Pipes, Pumps & Valves

Masters in APE Pumps and Mather+Platt have led fluid control the market in South Africa since 1952, building on a proud legacy dating delivered, installed and We’ve experienced many situations where back to the world’s first industrial revolution. John Montgomery, commissioned the pump ahead of schedule. we’ve been asked to intervene after the fact. A case in point was a client who scheduled a critical pump shutdown for general manager, speaks to emergency maintenance. Once stripped, Water&Sanitation Africa. What are your views on promoting local content the technical team discovered that the non-OEM sourced part wouldn’t fit. and manufacturing? This is a part that typically takes up to six We are registered as a Proudly South weeks just to ship if sourced from an What sets APE Pumps and Mather+Platt African company. That symbolises our overseas OEM. apart from the competition?? absolute commitment to local fabrication The upside is that we are seeing a JM A major distinction is that we are and local industry. major shift back to OEMs. This applies both an OEM and a CIDB 8 ME registered Having an extensive inventory of locally to water and wastewater utilities, power contractor. In addition, we have one manufactured pumps on hand was a stations, the petrochemical industry and of the few pattern shops left in Africa, vital factor when South Africa entered all other critical industries. Predictive and where our specialist artisans produce the Covid-19 lockdown in March. From preventative maintenance have become wooden patterns in the age-old tradition, the onset, we were able to continue paramount to optimally sustain essential alongside the latest trends in 3D printing. uninterrupted operations. Simply put, infrastructure. This was already a priority Our unsurpassed skill in patternmaking we were not dependent on imports from in the constrained macroeconomic enables us to produce specialised overseas territories. Every component we environment prior to the Covid-19 patterns for our components on a needed was made in South Africa. lockdown. The deepening crisis has now breakdown basis. Keeping our operations running made asset management and optimum

We have completed major turnkey during the lockdown has helped sustain life-cycle costing even more crucial. projects and are currently working on our essential industries, which include some large-scale installations in South the water, wastewater, energy and What is the outlook for the next Africa where we are responsible for petrochemical sectors. Keeping the 12 months? delivering all the mechanical, electrical supply chain open has also sustained We have an excellent order book, and civil components as an integrated many of our suppliers and kept their particularly for turnkey projects. We turnkey solution. That covers design, workshops running. also expect our OEM business to grow installation and commissioning for Since our local foundries are critical significantly in the coming months. As a variable-speed drives, low- and mediumfor our business, we ensured that they Proudly South African company, we’re here voltage switchgear, distribution boards, were kept busy with orders to keep their to add value and we remain committed to cabling, motors, pipe work and pipelines, furnaces on. sustaining and supporting local industry, and, of course, pumps. whether public or private.

Another strategic advantage is Are pirate parts posing a threat? our ability to turn solutions around Pirate parts pose a business risk, first quickly with a combination of project and foremost, to downstream industries, management acumen, technical knowmunicipalities and public utilities. It’s how and a workshop equipped with the also important to note that whether the latest technologies. In a recent example, part is made locally or imported, it’s we completed a pump refurbishment for still non-compliant and unproven. a client during a tight five-day shutdown Pirate parts are the weakest link. Most window. Our team worked two shifts of the time, pirate parts fail unexpectedly per day to accelerate the repair and and catastrophically. www.apepumps.co.za www.matherandplatt.com