Hose and tubing products manufacturer Reinforced Hosing (REH) aims to see Africa accounting for about 30% of the company’s sales over the next three to five years, particularly as it foresees a stagnation of the South African market over this period, owing to the weak economic climate.

REH MD Gavin Brown tells Engineering News that, currently, 90% of the company’s sales are generated through local sales.

“Zimbabwe is one of the countries to which we supply a significant amount of product.”

Brown adds that REH is finalising plans to open a product depot in Harare in this quarter, as the company’s garden house brands, Watex and GardenFlo, are well known in not only Zimbabwe but also Mozambique.

He states that the company is increasingly making inroads into the Mozambique hose market.

REH also supplies domestic and mining hoses to Zambia, and Brown is optimistic about increasing the company’s share in that country’s hose market during the course of 2015.

The company also supplies industrial and domestic hoses to retailers in Malawi.

Evolving Operations

In the past five years, REH shifted its focus on being a sole manufacturer of garden hoses and agricultural draglines by adding a range of industrial hoses, mostly for use in the mining industry.

Brown explains that the company saw the opportunity to expand its offering following the closure of pipe systems producer Petzetakis Africa in 2010, which was one of the major suppliers of industrial hoses to the local and African market.

He says that, although the expansion into the industrial hose market has been challenging, owing to the downturn in the local mining industry over the past three years, sales of REH’s industrial hose range have remained stable.

Meanwhile, Brown says REH is aiming to bring a broad-based black economic-empowerment (BBBEE) partner on board to provide the company, which has a yearly turnover of R70-million, with greater business opportunities.

Brown envisions a 50:50 partnership agreement with the BBBEE partner and emphasises that he does not, “in any way”, want the partner to be a front for REH.

“We are seeking genuine business partners that will work with REH’s management team to further develop the company,” he asserts.

Challenges
Brown points out that the company, which can produce about 500 t/m of flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic hoses, is facing challenges which include the rising costs of labour, plastic and electricity, as well as having to compete with cheaper Chinese imported hoses.

He says that REH, therefore, places significant emphasis on ensuring the quality of its product range, which is evidenced by the company being compliant with the SANS 1086:2007 standard for the production of PVC pressure hoses.

Brown adds that this is important to mining companies that are required to comply with the industry’s health and safety standards.

“We test our hoses on an hourly basis at our in-house laboratory, in Chamdor, Krugersdorp, to ensure every batch of hoses produced is of the highest quality,” Brown emphasises.

Product Specifications and Benefits

Brown notes that all REH’s hoses are manu- factured using virgin raw material and are highly durable and flexible, with high cut and abrasion resistance.

The company’s mining hoses are colour-coded to differentiate between the standard mining hoses (orange and blue) and the heavy-duty hoses (green). The hoses range in diameters from 10 mm to 50 mm.

Additionally, Brown says REH’s red fire hoses are manufactured in sizes ranging from 12 mm to 20 mm in diameter.

Further, he points out that the outer coverings of the company’s dragline hoses are black and ribbed, thereby offering high levels of abrasion and ultraviolet ray resistance.

The standard range of dragline hoses have a five-year design life, while the heavy-duty dragline hoses have a ten-year design life, with the five-year range offering a minimum burst pressure of 3 500 kPa and the ten-year range offering a minimum burst pressure of 4 000 kPa.

Brown adds that REH’s industrial tubing range is made out of clear, reinforced tubing and is available in reinforced as well as thin and thick wall types.

“Our industrial tubing is suitable for low- pressure applications, offers good flexibility and is highly resistant to gases and chemicals. The range is available in sizes varying from 3 mm × 30 mm rolls to 32 mm × 30 mm rolls.”

In conclusion, Brown also points out that REH manufactures an industrial hose range of liquefied petroleum gas hoses, oxygen and acetylene hoses, fuel hoses as well as air and water hoses.