Africa is not like anywhere else in the world, especially when it comes to industrial automation, instrumentation and control systems.
Unlike our European counterparts, any place outside of Gauteng and the other few industry capitals hardly ever warrant opening a local office for sales or support, never mind the remote places over the border - in the sticks.
There are plenty of large-scale industries in remote areas in the southern part of the continent and often they are isolated through shear distance or lack of proper infrastructure. In the business of specialised process control and automation applications, back-up support is as vital as the creation and installation of a system and in some cases the after-sales service is the most important aspect in the application.
When a plant goes down and hours cost thousands, no one wants to hear about full flights or technicians that are scared of heights. Guenter Schmitz just packs his kit, shoots down to Grand Central about 10 minutes from the office, pulls the Cessna 210 out of the hangar and he is in the air, on his way.
Botswana in 1,5 hours, Cape Town in 4; Namibia just a 4,5 hour hop away and nothing apart from a renegade F-16 can stop him from getting to his breakdown (no Cessna hijackings reported to date). The perfect African solution for the servicing of plants stuck away in the bush and it even turns out to be more cost effective for the customer: imagine the time and petrol it takes to drive or the cost of flights and car hire in comparison. Guenter just tanks up at Grand Central and anywhere within 1200 km is one stop away in line of sight. It is as simple as drawing a line on the map from Grand Central airport to the breakdown point and flying the service directly to the customer. All in one from quote to finish, that is why it is called Flexible Electronic Systems.
For more information contact Guenter Schmitz, Flexible Electronic Systems, 011 975 7000, sategs@mweb.co.za
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