Industrial valves supplier Process and Allied Contracting Equipment (Pace Valves) plans to embrace the technological developments that will be prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa to sustain its supply growth.

This is in line with the company’s Fourth Industrial Revolution aspirations, says Pace Valves external sales and technical manager Martin Horsfall.

He notes that the global market for automated valves is “very mature”, with the local market also adopting technological advancements in aspects such as actuation and communication systems.

“Pace Valves is no stranger to developments in valve automation, as it supplies actuated control and isolating valves for a range of industrial, mining and infrastructural process plants. Digital communication protocols, such as Hart, Profibus and Modbus, have become more widely employed locally, and these technologies are included in Pace Valves’ actuation product range,” Horsfall tells Engineering News & Mining Weekly.

The company’s valve product range is extensive, which enables the company to execute project orders using an assortment of valve types in a variety of applications.

He notes that this flexibility is an important facet of the company, as it is a major selling point among customers.

Further, from its leading valves products, the Floval multi-function control valves are designed and developed in-house to meet the market demand for a simple, reliable and inexpensive product range, Horsfall highlights.

These valves are mostly used in the water sector but are also suitable for use in stainless steel or duplex alloy steels, where more aggressive fluids are common.

“Floval is a truly South African-manufactured product, which uses local castings and other key components. The valves are robust in design, providing reliable and long-lasting service. They rarely require maintenance and are competitively priced, compared with imported competitor products,” Horsfall enthuses.

Moreover, notwithstanding the economic future of the country looking uncertain, the company hopes to engage in more social upliftment programmes in future.

Pace Valves would like to support learners from communities that are in need who are interested in pursuing a technically oriented career. The company’s aim is to encourage the youth to embark on careers in the valves industry.

“We would like to offer bursaries to qualified and deserving recipients so that they can strive to become the next generation of valve specialists. This would help to grow the economy, alleviate poverty and improve service delivery to the general population,” he concludes.