From wine to wind turbines

Pneumatics & Hydraulics

January 2024 Pneumatics & Hydraulics

The Western Cape represents a rich tapestry of industrial activity in South Africa. It is home to OEMs in the car, truck and bus, and agricultural equipment segments, while the food processing industry has a strong focus on fruit and wine production. The region is known for its high-quality grapes used to produce popular wines that are also exported globally. In addition, the Western Cape is a major producer of fruits such as apples, pears and citrus. The thriving fishing industry produces a variety of fish, shellfish and crustacean products, sold both domestically and internationally.

Playing a key role in all these diverse segments in the Western Cape is Fuchs Lubricants South Africa, which has a range of speciality food-grade and automotive lubricants at its disposal to service this plethora of industries.

From left: Bradlee Fillies, Celeste Tickner, Bertie Brand, Nicholas Coetzee, Ernst Bekker, Sedick Connelly.

“We started out as a small warehouse operation in Paarl,” says branch manager, Bertie Brand. “ From its initial 225 m2 facility it moved to a much larger 600 m2 premises, to its current 1000 m2 footprint in Stikland Industrial in Cape Town, of which over 700 m2 is warehouse space alone. “As we started to make inroads into the automotive and food and beverage sectors, taking on more and more OEMs, we decided in November 2022 to relocate to be closer to our key focus areas,” he explains. “Hopefully in a few years’ time we will double our current space.”

Brand highlights that, apart from automotive, the biggest sectors are food processing and canning. “There are a lot of opportunities for us here as the market sector remains largely untapped,” he notes. “There is a bit of everything in the Western Cape. The one industry that is not strong, only because of the location, is mining. We supply small mines, but it is not big. There are also a few cement plants we are targeting.” Looking to the future, there is a major uptick in demand for Fuchs’ specialist lubricants for wind turbines and even solar power projects, as the demand for renewable energy increases throughout the region.

Highlighting the ongoing success of Fuchs in the Western Cape, Brand pays tribute to his closely knit team, which has extensive experience in a range of sectors. “Many customers have stood by us through thick and thin, and this is due to the effort we put into maintaining these relationships and nurturing them into long-term partnerships,” he explains. He concludes by saying that what keeps him passionate about the lubrication industry is that while it is fast moving, Fuchs’ product range is extensive enough to cater for all applications and sectors. “There is a constant drive to innovate and refine products to meet all the needs of our broad customer base. That is what makes it so interesting. You will never get bored with what you are doing.”

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Pneumatics & Hydraulics

From wine to wind turbines

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Published by Technews