Page 39 - Energize May 2022

VIEWS AND OPINION

The hidden costs of buying poor quality

cable accessories

BY CLIVE MAASCH, TANK INDUSTRIES

here is an Afrikaans saying: efficiently, on time, and operates reliably
‘Goedkoop is duur koop’, which, for upwards of 15 years. Achieving this
Ttranslates to ‘buying cheap is buying depends on a combination of industry-
expensive’. This is particularly relevant in leading cables and accessories and
the power sector, where getting it wrong a supplier who does more than just
by using inferior products and unreliable drop off products but instead, actively
suppliers can incur massive additional costs. partners with the contractor in ensuring a
As sub-Saharan Africa races to address successful roll-out.
the power deficit, we will see a growing
number of power facilities being rolled About Tank Industries
out across the region. As with any sector Tank Industries is the sole distributor
boom, a wave of suppliers will enter for TE Connectivity’s industry-leading
the market looking to cash in on the Raychem products in South Africa.
growth. Some of them will be fly-by-night Tank Industries, a market leader in low
companies offering inferior products at and medium voltage cable accessories,
bargain basement prices. Clive Maasch has a proven track record of supplying
Contractors and installers looking to the South African power sector with TE
boost their margins should view these These delays can impact on the switch- Connectivity’s industry-leading Raychem
suppliers with caution, however. On the on deadline and cause the contractor to products. Part of the JSE-listed Reunert
face of it, cutting the cost of cable and incur high penalties. Group, Tank Industries fields the best
accessories may appear to be a good If the cables and accessories are niche technical skills and training available
way to cut the project costs and win the sub-standard, systems failures a year or in South Africa and supports contractors
tender. But in the long term, there are two down the line affect the contractor’s nationwide with its expert technical
hidden costs associated with partnering reputation, the utility’s service delivery support team and multi-million rand in-
with untrustworthy suppliers. and the end customer’s experience – all of country stockholdings.
For example, should a supplier lack which result in additional costs.
nationwide technical support resources, Should the supplier be unable to Contact Clive Maasch, Tank Industries,
an installer might lose days on the supply product training for staff, the Phone 021 700-4380,
installation while awaiting technical back- contractor, utility and local authorities clive.maasch@tank.co.za,
up from the vendor. If the supplier has could suffer costly delays and future www.tank.co.za
insufficient cable and accessories in stock, downtime due to faulty installation. #team #training #quality #contractors
an installation could be delayed for weeks The most cost-effective power #cableaccesories #raychem
awaiting an order from overseas. installation is the one that rolls out #tankindustries #mediumvoltage

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