This year’s Business Excellence Award, as well as the Overall Winner Award, went to Port Elizabeth-based tank container manufacturer Welfit Oddy. As the only manufacturer of tank containers in South Africa and the second largest tank container manufacturer globally, the company exports 95% of its local production.
Other significant winners were John Cluett, awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the local brewing industry and the development and use of stainless steel in various applications within the food and beverage industry, as well as Diego Sella, also awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to Sassda and the stainless steel industry.
Looking at the enhanced stature of this year’s awards Sassda executive director John Tarboton says, “After the huge increase in the number of entries and winners, as well as the number of categories, we truly feel that the aim of the awards has been realised; namely to boost the growth and development of the local stainless steel sector. The hype created around the awards also means they’ve been invaluable in terms of raising awareness of stainless steel and its myriad uses and applications within the local and global economy.”
In tandem with the increased number of entries and winners the awards judging panel was doubled in size to 12 industry experts from the fabrication, architectural, environmental, catering and welding sectors among others.
National Stainless Steel Centre customer relations manager Tholwana Mogowane, who was also a judge, comments, “I was interested to see that the mining entries revealed many operators upgrading from mild steel to 3CR12 stainless steel. This shows they now appreciate the long-term cost benefits of stainless steel as opposed to short-term savings on cheaper alternatives like mild steel that has to be replaced far more often.”
She adds that the award entries also revealed that people are no longer sticking to traditional plate or coil stainless steel formats as there’s obviously increasing awareness of the fact that stainless steel can be used in a variety of formats.
Overall, Tarboton comments, “Our aim was to boost the aspirational value of the awards by ensuring that participants saw the clear return on investment that their participation and winning provides. We’ve also embraced a more modern approach to championing stainless steel across the continent and the awards are the perfect embodiment of this,” concludes Tarboton.
| Category | Winner | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Student | Jacobus Petrus van Deventer | Welding competitions |
| Student | Obadele Babatunde | Development of functionally graded stainless steels for engineering applications. |
| Environmental | Transfrig | Truck Refrigeration System using 1000L stainless steel cryogenic vessel. |
| Services | Cronimet | Supplying raw material solutions to the stainless-steel melting industry. |
| Welding | ND Engineering | The ongoing development of the orbital welding technology used of the DuPont sweater Acid coolers. |
| Art | Jacques van der Westhuizen | Sculptures |
| Catering & Hospitality | Gary i Crawford | Biltong Cutter: Rage Biltong Cutter |
| Food & Beverage | Gerhard Unger | Manufacture, installation and commission of a 21 Wet (product) conveyors for a product process plant. |
| Architecture Building & Construction | The Matrix | Additions & Alterations to Port Elizabeth Opera House. |
| Engineering | ND Engineering | Ongoing development of RDA Technology. |
| Duplex Stainless Steel | Styria | The use of duplex stainless steels in an application that demonstrates innovation, life cycle cost effectiveness, substitution and growth potential. |
| Ferritic Stainless Steel | Efficient Engineering | Modular Sub Station |
| Manufacturing Innovation | Hazelton Pumps | Hippo Slurry Pump Range |
| Product Development | Anderson Engineering | Anderson Andpure Magnetic Mixer & Anderson Andpure Contramix |
| Export Achievement | Welfit Oddy | Only manufacturer of tank containers in SA and second largest tank container manufacturer globally. |
| Business Excellence | Welfit Oddy | Only manufacturer of tank containers in SA and second largest tank container manufacturer globally. |
| Lifetime Achievement | John Cluett | Contribution made on behalf of the brewing industry in SA and the development and use of stainless steel in various applications within the food & beverage industry. |
| Lifetime Achievement | Diego Sella | Outstanding contribution to Sassda and the stainless steel industry. |
| Overall winner | Welfit Oddy | Only manufacturer of tank containers in SA and second largest tank container manufacturer globally. |
