PDS expansion into southern Africa
February 2025
IT in Manufacturing
Benefiting from South Africa’s role as a global pioneer in proximity detection systems (PDS), other countries in the region are embracing this safety and monitoring technology to great effect. “South Africa is leading the drive for PDS deployment because of legislation that is in place, and is likely the most experienced in the world on this topic,” says Anton Lourens, CEO of Booyco Electronics. “We have seen that most southern African mines are adopting technology and solutions that have been deployed and proven in South Africa.”
Lourens notes that most of Booyco Electronics’ solutions and products are suitable for rollout in neighbouring countries, as they meet local compliance standards. At the same time, the company drives a continuous improvement programme to meet global best practice. “The flexibility in our offering, facilitated through firmware optimisation on a universal hardware platform, ensures that we can effectively meet new customer demands without reinventing the wheel,” he explains.
This has underpinned the company’s expansion strategy that includes southern Africa, where there has been considerable new development in the region’s mining sector. Booyco Electronics’ long history in South Africa has fed its success in the rest of the region, as it is regularly contacted by decision-makers in the mining sector who were previous customers in South Africa and are now working in neighbouring countries.
“Having worked with us before to understand PDS capabilities, these customers develop an understanding of the local requirements in the countries where they are now based,” he says. “This creates valuable opportunities for us to expand into the region and share our knowledge and solutions further afield.”
In its expansion, Booyco Electronics has adopted the strategy of partnering with in-country providers where a local support base can be established to ensure that the PDS technology is looked after and maintained. “We implement a skills transfer plan to develop the expertise of local support personnel while we are overseeing deployment and initial roll-out,” he explains. “By including local resources as soon as possible in the deployment process, the in-country personnel become more competent and experienced. We retain full oversight until the local team can provide full support and maintenance.”
Lourens highlights that successful implementation of any technology depends on the behaviour of the people involved, which requires proactive change management to facilitate the adoption of solutions. “Mines in other southern African countries are lagging behind their South African counterparts in terms of PDS deployment, and are relatively inexperienced customers in this space,” he points out.
The technology serves as a tool to help users enhance their mine safety initiatives, but the successful implementation of PDS depends on local culture and discipline. It is essential to manage these factors to ensure effective adoption. Booyco Engineering believes that collaboration with local partners is crucial, as they possess a deep understanding of each country’s unique environment, languages, and other distinguishing characteristics.
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