Drive technology manufacturer SEW-EURODRIVE has announced an estimated R380-million investment into a new service and repair centre to be built adjacent to its current facilities in Aeroton, Johannesburg.

The new 15 000 m² facility will provide drive and gearbox repairs and servicing to the South African and sub-Saharan African markets for both SEW-EURODRIVE products and competitor products alike.

“[Our competitors’] primary focus is just selling gearboxes and equipment, but they do not have the offering of repairs. This gap presents a significant opportunity for SEW-EURODRIVE South Africa, not only for servicing our own products, but also to repair our competitors’ equipment, therefore increasing our market share and fostering sustainable growth,” SEW-EURODRIVE South Africa MD Raymond Obermeyer said at a groundbreaking ceremony on September 2.

He said the expansion is driven by a need to meet growing customer demand and the lack of competitors offering repair services.

The new facility will also rehouse SEW-EURODRIVE’s training academy to facilitate additional training capacity, as the service and repair centre is expected to create between 80 and 100 new jobs.

“Our existing drive academy is already bursting at the seams. We cannot train fast enough. So we’re moving it into the new building, which will have 1 500 m² dedicated to increasing our training capacity,” Obermeyer told Engineering News & Mining Weekly.

He noted that the investment is part of a larger global strategy by the company, with significant investments into similar repair and service centres in Europe, Australia and South America amounting to about €1-billion.

“It's important that we minimise our reliance on our external contractors, and therefore reduce risks, keep the quality, and increase our service delivery into the marketplace from this new facility,” Obermeyer said.

The new service centre will enable SEW-EURODRIVE to offer a full suite of services, including oil conditioning, monitoring, base plate fabrication, steel work, motor repairs and testing equipment. The company will also be able to use advanced three-dimensional scanning technology to quickly and accurately assess competitor products to facilitate repairs, servicing and rebuilds.

Obermeyer said groundworks would start on September 9 and be completed by December, with construction starting in earnest thereafter. The facility is expected to completed by November next year and will be operational by February 2026.

“There's a big demand out there. We have many gearbox suppliers in the market and none of them do repairs anymore. Our customers need somebody out there to look after their gearboxes. There's a huge need to support them. With the focus in the mining sector on reducing operating costs and the total cost of ownership, they need somebody to step up and do this and offer this kind of service,” Obermeyer said.

The announcement was made following an earlier briefing at SEW-EURODRIVE's stand at the Electra Mining Africa 2024 exhibition, during which the company announced that it was rolling out a wider selection of planetary drives as part of its ‘close the loop’ strategy, geared at servicing more industry sectors than previously.