SA Instrumentation & Control received the following letter from Ted Holden in response to the publicity around the launch of the new brand and the new thinking in SAIMC. Ted was instrumental in the founding of ICSSA back in the 1950s.
SAIMC – the chrysalis emerges
Having started my industrial instrumentation career at the Union Steel Corporation (USCO) during 1952, I soon discovered due to the antiquity of the factory that this was the first steel making operation established in South Africa.
As it became necessary to move away from the skills of the old steel makers, new technology was needed to meet the demand for the vast range of steel products that now had to be made to exact specifications. The old production methods, which relied on the skill of steel makers to judge the quality by site and feel, were just not practical any longer. Being tasked with installing and maintaining new instruments to improve the quality of the steel was a challenge though, particularly when some of the older steel makers felt their jobs were threatened. In my time I have seen and been a part of the transformation of steel factories to the almost fully automated manufacturing organisations we have today.
I played a small part in the chrysalis emerging. It was during 1956 that I, along with an instrument mechanician colleague, plagued and bothered our department head to get together with both the Van der Bijl Park and the Pretoria based ISCOR instrument department heads, to establish what became known as the Instrument & Control Society of South Africa (ICSSA).
Now to the point of this note, it took me 20 years to rise to ‘Resident Engineer’, and then only after I took a side step from the Instrument into the Electrical Department at the factory. Now I could be accepted and obtain a government certificate of competency.
However, slowly and with the obvious progress of instrumentation and electronic control, the established tryst of heavy current electrical and mechanical engineers has had to make way for the computer. The age of sophisticated robotic equipment arrived to elevate the light current engineer to the rightful forefront of engineering and manufacturing.
This was also the situation in 1973, when I moved from steel making to confectionery at Beacon Sweets & Chocolates. First as chief engineer, and later as group engineer, my job played a large part in the metamorphosis from highly mechanical cam driving wrapping and packaging machines, to the modern chocolate making machinery of today.
Over my career I have witnessed the shift from the dependency on mechanical control systems to the modern electronic wizardry we have today. It is time now that Instrument and Electronic Control Engineers should have a standing within ECSA. Now at 82 and retired, I am still interested in my monthly copy of SA Instrumentation & Control magazine. I fully support your endeavours to ensure our body of engineers receives its justly earned accolades and recognition.
Ted Holden
[Ed: Thank you Ted, we could not agree more.]
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