Global hydraulics manufacturer Hydac South Africa aims to expand its South African market share by bolstering its operations in the country, says Hydac South Africa MD Walter Heijboer.

He estimates that Hydac has a market share of between 25% and 30% for hydraulic filtration systems in the industrial sector in South Africa. “This is low, but I am confident that the company will continue to make inroads in the local market through targeted marketing campaigns.”

South African companies are still getting used to the new offerings from Hydac and a mind shift in the marketplace will take place over time, he believes.

“We have to change the South African perception that Hydac is solely a filtration company, as we are much more than that,” adds Heijboer.

Hydac is gaining market share in process filtration for water applications at water treatment plants. “Products such as the automatic back-flush filter that removes larger particles from water used at power stations and power plants are being used in local industries,” Heijboer points out.

A Hydac team is installing hydraulic piping at State-owned power utility Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile coal-powered power station projects in Limpopo and Mpumalanga respectively.

Heijboer expects that the Medupi and Kusile projects will provide Hydac with work for the next four to five years, as the projects require extensive hydraulic fittings.

The company also has a contract with steel and mining company ArcelorMittal in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, to install hydraulic piping at the gas scrubber for its blast furnaces. The gas scrubbers are used to remove some particulates and/or gases from industrial exhaust streams and Hydac will begin work on the project in mid-2013. “The installation and commissioning of the hydraulic scrubbers will take between six to eight weeks,” states Heijboer.

Hydac has been sending equipment to South Africa for more than 35 years and is at present Europe’s third-largest manufacturer of hydraulics. The com- pany, which is headquartered in Germany, established an office in South Africa four years ago, to introduce its complete product offering.

Over and above the company's hydraulic filtration products, the office has enabled Hydac to stock items such as piston pumps, gear and vane pumps, hydraulic valves for industrial applications, electronics and hydraulic valves for mobile applications.

“These products and components were not well known to the South African market, but Hydac had been supplying these products in Europe for years. The Hydac South Africa office has helped to greatly enhance the company’s capacity and capability to market and distribute our full range of services in the Southern African region,” he says.

The company has fully trained and skilled teams in South Africa which are able to customise and install all Hydac systems, ensuring that the system is tailored to customers’ needs, says Heijboer, who highlights that if Hydac equipment is manufactured in Germany and shipped to South Africa, the local operation will do the piping installation, pressure testing, flushing and commissioning.

The company is also seeking to gain local market share through its hydraulic accumulators, cooling systems and electronics.

New Developments
In the past year, Hydac South Africa also introduced a new range of products, namely its heat exchanger systems. “There are two types of heat exchangers, the oil-to-water and oil-to-air systems, and they are fully suitable for lubrication and hydraulic applications,” Heijboer says, adding that the uptake in the market has been positive to date.

“This year, Hydac South Africa has introduced a new hydraulic cooler, which is quieter and more energy efficient, as it cools oil with air in the same way a radiator does. Noise pollution is dramatically reduced and the cooler is an upgrade from a previous system, which was not as silent,” he says.

Hydac is in the final testing stages for the transformer care unit and has been running trials on the product for the past eight months. The transformer care unit will assist in extending the life span of a transformer by removing gas, water and solid contaminants from oil. It has to be permanently installed onto a transformer to ensure it functions correctly, says Heijboer.

The transformer care unit is a new technological advancement by Hydac, for which it has an international patent. Heijboer expects the product to be launched onto the market during the course of this year.

However, Hydac is not the cheapest supplier, says Heijboer. “Our price is linked to the quality of our products. At times, companies buy cheaper and often inferior products and this is something we recognise as a serious challenge.

“Even if the design of the product is similar to our design, the copy will not match the quality of our products because our products are of the highest quality,” he stresses.

Heijboer also believes that the lack of skills and knowledge in South Africa regarding the operation and maintenance of hydraulic systems often leads to unnecessary breakdowns and the need to replace system parts. This creates a false and negative perception of the durability of hydraulic systems, which impacts negatively on the industry as a whole, he adds.

“Historically, hydraulics has been closely related to the mech- anical side of operations. The hydraulics industry is trying to push for dedicated professionals who deal exclusively with the maintenance of hydraulic systems. Currently, the trade of hydraulics technician is not recognised by industry as other industrial expertise is. I hope that, in future, this changes,” says Heijboer.

He highlights that the South African hydraulics industry has well-established suppliers. Therefore, Hydac is increasing its marketing drive to make further inroads into the competitive domestic hydraulics market.

Hydac South Africa is considering the establishment of a maintenance and services operation division, so as to have a full-time fluid care unit in South Africa. However, ongoing feasibility studies, based on cost and viability, are still required before any steps are taken.

The Hydac Group companies include Red Fox, Quality Hydraulic Power, RT-FilterTechnik, Hycom, Bierie, Nordhydraulic, TTC and Schroeder Filtration.

“Many people believe that we are only an agent for Hydac in South Africa, but we are Hydac reporting directly to Hydac’s headquarters, which are based in Sulzbach, Germany. “We are the sole importer and distributor for our products in South Africa,” concludes Heijboer.