Following 10 months of negotiations, Hytec Engineering appointed ACO Casting Services SA, the South African arm of Germany-based ACO Group, specialists in continuous castings, as its cylinder castings supplier effective mid-February 2015. The decision to change castings suppliers was, primarily, to enable Hytec Engineering to raise the standards of its cylinder castings to international levels, a level already attained by ACO Eurobar®, the brand name marketed by the ACO Group.

The high quality castings from Germany are supplied as unfinished, with all machining done in South Africa by ACO Casting Services SA, adhering strictly to Hytec Engineering specifications. ACO recently established its South African facility in Germiston, Ekurhuleni, where consignment is held and machining carried out. “The higher quality castings are available with immediate effect,” Pierre Goosen, General Manager Hytec Engineering says, “with ACO Casting Services SA holding consignment stock to agreed levels – some in raw casting format and the remainder pre-machined.”    

Negotiations for the supplier appointment focused around supply, delivery, price and stockholding, as the inherent quality in the ACO Group’s casting products was already well-established. “ACO Eurobar® satisfies the highest quality specifications of the hydraulics industry,” points out Goosen. He adds that the ACO Group and ACO Eurobar® quality levels are acceptable to Bosch Rexroth in Germany, and one of the reasons the Group is their preferred supplier. “In fact, this proven technology was jointly developed with Bosch Rexroth.”   Goosen says that the castings quality from their previous local supplier was inconsistent, but with ACO Casting Services SA a consistent supply of quality castings will enhance Hytec Engineering’s cylinder production, a benefit which will be passed on to its clients. 

Following close on the heels of ACO Casting Services SA’s preferred supplier appointment, the Bosch Group re-awarded the grey and nodular cast iron Preferred Supplier status to ACO Eurobar GmbH on 23 April 2015. ACO Eurobar is the only concast iron supplier in Germany to have retained the Preferred Supplier status of Robert Bosch GmbH since 2010. 

Enquiries:       

Pierre Goosen                        

General Manager                       

Hytec Engineering                        

Tel: +27 (0) 11 387-1900                        

Email: pierre.goosen@hyeng.co.za                        

Website: www.hytecgroup.co.za