German family-owned Pervormance International is seeking out opportunities in the South African market by bringing a cooling solution that could increase the productivity of employees working in hot conditions by 12%.

The E.Cooline range on offer aims to combat heat stress in hot and humid working environments, which poses a significant health and safety risk, and leads to lower productivity and concentration.

Discussing the company’s plans during a visit to South Africa, CEO Gabriele Renner said the company aims to initially target the construction, automotive, steel, mining and transport industries through exclusive agencies.

The company will also market its product to the sports industry, where the cooling technology-equipped functional textile product models, including cooling vests, t-shirts and cooling headgear, can assist in improving performance and recovery and prevent injury.

Heat stress can particularly impact employees working in protective gear and temperatures greater than 26 °C, an environment which is seen in many facilities, including mines, steel mills and plastics factories, besides others.

Renner explained that any temperature above the core body temperature of 37 °C starts impeding concentration, reduces performance, increases the risk of accidents, leads to skin problems and increases the risk of cardiac and metabolic diseases, exhaustion, heat cramps and heat collapse.

This state deteriorates the higher the temperature, with 40 °C and above endangering lives.

E.Cooline is designed to stabilise the body temperatures at normal physiological level between 28 °C and 32 °C, she told Engineering News Online.

A study showed that, in comparison to zero cooling, wearing the cooling vest decreased the body temperature by 6 °C.

E.Cooline, which can be worn with personal protective equipment, had been successfully tested in most of the targeted working areas of the automotive industry, foundries, steel mills, glass factories and construction sites.

After years in development, the group launched its product to the German market in 2011, marketing it first to firefighters and the firefighting sector, before moving on to the steel, automobile, glass and general manufacturing industries.

Now, with South Africa in its sights, early-stage evaluation and market studies showed significant potential for the product.

The company’s first official visit to the country in October netted positive feedback, particularly within the security and mining sectors, and even the sports environment.

Renner and her team spent a week in Johannesburg, meeting with agents and companies, with some product already ordered.

Pervormance International hoped to start bringing the product into South Africa from January.