Thata uBeke Manufacturing (TUB) was founded 15 years ago to address a serious humanitarian crisis in the developing world, namely, the scourge of landmines. We derive a huge amount of personal satisfaction from the fact that our technology and products have saved countless lives.
Through the years the company has experienced consistent growth, and developed and maintained a strong knowledge base in our core disciplines of design, development and manufacturing. While historically being focused on the areas of military design and development, we have started to apply our abilities in the commercial and industrial areas. As anyone who has done work for the military market will know, the attention to detail and quality required to make a success of it is part of our DNA, and is now applied to our commercial and industrial customers.
We have recently moved into new premises in Jet Park on the East Rand, and would like to take the opportunity to elaborate on our capabilities and invite anyone to come and see for themselves.
The company operates in a couple of different arenas as follows:
Design and development
This is probably the most important part of the company and strategy moving forward. With no new products, we have nothing to build. South Africa has a long and proud history of innovation and design, and it is our goal to be at the forefront of this.
We employ a large engineering team that is waiting to take your product out of your head and into the market. We have expertise along the entire supply chain, from concept to design (hardware and software) to prototype to packaging to testing and finally to mass production.
We are just as frustrated as you are seeing our market being flooded with imports, when we all know that local expertise and manufacture could fulfil most of the current demand.
Electronic manufacture
Historically we have built our own products, and through this process acquired our own production equipment. Gradually, we started building third-party products, and organically started increasing our production capacity.
We currently operate four pick-and-place lines and have a total factory capacity of some 180 000 components per hour. We run predominantly Mydata equipment, as we feel that it offers us the most flexibility. Our My500 Jet Printer allows us to print solder paste, eliminating the need for stencils.
We have full X-ray capabilities and AOI. We offer conformal coating and recently installed a de-ionised water plant for our PCB washing machines. We feel that our manufacturing plant is comparable to international, world-class facilities.
The entire plant is cocooned in a humidity-, temperature- and ESD-controlled environment. Due to our military background, you can imagine what our quality standards are like: We are ISO 9001:2008 certified, are currently implementing ISO14001 and are in the final audit process of AS9100 for airborne systems. All our operators and technicians are IPC certified and receive continuous training.
Harness and control panel design and assembly
One of the by-products of our landmine detection system was the development of our electromechanical division. We can design, manufacture and test your harnesses and control panels. We work closely with our cable, connector, switching and enclosure suppliers to supply you a superior product. We have wire crimping, cutting and marking machinery that will fit your most exacting requirements.
We currently manufacture a range of military harnesses for both local and international customers. Our development team has designed a CAN system to modernise the electrical control system in military vehicles. We have an agency agreement with ACTIA automation to supply us with its range of automotive equipment.
Renewable energy
We have an agreement with a Spanish inverter company (Jema Energy) to manufacture its range of inverters under licence. We have the ability to manufacture and supply the entire range of its inverters from 5 kW up to and including 1 MW and larger utility scale inverters. We currently have a 1 MW containerised solution for demonstration and marketing purposes.
Local manufacture of inverters places us in a select group of South African manufacturers and allows IPP bidders the ability to leverage local content requirements in their tenders. We feel that this division has huge growth potential, and is being thrust more into the spotlight with our recent energy problems.
Our philosophy and vision
TUB’s payoff, as can be seen from our advertising, is ‘Creating Caring Thinking Technology’. This is a philosophy that we live by in all levels of the organisation. We do not wish to be part of the herd, churning out thousands of lookalike products. We want to be in the vanguard of innovation in this country. We know that most of the readers of this article are innovators in their own right, and we want to work with you to create caring, thinking technology.
Our internal value system is built around our ICE philosophy, which stands for Integrity, Commitment and Excellence, and this is how we wish to be perceived by the market, the industry and potential customers. We are fully committed to your vision and we are not prepared to deliver products that do not meet your expectations.
We have experienced steady growth in the years that we have been in business, and are not limiting our growth strategy purely to South Africa. We take inspiration from pioneering South African technology, entrepreneurs and companies. While we are justifiably proud of our own products and success, we accept that we have yet to realise our true potential. With strong partnerships and innovative technology we feel that we, and by extension you, can reach the heights we all aspire to.
We extend an open invitation to anyone in the industry to contact us. Our new premises, our approachable manner and, most importantly, outstanding coffee will make it worth your while.
For more information contact Frank Ellis, Thata uBeke Manufacturing, +27 (0)11 823 6019, [email protected], www.tub.za.net
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version