General Pneumatics Natal has grown to become one of the major players in the industrial pneumatics supply market since being established in Kempton Park, Gauteng, in 1978, originally named General Pneumatics.
The company’s original product range consisted of quick couplers for the pneumatic air-tool industry and later expanded to include air tools.
Roy Saunders joined his brother in 1980 to grow General Pneumatics. The company opened a branch in Durban in 1988, which was later bought from General Pneumatics in Gauteng by Roy Saunders, a director of the original company, and his son William Saunders on September 1, 1996. “This company became known as General Pneumatics Natal (Pty) Ltd and we are excited to be celebrating our twentieth anniversary this year.”
On July 1, 2005, the company opened its Gauteng branch and started to grow its range into the pneumatics field with more agencies being added.
General Pneumatics Natal is headquartered in New Germany, KwaZulu-Natal, and attributes its success to an aggressive marketing strategy and an attitude of striving to be the best in its field.
With the growth of the KwaZulu-Natal branch, Johan Grobler was appointed branch manager in August 2012.
In August 2014, the original owner of General Pneumatics and brother of Roy Saunders, passed away. General Pneumatics was then incorporated into the General Pneumatics Natal family.
“Our product range has grown with the company to include a spectrum of pneumatic products, from air preparation to directional control and actuation.”
General Pneumatics Natal is one of the biggest privately owned pneumatics companies in Africa, boasting high-quality products from 13 major brands sourced from around the world. The company’s offering includes Chelic Pneumatics’ complete range of pneumatic products; SKP’s air preparation equipment; Wooleetec’s fittings and tubing; Aignep’s complete range of pneumatic products and compression fittings; Gast’s compressors and pumps, air and gear motors, tank systems and accessories; and Ross Controls’ pneumatic valves, control systems and safety products. Also available are Chicago Pneumatics’ power tools and accessories, Continental Contitech’s industrial hose, Dropout’s specialised filtration, Nitto Kokhi’s quick-connect couplers, CEME’s fluid control components, Waircom’s industrial pneumatic components and Atlas Copco’s compressors, air tools and construction and mining equipment.
General Pneumatics Natal is also the sole agent for Dropout filtration units, which, the company says, have turned the compressed air industry on its head.
In line with the company’s exponential growth, Mark Naidoo has been promoted to group supply and logistics executive.
“Our vision is to be the best in our field in terms of product quality, business integrity and customer service,” emphasises General Pneumatics Natal.
In pursuit of this objective, the company has also appointed Phillip Pretorius the new branch manager for Gauteng. He holds a BTech degree and has more than 17 years’ sales, marketing and management experience.