Nidec Control Techniques has been a supplier for AccuTech Weighing Services for over a decade. Their successful working relationship demonstrates the importance of shared goals when fostering industrial innovation.
Africa is known for its abundance of natural resources. It is also home to a growing, urbanising and modernising population. Meeting the needs of businesses and consumers in this dynamic landscape requires local companies to embrace technology to gain the competitive edge, enabling process efficiencies and improved productivity.
Exemplifying this, AccuTech Weighing Services is leveraging the products and support of Nidec Control Techniques to offer quality equipment to end-users in the agricultural, mining and food & beverage industries. This contributes to a thriving supply chain characterised by reliability and consistency, which has enabled resilience through today’s trying times.
Navigating the industrial butterfly effect
In the business-to-business market, a company’s ability to offer reliable and consistent products and services is vital. Delays in meeting your customers’ needs can have negative and far-reaching implications for the wider supply chain and their end customers. The case of AccuTech exemplifies this point. Their failure to meet customer needs throughout the pandemic could have left many people in dire straits. Luckily, they have an expert team and dedicated suppliers, such as Nidec Control Techniques. Together, the AccuTech team has ensured they consistently deliver excellence to their clients around Africa.
Delivering custom-made machinery around the continent
Headed by CEO Brett Hillidge, AccuTech Weighing Services is one of, if not the largest technological semi-automatic weighing equipment supplier to the grain milling industry in Africa. The company has also grown to include bagging equipment and now caters for the wider agricultural, mining and food & beverage industries.
In their 30-year history, AccuTech has worked with many suppliers to find the right drives, PLCs and panels to use in their equipment. For the past fifteen years, they have chosen to work with Nidec Control Techniques products. Hillidge explains: “When you are working with weighing and packaging of materials, precision and reliability are absolutely key. Getting it wrong can have serious implications for your bottom line and your customer satisfaction. We cannot compromise on this. At the same time, we are manufacturing equipment for wide-ranging applications, and are dedicated to delivering customised machines to cater for our variety of clients. With all these factors in mind, we have to carefully select our technology suppliers.”
“We have enjoyed our long-standing working relationship with AccuTech,” comments Bruce Grobler, Vice President Middle East & Africa, Nidec Control Techniques. “We strive to exceed expectations and doing so requires a careful understanding of our customers’ needs. We know how important it is for AccuTech to get the right products and services from us – consistently and reliably.”
AccuTech makes use of a range of Nidec Control Techniques products depending on the application. Popular orders include the M400, incorporating an onboard PLC which can execute Machine Control Studio (IEC61131-3) programs for logic and sequencing with real-time tasks – removing the need for additional PLCs. This drive is suitable for heavy industrial applications and ensures high performance from AccuTech’s machinery.
The company also makes use of Commander C200 / C300 AC drives. These are simple and compact AC motor speed controllers that meet advanced requirements in a wide range of applications and provides optimum user experience. “We find these simple to set up, starting with just four parameters. It is a straightforward installation and commissioning process and is part of why we keep choosing Nidec Control Techniques products again and again,” says Hillidge.
In addition, Nidec Control Techniques offers a five-year warranty on their products. “We are confident that we offer high quality products for any application. However, if something should go wrong, we are there on demand to swap out faulty equipment,” adds Grobler. “In this way, we are putting our money where our mouth is.”
Understanding urgency
“The saying that ‘time is money’ is cliché but true. As an OEM, it is very important that we deliver on time. This means we have to partner with companies who share that sentiment. A mutual understanding of urgency has made it an easy decision to keep working with Nidec Control Techniques. They deliver and swap out parts as and when we need them and are always ready to send us extra support if we run into a problem. Their speed and availability are invaluable, and it means we can pass this benefit on to our customers, too,” says Hillidge.
AccuTech Weighing Services takes pride in the way they have operated throughout the turbulent Covid-19 business environment and has now delivered over 16 500 machines to clients around Africa. “There are many business opportunities for us as Africa continues to develop and modernise. Food, agriculture and mining are key industries which stand to benefit greatly from innovation and automation. We are proud to deliver quality equipment in support of this and look forward to continuing this work with the support of our dedicated suppliers,” concludes Hillidge.
About Nidec Control Techniques
In South Africa, Nidec Control Techniques represents and distributes Control Techniques drives and associated control equipment. Nidec Control Techniques is a leading provider of industrial automation solutions, with a presence across the country and a comprehensive offering sure to extend the efficiency and life cycle of your plant and equipment.
Contact Jacqui Gradwell, Nidec Control Techniques, Phone 011 462-1740, jacqui.gradwell@mail.nidec.com, https://acim.nidec.com/drives/control-techniques
