December 2015 Watt Featuring: ACTOM’s commitment to environmental What’s solutions ACTOM (Pty) Ltd www.actom.co.za A South African B-BBEE Company Corporate Focus Group plans accelerated expansion into new markets as traditional business slows down The business environment continues seen significant increases in activity to be challenging for the group. Our through the Department of Energy’s traditional mining, industrial and Renewable Energy Independent Power steel markets remain very subdued. Producer Programme (REIPPP), which This, combined with Eskom’s cut- has gone a long way to sustain the back in spending, has significantly company and the industry over the past curtailed activity in the real South few years. The expansion of renewable African economy. and power solutions into Africa is an While government’s macro-eco- exciting opportunity and we will con- nomic policy remains sound in broad centrate our energy on further growing terms, there is on-going misinterpre- our presence in this sector. tation and a lack of implementation Traditional growth prospects and capacity. This leads to slow execution opportunities on the continent also re- and project delays which negatively main positive in the medium term and impact business confidence. This un- it is the company’s intention to further predictable environment makes invest- expand its geographical presence in ment, strategic planning and tendering order to ensure that we participate in extremely difficult and, combined with the infrastructural development of the the current global macro-economic continent. conditions, creates volatile, depressed In conclusion, I would like to thank and uncertain business conditions. all management and staff for their hard Over the past few years the group has been forced to reduce manufactur- work over the past year and encourage has implemented a strategy of cus- ing volumes, cut expenses and limit employees to remain positive about tomer diversification and export growth investment for the foreseeable future the country and the continent as we and has been able to shield itself from until economic conditions stabilise and deal with the current challenges. the slowdown in the local economy. sound sustainable opportunities return. I wish you a happy festive season Unfortunately, during the course of To mitigate the effects of the local and we look forward to taking on the the last year, in spite of our best ef- economic challenges, the group is challenges and opportunities in the forts, virtually every division has been concentrating on further developing its foreseeable future. negatively affected and prospects of position in the ever-growing renewable recovery remain uncertain. The group and alternative energy sector. We have Mark Wilson What’s Inside Commitment to environmental solutions Pg 3 R&M launches special safety campaign Pg 18 Supersonic car excites interest among learners Pg 6 Metalplus modernises production capability Pg 19 ACTOM assists in launch of scholar patrol Pg 7 M&C rehabilitates mill motor for New Zealand mine Pg 21 John Thompson unit’s community skills training Pg 8 Wilec’s conductor lines upgraded Pg 22 SAB Breweries convert to coal-fired boilers Pg 9 Mining companies switch to ester dielectric oil Pg 23 Electrical Machines launches new motor range Pg 10 Bloem branch wins “Branch of the Year” award Pg 24 Hoist contract at Royal Bafokeng completed Pg 11 Electrical Products’ sales team training pays off Pg 24 Special wind farm PTK’s for Kouga wind farm Pg 12 Increased demand for technical training Pg 25 Pilot electronic signalling project completed Pg 13 ACTOM sponsor skills training for science teachers Pg 26 Compact voltage transformer developed Pg 14 Sponsor of lighting upgrade at Quadpara lodge Pg 27 LV distribution board for new ceramics plant Pg 15 Employees contribute to charity Pg 28 Large autotransformers for Durban completed Pg 17 Good attendance at EP’s annual Golf & Bowls Day Pg 29 Cover John Thompson, a division of ACTOM (Pty) Ltd, is currently converting the last three ElectroStatic Precipitators to Pulse Jet Fabric Filters at Eskom’s Grootvlei power station, which will result in lower particulate emissions in the gases released into the atmosphere. See story on Pg 3. What’s Watt December 2015 2 Corporate Group demonstrates commitment to meet environmental requirements ACTOM has gone a long way in re- provisions go well beyond what is cur- the amount of energy an industry – as cent years towards meeting the re- rently required of our industry in terms well as individual business units within quirements set by government, cus- of present environmental legislation,” a given industry – consumes on a day- tomers and other interested parties says Alre van Wyk, ACTOM’s Group to-day basis and the scope available for to reduce the environmental impact Risk Manager. reduction of such consumption. of its manufacturing processes and The present umbrella Act govern- Another aspect requiring atten- products, as well as its energy use. ing environmental matters is the tion relates both to environmental A number of divisions and busi- National Environmental Management degradation and to the direct impacts ness units in the group adhere to Act (NEMA) of 1998, under which of industrial activity on the health of international environmental standards there are separate Acts that set out the workers, local communities and others. through ISO14001 certification, while specific requirements applicable to air A third aspect is the environmental- all business units throughout the quality, water, biodiversity and waste. friendliness or otherwise of the prod- group without exception are run in ucts manufactured or processed by New laws accordance with the environmental industry. control provisions of a risk manage- There is no room for complacency. “To place ACTOM into perspective ment programme specially developed New and more stringent laws aimed in this context, the electricity supply for ACTOM by Marsh Africa, a global at ultimately aligning South Africa’s industry of which we are part is a rela- provider of risk management services. environmental legislation to the laws tively low-impact industry in terms of The Marsh Africa environmental and practices in the world’s more ad- directly contributing towards environ- audit programme, which was intro- vanced industrialised nations are due mental degradation,” Alre comments. duced in September 2012, is aimed at to be promulgated in the near future. “In our case, while we of course assuring ACTOM’s international stake- Particular attention is being given to have to abide by all the environmental holders that the group complies with tightening up of legislation governing requirements applicable to our indus- current legislation and the expectations air quality, as this is seen as the single try, the greater focus of our attention of its investors, customers and technol- most important factor relating to im- now is on assisting our customers in ogy partners regarding all risk factors pacts on health and to the broader field meeting the challenges they are faced that include, besides environmental of generation of greenhouse gases and with in this respect by developing requirements, also health, safety, fire their impact on climate change. and providing products that are better defence and business continuity provi- Atmospheric pollution itself is multi- suited to the environmental require- sions. The group also introduced a sys- facetted. In terms of the wider threat ments of the future.” tem for measuring and monitoring the of deteriorating atmospheric conditions Core expertise carbon footprint of each business unit. around the planet the main focus as “Both ISO14001 and the Marsh applicable to industry is: What is its Several business units in the group Africa programme’s environmental carbon footprint? This is determined by are engaged in such activities and initiatives. Two units are already involved “from the word go”, as pollution control is a core expertise and integral part of their businesses. They are: • John Thompson’s Air Pollution Control unit, which provides pollution control solutions to a wide range of in- dustries that include smelters, mines, cement producers and the chemical and petrochemical industries. • John Thompson’s Utility Boilers & Environmental Solutions unit caters mainly to the power generation indus- try. In addition to providing ongoing maintenance services for boilers at a number of South Africa’s power sta- tions, it is also a leading contractor supplying emission control equipment for power station boiler plant. At least three other business units within the group have recently contrib- uted to the development or distribution of products that play a role in providing for environmental enhancement in vari- ous industries. A welder at TLT ACTOM puts the finishing touches to a large centrifugal fan impeller that will form Wilec has linked up with Cargill, part of the ventilation system the business unit is to provide for an extension of Palabora Mining’s the international US-based producer underground copper mine in Limpopo Province. To page 4 3 What’s Watt December 2015 Corporate From page 3 and supplier of food, agricultural and industrial products, to handle the supply locally of ester dielectric oil for transformers as an environmentally- friendly substitute for the mineral oil traditionally used for this purpose. A number of major mining groups in the country have switched over to the new oil since Wilec introduced it into the local market early last year. (See story on Wilec’s first ester oil sales on Pg 23) Joint project Another exciting development is a joint project launched recently by John Thompson and a technology partner, involving the rolling out of large-scale production of torrefied material, a form of charcoal. This product has a calorific A bag filter designed, produced and installed by John Thompson Air Pollution ontrolC for a copper value and volatile content comparable producer in Southern Africa. The system shown is a secondary off-gas pulse jet bag filter.