Electrical equipment and industrial instrumentation supplier Magnet Group has expanded its focus on designing and installing automation products by incorporating automation and monitoring solutions provider Proelec Services into the company to form a new division, Magnet Automation.

The new division was established in January and will focus on expanding the group’s capabilities in the automation sector.

Magnet Group head of automation and former Proelec Services owner Richard Davies says the division will fill a gap in the market for skilled automation specialists in Africa by offering specialised solutions to industry.

“We have identified a shortage of companies that can supply stock and provide professional services with regard to automation. Ironically, there is an abundance of suppliers, but a shortage of companies that can offer complete turnkey solutions.

“Magnet Automation is well positioned to provide technical solutions services that can be tailored to every specific application. The comprehensive range of quality branded products is enhanced by the group’s dependable support facility,” he elaborates.

The new division’s services encompass the design, installation and commissioning of supervisory control and data acquisition (Scada) systems, programmable logic controller (PLC) systems, telemetry systems, power monitoring systems and electrical panels.

Magnet Automation supplies electrical standard products, PLCs, variable- frequency drives, Adroit Scada packages and custom software. Magnet Automation’s product range also includes power meters, which provide the measurement capabilities to allocate energy use and perform tenant metering, with the PLCs ranging from small standalone devices to complex network systems.

The division’s programmes, equipment and packages have been designed to suit exact requirements in the automation industry and in the water reticulation and sewerage reticulation sector, states Davies.

“We have noted that the demand to automate and monitor process plants is quite high, as this provides management with access to instant information and control, as well as the ability to rectify processes before errors occur. This can, in turn, enhance production, which can streamline processes and improve profitability,” he explains.

He notes that the division has also completed turnkey projects for a range of customers since it was established, where it offered its services to companies from the petrochemicals industry, water and sewerage reticulation, the bakeries sector as well as a wide range of manufacturing.
Davies says the market’s response to the division and its services “has been fantastic” and the division has provided solutions and quotations to the numerous enquiries it has received.