The South Africa branch of German engineering company SEW-Eurodrive plans to improve its position in the company’s in-house rankings. The branch, currently listed among the company’s top fifteen branches in terms of contribution to revenue, is aiming to form partnerships with specialised original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to provide turnkey solutions to the mining, food and beverage and logistics industries.

“We believe that this will help us to develop customised solutions using our advanced technology to stay abreast of competition across various markets,” says SEW-Eurodrive South Africa MD Ute Schoeman.

With a global staff complement of 16 000 personnel, SEW-Eurodrive has branches in 48 countries worldwide. The South Africa branch comprises 220 employees countrywide and a head office in Johannesburg, as well as assembly plants in Cape Town, Durban, Nelspruit and Port Elizabeth.

Schoeman notes that SEW South Africa is the only Eurodrive branch in Africa that can assemble, service and sell the group’s entire product offering. “The investments, expansions and achievements of the past ten years make it clear that the shareholders of SEW believe not only in the local Eurodrive branch but also in the future of South Africa and that of the African market,” she highlights.

Schoeman adds that the company is expanding the Nelspruit plant to accommodate the company’s growth in the heavy engineering market segment, with growing demand for the company’s industrial gears across the country.

“We also recently launched the girth gear, which has enabled the company to grow our heavy industry solutions portfolio even more,” she says, adding that the first girth gear was installed at a local cement plant recently.

SEW South Africa has noted increasing demand from the mechatronics market, for which it currently assembles and repairs Movigear mechatronic drives at its Cape Town plant.

She highlights that the company services and repairs its own servomotors, and that SEW South Africa in 2014 introduced the locally packaged and customised high-end engineering solutions, Variolution and Maxolution, subsequently enabling the company to become a complete turnkey solutions provider in mechatronic installations.

“We are fortunate that our Germany-based head office is always one step ahead in terms of monitoring market trends. The office anticipates customer needs and develops products according to market demand, which enables us to supply the local market with relevant and innovative solutions.”

Schoeman concludes that SEW-Eurodrive South Africa’s  employees regularly receive in-depth product and application training from SEW-Eurodrive in Germany and the company regularly communicates with the German head office.