NAC Engineering has spent the past 10 years accommodating an established client base spread throughout southern Africa. The company is now expanding its service and EC&I offering to its target market sector, as well as expanding its African footprint.
The two founding members – Alan Taylor and Robbie Robinson – both schooled in the Anglo mining methodology of plant automation recognised the need in the market for a niche EC&I company. NAC Engineering was initially involved in a number of smaller contracts and then concentrated on the Pelindaba Pebble Bed Modular Reactor pilot fuel plant project for a number of years. In 2008 the company commenced working on a number of projects for a diversity of clients, all of whom have provided it with a substantial amount of repeat business.
Headquartered in Johannesburg with a branch in the Western Cape, NAC Engineering has a base of 12 engineers, 12 technicians, six instrumentation designers, four project managers and six administration staff. The company also has a business presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, responsible for providing a support service to local operations.
The company provides a fully integrated in-house service for project houses and EPCM companies, with the option for clients to consign portions of any turnkey service offering. This includes conceptualisation, design, specifying plant automation software and sourcing of automation products, and commissioning, with maintenance provided on request. The company outsources the installation component to trusted third parties, or to end user installation teams.
According to operations director, Alan Taylor, one of the company’s biggest differentiators is the strong software standards it has developed, for which it has received Siemens’ stamp of approval. These are passed on to customers like Komoto Copper Corporation in the DRC and Kenmare Moma Mineral Sands, who have benefited from this relationship.
NAC is certified as a provider of Siemens, Mitsubishi and ABB PLCs and Adroit software. The experience and knowledge gained by working with these products on a variety of projects within the mining and minerals sector has placed the company in a position to expand its current target market. “We are currently investigating projects in the green energy sector and we will use the intellectual property and experience of our employees to enter this market,” says Taylor.
A full array of training programmes is provided to end users. Technicians and engineers are deployed to site on commissioning of projects to provide a knowledge transfer to end user operational staff. This, according to Taylor, ensures that the operators are able to troubleshoot any problems with the assistance of fault-identifying software and an operational manual, written and provided by NAC.
In addition, to ensure that employees are up to date on the latest automation technology and solutions available, regular supplier training is provided both locally and internationally. The company has a young graduate mentoring programme that sees each intern shadowing an experienced engineer for a period of two years. During this time they are exposed to all aspects of project design and management after which they are required to write exams to ensure that the practical and the theory components are optimally coordinated. This results in a succession plan that is highly beneficial to the company and its customers.
NAC recently added another element to its business model, it has invested in a process information systems programme that allows end users to access and report production data locally, and access plant data from anywhere in the world using a mobile device. The idea has met with enthusiasm from customers, particularly in Mozambique at the Kenmare Moma Mineral Sands plant and at Komoto Copper Corporation in the DRC.
The company is now focused on expanding its operations throughout the African continent, referencing a number of large projects it has completed in the region, including the Kayelekera Uranium Mine in Malawi and various contracts in Africa and Indonesia through African Explosives (AEL).
For more information contact Alan Taylor, NAC Engineering, +27 (0)11 445 2054, [email protected], www.nac-eng.com
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