To provide clients with a more comprehensive and fully integrated service offering, Germany-based drives engineer SEW-Eurodrive’s Johannesburg branch in March officially absorbed its Variolution bussiness unit into its Maxolution business unit, states SEW-Eurodrive mechatronics engineering manager Norman Maleka.

The planning for the merger started in 2013, he states, telling Mining Weekly that the strategy originated as a result of SEW-Eurodrive’s head office strategy to create business units and allocate resources; the planning is in line with this strategy.

The merger will enable the Johannesburg branch to offer a full suite of services, including presales, states Maleka. It will also allow for the implementation of additional training and upskilling across the board to offer better integrated services, he says.

Full customisation is the key differentiator between the components business and Maxolution, which means that SEW-Eurodrive can now offer clients a fully functional and holistic solution from one source.

Variolution is a predefined package for scalable drive solutions. Packages can be used for materials handling in mining, lifting systems and packaging and crane systems; the packages can be specially modified for industry-specific applications.

The packages also contain a functional guarantee, as well as optimised order and delivery processes, package-specific docu-mentation and component identification.

Maxolution comprises a suite of fully customisable components and services that can be tailored to project-specific requirements from start to finish, he explains.

A Maxolution project typically entails plans for innovative power supply and management, and secure and reliable communication, as well as efficient motion and control.
This simplifies the process for the client in terms of understanding the components, training requirements and ordering, Maleka explains.

Maxolution projects are ongoing across Germany in industries such as automotive, food and beverage, and packaging.

The new business unit is managed by Maleka and his colleague, SEW-Eurodrive sales and engineering GM Conrad Pilger.

Maleka points out that, following the merger, SEW-Eurodrive can now reposition itself as a full service provider, as opposed to only being a components supplier.

“We are also focusing on developing and expanding our national footprint by attrac-ting application engineers who can bolster the sales team’s efforts,” he concludes.