Pipe, valve and fluid conveyance specialist the Rare group CEO David Scheepers says that the com- pany is pleased with its order book, and that, while the economy is experiencing a downturn, it is critical to maintain infrastructure assets.

The company recently developed tech- nologies through its Xtender programme, aimed at maintaining infrastructure assets, which, it hopes, capitalise on the pipeline maintenance needs of petrochemicals giant Sasol, and municipal and local authorities.

But Scheepers points out that the challenges would be unlocking momentum and expenditure. He notes that it is a global yardstick that, for every R1 spent on capital expenditure, a further R5 is required for the maintenance of infrastructure throughout its working life.

“I do not believe that in my lifetime there has ever been the type of opportunity for companies such as ours, as there is now. The emphasis is on maintaining our infrastructure. That is our business and we are developing new technologies that are driven towards maintaining existing assets,” he explains.

“The benefits of our model are that we operate across all disciplines of the industry, such as the water, mining, petrochemicals and chemical industries, as well as being involved in government infrastructure,” he adds.

In this way, Scheepers believes, the company can focus on areas that are less affected by the global economic climate, such as infrastructure spend, particularly when resource-based industries are under pressure.

“So, we are operating across all fronts, but, more importantly, we are operating at the top end of demand. We are not selling a product, and we are not reacting to the market, but we are, in fact, creating a market,” he says.

Meanwhile, the company has, since its inception, been involved in several signi- ficant projects with Sasol.

Rare’s contract embraces Sasol’s main- tenance, repair and operational require- ments, and includes evaluation for the management of Sasol’s pipes, fittings and flanges (PFFs) stores and the introduction of new forms of distribution.

The company was awarded its first Sasol Netgain contract in 2000, and says that it has, through perseverance, good service and an intimate understanding of Sasol’s needs, consequently been awarded the Netgain contract for the third time.

Netgain is a long-term contract that scrutinises the total cost of ownership, embracing the direct and indirect costs associated with the buying, owning, using, maintaining and replacing of materials and services.

Rare supplies all carbon steel PFFs as required. It supplies Sasol’s operations in Sasolburg, Secunda and the Nitro plant, in Phalaborwa.

Besides Netgain, Rare also partnered Sasol in procuring PFFs for project Turbo, in 2004. Sasol’s Netgain fits into Rare’s business model of total cost of ownership, which is applied through Rare’s Xtender programme and is an approach that Rare applies to all projects.