To see out even a month as a small business in South Africa is an achievement. To reach your first year as a going concern is even more of an achievement. However, once you are able to celebrate a decade in business and have something to show for it, you most certainly get to give yourself a pat on the back. In June this year Metal Tech got to celebrate this milestone achievement and they did this by celebrating their staff at a special function at their premises in Brackenfell, Cape Town.

What started as a small 180m2 business has seen Metal Tech’s Jannie Goosen grow his business to a point where components manufactured in a year now run into half a million, of which there are hundreds of different designs.

Jannie Goosen, owner of Metal Tech Precision Engineering

Originally from the Uitenhage area of Port Elizabeth, Jannie and his wife Su-Mari moved to the Western Cape in 2004. Jannie, a qualified fitter and turner, originally worked for an engineering and pressing company gaining experience on the engineering side before spotting a gap in the market and deciding to take a chance and start his own business. He hasn’t looked back since.

Goosen has subsequently grown the business from strength to strength, and one thing you’ll immediately pick up from him while you are walking around the shop floor is that he is a very hands-on and involved business owner. He takes pride in knowing exactly how everything works and he knows the 1 200m2 space the shop currently occupies like freshly ploughed fields on a farm with a range of different crops ready for the next season – everything has its place and he understands the importance of efficiency.

Components manufactured for the planter industry by Metal Tech

Metal Tech manufactures a wide range of components for the planter industry

The most common materials Metal Tech manufactures components from are EN8 and EN19

Supplying components into the planter machinery industry, the shop floor is meticulously laid out as components manufactured move from production line to production line, through quality control and onto their respective distribution points on the floor, ready to leave to their respective customers. “We won’t turn anyone away, I’m happy to manufacture limited production runs or one or two-offs for clients. We are actually rigged up for that – for example, if my client across the road were to come in today, there is a very good chance they will still get that part today. If we have the material on hand, a job card is produced and we get on with it,” said Goosen.

Metal Tech specialises in the manufacture of components for the planter industry

Some of the components manufactured by Metal Tech are exported into parts of Africa

Precision engineered components

Having spent the better part of nine years running as a 24-hour operation, Goosen made the decision so that in order to have better control of the entire operation and better efficiencies all round, it was time to invest in more CNCs for the various milling and turning operations. These also include a number of VMCs as well as a number of lathes and a CNC pipe bending machine capable of bending up to five angles. The majority of the machines on the shop floor are supplied by WD Hearn Machine Tools, Lead Machine Tools and Retecon – all of whom Goosen speaks very highly of and has long-standing relationships with. Each machine has its place and function in the overall operation. Also on the floor are a range of hydraulic presses, the biggest of which is a 120-ton press.

An example of a one-off component that has been manufactured for a client

Machining taking place with a Fanuc RoboDrill

One of Metal Tech’s latest acquisitions, a SINO VMC1000L vertical milling machine equipped with a Siemens 828D Basic control with ShopMill conversational programming cycles, supplied by Lead Machine Tools

Leadwell’s flagship Vertical Machining Center, a V-50L

The most recent machine purchase was a SINO VMC1000L vertical milling machine equipped with a Siemens 828D Basic control with ShopMill conversational programming cycles, supplied by Lead Machine Tools. The machine features a worktable size of 500mm x 1 200mm, has XYZ travels of 1 000mm by 500mm by 600mm and a spindle speed of 8 000rpm. Its shoulder carrying tool magazine can ensure Z axis geometric accuracy and perfect stability, rigidity and the least amount of deformation when the column is loaded with full tool (24 tools) magazine weight.

From humble beginnings that saw Goosen hiring his first small machine before eventually buying it – a 1995 model machine that was only recently scrapped ¬– he is extremely proud of the machines across the shop floor now.

The most common materials Metal Tech manufactures components from are EN8 and EN19, of which Macsteel is a big supplier, and because of the high volumes of these materials that are processed on a monthly basis, material handling and storage are high on Goosen’s agenda. There are plans to expand the current shop floor by a further 1 200m2, thus allowing even further production line efficiency as well as better material storage capabilities. Welding is also done on site.

Sometimes you don’t need the most modern machines to get the work done

A CNC pipe bending machine capable of bending up to five angles

Welding taking place on site

Efficiency is a key principle by which Goosen runs his business and this is not only visible across the shop floor layout, but in small things like an automated tool insert vending machine that ensures unnecessary wastage is eliminated. Instead of suddenly realising that you have run out of a critical insert for a specific component run, everything is meticulously monitored and controlled by software, and reordering ensures the timeous arrival of whatever is needed. And of course, when your main customer is literally across the road, you are afforded many logistical cost savings too. A further benefit to this is obviously having open channels of communication and a relationship where it is not uncommon to step across the road and visit your customer or vice versa. This is called working smarter, and not harder. While it is not always possible to work across the road from your main customer, a lot of small and medium businesses could benefit from similar arrangements given the high cost constraints transportation of components places on a business.

Quality control is extremely important for Metal Tech and this is carried out on site

Metal Tech has a range of hydraulic presses, the biggest of which is a 120-ton press

An automated tool insert vending machine that ensures unnecessary wastage is eliminated

Metal Tech’s components can be found in top of the range planter equipment from Australia to parts of Eastern Europe where agriculturally rich heritages are well established, and only the best quality will do. Goosen likes a challenge and setting up the next phase of expansion is something he looks forward to undertaking. Currently Metal Tech employs 30staff.

For further details contact Metal Tech Precision Engineering on +27 21 917 1441 or email Jannie Goosen on jannie@metaltechsa.co.za