The Band-It Grade 304 stainless steel strapping and buckle system from industrial equipment supplier Banding & Identification (ID) Solutions Africa has allowed signage and branding company Fox Signage to reduce the total cost of erecting signage substantially, while simultaneously speeding up installation times.

Alberton-based Fox Signage designs, manufactures and erects advertising boards, as well as silk screens, for clients throughout Gauteng. Fox Signage MD Derek van Heerden explains that a large proportion of its clients are involved in the real-estate industry.

“We carry out a lot of work for the API Property Group, which has a large focus in the commercial sector. We also work with other realtors, such as Seeff Properties, Rawson Property Group and Jawitz Properties, focused mainly on residential property.”

Fox Signage is also currently refurbishing general building signage at the Bryanston Gate Office Park, in Johannesburg.

Van Heerden comments that the Band-It solution is more durable than what the company was using previously. “The product itself has changed how we erect our actual signboards. We have a lot more confidence in the quality of our products, while our clients are guaranteed an effective and long-lasting end result.”

Traditionally, the company had used industrial water clamps, which are not ideal for this particular application. The clamps are also significantly more expensive and fragile when exposed to the elements. The wind, in particular, exerts a major force on nuts and bolts, which can loosen over time, and ultimately result in the clamps breaking.

Further, the brackets and braces used previously were not as flexible in terms of sizing as the Band-It system, which can be adjusted simply by using the Band-It Model C001 tensioning tool. The adjustment also reduces installation time dramatically, making for a faster turnaround time, and allowing workers to be far more productive.

Banding & ID Solutions Africa sales representative Matthew Campbell notes that Fox Signage is a relatively new client, having only deployed the Band-It system for about three months to date.

However, the company has seen a marked uptake in the quality and frequency of work it undertakes for its clients.

“It has definitely been beneficial to our business and I believe that, based on our initial association with Banding & ID Solutions Africa, we are confident this will turn into a long and fruitful relationship,” Van Heerden notes.

Banding & ID Solutions is the African distributor of US-based Band-It – a leading manufacturer of a full range of stainless steel band, buckle systems, preformed clamps and cable ties for numerous applications.