Kairos Control Systems was founded in 2006 with the primary focus of harnessing the multiplicity of benefits offered by automation system products in order to maximise production in South African factories.
The company is currently divided into two separate but synergistic businesses – Kairos Control Systems and Kairos Virtual Instruments. Andries Bolleurs is the sole owner of Kairos Control Systems and co-owner, with Jacques Prinsloo and John Gush, of Kairos Virtual Instruments. The company employs 12 people in Johannesburg, mostly engineers and two certified LabVIEW programmers.
“We believe in investing in future talent so we have implemented a system whereby we train engineering students who are conducting their practical sessions to the standard we expect from our own employees,” says Bolleurs. “In many instances these trainees have become part of our team, which allows a good mix of young enthusiastic engineers with a great deal of out-of-the-box thinking, together with our experienced and industry-wise mature employees.”
Kairos Control Systems offers conceptualisation and detailed design of systems, catering to specific client needs within an allocated budget. Other facets of the business include Ethernet, Profibus, Device Net and Control Net network design; supply of Siemens, Rockwell, Modicon and Omron PLCs; supply of Wonderware products (Archestra, Intouch and Active Factory), Adroit, WinCC and MIS using SQL.
Bolleurs points out that the company is in the process of designing a maintenance software package that will provide major benefits to its client base in the future.
“Kairos can assist clients in a variety of ways including providing turnkey solutions, consultation, project requirement specifications, hardware selection, software design and project management. In addition, we can also provide off the shelf products at competitive prices,” he adds.
Kairos Virtual Instruments is a systems integration and solutions provider for a wide spectrum of industrial applications. “We focus on software development using LabVIEW for monitoring, measurement and control systems with either PC-based or stand-alone/embedded capabilities,” says Prinsloo. “I believe that by offering an accurate high-speed condition monitoring interface to control systems, via the National Instruments offering in our stable, we take systems integration to a higher level.”
“In essence this means that we can provide turnkey solutions, from sensors and transducers right through to the data visualisation. This includes sensor interfacing (direct and/or via communication protocol), data analysis and control (both online and offline), data storage and data transfer (GSM/GPRS/3G, WiFi, Ethernet, USB, Firewire and fibre-optics),” says Gush. He adds that typical applications include remote monitoring, data analysis and logging, machine vision and motion control.
“For several decades, PLCs have controlled most production and automation through discreet logic and straightforward analogue I/O. While most industrial applications are well served by these capabilities, today’s industrial machines continue to push the performance boundaries that traditional PLCs can provide. There are a number of ways to boost a PLC system including custom field-programmable gate array (FPGA), web and industrial connectivity, high-performance analogue measurements and advanced analysis and control,” says Prinsloo.
Kairos is well versed in the mining and feed milling industries and has completed a number of managed projects for a variety of customers. Recent projects include the upgrade to the Lime Distributors facility in Vereeniging and the new plant at Somkhele Anthracite. With regard to its test, measurement and vision capabilities, the company has provided a standalone service and systems to a number of companies in the past including the SABS and Megchem.
Bolleurs believes that one of the company’s biggest differentiating factors is that it has expertise in many fields allowing it to provide solutions to a broad spectrum of industries.
For more information contact Andries Bolleurs, Kairos Control Systems, +27 (0)11 792 8558, [email protected], www.kairos-cs.co.za
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