What Africa has to offer

What Africa has to offer

Electra Mining Africa 2016 was one of the biggest and best thus far, attracting a multitude of suppliers and buyers. We went along to find out more

The inaugural Electra Mining Africa exhibition was held 44 years ago, at the Milner Show grounds in 1972. Today the show is southern Africa’s largest trade show and one of the world’s largest mining exhibitions.

This year, more than 850 local and international exhibitors showcased their latest technologies, products and services across 34 000 m² of indoor/outdoor exhibition area. Just more than 29 000 visitors attended from both South Africa and the continent at large.

“We put in a massive effort to bring African visitors to the show. It was also very pleasing to have the CEO of the Botswana Chamber of Mines, Charles Siwawa, and the president of the Zimbabwean Chamber of Mines, Isaac Kwesu,” says Charlene Hefer, portfolio director, Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery, organisers of the exhibition.

According to Gary Corin, MD of Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery: “The show is a key platform for government to engage with the private sector, with the export of South African technology and products into Africa and globally.”

What Africa has to offerThe Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, even made an appearance. “It is important to see first-hand the capacity of our industry and Electra Mining Africa gives us this opportunity. It is a great place for us to demonstrate our manufacturing capacity,” Corin continues.

Creating support from government was also a key objective. Eric Bruggman, CEO of the South African Capital Equipment Export Council, says: “We need the support of the government to grow this sector. A strong local industry is necessary if we are to export our goods.

“South African technology in mining is by far the best in the world – we are world class and do not have to hide from anyone. We can compete against the best.”

This was evident from the stature of exhibitors this year, 40 percent of which have re-booked for the next show. Here is what just a few had to offer…

ACS-Embrace

ACS-Embrace, an African provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, recently released a new version of its Embrace ERP Software – Embrace 14.

At Electra Mining the company demonstrated how Embrace 14 enables companies to manage and tightly control all costs, optimise and streamline operations and embrace sustained profitability.

For example, Embrace 14 has an integrated Embrace Service, Repair and Maintenance solution suited to both external and internal workshop environments, as well as the new Embrace Tyre Management system to help improve tyre performance, reduce costs and enhance vehicle and driver safety.

Failsafe Fire

Failsafe Fire Projects has specialised in fire suppression for heavy-duty vehicles and stand-alone machines over 20 years, with a focus on mining, agriculture, military, marine, public transport and many other industry sectors.

What Africa has to offerAt Electra Mining 2016, the company launched its newly developed electronic fire panel, which is integrated with a remote monitoring GPS system. In addition, the company had a training rig on display.

Festo

The most impressive offering at Festo’s stand was undoubtedly its bewildering AirPenguin – a product from the company’s research division, the Bionic Learning Network.

The AirPenguin is one of its products that incorporates human-machine interfaces, autonomy and flexibility. These are all qualities that are required in the mining sector. The AirPenguin is an autonomously flying object that comes close to its natural archetype in terms of agility and manoeuvrability.

Kal Tire

While Kal Tire’s reputation in the mining industry grew from supplying and servicing tyres on mine sites around the world, the company has also become known for developing solutions to drive tyre performance and safety. Along with its award-winning Ultra Repair technology, innovative tools for servicing tyres were shown that provide safety, improve efficiency and decrease service time.

Kal Tire also displayed its tyre recycling solutions. In order to offer services to customers at every stage in the life cycle of a mining tyre, the company has embarked on providing two solutions; shredding and thermal conversion.

Powerstar

Powerstar Industries exhibited a range of vehicles including extra-heavy trucks and yellow metal under the Shantui brand. In addition to its own Powerland F3T 3042 and Powerstar V3 2646 6×4 truck tractors, there were numerous pieces of equipment from Shantui. These included the I-SF30 forklift series, the SL50W-3 wheel loader series (Shantui’s best seller), the SD22W bulldozer series, SE480 excavator and the SR19 road roller series.

Voith

Voith unveiled its latest materials-handling technology. The company has long provided the mining industry with top-line fluid couplings and highly efficient drive solutions and, in 2015, added the field-proven systems of mining-conveying manufacturer, Hese Maschinenfabrik, to its portfolio.

Published by

Focus on Transport

FOCUS on Transport and Logistics is the oldest and most respected transport and logistics publication in southern Africa.
Let’s get talking
Prev Let’s get talking
Next Brazilian buses and South African befuddlement
Brazilian buses and South African befuddlement