It is mid-January, and slowly all the holidaymakers are crawling back into their offices. I think a lot with uncertainty! Anglo’s threat of closing down some of its operations, with direct staff retrenchments of around 14 000 people and the knock-on effect of all other business in the area, will have a huge impact on all businesses. This is already being seen in the exchange rate. There is definitely a hesitation in the air about spending money. This may be a tough year ahead financially, and I am expecting the odd rolling black-out as we run out of electrical capacity.
I remember clearly in school, there was a motivational poster up in one of our classes and it read as follows:
* Plan for the worst.
* Hope for the best.
* Take what comes.
It is a very simple philosophy, but makes all the sense in the world.
SAFPA feedback is as follows:
As a council, we have not met yet in 2013, and will not be meeting until the first week of February. So any news I may have will be a roll-on from last year.
Marketing
The SAFPA marketing push has now come to an end, with an increase in membership in the region of around 30%. This is a very good thing for the industry and it is up to the council to deliver offerings that keep all members interested. But at the very least SAFPA is spreading its wings and we need the SAFPA name to go out to end users to get the full support of all industries. We are currently aiming for a stand at the first BAUMA Africa show and will keep trying to achieve this. We also have the Hydraulic Handbook for sale at R75. The first batch has been sold out, so place your orders for batch two.
Market survey
We will be doing another market survey early this year. With better access to information, we have realised that the market size in some segments is bigger than previously estimated. We encourage all fluid power companies to get involved. Those that participate will get a copy of the results for free, for all others the results may be purchased.
Safety training course on hose assemblies
The course dates are on the website. This was very well attended last year with good feedback. Interest is already picking up this year and SAFPA appreciates the support from industry in this regard.
Sport
A new idea for sport this year is to start a mountain biking challenge. Details are still vague but it will be some kind of team event for a company in a relay format. Notifications will go out in this regard.
Regards
Norman Hall
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| 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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