In our second installment of our review of the electronics industry in South Africa, we continue our look at some of the leading players (large, medium and small) in the industry.
As stated previously, to simplify presentation and avoid any perception that the companies have been 'rated' in any way, this coverage is presented in alphabetical order.
Conlog
The old Conlog may be dead and gone, with its once core automotive electronics business having been sold off to Control Instruments, but the name lives on following the acquisition of its profitable pre-payment metering business by Schneider Electric in July 2000. Conlog was established in 1965 and the company entered the electricity pre-payment market in the late 1980s and began supplying meters to Eskom as well as a number of local municipalities. It was not long before the company entered the export market and today it claims to have one of the world's largest installed bases with more than 2 million electricity pre-payment meters installed worldwide. More recently Conlog introduced a unique solution for pre-payment of off-grid supplies with the introduction of its Powerhouse secure solar pre-payment system. In the last few years the company has also expanded into water pre-payment solutions. Locally, Conlog became a 'household' name in the pre-payment industry and this resulted in its acquisition by global player Schneider Electric which wants to entrench the local company as the Group's 'Centre of Excellence for Pre-Payment Solutions'. The name Conlog was retained because of the strength of the brand but new technology will be fed into the company through Schneider Electric's other international subsidiaries, one of which is developing a smartcard-based prepayment system. The future of the revitalised Conlog is seen as rosy not just for developing economies but also for sophisticated consumers where there are the advantages of add-ons such as dial-in purchase of basic services. The official name of the new company in South Africa is Merlin Gerin, trading as Conlog.
Conlog possesses all the facilities for modern manufacturing including automated SMD equipment and normal through-hole technology. All the required test equipment is available and a defect rate of better than 200 parts per million is achieved. The company was one of the first electronics industries in South Africa to be awarded ISO 9000:2000.
The company currently offers a wide range of pre-payment metering solutions. For electricity these include both single and three phase meters, the former for domestic use and the latter for small industrial applications. A split meter is also offered and has been designed for maximum security against fraud while maintaining customer convenience. The split meter separates the user interface unit from the measurement control unit which can be located externally either in an existing meter box or for maximum security on a secure pole-mounted housing. The water range of products where encrypted token technology is also used are available in three forms, namely an individual domestic water control unit, a unit for community standpipes and a special unit for bulk users of water (eg, construction companies) operating in remote areas. With the recent announcement of the phased upgrade of Soweto's water reticulation system which will include prepaid meters (set to provide 6000 litres per month free) there must be tremendous opportunities for Conlog in this field.
Recent achievements include the fact that Conlog was awarded 80% of the total Eskom National Contract for 2002/2003 in a deal worth more than R100 million. Eskom attributed the award of the contract as being a result of a strong partnership over more than a decade together with Conlog's proven track record in reliability and delivery. During 2003 the company expanded its footprint in Sudan with the award of a 10 million Euro expansion to their existing contract in that region. Already more than 300 000 pre-payment meters have been installed in Khartoum. Conlog is also working successfully to increase its presence in Nigeria in both the electricity and water fields.
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