Toshiba is a well-known and highly respected name in the automation and control field, even though the use of its advanced products by local industry has fallen behind somewhat in the last few years as a result of inadequate promotion. All that is now set to change following the creation of TM Automation South Africa, which as of 1 November 2000 became the automation distributor for Toshiba, under Managing Director Bas van Daal.
TM Automation UK (TMA) has been a Toshiba partner from 1998 and based near Heathrow it serviced the needs of industry in the UK and Ireland in close cooperation with Toshiba Europe, the then London-based physical representative of the parent Japanese company. TMA is in fact part of the much larger group of companies Park Electrical Services (with a staff of 110 people and turnover in excess of £18 million), whose business lies in the national distribution of electrical, industrial control and automation products. The new subsidiary was in fact specifically created so as to represent Toshiba and to provide the higher levels of technical support, training and backup required from the automation industry. TM Automation (in which the 'T' comes from Toshiba) was also established to create a closer identity with Toshiba, which is the only branded product the company sells. Besides the local market TM Automation UK also supplied the Toshiba distributor in South Africa, while Toshiba Europe used a large number of other small companies to act as distributors in the rest of Europe.
At the end of 1999 Toshiba decided to dramatically change its European strategy to allow it to get closer to the end user. Instead of the large number of small distributors reporting to Toshiba Europe, the latter was dismantled and four strategic distributors were selected to directly represent Toshiba Japan. One of the carefully selected partners was TM Automation who also absorbed a number of the key personnel from Toshiba Europe, and they are now responsible for direct dealings with Japan and for holding their own stock that is currently conservatively estimated as about R10 million.
TMA, besides absorbing London-based Toshiba Europe, was also unique in terms of the new strategic partners in that it was provided with distribution rights to the full range of automation products from Toshiba, including the PLCs, AC inverters, flow meters, medium voltage switchgear and the new DCS systems. The other European companies currently only distribute the range of inverters, TMA servicing the total market for the other product ranges through the previous large group of small distributors.
The new TMA has been operational since April last year and as it is now responsible for servicing the needs of all the previous sub-distributors, one of the markets it looked carefully at was South Africa. In terms of medium voltage switchgear the local distributor RWW Engineering were found to be doing an excellent job and have been retained. Toshiba was however very unhappy with its market penetration of the broader automation market and believed that their existing distributor had a possible conflict of interest. The potential of the African market was however realised and as a result agreement was reached with Bas van Daal to set up a joint-venture local subsidiary TM Automation South Africa (TMA South Africa). TMA South Africa was established at the beginning of November 2000 and operates out of new premises in Alberton close to the R59 highway. TMA South Africa is now responsible for the distribution of the entire range of automation products.
The new company makes it very clear that it will not repeat the mistakes made in the past, and it intends to stay well clear of systems integration so it will not be seen as a competitor, but rather a partner in the tendering process. Bas insists that the focus of his team now will be technical support, distribution and training, together with the service levels expected from a company that directly represents Toshiba. As in the UK a sizeable stock is now held in Johannesburg with a value in excess of R1 million. In terms of the company's commitment to offer next day service the stock held will be tailored to match the local market demand, while items not held locally can be shipped overnight from Heathrow on one of the five nonstop flights out of that airport into Johannesburg. In addition to the stock held at TMA South Africa, RWW Engineering carries the full range of medium voltage products.
TMA South Africa is currently in the process of putting together its own system integrator network and through training, bringing them up to speed on the latest developments from the company. Training courses for technical people have been organised in all of the key product areas including PLCs, inverters and flow and density meters. To allow personal attention the courses are deliberately restricted to a maximum of six delegates. As for getting the right image of Toshiba out to the end-user Bas says, "We are taking the product back to the market by extensive participation in exhibitions." TMA South Africa will participate in all Penmac 'Road Shows' which run from January to November this year and will traverse the country from Secunda to Richards Bay and from Vaal Triangle to Paarl. Toshiba's latest product range will also be exhibited at the 2001 Process Exhibition and the KwaZulu-Natal Industrial Trade Show in May.
Toshiba itself is investing significantly in aggressively expanding the range and capability of their automation products and a short overview by product category is appropriate.
PLCs
In this area a lot of exciting new products are expected in 2001, these including the T1-16 super small compact and expandable PLC that will accommodate analog I/O. For the T2 Series there are additional high-density analog cards as well as extra special modules (including a temperature control card). At the top of the range we will see the introduction of the new V-Series integrated controller, one of the most powerful PLC loop controller and computer access systems all in a single rack. It provides a unique new concept where sequences and loop control are to be combined.
DCS
New loop controllers will be available from Toshiba during 2001 for PID applications and distributed control systems.
Inverters
The new S9 general-purpose range of inverters has already been introduced and this covers a range of 0,2 to 15 kW with built-in RFI filters. Also released is the higher power A7 inverter ranging from 0,7 to 315 kW for pump and fan applications as well as those requiring high torque. With the PLCs and inverters now under a single umbrella interconnection possibilities are now explored to achieve direct communication between the PLC and inverter eliminating the use of I/O.
Flowmeters
Toshiba offers a complete range of high specification flow meters for pipe diameters ranging from 2,5 to 3000 mm and with a variety of lining materials to accommodate diverse applications ranging from infinitesimal flow right up to high flow measurements. All types of fluid flow can be measured, ranging from water through to sewage and chemical solutions that can also be abrasive.
Medium voltage contactors
In addition to its other products Toshiba offers a comprehensive range of medium voltage contactors up to 12 kV and medium voltage circuit breakers with ratings up to 3150 A.
While both van Daal and his fellow director Philip King from TM Automation in the UK believe that they have a lot of catching up to do in order to restore the image of high quality and reliability that the Toshiba range of products deserve, the required team is in place and this will grow according to market demand. In order to allow the team to focus on the real needs of the customer all deliveries will be outsourced to a reliable courier service. With direct local and committed support and service for the product range, both directors see the sale of Toshiba products rapidly expanding in South Africa to unprecedented heights.
TM Automation
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