The South African Fluid Power Association is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
The Fluid Power Institute was established in 1982 as an individual engineers' club under the leadership of professor Roy Marcus, the dean of Wits Mechanical Engineering. Approximately 10 years ago, under the presidency of Russell Gill, the corporate membership programme was introduced. Today the membership has grown to 55 corporate members and 20 individual members. During this period it has also changed from an Institute to an Association.
On a sad note, our secretary Charmaine van der Westhuizen passed away tragically on 9 April this year. She is truly missed by the committee and by our administrators - Cost Time Resources.
I think it is important to take this opportunity to mention some tasks we have done and some that we would still like to accomplish.
This year we completed the long-awaited Industry Market Survey. We are also making great strides in the Fluid Power Qualification. It has now been released for public comment on the SAQA website. Our second Assessors course was held in August and the SAFPA website has been revamped. During September we hosted our last technical meeting. The topic of the meeting was Profibus/Profinet and it was attended by over 40 industry delegates.
In October we held an informative seminar at Hudaco Park in Elandsfontein. The topics were:
* The credit act - presented by Russell Michelle.
* Labour laws in our workplace - presented by Annatjie Rickett.
I would like to give special thanks to Ernest Lowe for allowing us to use their training facility at Hudaco Park.
Our annual dinner was held at the Old Edwardian Club in Houghton on Friday 28 September. Being the celebration for our 25th anniversary we had a record attendance and the entertainment from Abbott & Crabb contributed to a very successful evening.
We are busy with various initiatives, which will be beneficial to our industry. These include:
* A reduction in the rate of customs duty on hydraulic hose.
* Reviewing the Code of Ethics.
* Establishing an approved Hose Assembly Scheme as currently implemented by the BFPA.
You will be kept up to date on the progress of these.
We welcome any suggestions and ideas from our members for the future that we, as an Association, can tackle on their behalf.
On behalf of the committee I would like to thank our administrators - Cost Time Resources and Technews Publishing - publishers of Motion Control - for their support during the year.
I would like to take this opportunity to extend best wishes from the SAFPA Committee to all of you and your families for an enjoyable Festive Season and a Prosperous New Year.
| Tel: | +27 11 061 5000 |
| Fax: | 086 589 2158 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.vdw.co.za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about SA Fluid Power Association (SAFPA) |
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