The Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA) is proud to announce that it has confirmed three of the world’s leading experts on PVC as speakers ahead of its Vinyls SA 2017 Conference that will be taking place on Wednesday, 7 June 2017 at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg.  

According to SAVA CEO, Delanie Bezuidenhout, this year’s event will build on the success of the Association’s first Vinyls SA 2014 Conference that took place on the back of the Global Vinyls Council’s (GVC) first bi-annual meeting hosted on the African continent.  

“Our first conference attracted more than 100 delegates from around the country and as far afield as Argentina! Like the first event, delegates who will be attending this year’s event can again look forward to a full and varied programme of original papers and presentations by visiting international and local experts who will be sharing the stage and their expertise on various matters relating to manufacturing, use and recycling of PVC,” Delanie says.  

Local and international PVC experts share the stage  

“This year, we are pleased to confirm that several of the world’s leading experts will be returning to South Africa to present their latest findings and research as it relates to PVC,” Delanie says. Confirmed speakers for the Vinyls SA 2017 conference include:  

• Peter Willis – Senior Associate, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) who will be delivering the key-note address on the day.
• Ian Lilja – of the Vinyl Council of Australia (VCA), who will be delivering an update on the VCA Product Stewardship Programme
• Dr Brigitte Dero – General Manager of the European Council for Vinyl Manufacturers and VinylsPlus, who will be providing an expert overview of the European Regulatory and Policy Context
• Gerhard Kuhn – Senior Economist at the IDC, who will be looking at the South African Economy and the various opportunities and challenges it presents for the local PVC industry.
• Renier Snyman – DPI Plastics: SABS? SANS? SATAS? Navigating the world of standards!  

Industry Awards  

A highlight of the conference will be an awards session where SAVA will recognize the achievements and contributions made by individuals and SAVA member companies within the PVC industry. 

“We will be issuing the call for nominations shortly and are extremely excited about the awards session, a first for our industry, and also see it as an opportunity to publicly thank and recognize those industry champions who are passionate about guiding the PVC industry to achieve the goals we have set in terms of sustainability,” Delanie explains.  

Opportunity to get involved 

SAVA has issued a call for papers to the PVC industry and conference organisers are currently working through the submissions. The final programme will be released in April. “However, we will still consider late submissions if the content is topical, relevant and presents and interesting point of view,” Delanie says. 

Other ways in which to get involved in the Vinyls SA 2017 event, is through making the most of the various sponsorship opportunities available. 

“We have various packages available for companies who want to partner with us in the hosting of this prestigious event,” Delanie says.  Packages range from R50 000 for a Headline Sponsor, to R5 000 for a Bronze sponsorship. Limited exhibition opportunities are also available, as are advertising opportunities in the conference programme.   

“We know that the vinyls industry both locally and internationally is on the cusp of having to make important changes as it faces various challenges in an ever-evolving arena. The timing of this year’s event is therefore critical.  We encourage everybody who is in some way involved in, or associated with, the PVC industry to attend Vinyl SA 2017 as we learn from international best practice models, but also chart a way forward for our own course,” Delanie concludes.   

For more information or to register, visit www.savinyls.co.za or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

Johannesburg, Thursday January 12th, 2017-- Today, Furnitureshop.co.za introduced a revolutionary new way to connect furniture shoppers and craftsmen all across South Africa. Through Furniturespot, artisanal craftsmen get access to an online platform and shoppers finally are able to order their one-of-a-kind furniture with incredible ease. Why compromise, and buy expensive imported furniture from a big company, when you can have your furniture custom-made by local artisans at a fair price? Because local is lekker!

Only the best craftsmen are given access to the platform. Furniturespot’s makers make all types of furniture including tables, cabinets, chandeliers and even custom made braais.  

Furniturespot.co.za helps customers realise their furniture ideas by connecting them to talented artisanal craftsmen. Customers can upload a picture of their desired furniture they have seen on Pinterest or somewhere else. Furniturespot will send the customer three different quotations. Based on price and previous reviews, the customer decides which craftsman to take for the job.  

The founders of Furniturespot, Wouter and Lizet, spent months to find the best craftsmen Johannesburg has to offer for their platform. Wouter: “It took much more time than expected. We drove hundreds of kilometres in the city of Johannesburg. These artisanal craftsmen are difficult to find because they don’t have a website and there is no rating system available where you can pick the best furniture makers.”  

The founders got the idea when they were redecorating their home but couldn’t find what they were looking for. “It was either too expensive, too big, too small or just not the right colour. To create exactly the pieces we had in mind, we went custom. But we couldn’t find furniture makers to be trusted. This is how we got the idea to start Furniturespot.co.za,” said Lizet.  

Stimulating the local economy

Furniturespot.co.za wants to stimulate the local economy by bringing more business to craftsmen. Lizet: “When you go shopping at one of the major furniture stores you will find that most furniture is imported, and with a quality that is average at best. We believe that the lack of trust and the inconvenience to order custom made furniture are important factors for people not using local talent. Our platform connects talented artisanal craftsmen with all those customers looking for that one-of-a-kind piece of furniture. Furniturespot.co.za supports the “Local is lekker” movement.  

The website takes away the fear of trust that so many people have when they are looking for a furniture maker. Furniturespot’s craftsmen have been screened by Furniturespot on quality and trustworthiness. Wouter: “Customers want to go to a one-stop-shop they can trust”. Custom made is much more affordable than what people would think. Wouter: “Everybody thinks that custom made pieces are expensive. I would say it is quite the opposite. Our makers are much more affordable than your mainstream furniture shops, because we have cut out the middlemen. And when it is custom made, the pieces meet our customers’ exact specifications. Why buy something not quite right when you can have it custom made?”  

About

Furniturespot.co.za is a new online marketplace in South Africa for custom made furniture. Furniturespot.co.za has built an exciting platform for turning customer furniture ideas into reality by connecting them to the best artisanal craftsmen South Africa has to offer. By delivering great customer service through creative and manufacturing expertise at an affordable price point, furniturespot.co.za is making custom made furniture accessible to everyone. At furniturespot.co.za we bring one-of-a-kind ideas to life.

August 31, 2014 Intertek Sub-Saharan Africa promotes Management System Integration Johannesburg, South Africa

Intertek, a leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide, hosted a Management System Solution symposium in Johannesburg  from 21-22 August 2014, addressing management system challenges and integration.  

Integrated management systems can be implemented by organizations in any sector and of any size. Organizations may consider this step to lower costs and simplify their maturing management systems by fully or partially integrating the requirements of different audit criteria with a single set of documentation, policies, procedures and processes.  Integrated audits can bring many benefits to your organization, such as lower certification costs, fewer interruptions to the organization, reduced documentation, streamlined processes, and more consistent objectives across multiple systems.  

The symposium included presentations by industry specialists, who addressed the benefits and practicalities of integrating multiple management systems, as well as individuals who had been involved in the integration of multiple management systems within their companies.  The event also featured professionals who currently serve on the international committee developing the new ISO 9001: 2015 revision, and who are actively involved in the review of the ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 international standards.  

The proposed changes to the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards, prior to their expected release in mid-2015, as well as the impact of the High Level Structure on the ISO range of standards was of great interest to attendees. Delegates were also provided with the opportunity to engage in working group sessions which addressed generic global and local non-conformances as well as those specific to the SHEQ, CSR and Food schemes.

Intertek will continue to keep the sub-Saharan marketplace abreast of the changes affecting management systems, and to provide solutions to their clients in this area.  Changes to the standards will not only have an effect on management systems, but also on auditing services. Intertek ensures that all of their auditors are trained on the updates to these management system standards in order to provide the highest quality service to the industry.  

Intertek Services (Pty) Ltd currently provides integrated auditing solutions and certification for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 22000, FSSC 22000 standards as well as a variety of Corporate Social Responsibility programmes, as well as training on the implementation and auditing on these standards for industry.  

For further information and business opportunities please contact:

Charlene Holm
Key Accounts Manager,
Business Assurance
Intertek Services PTY Ltd,
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 396 1101
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.    

Amanda Pienaar
Key Accounts Manager,
Life Sciences (Food and Pharmaceuticals)
Intertek Services PTY Ltd,
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 396 1101
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   

Adele Krogh
Key Accounts Manager,
Intertek Academy
Intertek Services PTY Ltd,
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 396 1101
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   

Media Contacts
Bridget Day
Media & Marketing Manager,
Intertek Services PTY Ltd,
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 396 1101
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.     

About Intertek
Intertek is a leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide.  From auditing and inspection, to testing, training, advisory, quality assurance and certification, Intertek adds value for its customers by helping improve the quality and safety of their products, assets and processes.  With a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 36,000 people in more than 100 countries, Intertek supports companies’ success in the global marketplace, by helping customers to meet end users’ expectations for safety, sustainability, performance, integrity and desirability in virtually any market worldwide. 
Visit www.intertek.com 

This month, South African industry heavyweights are making their way to the heart of the Zambian mining region to be part of the Copperbelt Mining Trade Expo and Conference (CBM-TEC) - Zambia's premier networking event for international and regional companies that operate within the country's highly-lucrative Copperbelt region, being hosted in Kitwe on 28 and 29 April 2014.

Joining over 80 exhibitors at the conference this year is IWC - South African leaders in cooling towers and cooling solutions in Africa offering fully integrated solutions, from cooling towers to glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) manufacturing and plate heat exchangers (PHE) supplied by SONDEX. The company’s range of products are packaged cooling towers, large field erected cooling towers and natural draught cooling towers. The company also provides refurbishment services thereof.

IWC’s keen interest to explore the possibilities of Zambia’s mining industry is not without good reason. The dynamic industrial growth and recent accessibility of the Zambian Copperbelt region means new opportunities for business.

Company MD Roger Rusch says, “Zambia is of strategic importance to the Southern African mining sector. With the steady flow of investments, the copper mining industry is growing at a rapid rate and we are keen to be a part of this emerging market.”

Zambia has a mining history spanning over ninety years. In the late 1960s, the country was ranked as the world’s third largest copper producer, after the United States and the former Soviet Union. Currently, Zambia is the largest copper producer in Africa and the seventh largest copper producer in the world.

After a successive slump in output over the past few years, the Zambian copper mining industry had a marked rebound in 2013. The country managed a strong growth rate of 6.5 % in 2013, supported by a 20% rise in copper output in 2012. This trend is set to continue and copper output is projected to reach 1.5 million tonnes by 2015, largely due to investment in new mines and the expansion of capacity at existing plants. Robust international copper prices will provide additional stimulus to mining.

The combination of a stable regulatory environment, responsible corporations, and the right technical skills has been the main attraction for investors from across the globe. Zambia now ranks No. 83 out of 189 countries on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, benchmarked to June 2013.

When asked what IWC can offer to the Zambian mining industry, company MD Roger Rusch explains that IWC specialises in the design and manufacture of cooling towers and fibreglass products e.g. tanks, piping and process vessels that are used extensively in the mining and metals processing industry in Zambia. “We are well prepared to meet Zambia’s mining-industry specific demands,” says Rusch.

IWC has recently launched a fibreglass production facility. This facility is capable of constructing large diameter tanks, pressure vessels, piping and ducting of all vital components in the mining process and has recently supplied large capacity fibreglass filter vessels to FQML (Kansanshi) as well as large diameter dampers to Mopani Copper Mines Plc for the Converter and Acid Plant project.

The dampers that were supplied are in addition to the two large mechanical draft cooling towers IWC provided, one for the gas plant and another for the acid plant. IWC has a proud association with the Zambian copper industry having previously undertaken work for KCM, Mopani and FQML.

IWC also offers a range of heat exchanger solutions covering the easiest to the most challenging applications. Additionally the company operates a state of the art service centre for the servicing and cleaning of plate heat exchangers. IWC are able to provide a comprehensive range of replacement gaskets and plates for most brands and models of plate heat exchanger.

Participating in CBM-TEC 2014 gives IWC the opportunity to make contact with new clients and potential future partners. “We look forward to delivering solutions to ensure optimal efficiency and quality in the mining operations in Zambia,” says Rusch.

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