Motion Control & Drives


Cost-cutting boosts uptake of IE3-compliant motors

March 2018 Motion Control & Drives

Rising energy costs, increasingly stringent international regulations, and a global drive to reduce carbon emissions has resulted in pulp and paper customers opting for SEW-Eurodrive South Africa’s highly energy-­efficient IE3-compliant DRN motor range.

These premium efficiency motors comply with the highest level of EU standards in terms of energy efficiency (directive 2009/125/EC Regulations (EC) 640/2009, 4/2014). “This, along with its long history of ensuring world class delivery, and an unwavering commitment to its customers, is what sets SEW-Eurodrive South Africa apart from its competitors in the pulp and paper industry,” comments Richards Bay sales engineer, Jacques Swart.

“Our projects department gets involved at the very beginning, right from the enquiry or tendering stage, whereby we ensure we select the correct products to meet all of the requirements,” he stresses. Once the customer accepts our proposal, we proceed with planning and management, until the project is completed. We always supply the best and most suitable solution.”

SEW-Eurodrive South Africa offers customised solutions based on customer requirements to ensure that an application is successful and achievable. “If pulp and paper customers require a specific solution for a particular application, this can be achieved successfully,” highlights Swart. “Our involvement commences from the inception of the process when the raw material arrives onsite, utilising conveyors powered by SEW drives, to the motors and industrial gearboxes used in the processing plants themselves.”

A significant benefit for pulp and paper customers is the standardisation of their operations on SEW-Eurodrive equipment, which gives them full confidence that, in the event of any issue arising, they have full technical and service support available. “Our long-standing relationship with our customers extends throughout the lifespan of our equipment, from installation to commissioning and aftermarket servicing,” notes Swart.

The company’s involvement in the pulp and paper industry has been fairly extensive to date. For example, in 2015 it supplied four industrial geared units and about 30 motors for the conveyor system of a hard pulp section at a new plant in KwaZulu-Natal. “We also have a full consignment stock of spares to cater for contingencies, which reduces our turnaround time dramatically, and increases uptime significantly for our customers,” comments Swart.

With the global demand for paper, SEW-Eurodrive South Africa is well-positioned to support the ongoing growth of this sector with the latest energy-efficient technology.

For more information contact Jana Klut, SEW-Eurodrive, +27 (0)11 248 7000, [email protected], www.sew-eurodrive.co.za



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