There is currently a significant global demand for containerised and mobile engineered solutions. These solutions include fully equipped and tested motor control centres and substations.

The containers are engineered to comply with local and international standards and conditions, taking into consideration the environment and location where they will be deployed, says engineering, integration and manufacturing company Iritron divisional manager Gerhard Greeff.

Demand is high for solutions that include features such as the containers’ having a secure entry and safe exit – fully tested at Iritron’s manufacturing facility in Pretoria, Gauteng – and being ready for installation on site, as well as optional fire protection and air conditioning.

“The container solutions are high-quality products that include industrial-grade flooring with additional support for switchgear, as well as wall and ceiling insulation. Once the containers arrive at our facility, it takes only a matter of days to mount and test all the pre-prepared equipment in the container, and to ship the container to the client site,” he explains.

Greeff also points out that there is an equally high demand for mobile trailer solutions, particularly from mining and agriculture clients.

The mobile trailer solutions offer various features.

These features include smart WiFi trailer solutions for autonomous drill monitoring in opencast mining, solar and battery backup, WiFi extensibility, traffic control and security cameras.

Other features include cooling, freezing and drying, all in one trailer; custom-build solutions on standard or customised chassis; and single- and double-axis chassis platforms based on client needs.

He enthuses that, based on Iritron’s well-engineered solutions, designs and practical experience with container and trailer solutions, the company is looking at new applications to solve the challenges of clients.

“One example is to provide solutions in the agriculture sector, specifically with the current loadshedding challenges. Also, Smart mining and manufacturing, and the digitisation of the value chain provides many opportunities where we can assist clients with our solutions to improve efficiencies and throughput, save costs and derive real business value.”

Supply Chain Challenges

Greeff stresses that the global supply chain disruption caused by Covid-19 still poses a challenge for Iritron, particularly in sourcing equipment that requires the use of microprocessors and semiconductor devices.

However the company’s partnerships with many “world-leading” original-equipment manufacturers mitigate supply chain challenges.

“In consultation with our clients, we can also propose alternative technologies, where the lead times are acceptable in terms of the project timelines. Another mitigating factor is that the container and trailer solutions do shorten overall project time when compared to traditional solutions, where the construction of buildings needs to be provided for,” he concludes.