The Durban branch of the SAIMC held its October technology meeting, not on the first Wednesday of the month as usual, but on the second Wednesday to accommodate their very interesting presenter, Nico Erasmus from Abacus Automation. Nico started his career in process instrumentation at Eskom’s Kendal Power station in 1998 as a student, before joining the Heinz Food Company in 2005 at its tuna cannery on Mahe Island in the Seychelles. Joining Abacus Automation in 2007 as a project technician, in his words he was ‘gracefully guided’ over the past 17 years, to grow into the director and shareholder he is today.
Nico is the proud father of two teenage daughters, and they and Nico’s wife, Susan were present at the evening. Elsabe, the older of the two daughters has just competed in the African speed Rubik’s Cube championships, and was crowned the female runner up. Nico very cleverly used Elsabe’s skill with the Rubik’s cube to demonstrate the advantage given by a ‘hands-on’ approach to any task, which added to the evening’s interest and introduced an element of entertainment that is often missing.
This, of course, all tied into his original theme: ‘Digital development or division? An African context’. Today’s industry craze is all about creating digital twins, but is it also causing the digital divide? He showed how even the most sophisticated simulators in the world used by Formula 1 battle to get their simulations to match real-world results when on the racetrack. As Nico commented, this creates a distrust of simulated operations used for factory acceptance testing, especially in places like Africa where support is difficult to access. Additionally, it makes it harder and more challenging for young and inexperienced technical personnel as they seek to grow. It also makes it harder to create a cost-effective real-life application that can aid in both, and be flexible enough to adapt to different applications. This is a key obstacle but, as Nico showed, the good news is that it is not impossible.
A delicious dinner and further discussion followed the presentation. The Durban branch would like to thank Abacus Automation for its kind sponsorship of the evening.
International robotics conference streams live to Africa
SAIMC
The SAIMC hosted five live-stream viewing events across South Africa for the IEEE International Conference of Robotics and Automation in Vienna, bringing global robotics research and technology directly to local industry and academia.
Read more...From the office of the CEO: Introduction to GRIP SAIMC
SAIMC
Industry has long been concerned about graduates who have no understanding of the modern equipment they will face in industry. This has triggered an investigation into the possibility of creating a facility whereby graduates register with the SAIMC and rotate through all the vendors to obtain experience on modern equipment.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The SAIMC Durban Branch hosted a technology meeting featuring a presentation by Abacus Automation on the practical role of AI in industrial automation, drawing considerable interest from attendees.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
Instrotech recently hosted a technical presentation on load cell technology and applications at the SAIMC Johannesburg Technology Evening, presented by Trevor Salzwedel. The session covered load cell fundamentals, selection and installation, mechanical considerations and calibration methods.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg Golf Day SAIMC
SAIMC
The SAIMC Johannesburg Golf Day on 22 May 2026 brought together 16 four-balls for a day of golf, networking and fundraising, with generous support from sponsors across the instrumentation and control sector.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The Johannesburg Branch had the privilege of being hosted by Phoenix Contact for our technology event in May. Shamil Surbun, BU manager for Automation, presented a CPD-accredited session on ‘From Sensor to Cloud: How SPE and APL Are Transforming Industrial Connectivity’.
Read more...From the office of the CEO: Power Hour goes national SAIMC
SAIMC
South Africa’s automation, control, mechatronics and computer engineering community is changing fast, and the SAIMC is changing with it. I am excited to announce a new national initiative that will reshape how we deliver technical knowledge, strengthen branch identity and bring our community together like never before.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
From left: Nico Erasmus, Elsabe Erasmus, Mark Calvert.
printer friendly version