Skyriders keeps the lights on at a major warehouse
February 2020
News
Rope-access specialist Skyriders has helped keep the lights on for a major retailer at its 75 000 square metre warehouse in Midrand. “We were called on to provide a maintenance service for the lighting, replacing globes that had failed and highlighting any faults to be attended to by a third-party electrician,” explains marketing manager, Mike Zinn.
The fast-track maintenance project became critical as it was affecting operations in the vast warehouse. Skyriders deployed rope access and basic fall-arrest principles to reach roof height and then to move along to the various lights requiring attention. Faulty lights would be disconnected and lowered safely to the ground for the attention of the electrician. Once any necessary repairs had been carried out, the 10 kg light units would be hoisted back up and plugged in again.
Commenting on the application of rope access in a warehouse environment, Zinn points out that it all depends on the set-up and roof height. Traditional warehouses can be accessed easily by means of scissor lifts or even cherry pickers, but a major warehouse like the Midrand facility posed a particular challenge.
The fact that it was a fully working warehouse meant that Skyriders had to structure its rope access in terms of specific areas and times so as to facilitate operations. Another challenge was the presence of conveyor systems on the ground, which meant that scaffolding was not ideal to provide access to the lighting.
“Given the constraints of the site itself and the fact that essential lighting maintenance was required while the warehouse was ‘live’, meant that rope access was the safest and quickest solution for this particular project scope,” concludes Zinn. “Our highly experienced four-person team was able to carry out the work as efficiently as possible,” Zinn concludes.
Further reading:
RS South Africa shapes future engineering talent
RS South Africa
News
RS South Africa is demonstrating that nurturing future engineers goes beyond traditional classrooms or competitions. On STEM Day, the company shone a light on the full spectrum of its educational initiatives.
Read more...
ABB and Compu-Power bring high-efficiency UPS innovation to IS3 X-Change 2025
News
ABB recently participated in the 31st annual IS
3X-Change 2025 in Cape Town, alongside its long-standing channel partner Compu-Power.
Read more...
UKZN’s SMART lab wins aviation award
News
: The SMART Lab at UKZN was awarded first place in the Aviation Research and Development category at the Civil Aviation Authority of South Africa’s award ceremony for outstanding contributions and achievements in the aviation sector.
Read more...
Meta and partners announce completion of 2Africa subsea cable system
News
Meta, in partnership with leading global and regional telecommunications companies, has announced the completion and activation of the core 2Africa subsea cable system. This marks a historic milestone in digital infrastructure, establishing what the world’s longest open-access subsea cable system.
Read more...
RS South Africa retains Level 2 B-BBEE status
RS South Africa
News
RS South Africa has once again achieved Level 2 B-BBEE verification.
Read more...
SEW-EURODRIVE unveils world class facility in Gqeberha
News
In a landmark event in the Eastern Cape attended by key customers and industry leaders, SEW-EURODRIVE officially opened its expanded state-of-the-art facility in Gqeberha, marking a major milestone in its strategy to strengthen regional support and deepen its footprint in the region.
Read more...
Africa’s brightest young battery innovators
Schneider Electric South Africa
News
Schneider Electric and Enactus, the international NGO dedicated to inspiring students through entrepreneurial action, have announced the winners of the 2025 Energy Transition Battery Innovation Challenge, funded by the Schneider Electric Foundation. It empowers young innovators to design battery solutions addressing the region’s most pressing energy challenges.
Read more...
Africa’s strategic role in powering the global clean energy future
News
The 2026 Africa Energy Indaba is to spotlight Africa’s mineral wealth, industrialisation potential and the urgent need for sustainable value chain development.
Read more...
The road to the Indaba
News
The Africa Automation Indaba 2026 is set to become a landmark gathering for Africa’s automation, process control and manufacturing community.
SA Instrumentation and Control will be running a dedicated editorial series spotlighting the voices, ideas and debates shaping Africa’s industrial future.
Read more...
Crash reconstruction tests advance vehicle safety research
News
The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Scientific Multidisciplinary Advanced Research Technologies (SMART) Lab recently participated in a series of collaborative crash reconstruction tests held at the Toyota Test Track.
Read more...
printer friendly version