Since the dawn of commerce and industry in the times when people were bartering for goods and services, it was just as important to produce the product as it was to be able to transport the product to the target market.

Today the need for transport is far greater than before. The number of goods traded are infinite, and the competition to get your goods delivered at a competitive rate is a reality of business today. Goods are being transported all over the world, by ship, rail, road and air. Not only is the cost of delivering the goods important, but the delivery timeframe is just as important. Today, the best product in the world means nothing if it arrives at a cost that nullifies the performance of the product or if it arrives late.

South Africa relies heavily on the transport of goods from our coastal ports to our inland cities, and the supply and distribution of mined mineral to the point of either distribution abroad or beneficiation. Our infrastructure is the most advanced in Africa, and still growing by the day. Imports and exports are a critical function in most businesses today.

The logistics industry is one of, if not the fastest evolving sectors in Africa. For this reason, companies who manufacture the supporting equipment have become more competitive. Every tool is analysed for efficiency and cost-effective performance. Comparisons are being run between old and new technology.

To be part of every aspect of the transport value chain is a unique privilege. From the construct of new containers, building of overhead cranes in the container handling terminal, the airport handling equipment, the trailer that transports the goods from a to z, be it by truck or train, to the manufacture of the train rails, we offer products that provide solutions to almost every application.

Aluminium fabrication has become a bigger part of our day to day lives and even more so in the transport industry. Lighter, stronger designs are being put to good use. Aluminium has for long been a difficult fabrication material due to its low weldability and susceptibility for contamination. Grinding Techniques has developed specialised products for the effective fabrication of this material. The Superflex range of non-ferrous cutting and grinding discs, is complemented by the new non-ferrous premium flap disc range. Any professional fabricator knows that the tools
you choose not only makes your primary job successful, but the secondary applications to follow as well. If a regular steel or stainless-steel product were to be used to prepare a piece of aluminium for a weld, the oxidation that takes place on the surface during the preparation would require a secondary process of decontamination using acetone or other chemicals before a successful aesthetically pleasing weld would be possible. By using the correct abrasive tool, a perfect weld can be achieved directly after the cut or grind saving many man hours and making the job at hand much more cost effective.

We offer optimisation service without equal. The professional and scientific manner in which the performance of products can be compared is unrivalled in the industry, and the results speak for themselves. In an industry where “time is money”, this approach could be the differentiating factor between profit and loss.

Global earth warming plays a major role on climate change, in some parts of the world wreaking havoc with uncontrollable veld fires, severe flooding and drought. The major contributing factor being high levels of carbon dioxide that is released in the atmosphere by gas emissions from internal combustion engines. A renewed focus on climate change and stricter policies are changing the way in how motor vehicles will be produced in future. Manufacturers are downsizing engine size, but increasing engine capacity by adding turbochargers – placing huge emphasis on the quality and surface finish requirements of engine components. The reduction in weight of alloys and material chosen poses a great challenge in the machining of these components.

Grinding Techniques – a Tyrolit company, has the experience and expertise locally in providing cost effective grinding solutions to cater for the OEM automotive component and automotive reconditioning market, especially the grinding of crankshafts. Our local R & D facility enables us to provide the best possible product specification whilst obtaining low machining costs per unit.

When considering the overall grinding process, Business Development specialists are able to offer support on all technical issues taking into account the preferred grinding solution, machine, grinding wheel and dressing tool. One of the major challenges experienced in Crankshaft grinding is wheels being “out of balance” and this is particularly due to lack of training on the correct safety checks, mounting and balancing procedures, as well as crankshaft wheels having bigger outside diameters and smaller widths, which accentuates any “out of balance” conditions. With proper training of operators this problem could be eliminated. Grinding Techniques is able to provide the necessary training.

With our local range of ANDOR grinding wheels, we are able to produce wheels of up to 1015mm in diameter.

The change to lightweight alloys and higher surface finish requirements on engine components has established a dynamic shift on the production of grinding wheels in both conventional and super abrasives. By using the latest technology in high quality Aluminum Oxide, CBN grain and bonding systems challenges experienced with issues relating to parts being ground out of round, and to non-sufficient tolerances, are minimised and further employed to the automotive reconditioning market, earthmoving equipment and armor-plated vehicles.

Specific to the automotive reconditioning market, we have products available to suit crank-and-camshaft grinding, polishing, valve seat and stem end grinding as well as the brake and clutch industry to name but a few. We also employ the latest CNC machining which enables us to produce wheels for the gear industry with a range of modules, pressure angles and starts required for continuous generating and profile gear grinding. With the addition of Sintered Aluminum Oxide in various products, we are able to cut down on the overall production cost per unit, whilst
still attaining a cool cut and good form holding on the grinding wheel.

Partnering with Grinding Techniques offering tailor-made products with competitive lead times and custom grinding solutions will go a long way in moving the automotive industry forward.

For more information, please contact: 011 271 6400 | info@grindtech.com | www.grindtech.com.