Strikes and panic buying - why the hype? We have recently endured a strike by the petroleum workers and it had the whole country in a panic. There were long queues at the petrol stations, shortages, and people driving around frantically for fuel, but wasting the precious stuff in their quest.
Vivian MacFadyen
In retrospect, the whole matter became a needless and costly comedy. I am sure that some individuals became wealthier from the negotiations, but it was not the workers. The strikers were out for eight days, and if you consider the settlement minus the losses to the workers, the outcome may be even lower than the employers were prepared to pay in the first place.
This illustrates how people can be manipulated by clever presentation of the facts. This also happens in our industry; just look at manufacturers' product specification sheets. The accuracy of products is frequently quoted with reference to vague and complicated formulae making comparisons almost impossible without plotting the curves on a graph.
Other aspects are also highlighted beyond their relevance. These could involve simple issues such as caged terminal screws, calibration procedure, or programmability. Once the lid is on and it is working, what is the relevance of these matters? An astute engineer will disregard all issues excepting those specifically related to the function and reliability in operation. In fact, it may be that only two issues are relevant: mean time between failure and price.
What about accuracy you ask. Well, in the majority of instances, the accuracy of a product is far better than the situation requires. If you only need to measure temperature to 1,0°C, why buy something that measures better than 0,1 K. These decisions need to be made in the cold light of reason. Weigh up the reliability of the supplier, the product and the cost for the particular application. This is where skill and experience make the difference.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The Durban branch of the SAIMC was pleased to welcome Vusi Sithole, managing member of Hybrid Control Corporation in Richards Bay, who presented\on the very pertinent topic of ‘Infrastructure monitoring and control for water loss management’.
Read more...SAIMC: Sunshine, swings and smiles: Durban Golf Day hits a high note Technews Publishing (SA Instrumentation & Control)
SAIMC
We say it every year, and we’ll say it again: May in Durban is hard to beat; but 9 May, when the Durban Golf Day teed off at Kloof Country Club, was something else. With sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 20s, it was a fantastic day, full of fun and great energy.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council KS4I event: Bridging the industry/education divide
SAIMC
Horst Weinert, head of Didactic at Festo Southern/Eastern Africa, will be sharing some of Festo’s Didactic experiences of working across industry and education. He will cover training for productivity and employability in the public and private sectors, discussing especially the potential for inter-company training centres.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The local Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC recently hosted a Technology Evening at Bryanston Sports Club on 9 April 2025.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The April technology meeting for the Durban branch of the SAIMC was kindly sponsored by ProRisk, a subsidiary company of the Proconics Group of Companies. Process safety engineer, Guillaume de Swardt gave a fascinating presentation on the power of operational risk control by utilising CFD software.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council KS4I event SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
The SAIMC User Advisory Council started 2025 with its first event in the ‘Knowlege Sharing 4 Industry’ event series on the 19th of March.
Read more...Knowledge Sharing 4 Industry
SAIMC
In proud partnership with Innomotics, SAIMC will be hosting the first Knowledge Sharing 4 Industry event for 2025.
Read more...Getting your OT data into the cloud – the why and the how
SAIMC
As users recognise the benefits of a digital transformation strategy for their industrial plants and systems and start to adopt it, they soon face the challenge of getting operational technology data securely and reliably to a cloud service provider of their choice.
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