Retecon

COMPANY PROFILE

2014

Retecon

27 11 976 8600 | www.retecon.co.za

company profile

Keeping SA manufacturing welloiled since 1971 Editorial: Roland Douglas Production: Hal Hutchison

When it comes to metal working in the manufacturing industry, you won’t go far in 2014 without access to high quality CNC machines. One of the industry leaders in the supply of this type of machinery is Retecon and the company now has a country-wide footprint to complement a top of the range product portfolio.

One of South Africa’s successes of the past 20 years has been the development of the manufacturing industry. The country has developed an established, diversified manufacturing base that has shown its resilience and potential to compete in global markets.

Manufacturing is so important because it is not only a driver of GDP, with the obvious benefits of employment creation and economic empowerment, but it is also a catalyst for other areas of industry including services.

The manufacturing industry is dominated mainly by the agri-processing, automotive, chemical, ICT and electronics, metal and textiles sectors and over the years, these sectors have developed, becoming more efficient, more productive and, importantly, more automated.

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This move to an automated approach is in line with many industry sectors all around the world.

After all, the benefit of automation is that it saves labour, however, it is also used to save energy and materials and to improve quality, accuracy and precision.

But when automation becomes more prominent, so does the need for skilled personnel to operate the complex machinery so the industry is in fact creating opportunities for people to develop.

A growing need for automated equipment is good news for the countries machine tooling businesses and one company in particular has seen the benefit of the growth of both manufacturing and demand for machine tools. That company is Kempton Park headquartered, Retecon.

The company markets a range of machine tools,

Retecon

accessories, tooling, consumables and services to the metal working industry and has been doing so for the past 43 years.

Established by Burkhard Herrmann in 1971, the Retecon name comes as an abbreviation of REliable TEchnical CONsultants.

Among the company’s product range are popular brand names including Trumpf, DMG MORI, Ficep, Hexagon, Kasto and in their sister company Puma Machine Tools the supplier DOOSAN. Trumpf, DMG MORI and DOOSAN are among the world’s largest machine tool companies leading the field in technology and development.

All 3 brands have supplied over 800 machines into the South African market over the years.

CNC machines, which now play a major part in all sectors of the manufacturing industry, are where

Retecon’s focus lies. Activities including machining, gear cutting, grinding, sawing, pressing, induction heating and hardening, plate rolling and sheetmetal working are just a few that Retecon’s product range caters for.

This product range, which is ever expanding, was bolstered last year when the new monoBlock and CTX ecoline series of machine tools from global machine tools manufacturer DMG/Mori Seiki were added.

Retecon has been supplying DMG machines since its establishment in 1971 and was awarded the sole representation of the MORI Brand to it in 2011.

Of the CTX ecoline series, Neth told Engineering News: “The CTX ecoline machine practice-orientated SLIMline user interface, which is available with Operate 4.5 on Siemens

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company profile

840D solution line or Heidenhain CNC Pilot 640, makes it easy for new customers and experienced professionals to operate the technology and, therefore, receive maximum performance from the machine.

“This product is all about developing the fastest path from the drawing to the finished workpiece and this is realised by the fast servo turret and modern motion-control technology, with rapid traverses of 30 m/min,” he said.

The CTX ecoline series is built using highefficiency cast iron beds, high-quality ball screws and linear guides to achieve the best rigidity and vibration characteristics suited to the most demanding production requirements.

The fact that DMG/Mori Seiki has sold more than 1000 monoBlock machines worldwide since 2010, demonstrates that this is a company producing quality products and Neth says that the monoBlock system is complimented by other technological advancements.

“Technological integrations, such as millturn technology and laser, or ultrasonic machining,

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pallet changes and automation solutions, round off the monoBlock’s system,” he said.

The result of this deal is that South Africa now has further access to what are being hailed as ‘user friendly machine tools’ – and this ‘user friendliness’ is vitally important according to Neth.

TWO-WAY RELATIONSHIPS For a company like Retecon, the ability to communicate effectively with clients is paramount.

And it’s not just clients but also suppliers and employees; all of these count towards the welloiled running of the country-wide machine that is Retecon.

“We strive to understand our customers, to emphasise and to support, to develop our customers’ personnel, as well as our own employees to the very best we possibly can. We are committed to train our employees to ensure that they can deliver the best possible services in sales, service and their administrative duties,” the company states.

“We are most grateful for the trust and

Retecon confidence of our many customers and principals who have supported us in the past and who are willing to entrust their future plans to us.

“We look back to the period of transfer from conventional machines to computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines as a challenging one. It has tested us and our clients alike.

“We are committed to thrive in the effort to anticipate and satisfy our customers’ needs. Our highly motivated team has grown in expertise and number and is fully prepared to meet your challenging demands of the future.”

A ONE STOP SHOP When it comes to machine tooling needs, Retecon can supply everything a business may require, and also provide ongoing maintenance and support after a sale has been made.

“Our capability of supplying tooling and measuring equipment allows our customers to purchase most of the requirements from one source, Retecon,” Neth told wcbn.co.za in 2010.

Now with branches in Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, the whole company is

always looking to grow its footprint and Neth says: “With improved infrastructure and technologies we will be in a position to better serve our customer base.”

And as South African manufacturing, and South African tooling in particular, becomes more and more important to the economy and to the worldwide supply chain, Retecon remains perfectly positioned to aid further in the development of technology and the development of people.

“As predicted, South Africa’s international competitiveness in manufacturing has started to materialise due to the utilisation of new technologies.

Retecon takes pride in having aided in the successful transfer of these technologies to South Africa.

“Our youth development program in apprenticeships and learnerships has and will continue to serve the company well into the future.

Continuing the learning process with overseas training at principals as well as regular in-house training will add to our individual’s knowledge and prosperity,” concludes Neth.

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For more information on how Retecon can help your business, see www.retecon.co.za

Here’s to a relationship cast in steel.

FNB congratulates Retecon on 29 successful years.

MetropolitanRepublic/15349/E

Mention the South African metal and engineering industry and one name immediately comes to mind: Retecon. Retecon is one of the biggest suppliers of machine tools to the industry. And they’ve achieved this not only because of the outstanding quality of their products, but because of the way they do business. The fact that the Retecon Group is entirely owned and managed by employees is just one of the ways in which they set themselves apart. FNB is proud to have been associated with Retecon for the past 29 years. We wish you many more years of success.

If your business is going far we can help you get there.

For more information, contact Carli Venter on (011) 856 2303 or 076 242 8992 or email cventer2@fnb.co.za First National Bank – a division of FirstRand Bank Limited. An Authorised Financial Services and Credit Provider (NCRCP20).

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