Following a recent investment and transfer of knowledge and skills, ABB South Africa’s motor and generator factory in Alrode, near Johannesburg, is now fully compliant with the Department of Trade and Industry’s ‘greater than 70% local sourcing’ regulations. This development demonstrates the company’s full commitment to skills development and localisation.
ABB’s commitment also includes the modernisation of local manufacturing facilities, comparable to the best in the world. This has been demonstrated in the Alrode factory’s upgrade. Combining the best available materials with superior technology, the electric motors and generators produced in the Alrode factory will operate reliably in every industry and application, despite challenging process or application environments, and with the lowest lifecycle cost.
Customer benefits
Local manufacture offers many benefits to customers, from ABB’s improved broad-based black economic employment (B-BBEE) rating to reduced costs, improved efficiencies and shortened turnaround times which result in better after sales service and access to spare parts.
The upgrade means that the Alrode factory can now manufacture, and test in-house, large induction and synchronous motors, and generators capable of producing between 550 kW and 20 MW of electricity, for power utilities, heavy industries and mines within South Africa, and further field. The factory can also support specific customer requirements by designing and manufacturing to order, unique motors and generators tailored to local conditions.
Product lifecycle management and repair services
ABB’s product lifecycle management model is designed to provide proactive service offerings for increased availability and performance. The company offers a dedicated field service programme that supports installation, supervision, commissioning and a full range of field-bound maintenance services designed to increase the reliability of the motors and generators already in use.
The new Alrode factory is also able to offer a full range of genuine OEM spare parts, including commissioning parts, operational parts, preventative maintenance kits and capital parts. Being fully compliant with the DTI’s requirements bodes well for the company since as it can now offer its products and services to a greater number of customers. Building an agile and customer-focused organisation is part of ABB’s focus on customer centricity as it will increase competitiveness and create new opportunities for export into neighbouring countries.
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