Originally from Zimbabwe, Norman Chesworth immigrated to South Africa in 1984 with his wife Teresa. After working at Eskom for some time, he joined Kealoc Engineering in 1990. A few years later, in 1992, he was offered the opportunity to take over Kealoc Engineering and its premises and machinery from its then-owner Hilton Kerns, where Chesworth had been working as Works Manager.

After a market shift, Chesworth then acquired Idlers Manufacturing Industries (IMI) and directed his focus back to the original business that had concentrated on fabricating a comprehensive range of conveyor idler rollers and components.

NC Idlers specialise in manufacturing and assembling conveyor idler rollers and their associated components

“This was when I joined Dad in about 2009, and this is when we established NC Idlers,” says one of Norman’s two sons who works at NC Idlers, also named Norman after his father. Norman junior had just completed his Mechatronic Engineering degree and together the father and son duo had the vision of automating as far as possible what had up until then been a very labour intensive and manually focussed assembly business of manufacturing and assembling conveyor idler rollers and their associated components.

“We built our first automated cut off machine and as many other automated machines as we could so as to speed up what we were doing here. That enabled us to gain a bit of an advantage over the rest of the market and our competition at the time, and of course it allowed us to do what we do here on a much larger scale,” explained the younger Chesworth.

NC Idlers’ range of conveyor idlers include steel idlers, impact idlers, HDPE idlers and steel sleeved HDPE idlers – all of which are available in a range of different industry-standard diameters and lengths

“It was not easy in the beginning but we have really started to realise some growth over the last three to four years. The growth had already started, but like I say, over the last few years things have really started taking off and the idea now is that we are looking to buy more advanced machinery as we get into a position where we are able to afford it, increasing our productivity even more.”

Colin Chesworth, Norman senior’s other son, first began working for the family business in 2010 but came on board full time in 2013. His role within the business is multifaceted but his main responsibilities include dealing with customers and business development. Colin has an architectural draughting and hospitality management background. Ashley Bellini, Norman senior’s daughter, is also involved in the business and joined her brothers and father in 2023. Ashley has a master’s degree in speech therapy but looks after the financial side of the business. Norman junior is NC Idlers’ factory and operations manager.

“They complement one another in their various roles and responsibilities here,” says Norman senior. “And that’s what I had always wanted for a family-run business,” he continued.

NC Idlers aims to automate their manufacturing as far as possible and the most recent machine shop upgrade was the purchase and commissioning of a Bodor 6kW K Series Tube Laser Cutter supplied by Spectrum Machine Tools Africa

Norman Chesworth junior has a Mechatronic Engineering degree and together with his father Norman, the duo has always had the vision of automating as far as possible on their shop floor building many of their own machines

Machine shop and operations
“We have a range of lathes, milling machines, a plasma cutter, a lot of customised self-built machinery that Dad and I would set up for one job specifically, as well as various presses, both eccentric and hydraulic, and other pieces of equipment that supplement our operations,” says Norman junior.

NC Idlers have also purchased a FANUC ARC Mate 120iC/10L robotic arc welding arm and on order is a Dongbu dual spindle CNC machining center that has live tooling and is due to arrive soon.

Bodor 6kW K Series Tube Laser Cutter
The most recent machine shop upgrade was the purchase and commissioning of a Bodor 6kW K Series Tube Laser Cutter. Previously, NC Idlers had been (and still do where necessary) cutting their tube on their semi-automated self-designed and built tube cutter. Having now gone the full CNC fiber route, the company is realising significant benefits from incorporating the latest technology into their business.

NC Idlers make use of a FANUC ARC Mate 120iC/10L robotic arc welding arm

NC Idlers manufacture a range of idler components including steel and polyprop end caps, labyrinth seals, dust caps and covers, circlips, bearing housings, impact rubber discs, nylon discs and top hats. Pictured: steel end caps ready for assembly

Th Bodor is designed for precision cutting of a wide range of metal tubes and profiles, including angle steel and I-beams. It incorporates high-speed pneumatic chucks, an auto-focus laser head with Bodor Genius T technology for automatic focal adjustment, and a layout aimed at improving material yield by minimising tail lengths.

Future CNC machine upgrades are also planned as the company looks to further improve the operational side of the business and replace conventional manual processes.

The company is able to manufacture and assemble an entire idler in about 35 seconds now – a vast improvement from before they began streamlining their manufacturing processes.

NC Idlers can be described as a high-volume mass production business that specialise in manufacturing conveyor belt idler rollers and frames as well as the components and consumables that make up their idler range of products.

NC Idlers make use of a range of presses, both eccentric and hydraulic, to manufacture components for their idler range of products

NC Idlers’ range of conveyor idlers include steel idlers, impact idlers, HDPE idlers and steel sleeved HDPE idlers – all of which are available in a range of different industry-standard diameters and lengths. The company also manufacture troughing and return frames that include bent angle iron troughing, straight angle iron troughing, tubular belt friendly troughing, self-aligning troughing and returns, angle Iron V and flat returns and tubular belt friendly V and flat returns, as well as a range of standardised drop brackets. Their drop brackets can be custom-manufactured, depending on customer requirements.

The range of idler components include steel and polyprop end caps, labyrinth seals, dust caps and covers, circlips, bearing housings, impact rubber discs, nylon discs and top hats.

A real family business. Norman Chesworth junior, Teresa Chesworth, Norman Chesworth senior, Ashley Bellini and Colin Chesworth. Father and mother and their three children

NC Idlers operates from a 3 000m2 factory, employ around 50 staff and their products are SABS-certified. The company uses Autodesk Fusion to design customised products and have a 3D printer that they will make use of for producing prototypes. NC Idlers mainly supply their range of products into the mining distribution industry to some of the biggest mining operators across the Southern African and African continent.

For further details contact NC Idlers on TEL: +27 11 762 2551 or visit www.ncidlers.co.za