GRW Engineering was established in 1995 by brothers Gerhard and Wentzel van der Merwe, along with business associate Rossouw van Eeden, and is a prominent South African manufacturer of tankers and trailers, headquartered in Worcester in the Western Cape. The company operates an ultra-modern manufacturing facility spanning 40 000m2, equipped with CNC fiber laser cutters, other CNC machines and automated welding machines.

GRW’s product range serves various sectors including the petroleum, chemical, construction, mining,
agricultural, fast-moving consumer goods, waste disposal, and general cargo industries. Their trailers and tankers are operational across Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, the Middle East, Australia, the UK, and parts of Europe.

Supplied and installed by Talmac Machine Tools, GRW Engineering’s new Faccin 4HEL 12-metre CNC plate roll enables the leading tanker, trailer and transport equipment manufacturer to roll an entire 12m envelope in one go, whereas before the company would have to join together a few segments of plate when assembling their tanks and weld and roll them individually. Video courtesy of GRW Engineering

New Faccin 4HEL 12-metre CNC plate roll
Traditionally, GRW connected shorter segments of plate by welding them together to form the tanker and trailer lengths required by their clients. These tankers and trailers can be manufactured from stainless steel or aluminium in various thicknesses, again, depending on the industry and application the client requires of the product as well as various safety standards that need to be adhered to. They are also manufactured in different lengths with differing volumes and there is no standard length.

Johan Goosen, a Mechanical Engineer by trade, but who acts as GRW’s Jigging Engineer and was directly involved in the procurement process of commissioning the new machine supplied and installed by Talmac Machine Tools, explains the reasoning behind the investment: “I am involved on the production machinery and special projects side of the business and this new machine affords us many advantages over the way we used to manufacture and assemble some of our products.”

“We would normally have to join a few segments of plate when assembling the tanks and weld and roll them individually but with this new roller we are able to roll an entire 12m envelope in one go. We then fit the dish ends to the front and the rear of the tank before the tanks move further along the production line.”

“Not only has this brought about better production time efficiencies when rolling plate but it has also allowed for improvements on your other activities on the shell itself. We manufacture our own dish ends too and where required will offer flaring too, all done in our in-house dish shop.”

“We can roll from 3mm to 16mm in aluminium and 2mm to 5mm in stainless steel up to a length of 12m. We completed the foundation work for the new machine at the end of 2024 and installed the machine at the beginning of this year. We opted to recess the machine itself about 900mm below ground level so that we were able to keep the same levels as our production tables and the friction stir machine when moving material around – this just makes overall handling much easier. The machine itself weighs 131.1 ton”

“GRW generally manufacture barrels of 1 800mm to 2 600mm in diameter. This works on a ratio where a longer length tank will allow a greater volume or wider diameter tank. The shells can also be different in that they can be conical or cylindrical.”

The new Faccin 4HEL 12-metre CNC plate roll that Talmac Machine Tools has installed at Worcester, Western Cape-based GRW Engineering, a leading transport equipment designer, manufacturer and service provider that delivers a wide range of quality, state-of-the-art tankers and trailers

With the new Faccin 4HEL 12-metre CNC plate roll GRW Engineering are now able to roll an entire 12m envelope in one go, whereas before the company would have to join together a few segments of plate when assembling the tanks and weld and roll them individually

“This part of the factory where the new Faccin plate roller is installed is still relatively new. We did shift things around a bit for the new machine with the whole idea being that all the production/component manufacturing remains in one area, this being raw material receiving, then cut-to-length, welding, rolling and then moved further along the production line from here. We receive raw material either coiled or as flat plate packed in various lengths on pallets.”

“We have implemented a new welding technique for welding too and custom-built a friction stir welding machine.”

Second generation Friction Stir Welding machine
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid-state joining process that uses a rotating tool to join materials, generating heat through friction and mechanically mixing the softened material to create a weld without melting the base material. It is particularly well-suited to materials that may be more difficult to weld using traditional methods. Additionally, FSW eliminates the need for welding gasses and welding torches, produces a very good weld and is also appealing to the eye. GRW’s friction stir machine was developed in conjunction with eNtsa, an industry engagement unit within the Faculty of Engineering at the Nelson Mandela University (NMU).

An example of the body of a tank with a 12m envelope that has been rolled on the new Faccin 4HEL 12-metre CNC plate roll that Talmac Machine Tools has installed. GRW Engineering are able to roll from 3mm to 16mm in aluminium and 2mm to 5mm in stainless steel up to a length of 12m

The equipment can join flat aluminium sheet in a range of thicknesses up to 16mm. FSW welds can be performed in continuous lengths of up to 12.5m. Additionally, the equipment can perform the closing seam weld of barrel sections of up to 12.5m in length, thereby removing the requirement for joining shorter barrel sections together with circumferential welds. The final step in implementation of FSW welding was to ensure that the welds conformed to the required codes. With assistance from eNtsa all FSW welds have passed the required ADR codes, which are a set of international regulations governing the international carriage of dangerous goods by road.

“We also roll square box containers and the big advantage with these is that their shapes allow them to be fixed to rail transport for example. Mostly this is food products and for the export market.”

Apart from the trailer’s axles and tires, GRW manufacture almost every other component necessary for their trailers. In a busy week, they will manufacture up to 34 trailers of different specifications. The mix of export and local manufacture is very dependent on GRW’s order book.

Goosen’s job is quite varied on a day-to-day basis, and he can also find himself needing to design and facilitate the manufacture and production of customised parts for the various trailers where he will custom-design jigs and tools to facilitate in-house production of these components.

GRW has 674 employees, and several designers specifically involved with component design using SolidWorks and Creo Parametric.

In August 2017, Schmitz Cargobull AG, Europe’s largest trailer manufacturer, acquired a stake in GRW Holdings. This partnership has facilitated technological exchange and expanded GRW’s market presence, particularly in Europe.

Beyond manufacturing, GRW provides a comprehensive range of services, including after-sales support, maintenance, repairs, pre-owned sales, rentals, and financial solutions. Their extensive network of accredited service providers ensures reliable customer support across Southern Africa.

For more information visit www.grw.co.za