Engineers of the future given a glimpse of 'real-life' factory environment

31 March 2014
A group of young and aspiring engineers were given a behind-the-scenes tour of Rio-Carb's R9-million state-of-the-art 3 000 m2 manufacturing facility in Alrode, Johannesburg, as part of an open day hosted by the company.
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application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document iconEngineers of the future given a glimpse of 'real-life' factory environment16.94 KBDownload
PreviewA group of 36 pupils from Jeppe Boys and Girls High attended Rio Carb's open day3.59 MBDownload
PreviewRio Carb's open day on Thursday, March 27, 20143.43 MBDownload
PreviewRio-Carb clients and selected media representatives also attended the open day3.34 MBDownload
PreviewRio-Carb clients and selected media representatives also attended the open day3.12 MBDownload
PreviewRio-Carb's R9-million state-of-the-art 3 000 m2 manufacturing facility in Alrode.3.42 MBDownload
Previewio-Carb's R9-million state-of-the-art 3 000 m2 manufacturing facility in Alrode3.19 MBDownload
Previewio-Carb's R9-million state-of-the-art 3 000 m2 manufacturing facility in Alrode.3.17 MBDownload
PreviewThe pupils received exposure to the importance of workshop housekeeping and cleanliness.3.22 MBDownload
PreviewThe pupils received exposure to the importance of workshop housekeeping and cleanliness.3.49 MBDownload

PRESS RELEASE

Engineers of the future given a glimpse of 'real-life' factory environment

27 March 2014: A group of young and aspiring engineers were given a behind-the-scenes tour of Rio-Carb's R9-million state-of-the-art 3 000 m2 manufacturing facility in Alrode, Johannesburg, as part of an open day hosted by the company.

A group of 36 pupils from Jeppe Boys and Girls High attended Rio Carb's open day on Thursday, March 27, 2014 in order to gain greater insight into the workings behind mining equipment technology.  Jeppe civil technology teacher Robert Faltermeier notes that the visit was an overwhelming success.

"Feedback from the pupils was exceptionally positive, as they were keen to gain exposure to a factory environment. Experts from Rio-Carb were very accommodating, and provided the group with valuable exposure, especially from a practical and hands-on perspective," he explains.

According to Faltermeier, the pupils received exposure to the importance of workshop housekeeping and cleanliness, as well as employee health and safety. "This real-life exposure is important for the pupils to learn how an actual operation is safely, efficiently and profitably run. It also gives them a far better idea of what is expected of them when they leave school and enter the working world, in a technical environment."

Rio-Carb directors Martin and Colin Maine, former Jeppe High School pupils themselves, add:       "Aspiring young engineers also had a taste of the requirements and standards they could expect when they eventually graduate to a first-world working environment.”

In addition to the pupils, Rio-Carb clients and selected media representatives also attended the open day to celebrate the company's new flagship facility, which was developed as a result of a significant rise in demand for the company's innovative range of Chromium Carbide (CrC) abrasion resistant liner plates, pipes and welding wire, which are proven to be highly effective in mining applications.

“Our new 3000m² factory is located on a 4 000 m2 stand, and has been specifically redesigned with new facilities in order to provide customers with the excellent quality of product that they have come to expect from Rio-Carb, in substantially reduced turnaround times," Martin continues.

Among the new additions is a computer aided design (CAD) plasma control centre, which is able to streamline the productivity of the company's plasma cutting machines, by ensuring extremely accurate sizing and nesting of components. Another major benefit of the new Rio-Carb factory is the fact that it has been designed with environmental sustainability in mind.

“Great attention has been paid to reducing CO2 emissions, with over 80 high-bay lights formerly with 400 W globes being replaced with LED equivalents, which consume just one eighth of the original power. Our CrC liner plates last eight to ten times longer than conventional liners, making Rio-Carb an eco-friendly option. We have taken this one step further by following internationally recognised ISO 14000 certification for waste disposal and resource conservation," Colin concludes.

 

Ends

Notes to the Editor
There are numerous photographs specific to this press release. Please visit http://media.ngage.co.za  and click the Rio-Carb link.

About Rio-Carb
Rio-Carb manufactures wear-resistant Chromium Carbide clad liner plates for heavy materials handling applications in the mining and allied resources industries. The company was initially motivated by Martin Maine, who had experience in the welding and manufacturing industries. He was importing the current product from Australia, and saw the opportunity to establish local manufacture in 1982, when Rio-Tinto had ambitions to establish manufacturing companies allied to mining, and therefore, financed and capitalised the new Rio-Carb for local manufacture. After being in the Rio-Tinto (SA) stable for 16 years, there was a management buy-out by the existing and current share-holders.

Rio-Carb Contact
Martin Maine
Rio-Carb director
Phone: (011) 908 1014
Fax:  (011) 908 4139
Email: info [at] riocarb [dot] co [dot] za

Media Contact
Bridgette Macheke
NGAGE Public Relations
Phone: (011) 867-7763
Fax: 086 512 3352
Cell: 083 260 8214
Email: renay [at] ngage [dot] co [dot] za
Web: www.ngage.co.za

Browse the Ngage Media Zone for more client press releases and photographs at http://media.ngage.co.za