Condition monitoring specialist company, WearCheck, recently opened its newest laboratory in Kathu, the ‘iron ore capital’ of South Africa’s Northern Cape province.
WearCheck’s new laboratory in Longmeadow Business Estate, Johannesburg, is running smoothly.
Although for many years there has been a WearCheck office in Kathu where used oil samples could be dropped off, the nearest laboratory was in Johannesburg, where the samples were processed. Now the samples are processed in Kathu, reducing turnaround time for local samples to 24 hours or less.
The name Kathu means ‘town under the trees’ and WearCheck is pleased to invest further here, where local industry has given the company a warm welcome and support for more than a decade.
The unique Kathu laboratory is created from three remodelled shipping containers. They were repurposed at WearCheck’s head office in Westville and equipped with the latest laboratory instruments. The labs also incorporate ventilation, air extraction and fire prevention systems and are fitted with uninterrupted power supply systems, air conditioning and burglar bars.
WearCheck designs the container labs to accommodate new industry developments, when they arise.
Managing Director, Neil Robinson says WearCheck is addressing the infrastructure deficit in Africa by providing world class scientific analysis services in remote areas near mining and other industries. He says establishing a brick and mortar laboratory in some locations is often hindered by the lack of basic infrastructure, whereas the container laboratories are relatively simple to place in areas with limited resources.
“Ensuring consistently accurate test results is critical, therefore each mobile laboratory is connected to the WearCheck South Africa LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System), which guarantees quality control,” Robinson says.
WearCheck Johannesburg moves to Longmeadow
In another move, WearCheck recently relocated its Johannesburg laboratory, WSL (WearCheck specialist laboratory) as well as its dedicated divisions – asset reliability care (ARC), transformer oil testing, water analysis and lubricant-enabled reliability (LER) services – to a convenient, modern new location in Edenvale.
“With all our services under one roof, WearCheck Johannesburg is a hub for customers that make use of more than one of our condition monitoring programmes,” says Robinson.
The company’s growing footprint extends across nine countries in Africa and beyond, and includes many satellite offices and 15 world class laboratories.
For more information visit: www.wearcheck.co.za
