COMPANY PROFILE
2014
KAEFER
Eliminating energy waste across South Africa‌
company profile
Eliminating energy waste across South Africa… Editorial: Harriet Pattison Production: Hal Hutchison
Offering professional insulation solutions to help combat energy waste and increase resourcefulness, KAEFER is leading the way in offering efficient and sustainable solutions to its clients across South Africa. IndustrySA speaks to Managing Director, George Wardrope about the company’s continued success, staff training and exciting expansion plans. Established in South Africa in 1976, KAEFER SA operates in three main business areas; industry, marine and offshore and construction. Its vision? To eliminate energy waste. Managing Director, George Wardrope started in the insulation industry over 20 years ago as Commercial Director of Thermal Insulation and he tells IndustrySA how KAEFER SA is now leading the way in helping its customers make the most of their resources and epitomise energy potential. “Our core business is the design and application of hot/cold insulation solution, access scaffolding and surface protection (industrial painting and specialised coating).” Passive fire protection, acoustic engineering and asbestos removal for maintenance projects and new builds can also be added to KAEFER’s ever-increasing industry repertoire list.
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In order to support new industry techniques and ongoing developments, KAEFER collaborate with a number of institutions including, Eiif (European Industrial Insulation Foundation) and FESI (European Federation of Associations of Insulation Contractors). Collaborations such as these allow KAEFER to support and operate within the whole of the insulation market. In turn, this helps to place KAEFER high above its numerous competitors in the field as Wardrope explains: “The main competitors in our market are SGB-Cape, RJ Southey and TMS who are all similar in size to ourselves. They are all part of larger diverse industrial groups so have the necessary backing to be able to undertake major projects.” Despite this, Wardrope states that Kaefer is undoubtedly amongst the industry leaders: “One advantage we have is being part of a worldwide group which specialises in the insulation business.”
KAEFER
STAFF TRAINING With more than 20,000 employees worldwide, Wardrope explains the importance of successful staff training saying: “KAEFER has worked hard on this aspect of its business with the introduction of the Sizani Technical Skills Training Centre and the implementation of high safety standards on sites around the country.” The Sizani Training Centre has now been accredited by the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) for its implementation of health and safety training and supervisor training opportunities as Wardrope explains: “Training courses are offered on site in South Africa and neighbouring countries and are designed to assist companies meeting the demands of the ever increasing new safety legislations.” Staff training doesn’t stop there with the KAEFER Academy Programme providing training modules for artisans all the way to top management
levels, setting an international standard for its employees. In addition to the company’s successful staff training implementation, KAEFER held a PACT Day on March 11th with colleagues in more than 25 countries celebrating the occasion with quality contests, t-shirt printing and distributing, and BBQs to promote and instil quality at the core of the KAEFER business. At the Rabigh site in Saudi Arabia alone there were over 1000 employees participating and celebrating throughout the day.
KEY PROJECTS Wardrope explains that KAEFER Energy Group, another subsidiary of KAEFER, is currently involved in the new Medupi Power Station. “KAEFER Energy Projects is contracted to supply scaffold services for the boiler mechanical works at the new Eskom Medupi Power Station. KAEFER is currently working
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company profile on all six units with manpower strength in excess of 500 employees,” he says. With over 18,000 scaffold structures handed over to Eskom, Wardrope explains that KAEFER Energy Group is working with heights in excess of 110m. KAEFER is also involved in a number of scaffolding and insulation projects with Eskom alongside Medupi, including at the Majuba and Matimba sites, with maintenance and outages projects operating since 2010. KAEFER also have involvement with the commercial projects, Sasol Wax Expansion Project and the SAPREF CUI which are both ongoing installations. In 2013, KAEFER provided corrosion protection for the Richards Bay Coal Terminal Project.
INDUSTRY AREAS Operating within three main business areas, marine, construction and industry, KAEFER provide tailor-made solutions for insulation and energy efficiency. The company’s resourceful skills are offered on large scale projects for maintenance, extensions, refurbishments and innovative energy efficient solutions including sourcing new raw materials, helping to preserve the resources of both the customer and the environment as Wardrope explains: “The majority of work is done on the petro-chemical plants (e.g. SAPREF, ENGEN, SASOL, etc.) and power generation (Eskom stations, e.g. Tutuka, Medupi, Matimba and Majuba). KAEFER has ongoing maintenance contracts with the majority of the above companies.” He adds: “We also do project work in the following sectors: mining, paper and pulp, chemical, nuclear and breweries.” With over 90 years of experience in shipbuilding and 30 years spent offshore, KAEFER has built strong relationships
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with ship owners, shipyards and companies within the oil and gas industry. KAEFER offer imaginative solutions for yaughts, cruise liners and naval vessels and provide safe working environments for drilling platforms. Within the construction industry, KAEFER operate in many different areas to complete the whole construction process, from the interior finish of both old and new buildings through to the restoration and removal of harmful substances, like asbestos. As a company, KAEFER ensure each process is reliably implemented with accurate costs and project scheduling. Insulation is a vital process in energy efficiency and in maintaining resources. To help optimise conditions for customers, KAEFER has developed innovative pipeline and turbine insulation with noise solutions, providing optimal working conditions. As with larger scale projects like the Medupi Power Station, KAEFER provide scaffolding solutions for hard to reach areas with qualified staff and abseiling techniques. KAEFER is in the process of introducing innovative Passive Fire Protection systems which include smoke and gases and non-flammable smokeimpermeable materials. These have been developed to allow walls and ceilings to resist flames for longer, omitting the possibility of poisonous gases dispersing. With so many ongoing projects for KAEFER, is the country’s emphasis on ‘greener’ business having much of an impact on the company? Wardrope explains that sustainability is having a positive impact, saying: “Sustainability at KAEFER has a long history. Working in the field of insulation, energy efficiency has been our daily business since the founding of the company back in 1918. However, we not only focus on how much energy clients
Rockfibre SA (Pty) Ltd
Kintetsu World Express South
your partner in energy conservation
Rockfibre SA Pty Ltd started producing Rockwool products in 2008. Rockwool is produced from a Diabase rock mix to create fibrous insulation products. A range of products are produced to suit the industrial insulation needs and conform to require specifications in South Africa and abroad. The products were designed for a wide temperature range for thermal applications as well as acoustic insulation. Rockfibre products are manufactured generally in accordance with BS395L
Product range:
Insulation Mattress - Galvanised wire backed fibrous blanket Insulation Boards - Semi-rigid fibrous panels Insulation Felts - Fibrous blanket Pre-formed Pipe sections - Rolled fibrous pipe insulation Loose Wool - Pure fibrous wool Benefits of Rockfibre Insulation Material:
• Reduce heat loss, saving energy reducing running costs. • Controlled temperatures. • Reduce surface temperatures for personnel protection. • Reduce random temperature influences from external sources. • Prevent choking and blocking of small bore pipes. • Reduce supress and absorb noise.
Postnet Suite 136. Private Bag X3706 Three Rivers, 1935
Rockfibre products are made from non-combustibie mineral fibres containing inherently tow levels of water leachable chlorides. Rockwool is “not classifiable as to carcinogenicity to humans”. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Phone +27 16 4212045 • Fax +27 16 4212048
The CEO of Rockfibre SA Pty Ltd has associated with Kaefer for the last 40 years
CEO: G. F. Reckmann
can save through our professional insulation. We assume our wide ranging responsibilities in all of the four sustainability dimensions: economic, social, environmental and cultural because we believe these aspects are inseparable. “We believe that the integration of our sustainable mind set into our daily business activities is essential for long-term growth and it is the basis for acting sustainably. Furthermore, sustainability is part of the corporate culture at KAEFER and to further spread the idea of sustainability and our sustainable mind set, it is essential to involve all employees worldwide.”
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE With a real emphasis on strong management, offering quality service and introducing an excellent safety culture; KAEFER’s continued success can be attributed to many of these points and more. Looking to the future, Wardrope explains that expansion is definitely on the cards: “We have worked on insulation, scaffolding and painting projects in other African countries such as Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. We are currently looking at prospects in several other African countries together with other companies in our Group” he says. Within the next few years Wardrope explains that KAEFER is looking to further develop its Fireproofing
Cell No: +27 72 052 5582 Reg No 2006/010901/07 • VAT No 4960228338
division: “At the moment we are developing our Fireproofing division to expand our range of services. This service is already offered by the KAEFER Group in several countries around the world, so we have an advantage of relying on the Group to provide us with expert advice and resources.” In addition to this development, Wardrope explains that KAEFER’s priority is to continue within the petrochemical and power generation fields and to explore new markets such as concentrated solar power plants. With such success behind KAEFER and many more developments and expansions on the horizon, the company is sure to gain real ground in pursuit of its vision to ‘eliminate energy waste’, something which will be welcomed by all stakeholders.
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“Sustainability at KAEFER has a long history. Working in the field of insulation, energy efficiency has been our daily business since the founding of the company back in 1918” MAY 14 PAGE 5
www.kaefer.co.za +27 (0) 11 9748123
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