AF meets Mike Giltrow and Craig Bister of Bolt and Engineering Distributors (B.E.D.) to find out about the company’s expanding welding offering for the South African and African markets. As well as the top-tier Fronius brand, the range offered by B.E.D. now also includes the GYS brand of mid-tier welding machines and the locally-manufactured and exceptionally rugged Reeflex brand of MMA/TIG and MIG/MAG inverters.
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To go into customers’ workshops, B.E.D. now has four demonstration vans equipped with welding, cutting and gas equipment.
With core expertise in fasteners that began at its inception in 1983, B.E.D. has grown into a engineering and industrial product distributor with a national footprint close to key customer industries, which include mining, power generation, renewable energy, infrastructure, engineering, agriculture and, increasingly, fabrication.
“Our approach was to start with the basics of industry, namely nuts, bolts and washers. Then, over time, the Group steadily grew its range of complementary products and service offerings,” begins Mike Giltrow, the company’s CEO.
Welding, being a joining process, was seen as a natural fit for the company, so when the opportunity arose to take on the distribution rights for the top-tier Fronius brand back in 2010, there was no hesitation. “Fronius is a top-of-the-range international brand and we have been very successful in convincing clients across the country of its value,” Giltrow tells AF.
While Fronius machines are well suited to robotic welding for high-volume or high-value fabrication, there are now also several more affordable options such as the TransSteel range, which also make these machines accessible where high-quality manual welding is required, notes Craig Bister, B.E.D. Group Welding Division manager.
He adds that additional expertise and support for the Fronius range is also now available through the local presence of Fronius South Africa. “As partners in South Africa, we work very closely with Fronius SA to develop and supply the best possible solutions for our customers,” he adds.
Mike Giltrow continues: “Over the years we have noticed that not everybody has the technical expertise or the budget to adopt state-of-the-art welding technologies, though. So we have added mid-tier welding options to better meet these customers’ needs,” he says, before inviting Bister to talk about the GYS range of equipment from France.
“We don’t ever try to compare the different brands to each other and they are easy to keep separate and distinct from one another, because the markets are completely different – a manufacturer of agricultural equipment compared to a manufacturer of OEM motor vehicle components, for example,” he explains.
For the GYS brand, the multi-process welding machines are key, the Multiweld FV 220M, for example, a single-phase welding machine that combines MIG/MAG, cored-wire and MMA welding processes. “This machine can operate on a supply voltage anywhere between 85 and 265 V thanks to its flexible voltage input power management system, while an intuitive interface integrates two digital displays to deliver simple but accurate weld settings.
“The machines also come with a powerful four drive-roll wire feeding system, which offers excellent performance, even for aluminium and flux-cored wires,” says Bister.
For general fabricators needing to weld heavier section, the GYS Multiweld 320T (320 A) and 400T (400 A) inverters are also available. “These are both 3-phase machines that are designed for use with wire sizes of up to 1.2 mm and 1.6 mm, respectively. They offer simple and cost-effective welding solutions for a host of day-to-day manufacturing and repair applications,” he says.
“What we also do really well is on-site demonstrations,” Bister continues. “We now have four vans in the field equipped with all the welding, cutting and gas equipment we can offer, so we can go into a customer’s workshop and show them how our solutions can help them to do their day-to-day fabrication tasks. And we have an excellent team of specialist welders that can give advice on how best to use the equipment.”
The other brand that B.E.D. has added to its welding offering is the locally designed and manufactured Reeflex brand of MMA and MIG/MAG welders, which have been specifically designed to meet the rigours of the African mining market. “Reeflex technology is designed by Dr Philip Theron, and it is 100% locally produced in Randburg. We have been involved as a distributor of Reeflex for a number of years now, because these are the most robust and reliable locally manufactured machines we know,” continues Giltrow.
This factor, along with their simplicity, has made the Reeflex brand very successful across Africa. “Reeflex is one of the few companies that can offer a 100% duty cycles at the maximum rated current. They are mostly used for MMA/stick welding using electrodes, but Reeflex also make their own wire feeder for those wishing to do MIG/MAG welding,” adds Bister.
B.E.D. is distributing these machines in South Africa and to some sub-Saharan African countries, including Zambia and DRC. Key features for African market include: an open-circuit voltage-reducing device (VRD) that is built in as standard to improve operational safety and to meet mine safety requirements; dual-voltage versions to suit the mains supplies of most African mines; and thermal and input voltage protection.
“As a Group, we have become an important distributor for Reeflex, and Philip Theron, because of his extraordinary technical ability, is an ideal partner to have in this business. The range is extremely well thought through, based on the specific needs of the mines in Africa,” adds Giltrow.
Turning attention to the cutting side, Giltrow points out the close relationship B.E.D. shares with First Cut and Messer, for both hand-held oxyfuel cutting equipment and, through First Cut, fully mechanised plasma cutting tables. “Also as part of this relationship, we are able to offer GSI’s S.A.T (Safety Advanced Technology) system with our hand-held gas equipment. This system was developed in South Africa by Peter Rohlssen and has become part of Messer’s local oxyfuel cutting offering. We are very proud to have been associated with this development, which can eliminate the possibility of a fire or explosion should a gas hose be damaged while the flame is lit.” he explains.
Hypertherm plasma cutting products are also part of B.E.D.’s fabrication offering, and are also a feature of the product range in the demonstration vans being driven to customer sites.
“Also very exciting for us is our new dedicated distribution centre, which now handles all the logistics for getting stock to our various branches. Inside is a brand new welding workshop, where we do all our welding equipment testing and repairs.
“In addition, we have bought two state-of-the-art welding machine calibration systems from Fronius, one for the new workshop in Wadeville, Johannesburg and one for our branch in Cape Town. These were originally bought for Fronius aftermarket work, but they are also being used to calibrate other machine brands, so they have been quite busy,” says Bister.
“We believe we are now better resourced than ever to meet the growing needs of South Africa and Africa’s welding fabrication and repair requirements, particularly as the market continues to adopt new technologies and automation solutions. We are also well placed to continue to deliver on our 100/0 commitment to customers: 100% commitment with zero excuses,” concludes Mike Giltrow.
