Page 9 - Issue 2 2023

NEWS

Brand new condition monitoring laboratories opened

athu, the iron ore capital of the Northern Cape province,
is where condition monitoring specialist company,
KWearCheck, recently opened its newest laboratory.
While for many years there has been a WearCheck office in
Kathu where used oil samples could be dropped off, the nearest
laboratory was in Johannesburg, where the samples were
processed. However, now the samples are processed in Kathu,
reducing turnaround time to 24 hours or less.
WearCheck is delighted to invest further in Kathu, whose
name means “town under the trees”, where local industry has
given the company a warm welcome and support for more than
a decade. ‘Ensuring consistently accurate test results is critical,
The company’s unique Kathu laboratory is created from therefore each mobile laboratory remains connected to
three remodelled shipping containers. the WearCheck South Africa LIMS (Laboratory Information
WearCheck’s head office in Westville is where the distinctive Management System), which guarantees quality control.’
mobile laboratories are compiled in repurposed shipping
containers. Kitted out with the latest laboratory instruments, WearCheck Johannesburg moves to
the labs also boast features such as ventilation, air extraction Longmeadow Estate
systems, fire prevention, uninterrupted power supply, air WearCheck recently relocated its Johannesburg laboratory,
conditioning and burglar bars. WSL (WearCheck specialist laboratory) as well as its dedicated
The fluid design of the container labs accommodates new divisions - asset reliability care (ARC), transformer oil testing,
industry developments. water analysis and lubricant-enabled reliability (LER) services -
WearCheck managing director, Neil Robinson, says the to a convenient, ultra-modern new location in Edenvale.
company (?) is addressing the infrastructure deficit in Africa by ‘With all our services under one roof, WearCheck
providing world-class scientific analysis services in remote areas Johannesburg is truly a one-stop hub for customers which
near mining and other industries. make use of more than one of our condition monitoring
Says Robinson, ‘While establishing a brick and mortar programmes,’ says Robinson.
laboratory in certain locations is often hindered by the lack of
basic infrastructure, the container laboratories are relatively Contact WearCheck, Phone 031 700-5460,
simple to place in areas with limited resources. support@wearcheck.co.za, www.wearcheck.co.za

Local transformer manufacturer secures multi

million-dollar order for US utility market

outh African transformer manufacturer SGB-Smit Power Matla has secured
a multi-million-dollar contract to supply hundreds of transformers for the US
Smarket. For the first time in history, a South African transformer OEM will design,
manufacture and supply distribution transformers to a utility customer in the US
market. The company will have to comply with the customer’s specifications and strict
international quality standards as well as with the US Department of Energy (DOE), the
American National Standard (ANSI) and the IEEE Standard.
The distribution transformers, to be delivered in the first half of 2023, will be
installed in the utility’s network. Each unit is custom-built from standardized design
elements, using consistent manufacturing processes. While the company is excited to
enter a new territory it remains strongly focused on the South African market.

SUBSCRIBE FREE energize Issue 2 | 2023 | 9