When it comes to proper steel fabrication operations, not all are the same, especially when you look at the big-time fabricating that CEC does.
Some metal fabricating operations produce the same product day in and day out with little variation. Real fabrication shops, which are becoming increasingly rare, have a much tougher road to follow, one that requires constant innovation and high skill levels.
CEC, based in Vereeniging, Gauteng may not be a company with decades of history behind it but it does have roots that date back to the 1970s. The company is owned by Francois Coertzen but was originally established by Coertzen’s late father-in-law Jan Meyer. Today, the only other connection to that company is that it operates from the same factory site. The variety of work and projects that CEC undertakes is varied but its two main goals remain: To deliver quality products and to deliver them on time. This requires proper management controls and boils down to what is known as real fabrication.
CEC Fabrication & Construction fabricates from small to large components
“Very few real fabrication shops exist today. Tough economic times and constant labour unrests in SA, as well as imported fabrication work from China, has seen the closure of many fabrication companies in SA. Most manufacturers prefer to engage in the production of multiples of the same product, which minimises engineering time and tooling costs. Facilities are organised for an assembly line-type of production, and quality control can be automated. Paperwork becomes so repetitious that the only change may be the date and customer information. Cost studies are simplified and rarely required. Personnel training can be standardised. All this combined allows the mass producer to know the cost of everyday operation,” said Coertzen.
Every day is a new day
“Conversely, fabrication shops must carefully calculate the costs on almost all projects. The shop’s machinery can sit idle during some jobs, while other jobs require the usage of every piece of available equipment. This equipment can cost millions of rands, and only a few shops have equipment large enough for some projects and at the same time have all the equipment necessary to complete a project from start to finish.”
CEC Fabrication & Construction typifies what a large fabrication shop is all about – seldom are two jobs alike, and dynamic innovation is what drives the business
Coertzen, who started his working life in the military before becoming what he calls ‘a wheeler and dealer’ entrepreneur, acquired the company from his father-in-law in 2003. The company initially traded as Coertzen Engineering Consultants CC but changed to a Pty Ltd in 2017. Coertzen indicated that for the last few years the drive was to place more emphasis on the abbreviated name “CEC”, rather than have the business linked to a specific name. The main reason was for the growth of the company in global sphere, with specific people employed to handle different aspects of the business. Coertzen wanted to have his clients associate with a company rather than with an individual.
“Our work usually takes up a considerable amount of floor space and involves workers from all trades including boilermakers, welders, operators, riggers, drivers and general labourers. All of the fabrication work that we do is usually trial assembled into a product at our Vereeniging facility before being transported to the client. A sizeable amount of these completed fabrications will require heavy long-bed trailers and police escorts while being transported. Special permits are required and the moving of the equipment is allowed only on certain days and at specific times. It definitely draws attention and takes a bit of planning for the logistics.”
“Delivering a large fabrication in some ways is almost as difficult as creating the piece from start in the first place. In many instances, the fabrication is awkward in shape and creates a challenge to move, even over a short distance. Like everything else, fabricators figure out how to do it.”
“It shows what we are capable of, especially when it comes to large fabrications.”
Before and after – One of the biggest individual fabrications that CEC Fabrication & Construction regularly refurbish is dragline buckets that are used on the coal mines. Each individual unit can weigh up to 68 tons. It is an Australian designed product that can take a load of 93 cubic metres of coal per drag. After 2 200 hours of work on the mine it is returned for refurbishment, as certain sections wear off
“CEC fabricates from light to heavy engineering in mild steel, stainless steel and special alloy steels. We have rather concentrated on being a true fabricator. This includes small and large fabrications, whether they are a new build or a refurbishment.”
“We have three bays that we process in. The first two we refer to as the light to medium bays. These bays have 20 ton to 27.5 tons lifting capacity. They both have a height of six metres under the hook. Accordingly in our terms it fits into the category of general fabrication.”
“It is in our third bay where we separate ourselves from most of the rest. The Heavy Bay as we call it, has two overhead cranes capable of lifting 110 tons and we have a height clearance of 17 metres under hook. Hence we can process big and heavy projects, for example the dragline buckets. This is fabrication and materials handling with a difference.”
CEC operates from 5 000m² under roof facility and has a further 12 000m² yard space to work with. Currently the company employs 65 permanent staff and CEC will use contract labour when it is necessary. Depending on the size of the contract that the company is engaged in it has been known to employ a further 150 staff.
Before and after – One of the biggest individual fabrications that CEC Fabrication & Construction regularly refurbish is dragline buckets that are used on the coal mines. Each individual unit can weigh up to 68 tons. It is an Australian designed product that can take a load of 93 cubic metres of coal per drag. After 2 200 hours of work on the mine it is returned for refurbishment, as certain sections wear off
The service department’s offering to clients includes estimating, document control, project management, planning, health and safety management, quality assurance and quality control. CEC not only fabricates, but also undertakes repairs and non-destructive testing of equipment for multiple industries.
Projects
“One of the biggest individual fabrications that we regularly refurbish is dragline buckets that are used on the coal mines. Each individual unit can weigh up to 68 tons. It is an Australian designed product that can take a load of 93 cubic metres of coal per drag. After 2 200 hours of work on the mine it is returned to us for refurbishment, as certain sections wear off.”
“The thickness starts at 80mm thick and when they come in for refurbishment they are less than 20mm thick, and in some instances there is nothing left but a gaping hole. This is purely because of the harsh environment that it works in. We have, to date, manufactured four of these dragline buckets under licence from our Australian client. It can take between two to three months to fabricate one of these buckets.”
Every day is a new day at CEC Fabrication & Construction – the company fabricates from light to heavy engineering in mild steel, stainless steel and special alloy steels
Work at CEC Fabrication & Construction usually takes up a considerable amount of floor space and involves workers from all trades including boilermakers, welders, operators, riggers, drivers and general labourers
“The wear surface on this type of equipment must be enhanced to the point that optimal production can be achieved without excessive downtime. I have heard some horrific estimates of what it costs per day when a large coal/rock dragline is down for repair.”
“Another major project that we have been involved in was the fabrication of a 65 metre long thickner, complete with bridge, drive, rake arms and accessories that is used on the mines. These have to be made up in various sections and can only be fully assembled once at the mine. Total tonnage once assembled could be between 200 and 300 tons of fabricated metal.”
“Every day is a new day for our shop floor. With the varied amount of work flowing in and out, it is very seldom that our welders for example, are exposed to constant repetitive work. The consistency CEC expects of its welders is in the quality of the weld. Your main selling point lies in the welding and the quality thereof.”
“However, as we all know, the preparation and fit-ups are critical to any welding job. If you don’t provide a proper and tight fit-up, the final part won’t meet the specs set forth in the original design and drawings. Fit-ups and preparation are especially critical in very large welding jobs. The parts are larger, and the stakes are much higher. If the fit-ups don’t meet the needs of the welding job when the arc is struck on the first day of production, the manufacturer is going to experience hours of unwanted rework.”
Another major project that CEC Fabrication & Construction have been involved in was the fabrication of a 65 metre long thickner, complete with bridge, drive, rake arms and accessories that is used on the mines
CEC Fabrication & Construction will fabricate and assemble products for clients
“Large scale fit-up manufacturing is actually pretty unique. Any fabricator that has had to wrestle with large panels or thick plates will know the difficulties that are involved. Our heavy bay makes this task a lot easier with material handling due to our lifting capacity.”
Metal processing
“Due to cost considerations, we don’t have our own plate or sheet cutting line. This aspect is outsourced to subcontractors. On average we process about 3 000 tons of material in a year. We further have a fully fledged machine shop consisting of three large boring mills, three lathes, two radial arm drills, plate rollers and a press brake, all used to perform those necessary processes on the plate and structural steel. Most of the ancillary work required regarding machining operations is performed in-house. ”
Uniqueness
“We believe that we emerged as a metal fabricator that can take on large and complex jobs that other workshops might not want or don’t have the capacity to, or quite frankly, might have defaulted on in the past. This differentiates CEC from other fabricators in the industry, who focus more on the normal day-to-day routine type of projects.”
On average CEC Fabrication & Construction process about 3 000 tons of material in a year
General Manager Ruland Munz and owner Francois Coertzen
“Being so diversified in the projects we take on has also created a huge responsibility because of the value of the material we process. Some of the plates work that we process could cost thousands of rands per plate. Some of it you can’t replace in time if you ruin it and if you had the money to replace it. So our manufacturing process and controls and qualified artisans have to be spot on.”
“Other projects that we undertake are either manufactured from start to finish or involve refurbishment of plant, for example conveyor systems, boom structures, stacker reclaimers, backhoes, dragline chains, storage vessels, pressure vessels, demister vessels, water purification vessels, heat exchangers, offloading and bagging plants, sumps, stackers, mixers, chutes, flotation cells, silos, piping, ducting, structural, walkways and handrails, wagon bogeys and wheels, driving gears, tanker shells, gantries, slewing booms, crawl beams, tipplers, pumps and electric motor end shields.”
CEC is ISO 9001:2015 certified and in the welding department it is ISO 3834-2 certified. On the software side CEC uses Tekla Structures for its detailing and 3D modelling. The company employs two draughtsmen in this department. CEC currently exports about 70 per cent of its fabrications to African countries outside the South African borders. It has however supplied fabrications to countries such as Chile, Russia, Sweden, Italy, Finland and Australia.
Completed fabrications that have been painted
CEC Fabrication & Construction not only fabricates, but also undertakes repairs and non-destructive testing of equipment for multiple industries
CEC typifies what a large fabrication shop is all about – seldom are two jobs alike, and dynamic innovation is what drives the business. The skill level in such a shop must exceed that of an operation that produces the same item every day, a practice that soon becomes automatic and even mundane. In the job shop, the worker must be familiar with multiple fabrication methods and mechanical variations. Every employee requires problem solving skills, because there is often no precedent for reference.
“True job shops are rapidly disappearing, and the older skill sets are going away with the retirees. Technical schools are not able to teach what has been passed down for generations. Hopefully, retirees will come back and teach the youngsters how to work in a real job shop,” concluded Coertzen.
For further details contact CEC Fabrication & Construction on TEL: 016 100 4599 or visit www.ceceng.co.za or email: info@ceceng.co.za
