2023 marks the year that Cerefco celebrates 40 years of continuous operation as a family-owned business supporting customers with capital equipment, service and spare parts in the metallurgical, industrial and induction melting, heating and welding sectors.

Cerefco’s Managing Director, Scott Melville, reflects on a rich history that has gotten the company to where it is today.

“Cerefco (Pty) Ltd was established in 1983 by the late Roy Edwards, to service the foundry, metallurgical, and industrial sectors of the Southern African market. At the time, Roy Edwards was residing and farming in Zimbabwe and was also running a successful refractory company in Kwekwe called Redcliff Castables to support the steel industry in the area. In addition to the refractory business, Roy was the distributor for many other overseas companies supplying industrial products into the Southern African market, and this was done under the umbrella of a company called ICA (Industrial Consultants in Africa).”

“At that time, Roy and his brother-in-law, Phil Newton started Cerefco to market and distribute their refractory products from Redcliff Castables in Zimbabwe. Originally, they wanted to call the company ICArefco, which was a combination of ICA and refco = refractory company, but they were unable to register this name, and it was suggested that Cerefco was used instead.”

Cerefco’s Managing Director Scott Melville

“I married Roy’s daughter and a few years later in 2007 was given the opportunity to come and work for the family business. My background was in infrastructure and property development and I had previously worked for Siemens and Cell C to roll out their cellular network. I needed to learn about the foundry industry very quicky and in 2007 I had a trip to Inductotherm’s head office in New Jersey, USA to meet the role players and to receive product training. I also attended my first GIFA trade show in Germany in June of that year, and I also completed a Foundry Technology course at the University of Johannesburg that year.”

Roy Edwards passed away in 2019, but the family business continues to be run by son-in-law Scott Melville.

“Cerefco has been the exclusive representative for Inductotherm in Southern Africa since about 2004. Inductotherm furnace equipment has been sold into South Africa since the early 1960s. And there was a time when Inductotherm had their very own office and staff here in South Africa.”

“Back in 1972 Inductotherm Australia was awarded a large contract for Ferrovorm P.E. consisting of two 4 500kW Mainline power supplies each powering a 25T coreless furnace. Inductotherm Australia sent out Mr. John Powell, a young salesman, to oversee the project and he quickly realised the huge potential for induction melting equipment in South Africa and an increasing foundry industry to support the mining sector, which then prompted the registration of Inductotherm South Africa, which was hosted at the time by Forest Engineering in Isando.”

“Many more orders of new Inductotherm furnaces followed; including James Brown & Hamer, Pinetown Engineering, Ferrovorm Alberton, Ace Patternmakers, John Thompson and many others. Due to political pressures, Inductotherm South Africa was made ‘dormant’ in about 1978, but it continued to do business through the offices of several representative companies, of which Cerefco is the latest and has been the representative for almost 20 years.”

Inductotherm introduced some firsts into Grinding Media South Africa’s new induction melting plant, which was commissioned in 2021. Inductotherm’s high-velocity fume extraction hood, the Vortex hood, was introduced into South Africa for the first time and is being used on the three 10 ton Inductotherm coreless induction furnaces with VIP Power Trak power supply that Cerefco supplied to the project

“To this day there are more than 170 Inductotherm furnace installations in South Africa and its neighbouring countries, with at least 40 new furnace orders since 2007. Granted that not all of this equipment will still be in operation, but Cerefco continues to provide technical support and spare parts to all our existing Inductotherm customers with services available from our highly trained field service technicians on a 24/7 basis. Our clients in Southern Africa use the whole range of Inductotherm equipment from 10kW up to 12 000kW, with the largest Inductotherm furnaces being the four 30MT steel melting furnaces at SA Steel in Meyerton.”

“Cerefco employs 10 full time staff, including two highly trained field service technicians who provide technical support and service work on all the Inductotherm furnace equipment in Southern Africa. Our service technicians offer theoretical, practical and safety training for your furnace operators, production and electrical staff. This year Cerefco celebrates 40 years in business. At the same time, Inductotherm celebrates their 70th year in business.”

“In 2015 Inductotherm in partnership with Cerefco established a state-of-the-art OEM coil repair workshop. During the repair process we will be able to bring the coil back to OEM standards. We take great pride in the coil repairs by completely stripping all the insulation off the coil and by sandblasting the coil to bare copper, we are able to spot any problem areas and fix them. Generally, the life span of the repaired coil will be just as long as when the coil was originally supplied. We also established an OEM power lead manufacturing facility at Cerefco’s offices. We are able to make Inductotherm power leads to your specifications and to Inductotherm’s strict quality standards.”

“In addition to the very successful Inductotherm furnace business, Cerefco also represents other Inductotherm Group companies. Some of these include the Thermatool brand which supplied induction tube and pipe welding equipment. Thermatool manufacture and supply a full range of induction welders for the pipe and tube industry. The division also manufactures solid state HF induction welders and weld seam annealing systems for API pipes. Some of our customers include Augusta Steel, Barnes Tubing, MacSteel, Trident, and others.”

The equipment Grinding Media South Africa decided to purchase for their new plant that was commissioned in 2021 was three Inductotherm 8 000kW VIP Power Trak power supply and three 10-metric-ton steel frame coreless furnaces, each equipped with an air operated clam shell for slag removal, integral high-velocity close-capture fume collection covers (hoods) and lining/refractory push out systems. The Inductotherm equipment is represented in South Africa by Cerefco

“Cerefco also represents the Inductoheat brand. The product range includes induction heating and heat-treating equipment for selective case hardening, forging, end pipe heating, through heating of pipes, tempering, bonding, brazing, annealing and strip heating, serving a variety of industries such as automotive, forging mining, aerospace, hand tools, construction, oil and gas and power generation.”

Inductotherm
Inductotherm builds induction melting, holding (both coreless and channel types) and pouring systems (both heated and unheated) for virtually all metals including iron, steel, copper, aluminium, zinc, precious metals and others. The melting division’s product line also includes a full range of charging systems, melt shop computer control systems and automated robotic melt shop systems.

Inductoheat
The product range includes induction heating and heat-treating equipment for selective case hardening, forging, end pipe heating, through heating of pipes, tempering, bonding, brazing, annealing and strip heating, serving a variety of industries such as automotive, forging mining, aerospace, hand tools, construction, oil and gas and power generation.

Thermatool
The manufacture and supply of a full range of induction welders for the pipe and tube industry. The division also manufactures solid state HF Induction welders and weld seam annealing systems for API pipes.

As well as carrying a large inventory of Inductotherm spare parts, Cerefco is able to offer genuine OEM spare parts for all Inductotherm furnace equipment. They have direct access to all the Inductotherm Group companies for technical support and spare parts.

In 2015 Inductotherm in partnership with Cerefco established a state-of-the-art OEM coil repair workshop. During the repair process Cerefco will be able to bring the coil back to OEM standards

Cerefco employs two full time service technicians. They have been trained by Inductotherm to work on and service Inductotherm equipment. Preventative maintenance services, 24/7 service support, and commissioning services for new Inductotherm furnace equipment are also provided.

Cerefco’s highly trained service technicians can offer theoretical, practical and safety training for furnace operators, production and electrical staff. Refresher training is well received and improves operations and productivity.

Inductotherm takes great pride in its coil repairs by completely stripping all the insulation off the coil and by sandblasting the coil to bare copper, are able to spot any problem areas and fix them. Generally, the life span of the repaired coil will be just as long as when the coil was originally supplied.

In partnership with Inductotherm, Cerefco have also established an OEM power lead manufacturing facility at Cerefco’s offices. They are able to make Inductotherm power leads to your specifications and to Inductotherm’s strict quality standards.

Inductotherm is the world’s leading supplier of induction melting, holding, heating and pouring equipment for virtually all metals and materials. Principle products include a range of furnaces and power supplies to melt a few troy ounces of precious metals to melting systems holding hundreds of tons of iron. Inductotherm also offers a full range of charging and preheating systems, melt shop computer control systems, automated pouring systems, water cooling systems and ARMS® (Automated Robotic Melt Shop) Systems.

Inductotherm and its sister companies in the Inductotherm Group today have manufacturing facilities all around the world. This includes 36 500 melting, heating and pouring systems installed in 133 countries. This number continues to grow to satisfy customers’ growing needs. Inductotherm continues to develop new and better applications from A to Z (aluminium to zinc) to support the metals and materials industries worldwide.

Inductotherm has 18 manufacturing facilities, an additional 65 sales/service locations and 44 representatives around the world in 50 countries. Inductotherm equipment is designed and built to withstand the most demanding production conditions. Immediate response, extensive technical knowledge, in-depth experience, readily available parts and a company-wide dedication to customer satisfaction are the hallmarks of Inductotherm’s unparalleled customer service and support.

For further details contact Cerefco on TEL: 011 845 3253 or visit www.cerefco.co.za or www.inductotherm.com