Steel Construction Vol 40 No 4 - Metal Cladding and Light Steel Frame | Page 33

SAISC SUBSIDIARIES: POLASA
• The fabrication process requires
optimal designs and detailed drawings
balancing functionality, efficient
manufacture and construction within
strictly specified tolerances. Shop
drawings are of extreme importance
as the main means of communication

with the buyers, planners, stockyards,
fabrication workshops, assemblers and
welders, painters, quality assurance and
others.
• All the pieces must be made in
the right sequence and supplied
in balanced quantities so that
construction can proceed smoothly.
• Transport to and storage of fabricated
structural steel products on or near
the site is a major requirement – every
piece must therefore be marked and
good records kept of these continually
changing stocks!
• Provision must be made for bad
weather and working in muddy
conditions!
• Someone had to calculate the costs
in advance and someone else must
now make sure that it works out as
estimated!

Thank you so much for the visit to Kusile. It
feels so good to witness such good work using
mostly our very own raw materials! The
project is enormous! history in the making.
– N Dlambulo, Director: Ferrous Metals,
Industrial Development Division

• Every working person in the factory
and on site has to be formally
qualified to do his or her job, must
be safety trained, must be equipped
with personal and working safety
equipment, and tools they are qualified
to use. They must also be managed to
work efficiently and be paid fairly and
on time.
The site visit was followed by a visit to the
GENREC Engineering works in Wadeville,
Germiston where some of the Fabricated
Structural Steelwork that included the
massive columns weighing up to 70 tons
were manufactured. It was sobering and
disappointing to see this workshop that
last year still had 2 500 people employed is
now down to 250.
There is no doubt that our industry is
facing some very challenging conditions.
The SAISC is committed engaging
stakeholders, raising the concerns of our
members and together, finding a way
forward. We received excellent feedback
from the various participants on this
excursion, and some of them will want to
go again to see the progress made next
year.
The Department of Trade and Industry
has responded very positively by formally
designating a range of fabricated structural
steel and related products.“Designation”
is an instruction to all State Owned
Enterprises such as ESKOM, Transnet,
TPT, the Ports Authorities, Provinces and
Municipalities to purchase 100% of their
requirements for these products made in
South Africa! This will immediately have
a positive impact on local job creation
and preservation, and will serve South
Africa well with all its future major capital
projects.

I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to all
of you for a well planned and executed tour/
visit on Friday.
I’ve personally been on many tours across
the world and the tour on Friday is right
up there... amongst the best. The talk/
presentation on the bus whilst travelling
was an excellent idea. You’ll very cleverly
maximised the day and made best use of a
captive audience.
– S Moodley, Chairman: Metpress

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