Company will also offer spectrometer maintenance and service plan.
Recent developments in the industry have led to John Taylor establishing his own company to market a range of analytical instruments and sample preparation equipment. Taylor is well known in the foundry industry and has been associated with it for the last 30 years.
“I studied part time at Wits Technikon (now UJ) while working and qualified as a metallurgist. That was back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Although I did spend a few years in a foundry most of my working career has been on the supplier side, marketing the company’s products to those companies involved in the metals processing industry, with an emphasis on the foundries and steelworks,” explained Taylor.
“For the last nine years I have been with Spectro Analytical marketing their instruments, and I have signed an agreement with the company to continue to do so going forward. This includes the Spectro range of Arc/Spark OES Spectrometers, as well as the hand held XRF instruments that include the SpectroMaxx, SpectroCheck, SpectroLab, SpectroTest, Spectro iSort and Spectro xSort.”
“I am very familiar with these instruments and have been on numerous courses and factory training visits to the company’s head office in Kleve, Germany while I was employed with the South African branch. I have been given an intricate insight into the manufacture and operation of all the machines and instruments, and can offer a solution for elemental analysis in a broad range of applications for a variety of materials.”
“It should be noted that I will only be doing the sales and demonstrations with the Spectro instruments. After the sale I will hand over to Spectro and everything will carry on as normal from there on in terms of servicing and repairs. Spectro will also be supporting the guarantee.”
Spectrometer calibration check and verification
“A new option that I will be offering existing and potential clients is a calibration check service for their instruments. This will include checking that the operator maintenance has been carried out as specified, checking the calibration of the instrument and make any adjustments if required. I will also check that the appropriate standards are available and make recommendations if any additional standards are required. I will also be evaluating the operational procedures and operator competence on the actual use of the spectrometer. In addition, I will be evaluating the sample taking and sample preparation procedures, as this is an area that is highly neglected. It is pointless spending a few hundred thousand rand on a spectrometer, and then try to analyse samples that are incorrectly prepared.”
“Clients must please note that this service does not replace the biannual service agreement of the instrument. This will still need to be carried out by a Spectro service engineer.”
“Also included in this service will be the training of new staff on how to use the equipment, sample taking and preparation. Too often I find there is a lack of knowledge in this area due to staff turnover, where hand me down training is all that the new operator has been given. I would like to offer my skills to companies where this is applicable.”
“Additionally, I can offer an independent third party verification service which is necessary in some instances. Again I give a recent example where a foundry’s client claimed the castings were not in specification and I was able to prove that they were.”
Other equipment
Included in the SpecTech’s portfolio is a range of laboratory equipment and accessories required for sample taking, preparation and testing. These include:
• Cup wheel grinders specifically for the preparation of cast iron and high chrome cast iron samples. Please note that this grinder is also ideally suited for preparation of all ferrous samples. The advantage of this type of preparation is that total repeatability is ensured.
• Purpose built engineering type bench top milling machine for the preparation of non-ferrous samples, also ensuring excellent repeatability of sample preparation.
• Sample moulds for ferrous as well as nonferrous samples.
• Sample holders used during preparation.
“All of the above are South African manufactured,” said Taylor.
“I will shortly be including in the portfolio a range of basic and functional yet very affordable metallographic equipment, including microscopes, sample preparation and polishing machines.”
“SpecTech also has access to a range of other consumables commonly used for materialographic sample preparation of solid materials. These include cup wheels, sanding belts and discs and polishing cloths.”
“Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) are ‘controls’ or standards used to validate and calibrate analytical instruments. I will offer these for all grades of metals as well.”
For further information contact John Taylor of SpecTech (Pty) Ltd on cellphone 082 904 8142 or email john@spectechsa.co.za