Rotamech Touts Merits Of Partnership With NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP

By Simnikiwe Hlatshaneni

NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP is our backbone, especially with training, knowledge and technologies, says Alex du Plessis, Managing Director of the South African based company Rotamech. Touting the success of the partnership between Rotamech and the German based NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP, Alex du Plessis says it has been a unique win-win for both parties.

 “We have certified service engineers who actually went over to Germany and trained in Germany, so, our team is fully certified for local repairs as per the OEM standards. We have all the technical support and backup from the NEUMAN & ESSER team.  I think that service is just as important as supplying the product. That is where they play a crucial part of our business.  We have the complete backbone of the equipment that we already have in South Africa, then we also have the servicing, the maintenance, and the repairs; all of that will be done locally,” the Managing Director of Rotamech says.

Fielding questions from PAV, Alex du Plessis says the relationship between Rotamech and NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP   is very unique in the sense that both companies have a structured local content concept, and both companies strive to develop within South Africa and Africa in general.

Could we start with an introduction of Rotamech and its services or sectors it operates in?

 Rotamech specializes in all high-speed rotating equipment, and turbo machinery. typically steam turbines, compressors, pumps, gear-boxes fans, and blowers. We also do static equipment such as tubes for furnaces and reformers, supplying the special alloys, we also do process heat exchangers, which is also part of our portfolio. So, typical industries that we work for are oil and gas, renewables, mining, food and beverage and steel facilities, paper and pulp, petrochemical. So, we work in all the various industries. Turbo-machinery is a very specialized product that we deal with and with our specialized team we are able to service our customers effectively.

How important are the services of Rotamech in present-day South Africa?

 I think in South Africa there is space for smaller privately owned entities, especially in the turbo-machinery market. We are filling a gap with a young and dynamic team. Competencies are being lost and we need to ensure we keep on building.  South Africa in general are losing many professionals with knowledge and knowhow, we are able to fill that gap with localization, by sourcing and training people locally together with our partners such as Neuman and Esser and the others this is possible. The services we offer are unique in the sense of the equipment we work on.

Can you shed some light on the partnership between Rotamech and the NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP in Germany?

The relationship between Rotamech and NEUMAN & ESSER is very unique in the sense that we both have a structured local content concept, and both our companies strive to develop within South Africa and Africa in general.

Both companies are open for change and adapt to local markets as needed. Rotamech is responsible for both the new build and aftermarket business for NEUMAN & ESSER in South Africa and Namibia.

What is the experience like working with the NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP Team?

The NEUMAN & ESSER GROUP played a vital role from the beginning of our partnership, the local concept for them is extremely important seeing that they are a German-based company. They believe in developing local entities. They have provided a lot of training for our teams, they have a lot of technological knowledge and know-how on their products want to invest in skill transfer. They add value to our business, They play a critical role in our business in SA but also Africa. NEA works best to be flexible and to understand the local African specifics and demands and listens well to our inputs.

What are the prospects of businesses such as yours using more locally manufactured goods in the near future?

We have a very good skill set in SA and very capable manufacturers of products, so we identify and work with those, that would boost local manufacturing.

Internally we are also building capacity locally to do more manufacturing. This is definitely one of the areas we are focusing on for the future.  

Locally manufactured products can be used in many applications within our business. We are continuously searching for more locally manufactured goods that can be utilized in our service and product offerings.

How important are skills development and transfer in your partnership?

Being a private owned entity, it’s much easier for us to develop the people locally and transfer skills. I think the significance of this partnership we have with companies like NEUMAN & ESSER is that we want to develop and train people. There is definitely a gap in South Africa where the older generation, the guys who used to build refineries and oil and gas plants are getting older and moving on leaving a huge gap in terms of boots on the ground - the people that can physically do the work. I think we are a young dynamic team, and we are trying to develop more teams moving forward. So, we are building capacity for the future, so I significantly think that’s where we fit. 

Only a handful of companies in South Africa are in this field, so it's a unique niche, specialized industry.  we need a skills transfer to the young people, and I think a good example is what we want to do, that is, train up young people in South Africa. We are in the process of applying to start a learnership program to get young people, train them in the practical areas, and then get them formally qualified. nowadays and the world is changing because of the digital industrial revolution, but we still need someone to use their hands to do the installation of whatever technology is being used and that is where we come in. We actually want to see boots on the ground, and we need hands that can actually do the gritty work. Not everybody needs to be a programmer; we still need people who can work with their hands!

May we know what impact of this partnership and the products and technology from NEUMAN & ESSER Group on Rotamech?

NEUMAN & ESSER    is our backbone, especially with training, knowledge and technologies. As I said we have certified service engineers who actually went over to Germany and trained in Germany, so, Our team is fully certified for local repairs as per the OEM standards. We have all the technical support and backup from the NEUMAN & ESSER team.  I think that service is just as important as supplying the product. That is where they play a crucial part of our business.  We have the complete backbone of the equipment that we already have in South Africa, then we also have the servicing, the maintenance, and the repairs; all of that will be done locally.

The products and technologies provided by NEUMAN & ESSER are strategically fitting our profile. Compressors and Electrolyzers to name a few are part of the future of energy transition taking place and are embracing the partnership with the NEUMAN & ESSER team.

How important are partnerships like the one you have with NEUMAN & ESSER Group in changing the energy and technological landscape in South Africa and Africa?

That’s an extremely important topic for us and I think the whole world is moving through   the energy transition and green hydrogen.  We are quite privileged to be in this space working with NEUMAN & ESSER. they have products that fit into the entire green hydrogen value chain, from compressors to electrolyzers. so, we can do everything from the initial stages right until the very end where you fill the truck. .to enable you to move the gas from point A to B you require a compressor. NEUMAN & ESSER have been through all the industrial revolutions having been around for almost 200 years now, so they have seen everything and have been doing hydrogen for more than 100 years.

What are some of the challenges that companies like Rotamech face in South Africa?

Load shedding is definitely one of the main challenges for us at the moment.  We do not have any power and then you hear there will be tariff increases. So, there are a number of challenges, one being energy availability and another being the currency exchange rate as we and customers rely heavily on imports at the moment. The conditions at the ports also greatly affect us because of this. The harbours have been a nightmare, with us sometimes not being able to get our containers through. I think the business environment in South Africa generally is quite difficult. When red tape and difficulties at the ports affect this trade, it halters business which not only impacts us but others downstream as well. But we accept those challenges as a sign for us to think out of the box to make sure that we get going and we support each other as industry players affected by these challenges. Our attitude is that we would rather get things going regardless of challenges. We will get things done in South Africa regardless of those challenges. We do what we do to the best of our ability so that it benefits not only us but the people we can help uplift along the way, including local manufacturers, those that we train and transfer skills to, and our contribution to the local economy.

Any other projects in view or events that Rotamech will be participating in for the rest of 2024?

We are actually doing a lot of events this year, we are doing the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) annual conference; we have also expanded our business into Namibia, so we will be part of the Namibia Energy Conference now in April.  We are also  hosting the African Agents Week event in May, which is an event where NEUMAN & ESSER hosts all its agents from Africa. This year it's South Africa’s turn to host the event and we want to inspire the rest of the guys in Africa by showing them what we have done over the last two years and demonstrating that nothing is impossible, and we look forward to that. We also have Hydrogen Africa coming up and we intend to attend as many of the summits in the green energy space as well.