Belgian parent company Schréder was formed in 1907, with its Southern African branch BEKA Schréder being founded in 1978 in Namibia. As one of South Africa’s leading manufacturers of luminaires and glass fibre reinforced polyester (GRP) poles, BEKA Schréder is celebrating its 45th birthday this year, having advanced in business from humble beginnings to industry innovator and expert.
“Our founding saw BEKA as a manufacturer of corrosion-resistant GRP poles,” explains Daniel Kasper, General Manager of BEKA Schréder. “Since then, the company has steadily grown, evolved and contributed to the success of our clients and the industry as a whole.” This milestone anniversary not only reflects BEKA Schréder’s resilience and dedication, but also serves as a testament to the trust and support the company has earned over the years.
BEKA Schréder has been wholly owned by Schréder since 2013, and has attained a B-BBEE Level 3 rating, with more than 200 staff employed locally. “We have a three-pillar belief system at our company,” explains Kasper. “For our people. For our community. For our planet.” The illumination company is one of the leading independent smart outdoor lighting solution providers in the world, with more than 2 000 engineering experts working in six research-and-development centres across five continents. “We have created lighting products of the highest quality and performance that continue to deliver optimally for users,” says Kasper. “We have sold over 2 million lighting points. That is testament to the belief our clients have placed in the work we do. We are consistently striving for excellence in all aspects of our operations.”
One of the key factors behind BEKA Schréder’s success has been its ability to adapt and embrace change. “The business landscape has undergone significant transformations over the past 45 years, with technological advancements and shifting market dynamics reshaping the way we operate,” says Kasper, adding, “We have expanded from GRP poles to a wide variety of products. We offer lighting solutions for every industry, from motorways, bridges and tunnels, to urban and residential streets, industrial halls and architecture.”
Besides its 45th birthday, BEKA Schréder has another reason to celebrate: The introduction of Exedra, which BEKA Schréder calls “the most advanced lighting management system on the market that paves the way for future applications in a smarter city”. Grant Combrink, BEKA Schréder’s Marketing and Segment Development Manager, says, “We run Smart City canvas workshops. There are three steps: Learning, where we investigate and get to understand the city’s illumination needs; Ideating, where we conceptualise solutions that will meet the requirements; and Improving, where we use our platforms and software to improve on the system.”
Schréder Exedra is a remote control platform for intelligent city illumination. It is based on shared and open technologies that allow for hassle-free vertical and horizontal Internet of Things (IoT) integrations. “This brings a new layer of tangible benefits that maximises the return on investment and creates new opportunities for cities,” explains Combrink. “It allows us to assist with a smart strategy that is tailored to the city’s needs. Exedra opens an infinite number of possibilities to improve neighbourhoods and communities by deploying the right solutions in the right places.”
Exedra is technology-agnostic and uses open standards and protocols to provide an architecture that can interact seamlessly with third-party software and hardware solutions. It is considered plug-and-play, so once the node or sensor is plugged into the luminaire, an intelligent automated commissioning process recognises, verifies and retrieves luminaire data into the user interface. The self-healing mesh between the luminaire controllers enables real-time adaptive lighting to be configured directly in the user interface. Another benefit of Exedra is that users have access to fully customisable dashboards, allowing them to add, move, resize and organise widgets in the web user interface.
Exedra is an increasingly powerful tool that helps users maximise efficiency, rationalisation and decision making when it comes to smart lighting systems. With 45 years – and counting – of experience, it is clear that BEKA Schréder is only getting started with illuminating our lives.
Enquiries: za.schreder.com/en
