Moves into new fabrication facility twice the size of previous facility.
35 years after being established initially as a design and details company before expanding into designing and manufacturing its own equipment for the foundry industry, Endeco Omega Sinto has notched up another significant milestone on its timeline.
“We always outsourced our fabrication requirements but this changed in 1994 when we purchased our own premises in Alberton, Gauteng. This allowed us to bring most of our manufacturing, fabrication and assembly requirements in-house,” said Roy Dias, Managing Director of Endeco Omega Sinto.
“We had a facility that was approximately 1 000m² and it served us well while we were there. But eventually our boilermakers and fabricators were falling over each other. Space was at a premium and we needed to address the situation.”
“In December 2018 we moved into our new facility in Wadeville. We now have 2 000m² of factory floor space at our disposal and as a result it has afforded us the opportunity to have a greenfields mindset when planning the deployment of our various fabrication services.”
“A big bonus is that the facility has two 2.5-ton overhead cranes, which we have never had before. Just the time that we are going to save on moving our relatively heavy structures that comprise the various foundry equipment that we manufacture, is already having a marked effect on fabrication and assembly times.”
“We have also been able to organise the flow of material – from cutting to welding and then final fabrication – so that we optimise and maximise productivity and machine utilisation, while at the same time minimising turnaround times.”
“You only realise and understand what gains you can achieve if you have a forward-thinking policy for your company. By eliminating non-value-added actions and processing your material more efficiently, you can add significant benefits to your production floor and of course the bottom line.”
“This might be one small example but we as a company have always encouraged the local foundry industry to adopt the same outlook – to invest in new and high-tech equipment that will make their operations more cost effective.”
2015 joint venture
“In the last four years Endeco has seen tremendous change within the structure of the company and the product range that we manufacture locally and the extended range of equipment that we can offer through our relationships with international manufacturers of foundry equipment.”
“The first of these was in 2015 when we signed a joint venture merger with Omega Foundry Machinery. Omega’s business is similar to ours, which is to design, procure, manufacture, supply, install, commission and project manage a foundry plant and project as the main contractor.”
“However, the Omega product range included a range of equipment that we were not previously manufacturing. Their product portfolio is to specialise in the manufacture of equipment for the chemically bonded or no-bake process. We are now able to manufacture their equipment under licence or we import directly from them, depending on the economies of scale. This is for all equipment related to sand mixing, mould handling, reclamation and core making.”
“An added bonus was that we had access to technical know-how and market information from all the other Omega joint venture merger companies around the world.”
“We subsequently changed the name of the company to Endeco Omega.”
“South Africa is a very important market for Omega and since gaining some significant projects in the region it was obvious that we needed to take the next step and establish a local presence. I am very pleased that an agreement to partner with Endeco has been reached and we will be looking to build on the synergies between our companies to deliver a full range of services and products to the market,” stated Mark Fenyes, Chairman of Omega Foundry Machinery at the launch of the Endeco Omega Foundry Machinery joint venture merger agreement.
“At the time there were skeptics of the joint venture merger agreement but the vast majority in the foundry industry welcomed the new development. The joint venture merger between local foundry equipment manufacturing company Endeco and UK based Omega Foundry Machinery brought together two companies that have an established record locally and worldwide, with over 60 years in combined experience in manufacturing and supplying foundry equipment,” said Fenyes.
More recently Omega acquired FTL Foundry Equipment Ltd (FTL), entered into an agreement with Simpson Technologies and in 2016 the company acquired the Italian design company Tecnostudio Srl.
Sinto acquires Omega Foundry Machinery
“Another significant milestone in the company’s history took place in 2018 when Omega Foundry Machinery was acquired by Japanese company Sinto,” continued Dias.
“Sinto is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of foundry equipment, offering technologies for improving casting quality, productivity and work environment. Sinto serves customers and industries with solutions for foundry, surface treatment, material handling, environmental, mechatronics, consumables and more. Headquartered in Nagoya, Japan, the Sinto network extends to a group of 48 companies in 12 countries and regions, with 3 839 employees worldwide.”
Sinto equipment includes flaskless moulding machines, automatic core setters, “Seiatsu”, tight flask moulding lines, flaskless and tight flask mould handling systems, Shalco shell and cold box core machines, automatic pouring systems for lip and stopper rod pouring, Barinder automatic grinding machines, robotics and integrated control systems.
Last year Sinto purchased a majority shareholding in 3DCeram, a French company specialising in a range of ceramic 3D object printing processes and materials.
Sinto also has ties with Laempe & Mössner, a manufacturer in the field of core moulding technology.
“In addition to the range of foundry sand plant and equipment that we have become known as the benchmark for in South Africa, we are be able to market the vast range of Sinto equipment that the company manufactures for the whole foundry process, from sand treatment to surface treatment finishing, which includes shot blasting equipment, blasting abrasives and peening media. This has opened doors for us,” explained Dias.
“As a result of the acquisition the company is now known as Endeco Omega Sinto.”
For further information contact Roy Dias of Endeco Omega Sinto on TEL: 011 907 1785 or email roy@endeco-omega.co.za or visit www.endeco-omega.co.za