African Fusion talks to Air Liquide’s Hard Goods Manager, Willie Burger, about an exciting partnership that has been struck between Air Liquide in South Africa and Oerlikon for the local distribution, supply and support of the premium Oerlikon consumables and welding equipment.
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“Whilst we already offer a full range of consumables and hard goods, from our in-house Ultra Arc wire brands to our Gemini electrodes, and have existing partnerships with welding equipment OEMs for the supply of premium equipment and consumables, our latest partnership with Oerlikon offers us an alternative premium option,” begins Burger.
“We can offer Oerlikon products at highly competitive prices, particularly to fabricators who are already using our gases and other products,” he continues.
“We see Oerlikon as an interallied complement to our gas offering, particularly with respect to flux cored welding wires. The brand fits perfectly into our total welding service offering, positioning Air Liquide to meet all the welding needs of our clients on all levels. We are therefore offering a full range of Oerlikon welding consumables and equipment.”
“In spite of the many global ownership and local distributorship changes that have taken place over the years, the Oerlikon name still carries weight in the South African market,” Burger tells African Fusion. “The Oerlikon welding consumables that we offer, however, are the latest formulations coming out of Europe rather than the limited range that used to be manufactured here in South Africa,” he adds.
Burger acknowledges that the niche premium brand appeals to discerning customers with historical preferences towards Oerlikon. “There are still a lot of people in South Africa who continue to want to couple the Oerlikon brand with Air Liquide’s ArcalTM new generation gas offer. Certain consumables such as Oerlikon’s Fluxofil 14 HD and the Fluxofil 19 HD seamless flux cored wires offer exceptional performance, while the OP 121 flux and the OES 2 submerged arc wires are loved and well regarded by many,” he says.
Many of Oerlikon’s stainless steels and other special alloy products also have an excellent reputation in South Africa, while every-day electrodes such as Fincord M E6013 and Oerlikon Supercito LH electrodes are still in high demand. “There are still fabricators that will accept nothing less than Oerlikon. We have tried to convince customers to use alternatives, often without success, so it makes total sense to bring the Oerlikon option back into our range,” he adds.
On the machine side, Burger cites the exceptionally rugged welding power sources and the pioneering MIG machines that predate the modern all-digital and networked machines. These have evolved into the modern Oerlikon welding machine range, which retains all of the fundamental reliability while incorporating the latest advanced digital capabilities.
The CITOARC range of MMA and TIG-LIFT units for example, offer exceptional arc control handled by a microcontroller, very low network distortion and they consume very little power. “We are also bringing in the new CITOSTEP range of GMAW machines, which set the standard for MIG and flux-cored welding for light industrial fabrication, maintenance or repair work,” he says, adding that units range from the CITOMIG 210 A machine to CITOSTEP 355C, 425S and 505S synergic units. At the high-end, we are awaiting the CITOPULS III 420 synergic pulse units that offer reliability in harsh conditions with easy portability for on and offsite work and superior arc welding behaviour,” he notes.
Burger says that Oerlikon is a high quality brand for those who don’t mind paying a little more for a well-engineered and very robust machine. “We are not simply importing stock and selling it, though. This is a market driven exercise. We are exploring the interest that is out there and building the range depending on customer preferences and requirements. When clients want particular consumables or machines, we are more than happy to bring these in specifically for them, and thus expanding the range. That way, we hope to arrive at ideal stocking levels that match local needs. We are willing to supply anything that Oerlikon makes, however,” Burger assures.
He emphasises that existing customers who are already using Air Liquide’s shielding gas range have the added advantages of being able to match it to a machine and a consumable. “For Oerlikon 14 HD flux cored wires, for example, an M21 gas mix is recommended, which is an argon/CO2 gas mixture with a CO2 content of between 15% and 25%. We have two such mixes, ARCALTM Force and INARC 25, and we are actively encouraging people to partner our New Generation gas range with the Oerlikon brand.
“This further rationalises the attractiveness, cost effectiveness and quality of the premium basket of welding products and solutions Air Liquide is able to offer clients in South Africa,” Burger concludes.
www.airliquide.com/south-africa
