Registered trade mark is recognised around the world as a label of quality and only foundries licensed with the patented Meehanite® process can provide you with a genuine Meehanite® castings produced to exacting standards.

“In 2018 I received an email from Mafoder Fonderie, a foundry based in Casablanca, Morocco, requesting the Meehanite license. Myself and Mike Low travelled to Mafoder Fonderie to meet with the company owners. On this visit we were shown the foundry, pattern shop and laboratory facilities. This visit also constituted what is known in Meehanite terminology as a pre-installation visit,” said Brian Wiggill who is the Meehanite franchise holder for South Africa. Wiggill is also the MD of B P Wiggill Engineering (Pty) Ltd, a licensee of the Meehanite quality standard and ethos.

“The license agreement between Meehanite Africa and Mafoder Fonderie was drafted, presented and small corrections were made. This was signed in 2019 at which point we began the formal licensing procedure, which requires that Meehanite Africa write a pre-installation report where the licensee foundry is given detailed drawings and specifications of the equipment they require to run the Meehanite process. Once Mafoder Fonderie advised us that they had met the requirements as per the pre-installation report, which predominantly requires the future licensee to invest in the Meehanite wedge testing equipment required to run the Meehanite process, we could proceed further. An installation visit was then undertaken in 2019 to instruct and teach the foundry personnel about the implementation of the Meehanite process.”

Mafoder Fonderie, a foundry based in Casablanca, Morocco, has been licensed by Meehanite Africa and Casting Materials to use the Meehante process

“Mafoder Fonderie made enquiries about the Meehanite license for their client, the OCP Group. The OCP Group control and operate the phosphate mineral mines in Morocco. During the 2018 visit Mike Low and I were taken to two of the OCP Group mines for discussions with their engineering and technical staff about the Meehanite materials and processes they could use to manufacture castings and components that would be suitable for use in the sulphuric acid plants.”

“The OCP Group have access to vast amounts of phosphate rock raw materials, which is used for the production of fertiliser. Sulphuric acid is used to further process the phosphate rock for the manufacture of phosphoric acid, a main ingredient in fertilisers. Morocco is understood to have two thirds of the world’s known phosphate reserves.”

“Sulphuric acid is a corrosive chemical in the initial processing stage and besides being harmful to humans in concentrated forms it is very hard on the processing equipment used in further processing and manufacturing operations. Mafoder Fonderie is the designated foundry to manufacture raw and machined cast iron and steel wear parts for the equipment and products used for processing and manufacturing the rock. These range from a few kilos to 4 tons. Components and spare parts for the OEM pumps used by the OCP Group and other industrial users as well as for the Mafoder Group’s own slurry pump range. The cement industry is also major client of the company. The materials used for the phosphoric acid processing plant are predominantly stainless steels.”

“On our initial visit to Mafoder Fonderie, we were able to identify that they had vast knowledge in the production of jobbing foundry type castings. We were introduced to their technical staff who had extensive knowledge of the production of ferrous castings. This, Meehanite recognises as proprietary technology for the foundry, bearing in mind that none of the foundry personnel to that point had had any exposure to the Meehanite methods or technical material such as recommended chemical compositions and metal treatment methods.”

Mafoder Fonderie’s client, the OCP Group, had experienced a major materials failure due to the material, which did not meet the requirements of the Meehanite process, being sourced from a non-licensed foundry. We understand that they had previously been supplied castings by licensed foundries in France and Japan and that these had given them excellent service life. Hence their insistence that their suppliers have the Meehanite license. This was explained to us on our visit. In Meehanite we often see materials which may appear similar but perform very differently in service.”

Introduction into Mafoder Fonderie
“In 2019 Mafoder Fonderie became the fifth African foundry to be licensed as a Meehanite foundry. Meehanite is not simply a range of high-quality engineering materials. The ramifications of the Meehanite process are such that it pervades all aspects of casting production to create a total manufacturing system. Licensees undertake to meet the most stringent casting standards in order to uphold the Meehanite quality ethic.”

Meehanite is an organisation comprising a worldwide network of licensed foundries sharing co-ordinated development and interchange of technology. Meehanite is a full range of material types, developed to suit all casting applications. Meehanite is a metallurgical process, which controls the degree of nucleation and the solidification behaviour of cast irons, ensuring that the castings have dense, fine-grained structures, with good machinability. Meehanite is a practical quality assurance system, geared to the advancement of casting standards. Meehanite is an information service, communicating product development and technological interchange to the mutual benefit of foundry and customer alike. Meehanite provides a service to casting users, designed to optimise casting performance. Meehanite is a vehicle for sales promotion.

And, finally, Meehanite is a registered trademark, recognised internationally as a label of quality.

Besides the Meehanite license Mafoder Fonderie is also ISO 9001:2015 certified for its Quality Management System and ISO 45001:2018 certified for Occupational Health and Safety.

In 2018, Mafoder Fonderie manufactured the first 100% Moroccan centrifugal pump, co-developed with the OCP Group. Since 2020, Mafoder Fonderie has successfully completed the previously unthinkable challenge in Morocco of developing a range of complete centrifugal pumps, which they have named FARAS. This was the first time that the dream of Moroccan engineers and technicians to manufacture local industrial pumps has been realised in Morocco.

The company now delivers castings and products all over the world including to the Netherlands, Germany, France, Algeria, Tunisia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East and exports represents 50% of sales. There are three main activities within the Mafoder Group: steel and cast-iron foundry products, prefabricated concrete, and outdoor furniture. Urban development and planning solutions are also an important part of the Group’s activities.

Meehanite Africa
“Meehanite was introduced into South Africa in the mid 1930’s and one of the first licensees was Thos Begbie & Co. Cemenco Foundry, which evolved from the WD Wiggill Foundry, was also a licensed Meehanite foundry. The South African Iron and Steel Industrial Corporation (Iscor, which is now ArcelorMittal South Africa), signed up for the Meehanite license in 1996 and is still a licensee. In the years that followed Meehanite Africa had approximately fifteen licensees.”

In 2018, Mafoder Fonderie manufactured the first 100% Moroccan centrifugal pump, co-developed with the OCP Group. The company now delivers castings and products all over the world including to the Netherlands, Germany, France, Algeria, Tunisia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East

“In those years all cast iron production was from cupola melted iron. At the time Meehanite had great technical and metallurgical material for the successful operation of cupolas. There are currently no Meehanite Africa foundries in Africa operating cupolas.”

“My late father Des Wiggill purchased the franchise for Meehanite in Southern Africa from a friend Adrian Gray, in 1984 and we have continued to run the franchise in that company to this day. The company, Meehanite Africa was registered in 1938. Dad was very passionate about the Meehanite process until his passing in December 2015. I now own the franchise for the Meehanite process in Africa and besides my own company B P Wiggill Engineering and Mafoder Foundry the other licensees are ArcelorMittal, Lusafrica and John Thompson in Cape Town.”

“Bill Moore, whose father owned Standard Brass in Benoni, worked for Meehanite in the USA, and eventually became President of Meehanite Worldwide. The current President of Meehanite Worldwide is Pekka Kemppanian of Finland. Everything is run by agreement of the Meehanite Worldwide Corporation.”

“In terms of our résumé new developments are conveyed to licensees based on our assessment of their need for this information. Sharing of co-ordinated developments and the interchange of technology are priorities amongst us companies and are to the mutual benefit of the foundries and customers alike.”

“We are proud to have introduced the world-renowned and respected process into a fellow African country and hope to educate a few more.”

For further details contact Brian Wiggill on TEL: 011 892 3874 or visit www.meehanite.co.za or email address: meehaniteafrica@meehanite.co.za