February 2011
The state of the nation
I write this on the 21st anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela. Jacob Zuma has just presented his state-of-nation address and the newspapers are full of talk about jobs. Zuma's address seems to have been relatively well received as covering the ground he needed to cover, but at the same time, people are looking for solutions - not evidence that the problems are known and understood.
Unemployment is, undoubtedly, the central, critical problem, and an obvious cause of poverty. According to Zuma, the creation of decent work is at the centre of our economic policies. "We urge every sector and every business entity, regardless of size, to focus on job creation. Every contribution counts in this national effort," he says.
Our government is absolutely right to prioritise job creation; but shouldn't ‘decent work' be about making a real and lasting contribution to society? As Zuma suggests, we can advance our society by investing in new infrastructure, water projects, housing developments, energy supply and distribution improvements and the creation of a green economy. To sustain these advancements, we need people to properly repair and maintain our existing infrastructure.
In the long term, decent work is about attitude. For unemployment to decrease, for poverty to wane and for service delivery to improve, we need people willing to measure the value of the work they do in terms of the value they add to society - people who are proud because they do their jobs well.
Peter Middleton
Please contact the editor Peter Middleton, or Dale Kelly on tel: +27 11 622 4770, or email: mechanical@crown.co.za for editorial; and Lyn Sara for your advertising requirements on lyns@crown.co.za.
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Nitrogen on tap - an alternative for the processing industry
Atlas Copco started distributing its stand-alone nitrogen generators (NGs) about four years ago. Using pressure swing adsorption technology and carbon-based molecular sieves, the company's NGs are capable of producing nitrogen at purities of between 97 and 99,999%. MechTech finds out how NGs work, and looks at some typical applications and advantages.
Read the full story on page 4.
Special report
This month, we carry a special report on KPMG's recently released 2010 Global Construction Survey, entitled ‘Adapting to an uncertain environment'. The forecast is for a slow economic recovery that will drive engineering and construction companies to become leaner and more strategic
Proactive maintenance, lubrication and contamination management
In our proactive maintenance, lubrication and contamination management feature, we visit Martec to look at shaft protection, EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) and circulating currents; and summarise a WearCheck bulletin about the simple fact that proactive maintenance is an important philosophy to on oil contamination costs.
Materials handling and logistics
For materials handling, we visit Weir Minerals, which is aggressively rolling out its cyclone technology in South Africa. There are some very positive outcomes with the recent Linatex merger. Another visit was taken to Maizey Engineering, which, with the support of its technology and manufacturing partner Röchling, has stepped into 2011 with a vision of expanding the use of plastic in SA's mining and materials handling industries.
Heating, cooling, ventilation and air conditioning
MechTech's HVAC feature covers an interesting talk with Danfoss' Gordon Potts about the benefits of VLTs in commercial HVAC systems, and the huge potential for long-term energy and cost savings. We also visit Silverton-based Suntank, a SA leader in the development and manufacture of solar water heating systems.
Manufacturing technology and plant automation
As our editorial policy is to provide our readers with well-researched articles, we travel to Cape Town to talk to the Gabriel team at Control Instruments Automotive, about the company's use of PTC's Pro×€ ENGINEER, which has improved quality and reduced lead times at this impressive facility.
Innovative engineering
Our innovative engineering feature is one not to be missed. Here, Peter Middleton looks at photovoltaic (PV) technology, and gives a blow-by-blow personal account of unpacking this technology's usefulness.
In April, we'll be covering:
• Power transmissions, bearings and bushes
• Computer-aided engineering
• Modern engineering materials and processing
• Hydraulic and pneumatic systems
• Innovative engineering
