The professional body South African Valve and Actuator Manufacturers Association (Savama) offers a series of courses and training programmes for industry stakeholders.

Formed by valve and actuator companies in 1974 under the auspices of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa), Savama continues to make headway in developing the valves industry through education and training.

The CEOs and MDs of the organisations belonging to Savama developed training courses aimed at sharing the knowledge and skills that had been developed and accrued by some of these organisations, since the 1950s. This benefits new valve and actuator companies and new employees, alongside other interested parties from industries that use valves.

Savama vice chairperson Julius Frauendorf says that he remembers completing the Quarter Turn Valve course in 1998, when he joined the valve industry, and a year later the Control Valve Course, which was presented by industry luminary Mike Sessions.

“The courses were well thought out and provided a very good skill set to anyone interested in valves. The training was updated and became available as online courses that have continued to grow and evolve since 2006. “The courses take, on average, three to six months to complete, affording participants the opportunity to perform their daily roles and responsibilities while completing the courses.”

Additionally, Frauendorf highlights the benefits of being able to access top valve specialists as mentors, as this helps maximise the “training journey” with real value-add for participants.

Over the past 19 years, over 400 students from 47 different valve manufacturing companies based in South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana have participated in these valve courses.

He asserts that the weeks-long, hands-on training regime is extremely beneficial for valve operators and plant supervisors. This helps to embed practical knowledge and understanding, and greatly advances their ability to operate, maintain, troubleshoot and service valves when needed.

The training will be evolving again in the “not-too-distant” future, as the team explores options to make the courses available in more languages.

“This will be of great benefit to students that have a first language other than English and will open the window to export the Savama training courses to even more countries,” says Frauendorf.

Course Breakdown

Savama offers a ‘Control Valves Course’ (CVC) that covers the principles of fluid mechanics, control valve design and selection criteria. It also compares software packages pertaining to the sizing and selection of control valves and factors affecting material selection. Actuator types and categories are covered along with all control devices and the significant testing required.

The CVC is a ten-module course with an exam at the end.

There is also the ‘Basic Valves Course’ (BVC), a short six-module course covering an introduction to all the different types of valves, end connections, components, methods of operation and terminology. It also covers valve selection in terms of the valve’s design, characteristics and application. There are a total of nine quizzes, as well as the exam.

The current BVC was introduced in 2017 and has had “great success”.

Finally, the ‘Working with Valves Course’ has ten modules that help trainees analyse principles of valve design, application, characteristics and installation. Additionally, this course provides insights into valve selection, as well as giving substantial time to materials of construction and valve ratings.

There are online quizzes and assignments, as well as an exam at the end of this course.

“Currently, Savama is working closely with (Seifsa) on the introduction of a practical section to be facilitated at the Seifsa training centre in Benoni. This course has the added benefit of being an accredited course recognised within the South African skills training framework,” concludes Frauendorf.