If you are in the business of processing, fabricating or manufacturing with metal as your material of choice, you decide which production method to choose based on factors such as demand, sales forecasts, the assembly technique, materials involved and what resources are available. For example, you might choose to make a product in bulk batches while a certain ingredient is in stock or on sale, or in smaller numbers to fulfil customer orders without having additional storage costs.

We all know that owning and running a business can be a complex and demanding process these days, especially with all the government regulations and rules that you have to adhere to, whether it be for the actual process or the end product and you have to take into account the labour regulations and the sustainability pressures. There are many others with each individual company having its own set of circumstances to deal with. But with all these extra demands they come with a price and therefore pressure on the bottom line.

Timeous quoting, changing market conditions, scheduling, bills of material, quality control and tracking are just some of the elements that make the need for the right software that controls the entire flow an absolute necessity. Additionally, most software programmes don’t talk to each other – whether it is finance, sales, production, logistics, HR, IT (CAD/CAM software, CRM/ERP) or machine CNC controls.

Featuring on the front cover of this issue is eTrack, a production management and manufacturing software solution that has been developed by Tekenso, an international technology company with strong South African origins. With many years of experience in the metal processing industry their executives have developed eTrack software to remove the complexity from any metal processing environment by creating order and giving you the ability to track any item(s) throughout your organisation, be that in an office, shop floor, or anywhere where it matters. The software gives you centralised control providing you with the valuable information you require and tracks the production process at all levels – from order to production to delivery and of course cost and payment.

Launched four years ago the software has been going through an extensive proof of concept period and has emerged with many more features that flat metal processing companies can’t ignore. Conceptualised in South Africa this development is now getting real traction amongst metal processors, locally and internationally. Go and speak to National Stainless Steel Centre to see how they have benefitted from the software.

This is one story of many in this issue where, we as South Africans, can stand tall and be proud. Machining high-tech, high-quality titanium products for the medical industry in Paarden Eiland is Ti-TaMED. This is not the only high-tech industry they supply precision engineered components to. You can add aerospace and the elite yacht industry to the list. You would be astounded if we could mention whose yachts the company has machined components for.

Then there is Dave Gouws of Carbide CNC who is conceptualising, prototyping and manufacturing components for the international oil and gas industry, with many of them used in the safety critical zone.

Braaing is a go-to activity and cooking style in South Africa. Accompanying implements such as tongs to turn the meat are a must. The stainless steel braai tongs are a fantastic choice for any braai enthusiast. At first a novel idea but now a serious business is the Donkey Long Tong. We have found out where most of the components are processed – they are all hand assembled. We are hoping to have a story on the developers and manufacturers of the tongs in the next issue.

These are all South African stories that we should all be proud of.