This is the Decade of the Artisan and an award will be made to the company that trained the highest number of artisans in 2018;
  • The Environmental Stewardship Award will go to a company that has successfully implemented greening initiatives in its day-to-day business operations in 2018.

Nyatsumba encouraged manufacturers operating in the metals and engineering sector to take advantage of the opportunities for recognition offered by the increasingly prestigious SEIFSA Awards for Excellence and submit their entries for the seven categories before the deadline date of Friday, 26 April 2019. Participants can enter by visiting the SEIFSA Awards website www.seifsaawards.co.za

Winners of the Awards will be honoured at a ceremony that will take place at the IDC Conference Centre in Sandton on 23 May 2019.

Encouraging Performance For Metals And Engineering Sector Projected To Continue

SEIFSA Chief Economist Michael Ade.

This is according to the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA), who recently released its authoritative State of the Metals and Engineering Sector Report for 2019-2020.

Given the auspicious performance of the M&E cluster of industries in recent years, this year’s Report was published under the theme of Sharpening the saw – continuously improving industry activity and competitiveness.

SEIFSA Chief Economist Michael Ade said the Federation’s forecast is for the entire M&E sector to expand moderately by 1.8% in 2019. However, the various sub-sectors will register varied levels of growth, with some expanding and others contracting in 2019.

“The prognosis aligns with the outlook for both a moderating global growth and domestic growth in 2018, underpinned by a slowdown in the pace of recovery in commodity exporters, deceleration of growth in commodity importers, a slowdown of growth in global goods and industrial activity during the first half of 2018 and the imposition of broad-based tariffs by the United States on steel and aluminium imports. These developments have serious implications for the growth prospects of the M&E sector, which exports the bulk of its iron and steel products,” said Ade.

Prices of most metals weakened in 2018, largely due to concerns about the effects of tariffs on global growth and trade, with industrial metals particularly responsive to these concerns, given their many uses in the manufacture of tradable goods. However, the expectation is for metal prices generally to stabilize in 2019 and 2020, thereby strengthening exports and improving growth prospects for commodity exporters – including the M&E cluster of industries – along with enhanced capital inflows.

However, this view is not without downside risks. These include the persistence of trade tensions, diminishing industrial activity, softening of international trade and investment and substantial financial market pressures on some large emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Ade said that trade tensions between the US and China, including the imposition of tariffs on an array of products, have had varying effects on metal and agricultural commodities. He said the tensions, which affected roughly 2.5% of global goods trade and had implications for South Africa, continue to remain elevated.

Ade said tighter external financing conditions – which contributed to significant capital outflows and more significant currency pressures in more vulnerable EMDEs, including South Africa – have the propensity of increasing external borrowing costs and the general cost of doing business, also negatively affecting production and foreign fixed investment into the sector.

“To confront this increasingly difficult environment, the most urgent priority is for EMDE policymakers to prepare for possible bouts of financial market stress and rebuild macroeconomic policy buffers as appropriate. Equally importantly, policy makers have to foster stronger potential growth by boosting human capital, removing barriers to investments and promoting trade integration within a rules-based multilateral system,” said Ade.

He said that despite these downside risks, the M&E sector’s moderate growth prospects in 2019 are influenced by the positive growth prospects for key industries which are important markets for the M&E sector’s intermediary products and are crucial in the sector’s value chain. The performance of the domestic economy, which is forecast to grow at 1.3% in 2019 and 1.7% in 2020, supported by continuous improvement of regional markets in Africa, would also impact positively on the sector’s growth prospects.

According to Ade, Sub-Sahara Africa is envisaged to improve moderately in 2019 (3.4%) and in 2020 (3.6%), providing a basis for more exports from the M&E sector. It was likely that this would translate into continued exports, bringing in much-needed foreign currency. This was especially so given the fact that Africa is the highest export destination for goods produced by companies in the M&E cluster.

Ade said that 2018 was yet another better year for the M&E sector as it expanded for the second consecutive year, registering an improved estimated annual growth of 2.0%, despite facing serious structural headwinds, including a technical recession in the broader economy. The momentum was expected to continue in 2019.

Ade said notwithstanding continuous constraints to the current potential to improve on margins in the M&E sector, all indications are that the sector will record another increase in growth during 2019, barring any major disruptions to production

“Given the recent resilience in production in the M&E sector, despite companies facing domestic headwinds, a need exists to ensure that the sector remains attractive by directly reducing increasing intermediate input costs and managing borrowing costs in order to improve consistently on the bottom line, exists,” Ade concluded.

Airbus Opens Commercial Pilot And Maintenance Training Centre Near Delhi

Airbus has inaugurated a world class training centre for commercial pilots and maintenance engineers in the National Capital Region of Delhi, as part of its continuing efforts to support the exponential growth of the civil aviation sector in the country.

Airbus forecast a need for more than 25,000 new pilots in India over the next 20 years to keep pace with the current double-digit growth in its commercial aviation industry. The training centre incorporates an A320 flight simulator for full-flight simulation, along with programmes on aircraft procedure training, computer-based classroom training and standard pilot transition training, including an Upgrade to Command course aimed at improving skills and maturity of co-pilots as they transition to commandership. The facility will complement Airbus India’s training centre in Bengaluru which has trained more than 4,500 maintenance engineers since its inception in 2007.

Reed Exhibitions Closes Acquisition Of Mack Brooks Exhibitions

Reed Exhibitions, a division of RELX, has completed its acquisition of Mack Brooks Exhibitions.

Mack Brooks‘ flagship brands include EuroBLECH (sheet metal working technology); inter airport (airport infrastructure and technology); Fastener Fair (fastener and fixing technology); Chemspec (fine and speciality chemicals); RAILTEX (rail infrastructure and technology); ICE Europe (paper, film and foil converting); CCE (manufacturing and converting corrugated and cartonboard); PSE Europe (plastics) and InPrint (print technology for industrial manufacturing).

The acquisition expands Reed Exhibitions’ global portfolio by more than 30 business-to- business events in 14 countries, delivering value for stakeholders, including customers and staff. Nicola Hamann will continue as Managing Director of Mack Brooks and the company will continue to be based in St Albans, UK.

Gleason To Acquire Faessler Honing Business

Gleason Corporation recently announced the signing of a definitive agreement with Daetwyler Industries AG and MDC Max Daetwyler AG to acquire all assets of Daetwyler’s Faessler gear honing business.

Under the Faessler brand, Daetwyler has been producing gear honing machines, related workholding and tools for the high precision hard finishing of gears. The business operations of the Faessler division, which has approximately 70 employees, will be acquired by a new Gleason subsidiary, Gleason Switzerland AG and will continue to operate at its current locations in Bleienbach and Dietikon, both located in Switzerland. Gleason will retain Faessler’s existing management team and expects Faessler’s current employees to join Gleason.

The transaction is structured as an asset deal whereby substantially all assets and certain contractual relationships of the Faessler business shall be transferred by way of a bulk transfer according to the Swiss Merger Act. It is subject to employee notice periods and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to be completed in April 2019.

Commenting on the acquisition, John J. Perrotti, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gleason Corporation, said, “Faessler is a leader in honing technology for gears and ideally complements Gleason’s existing product line for gear hard finishing solutions. Faessler’s established presence in the global marketplace and Gleason’s extensive sales and service organization will create great synergies for existing and new customers”.

Ralph Daetwyler, Chief Executive Officer of Daetwyler Global Tec Holding, said “we are pleased to have a company such as Gleason with its long tradition in gear technology and the gear production equipment market become the new owner of this business. We are proud of the accomplishments of the Faessler team and we believe the potential for Faessler’s continued growth and success by being part of Gleason, with its market leadership and global reach, is truly exciting.”

Amada To Establish Local Subsidiary In The UAE

AMADA will establish AMADA MIDDLE EAST FZCO (tentative name), a local sales and service subsidiary in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the aim of expanding sales and improving services for metalworking machines in the Middle East.

Development of urban infrastructure, such as construction and electric facilities, is progressing rapidly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in line with the economic policies of their governments aimed at breaking away from dependence on oil revenues. Given these trends, the local metalworking industry is expected to grow.

AMADA previously conducted sales activities in the Middle East through distributors. With market expansion as the backdrop, however, AMADA has decided to establish a local subsidiary in the region based on the judgment that the company can achieve further growth by capitalizing on its strengths in processing technologies and solution proposal capabilities.

Amada To Construct New Production Facility And Supplier Base In Fujinomiya

AMADA to construct new production facility and supplier base in Fujinomiya

AMADA has decided to construct the Module Production Facility, a new production facility for manufacturing core modules of fiber laser cutting machines, at the Fujinomiya Works (Fujinomiya, Japan), R&D and manufacturing base for sheet metal processing machines.

As a result, AMADA plans to double its production capacity.

The company will also develop the AMADA Satellite Park to assemble machine control panels and large components, near Fujinomiya Works. The goal is to improve production and logistics efficiency while reducing production costs by concentrating suppliers currently located in different areas to collaborate with the Fujinomiya Works.

Both the Module Production Facility and the AMADA Satellite Park are scheduled to launch operations in April 2020.

The AMADA Group is constructing new facilities and expanding existing locations in North America and Europe, in line with the expansion of its market shares for fiber laser cutting machines and automation solutions. The Group continues to implement growth strategies set out in its medium-term management plan.

By establishing a new manufacturing base in the Fujinomiya area, AMADA aims to meet growing global demand by concentrating production of core modules and supplying them to manufacturing bases in Japan and overseas. Consequently, it will maintain consistent performance and quality of products, while establishing a high-efficiency production system. Furthermore, AMADA plans to expand production capacity of press brakes and products of automation solutions at the Toki Works in Gifu. The total investment for construction and expansion of the three manufacturing bases is estimated to be approximately JPY 20 billion.

TRUMPF Benefits From E-Mobility

High-technology company TRUMPF is benefiting from the auto industry’s shift toward e-mobility. At the recent Automotive Photonics technology conference in Ditzingen, auto industry representatives presented the very latest e-mobility technologies and manufacturing methods.

One of TRUMPF’s key contributions is a new laser that is better suited to welding copper than any other laser – a key development driven by TRUMPF laser specialists as part of the company’s e-mobility strategy. Regarded as the most important material for conducting electricity, copper plays an essential role in the e-mobility sector. The new laser offers a more efficient means of welding copper for applications such as the high-power electronic systems used in electric cars.

Laser welding of a battery tray for electric vehicles in the laser laboratory of TRUMPF.

“The transition toward e-mobility offers some major opportunities for German industry,” said Christian Schmitz, head of the Laser Technology division at TRUMPF, at a press conference held during the technology conference. “The important thing now is to rapidly address the new areas of business and technology that are emerging from this structural transformation.”

TRUMPF expects further growth for its own business as a result of the change in the automotive industry. The company’s sales of products and solutions that are channeled straight into e-mobility have doubled compared to figures for the previous year. “Twenty percent of our order intake from the auto industry is now coming from e-mobility – that’s twice as much as last year,” Schmitz says.

TRUMPF laser technology for the welding of hairpins.

TRUMPF has supported these structural changes in the auto industry as a pioneering force in its specialist field, building up a worldwide network of experts entirely dedicated to e-mobility. As well as adapting part of its product and technology portfolio to the demands of e-mobility, the company has also simultaneously embarked on a series of new development projects. “The fact that we have succeeded in shifting our focus to e-mobility in such a relatively short space of time is primarily due to our decades of experience in the high-tech sector and our specific expertise in the auto industry,” says Schmitz. One example has been TRUMPF’s success in transferring its knowledge of battery pack technology and manufacturing from the medical devices sector to e-mobility.

On top of the existing auto industry, plenty of other players are also entering the automotive market, including disruptive start-ups from all over the world, Chinese companies and new companies from various fields, predominantly in battery manufacturing. “We have the products, technologies and manufacturing expertise we need to equip all these companies with e-mobility solutions, both existing industry players and market newcomers. We already have development partnerships with traditional automakers, and we’ve been involved in the development process at key start-ups from the very beginning. In terms of up- and coming companies from China, our years of technology experience have made us a sought-after partner in the field of battery manufacturing,” says Schmitz.

NASA’s Record-Setting Opportunity Rover Mission On Mars Comes To End

The Opportunity rover stopped communicating with Earth when a severe Mars-wide dust storm blanketed its location in June 2018.

After more than a thousand commands to restore contact, engineers in the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) made their last attempt to revive Opportunity, to no avail. The solar-powered rover’s final communication was received June 10.

“It is because of trailblazing missions such as Opportunity that there will come a day when our brave astronauts walk on the surface of Mars,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “And when that day arrives, some portion of that first footprint will be owned by the men and women of Opportunity, and a little rover that defied the odds and did so much in the name of exploration.”

Designed to last just 90 Martian days and travel 1,100 yards (1,000 meters), Opportunity vastly surpassed all expectations in its endurance, scientific value and longevity. In addition to exceeding its life expectancy by 60 times, the rover traveled more than 28 miles (45 kilometers) by the time it reached its most appropriate final resting spot on Mars – Perseverance Valley.

“For more than a decade, Opportunity has been an icon in the field of planetary exploration, teaching us about Mars’ ancient past as a wet, potentially habitable planet and revealing uncharted Martian landscapes,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “Whatever loss we feel now must be tempered with the knowledge that the legacy of Opportunity continues – both on the surface of Mars with the Curiosity rover and InSight lander – and in the clean rooms of JPL, where the upcoming Mars 2020 rover is taking shape.”

The final transmission, sent via the 70-meter Mars Station antenna at NASA’s Goldstone Deep Space Complex in California, ended a multifaceted, eight-month recovery strategy in an attempt to compel the rover to communicate.

“We have made every reasonable engineering effort to try to recover Opportunity and have determined that the likelihood of receiving a signal is far too low to continue recovery efforts,” said John Callas, manager of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project at JPL.

Opportunity landed in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars on Jan. 24, 2004, seven months after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Its twin rover, Spirit, landed 20 days earlier in the 103-milewide (166-kilometer-wide) Gusev Crater on the other side of Mars. Spirit logged almost 5 miles (8 kilometers) before its mission wrapped up in May 2011.

From the day Opportunity landed, a team of mission engineers, rover drivers and scientists on Earth collaborated to overcome challenges and get the rover from one geologic site on Mars to the next. They plotted workable avenues over rugged terrain so that the 384-pound (174-kilogram) Martian explorer could maneuver around and at times, over rocks and boulders, climb gravel-strewn slopes as steep as 32-degrees (an off- Earth record), probe crater floors, summit hills and traverse possible dry riverbeds. Its final venture brought it to the western limb of Perseverance Valley.

“I cannot think of a more appropriate place for Opportunity to endure on the surface of Mars than one called Perseverance Valley,” said Michael Watkins, director of JPL. “The records, discoveries and sheer tenacity of this intrepid little rover is testament to the ingenuity, dedication, and perseverance of the people who built and guided her.”

Expansion Of Sumocham Drill Range

ISCAR is expanding the small diameter range of its leading SUMOCHAM hole making line to include new heads and tools from 5.0mm up to 5.9mm.

The all-new SUMOCHAM heads are available in 5.0 up to 5.9mm diameters, with 0.1mm increments. The 5.0 to 5.9mm drilling range is covered by two SUMOCHAM DCN drill body sizes, available in 3xD and 5xD length to diameter ratios.

Made from IC908 TiAlN PVD nano layer coated grade, the ICP drilling head features high wear resistance with stable and predictable wear progression and a possible IT10 tolerance.

The DCN drill is fitted with a high strength steel body and internal coolant supply, with the end specifically designed for efficient MQL (minimum quantity lubrication) coolant operation. Its small-diameter shank is suitable for collet adaptation and Swisstype machines.

The inserts are supplied in custom designed SK DCN clamping keys, whose user-friendly and ergonomic design enables easy insert mounting with no setup time.

For more information, please contact Iscar South Africa – Tel: 011 997-2700

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