Endeco remains in the forefront of the local foundry industry.
“Only the fittest survive might be an old cliché but in the case of Endeco I truly believe that it applies. However being a survivor encapsulates a number of dimensions and dynamics and does not rely on luck. Our industry is full of hard-working, dedicated, engaged people. This certainly describes Endeco as I reflect back on the past 30 years of the company,” said Luis Dias, CEO of Endeco cc and Past President of the South African Institute of Foundrymen.
“Adapting and growing in an ever changing environment has never been more important than in the recent history of the company. I remember back in the 1980s, when we started the company, there were probably close to 800 foundries operating in South Africa at the time. This number dropped down to 400 in the nineties and has dropped by another 50 percent subsequently. Fortunately this number has stabilized since the turn of the century otherwise it would spell disaster for industry in general in South Africa, not just the foundry industry,” continued Dias.
“There are a number of reasons you could give for this dramatic drop in numbers. The single most contributing factor however, has been our exposure to the outside world. We no longer operate in isolation thank goodness. The advancement in technology and manufacturing, let alone in our general lifestyle, has been incredible. Sometimes it is hard to keep up.”
“Those that have recognised this and adapted their businesses to meet the challenges will continue to survive. I cite our business for example. I have always been the draughtsman and in the past I would spend hours on my drawing board designing and formulating plans. Technical drawings are essential for communicating ideas in industry and engineering and ultimately you would produce the final plans. With the advent of computers and high-end software today, the mechanics of the drafting task have largely been automated and accelerated through the use of computer-aided drawing systems (CAD). My son Victor, who joined the business in 1999 as a junior engineer, went on CAD courses and today we marvel at how quickly we can produce a layout, adapt or alter it and then produce final plans. When I started out I could never envisage that we would operate so efficiently in this department.”
“This might be one small example but I have always encouraged the local foundry to adopt the same outlook – to invest in new and high-tech equipment that make their operations more cost effective. For years there was not much investment that took place in foundries and it was probably a contributing factor to the drop in numbers. It was probably accentuated by the view of the prophets of doom and some consultants.”
“However our success in the past year proves that this perception is wrong. In fact I have been very encouraged by the commitment of foundry owners in recent years. In all my time in the industry I have never seen so much investment in capital equipment take place. By and large our industry is keeping up-to-date with the rest of the world. South African foundry engineers, suppliers and manufacturers are up to any challenge and will provide innovative and cost effective solutions. We are more than capable of undertaking projects, large or small, to keep our foundry industry moving into the future.”
Participating actively
“Nevertheless the advancement of our industry does not stop at capital equipment investment. Together, metalcasters and suppliers can continue to plant the seeds for our companies’ and industry’s enduring sustainability, by our continued active participation in associations such as the South African Institute of Foundrymen. We are an industry of alliances and friends … foundry-to-foundry, foundry to supplier, and supplier to supplier. We rely on each other.”
About Endeco
Through the development of locally designed and tested equipment and the policy of continually introducing new equipment, this has enabled the company to remain in the forefront of the industry, and essentially assist foundries in import replacement. An added benefit today for foundries is that Endeco are also prepared to handle all the civil engineering aspects that are involved in installing equipment.
The range of sand plant and equipment that Endeco designs and manufactures consists of all the necessary equipment used in both green sand and chemical bonded sand projects, from a small ferrous or non-ferrous foundry to the largest semi-automatic or automatic complex, and for virtually any type, size, quality or quantity of casting. The equipment includes reclamation plant, continuous and batch mixers, rotary drums, cooler classifiers, conveying systems, compaction tables, vibrating feeders and shake-outs, rollover units, rotary screens, aerators, weighing devices and additive screw feeders.
Additional equipment that Endeco has designed and manufactured includes chromite sand separators, ladles, bucket elevators, dust extractors, moulding boxes, pneumatic conveying systems, degassing units, silos, a mono rail system, spincasting equipment, rotary sand dryers and mould drying and coating units.
Initially Endeco outsourced all the fabrication work but since the purchase of their premises in Alberton, Gauteng 19 years ago, all the manufacturing has been done in-house.
Endeco is not a consultancy to the foundry industry but offers an experienced project service with enthusiastic control from concept to commissioning of modern foundry plants engineered to the highest standards.
Endeco has established a reputation as a main contractor able to design, procure, manufacture, supply, install, commission and project manage a foundry plant and project. Every contract is rigidly programmed and progressed through regular client/contractor co-operation. Endeco has a long and proud reputation of being “on time”.
For more information contact Endeco cc on TEL: 907 1785 or visit www.endeco.co.za
