Dehn + Söhne, the German manufacturer of lightning and surge protection, earthing components and safety equipment, has officially opened a local subsidiary in Johannesburg.
Called Dehn Protection South Africa, the company will be spearheaded by managing director Alexis Barwise.
Established in 1910 in Nuremberg, Germany, the Dehn group is a fourth-generation family owned business, with more than 1500 employees across 18 countries and sales activities in more than 70 countries worldwide. The company’s product portfolio includes surge protection for power supply and information technology systems, lightning protection and earthing (grounding) solutions, and safety equipment, which comprises a range of earthing and short-circuiting devices, voltage detectors and protective equipment, as well as safety clothing.
According to Dr. Philipp Dehn, the organisation’s managing director, the market slowdown in Europe led it to seek expansion opportunities in developing regions. “We have specifically concentrated on the BRICS emerging economies as part of our ongoing growth strategy, establishing our presence in China, India and Russia over the past few years, and now in South Africa” he says.
Barwise explains that the local subsidiary will have a strong focus on the local telecommunications, oil and gas, energy supply, transportation, mining and solar sectors, and is set to broaden its product and solution offering within the marketplace.
“The Dehn solution portfolio incorporates around 4000 devices and components and we certainly see great potential in South Africa to extend our offering,” he says. “This will include our DEHNsupport Toolbox software, which provides a variety of calculation options in the field of lightning protection, ranging from risk management to the calculation of the length of the air-termination rods, separation distances and length of the earth electrodes.
“From a services point of view, Dehn Protection South Africa will have the ability to perform a number of engineering and test services, from simulating the effects of lightning parameters to test products, to performing maintenance tests on electrical installations, in line with labour law requirements.”
The company is also set to introduce a formal partner programme, providing varying partnership levels and benefits, including gold and platinum levels, for distributors. It will furthermore officially sign up integration partners. “We would like to offer our thanks to Surgetek for its loyalty and dedication to the Dehn group for the past 30 years. At the same time, we would also like to welcome them on board as our first South African platinum level partner and hope to reach even greater heights together into the future,” says Barwise.
For more information contact Dehn Protection South Africa, +27 (0)11 704 1487, [email protected], www.dehn-international.com
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