MARTHINUSEN & COUTTS
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Generating
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www.southafricamag.com
Marthinusen & Coutts focus Maintenance & Repair
With eyes on expanding further into Africa, Marthinusen & Coutts’ marketing and commercial executive Mike Chamberlain talks to South Africa magazine.
By Ian Armitage
M
arthinusen & Coutts (M&C) has been in operation since 1954 and is a leading repairer of high-voltage motors in sub
Saharan Africa. The company, which also manufactures customised electric motors and components, is a division of ACTOM (pty) Ltd. Marketing and commercial executive Mike Chamberlain describes the firm as “a leader in the repair and maintenance of your rotating electrical assets throughout Africa”. “We’re a leader, certainly,” he says. “The ideal service partner.” The company boasts ISO 9001 2008 certification, as well as a host of other quality assurances, and has extensive workshops in Cleveland, Benoni, Rustenburg, and Welkom in South Africa, and in Kitwe, Zambia. It also agent agreements and partners with workshops in Zimbabwe, Botswana, the DRC, Mozambique, Malawi, Nigeria, Namibia and Ghana. Key services include the repair of electric motors and transformers, specialised manufacture, coil manufacture, wire drawing and covering, and mechanical repair capability. The product range includes high-voltage ac motors, low-voltage ac motors, traction motors, flameproof motors and power generators of up to 50 MVA. “Productivity depends on minimising downtime and improving efficiency, and we are the ideal partner in achieving that goal,” says Mr Chamberlain. “The last 12 months have been tough, but we’ve managed to maintain our growth thanks largely to work outside of South Africa. It has come at a welcome time especially with domestic strikes.” Recent strikes in the mining sector have taken a toll and the costs will likely mount up, he explains. “With decreased turnover there is a decrease in the number of machines www.southafricamag.com
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operating. We are an aftermarket maintenance company of electric motors, generators and transformers and if they’re not operating then there aren’t as many breakdowns or repairs required. With the mines shut, the machines aren’t working and it’s definitely been a problem for us, especially when half the client base is either cutting or ceasing production.” In 2001 the firm successfully acquired a rotating machinery repair facility in Zambia, which it now operates. According to Chamberlain, it is the “largest electro-mechanical repair workshop on the Zambian and DRC copperbelt”. He says it was opened because of an “ever-increasing demand” for M&C’s services in the region. “Zambia and DRC are set to boom, especially in terms of copper mining. Many new projects and mines have come on board with many more plans in the future. That’s why we purchased an engineering shop and now we’re investing in building it up and investing in capital and people in the Zambian operation. We are also performing extensive work in the rest of Africa the Middle East and Asia. We’re looking at investing in a workshop in the DRC as we’re doing a lot of work there already, and other locations in Sub Saharan Africa. “ With the company’s permanent presence in Zambia, customers will not have to send rotating machinery and transformers across the border to South Africa for repair. The operation was set up by taking-over an existing rotating machinery repair operation in Kitwe. 4
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“We’ve made a significant investment in the operation there, upgrading the workshop and bringing it up to international standard,” says Chamberlain. New equipment added to the workshop includes a balancing machine, core tester, a 250 tonne press, a banding machine, a Baker pressure tester, a new lathe and a screw compressor. Further investments will be made in a milling machine, more lathes, a burn off oven and a submerged arc welding facility. “Zambia has a large installed base of electric motors and it’s expanding so that’s the main reason for our wanting a presence there,” says Chamberlain. “We’ll go wherever there are large quantities of electric motors and transformers.It’s not just in Zambia because others, such as the DRC and Mozambique, are growing too. “Power generation is a big, growing area, not only in South Africa but worldwide.
Marthinusen & Coutts focus Maintenance & Repair
Independent power producers are emerging and businesses have been investing in their own generation, across sub Saharan Africa. We do work in the Middle East, Pakistan, and Indonesia also. A lot of that work is done onsite due to the size of the equipment and we would go and do refurbishment projects on old power stations and get them working again.” As an aftermarket service company, M&C is a success because it focuses on customer requirements ensuring a quality repair in the quickest posible turnaround time. This is achieved through continuous training of its high skilled and experienced team, having the best equipped and technically advanced workshops. “Our success comes down to a number of things,” says Chamberlain. “Your people and your skills are very important. We’re also an aftermarket service company, with a flexible approach that focuses on the customers’ needs. Our guys are trained to listen and find a solution that suits. We build relationships of trust and this is very important as we repair critical equipment where breakdowns are very costly. We have to continuously train our people and work hard to continue to grow and satisfy demand. “We’ve had to diversify our product range and we’re continuously upgrading our technology. We’ve just invested in some big capital equipment such as 32 tonne balancing machine, new C&C lathes and a new burn off oven. You have to keep moving because if you get complacent the competition catches up. We want to remain the market leaders.” END M&C has revamped its website. Be sure to visit www.mandc.co.za
We’re also an aftermarket service company, with a flexible approach that focuses on the customers’ needs
L & R Mining Services has been registered since 1991 and has been providing excellent service in a variety of fields to the mining industry. We have gone beyond the borders of South Africa and fabricated ventilation and material handling systems for mines in Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and abroad for Australia and New Zealand.
On behalf of L&R Mining Services we would like to thank Marthinusen & Coutts for their support throughout the years. Rob Landsman rob@landrminingservices.co.za Cell: 083 282 4089
Tristyn Landsman tristyn@landrminingservices.co.za Office: 011 818 5798
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