Manufacturing

DriveRadar enables smarter predictive maintenance across industries. (Image source: SEW-EURODRIVE)

As industries intensify their efforts to cut downtime, reduce maintenance costs and operate with greater energy efficiency, the ability to anticipate equipment issues before they occur has become essential

Predictive maintenance, once considered an emerging technology, is now a core requirement for modern operations and SEW-EURODRIVE is driving this evolution with its advanced DriveRadar IoT Suite.

Across sectors ranging from mining and automotive to agriculture, ports, airports, and food and beverage production, reliable drivetrain performance remains non-negotiable. Willem Strydom, business development manager for electronics at SEW-EURODRIVE, said the market is moving rapidly towards smarter asset intelligence. Customers increasingly want deeper, real-time insights into their operations and DriveRadar provides exactly that through an ecosystem of intelligent sensors, edge devices and cloud-based analytics offering complete operational visibility.

Traditional maintenance practices such as manual plant surveys are proving inadequate in today’s dynamic production environments. Werner Engelbrecht, works manager megatronic at SEW-EURODRIVE, noted that these surveys often become outdated quickly as equipment is replaced or repaired. DriveRadar, by contrast, captures every new item added to the plant, offering a live, accurate and continuously updated asset overview. As plant layouts and equipment evolve, this real-time accuracy becomes vital for effective decision-making.

The benefits extend beyond visibility, with predictive capability at the heart of preventing failures. Engelbrecht explained that operators who respond to the system’s insights can avoid catastrophic breakdowns entirely. This also reduces the need for personnel to conduct repetitive physical inspections, freeing human resources for more strategic maintenance work.

A key differentiator of DriveRadar is its reliance on SEW-EURODRIVE’s integrated drivetrain ecosystem rather than third-party add-on sensors. Strydom highlights that the company’s frequency inverters function as highly accurate, multi-function sensors. Each inverter measures time of operation, energy consumption, load and torque and detects vibrations or shocks - generating hundreds of parameters per device.

With additional motor sensors and advanced vibration sensors where required, DriveRadar collects data such as temperature, ambient conditions, oil levels and ageing indicators, load variations and vibration signatures extracted directly from motor harmonics.

All this information is combined to create a digital twin of each drivetrain. The digital twin uses AI-driven models to learn normal operating behaviour from the moment equipment is commissioned. Any deviation from this baseline is detected immediately, enabling early identification of bearing damage, prediction of brake lining life, forecasting of oil change intervals, detection of structural faults and identification of load inefficiencies. Importantly, the system is capable of monitoring non-SEW-EURODRIVE components as well, making it suitable for entire applications such as conveyors or pick-and-place machinery.

Accessibility is another major advantage. DriveRadar allows data to be stored in the SEW-EURODRIVE cloud, the customer’s private cloud or local servers and can integrate with existing SCADA systems. Users can access full equipment data and generate reports from mobile devices, including in remote regions using GSM or SIM-based communication. This mobility is particularly valued by maintenance teams who can identify issues immediately without physically walking the plant.

To support customers in adopting these advanced tools, SEW-EURODRIVE has invested extensively in training. The company now offers training both on site and through its Drive Academy in Johannesburg.

NewSpace Systems opens Africa's largest space hardware facility, expanding capacity for global satellite supply chains. (Image source: NewSpace Systems)

NewSpace Systems has officially opened a new 5,200 m² manufacturing facility in Somerset West, South Africa, now the largest commercial space component and subsystem manufacturing site on the African continent

The expansion significantly increases the region’s capacity to support the global satellite supply chain.

The purpose built facility is designed to meet the high volume production requirements of modern satellite constellations. NSS, Africa’s largest exporter of space utilised hardware, supports the majority of commercial spacecraft manufacturers globally.

The development marks an important step in the company's transition from a specialised component provider to a high cadence industrial manufacturer. Since construction began in October 2024, NSS has focused on scaling its Guidance, Navigation, and Control product lines. This growth has been driven by the rapid expansion of Low Earth Orbit constellations, which require flight proven hardware that can be produced at scale without compromising quality. NSS products, including sun sensors and reaction wheels, are currently used on spacecraft weighing up to six tons.

The facility features advanced infrastructure designed to meet stringent IPC and ECSS aerospace standards. It includes a 1,260 m² ISO 14644 1 certified cleanroom, a 120 m² engineering laboratory for research and development, and specialised areas such as Helmholtz coil calibration zones for magnetically sensitive hardware, dark rooms for optical testing, and thermal and vibration testing environments. Production is supported by 6S LEAN certified assembly lines to ensure consistent and precise manufacturing.

“Big, beautiful, and built for space manufacturing,” said Tanya Lerm, CEO of NewSpace Systems.

“Every corner of this cleanroom reflects our commitment to quality, reliability, and mission success. From the controlled air environment to the precision our customers demand, every aspect of this facility was engineered to deliver hardware that performs flawlessly in space.”

By consolidating design, qualification, and manufacturing in one location, NSS maintains vertical integration, enabling competitive pricing while adhering to international standards.

Digitally track and locate tools with Brady’s RFID solution. (Image source: Brady Corporation)

Get a real-time list of equipment present in a vehicle and see what is missing versus an established vehicle equipment list. Select missing tools on-screen. Quickly home in with proximity-increasing sounds and visuals on a portable RFID reader

Discover the affordable RFID Scan & Drive solution from Brady!

Have you ever arrived at an intervention without the necessary equipment? Ever lost tools during field interventions? How much time do you spend to make sure all equipment is accounted for, and present in your vehicles? Now you can confirm vehicle inventories digitally and automatically, highlight any missing assets, and home in on misplaced items to quickly complete your vehicles. How much time could you save?

Everything present

Instantly see which tools are present in a vehicle - and what is missing. Easily save substantial time per vehicle, per intervention, with automated equipment inventory checks that take only seconds.

By labelling equipment with passive, battery-free UHF RFID labels, we can let an RFID reader in your vehicle detect which tools and items are present. The RFID reader can check detected tools versus a list of expected items to confirm a complete vehicle inventory or to highlight missing equipment on your phone.

Be fully equipped before leaving for a field intervention. Avoid losing tools after interventions. Don’t waste time checking visually where every piece of equipment is. Just scan, get confirmation in seconds, and drive to your next destination.

Home in on assets

Quickly find misplaced equipment. Home in on specific items with a portable RFID reader and proximity-increasing sounds and visuals.

Passive, battery-free UHF RFID labels bounce back radio signals from a portable RFID reader up to 15 metres. By measuring the strength of the returning radio signal with patented data capture technology, our portable RFID readers guide users towards a unique RFID label applied on a specific tool. When closing in, auditive and visual feedback strength from the reader increases.

RFID labels can include an LED, powered by an RFID reader from a 1.5 metre distance, to let a tool light up or to find it in a dense inventory of equipment.

Solution components

Brady develops and manufactures every component in our solution. Tested in in-house laboratories, each component is designed to withstand the wear and tear of field interventions, including exposure to UV, dust and moisture.

• RFID labels: Brady offers industrial grade on- and off-metal RFID-labels and tags that stay attached and remain legible on your equipment.
• Fixed RFID readers: Equipped with patented data capture technology, Brady’s fixed RFID readers collect data on items passing through their read range.
• Portable RFID readers: With intuitive displays, Brady’s portable RFID readers and SLEDs deliver unmatched mobility, data collection and interaction.

Are you interested in automated inventory checks solution from Brady? Visit our website, watch the short video and download the free RFID labelling guidebook.

Find out more now!

Modular glass crushing plants from Pilot Crushtec are built to grow with production needs, making it easy to increase output as throughput requirements rise. (Image source: Pilot Crushtec)

Glass remains one of the most recyclable materials in the world, yet in South Africa significant volumes still end up in landfill. According to Francois Marais, sales and marketing director at Pilot Crushtec, improving glass recycling rates presents a clear opportunity to reduce energy consumption, lower carbon emissions and stimulate new business growth

Every discarded bottle or jar represents not only wasted material but also untapped economic and environmental potential.

“Unlike many materials, glass can be recycled indefinitely without losing quality,” commented Marais. “Each time we recycle glass, we are not only reducing pressure on landfills but also helping industries save energy and cut carbon emissions.”

From an environmental perspective, the advantages of recycling glass are immediate. Re-melting recycled glass, commonly referred to as cullet, requires significantly less energy than processing virgin raw materials such as silica and limestone. Lower furnace temperatures translate into meaningful energy savings and reduced emissions. At the same time, keeping glass out of landfill reduces environmental risk and supports broader sustainability goals, offering clear benefits to both industry and the environment.

The application of recycled glass goes well beyond the manufacture of new containers. Cullet plays an important role in producing fibreglass insulation products. Within the construction industry, crushed glass is increasingly being adopted as an alternative to conventional aggregates in concrete and asphalt mixes. Manufacturers of bricks and blocks are also recognising that incorporating glass cullet can improve product strength while enhancing environmental performance.

“There is a growing market for glass in construction and infrastructure,” Marais explained.

“Crushed glass can strengthen road bases, add aesthetic value to concrete surfaces and even contribute to eco-friendly brick production. This opens real opportunities for businesses to innovate and differentiate themselves.”

Demand for recycled glass is also rising in landscaping and decorative design. Once treated and processed, it can serve as a long-lasting, colourful mulch for gardens or as an eye-catching surface material for walkways and water features. In addition to its visual qualities, glass cullet is increasingly used as a filtration medium in water treatment facilities and swimming pools, where it has been shown to outperform traditional sand filters.

Its potential extends even further. Glass cullet is incorporated into reflective road markings to enhance night-time visibility and safety. In certain coastal regions, it is also being explored as a material to help restore eroded beaches. These varied uses highlight the role of glass recycling not only in everyday products but also in larger environmental and infrastructure solutions.

Pilot Crushtec is helping to advance this shift by improving access to efficient glass processing technology. The company offers modular crushing and screening plants designed to convert waste glass into premium-quality cullet. These systems are engineered for ease of installation, affordability and scalability, making them suitable for recyclers, municipalities and entrepreneurs seeking entry into the expanding glass recycling sector.

“Glass recycling represents the perfect meeting point between sustainability and profitability,” stated Marais. “It creates jobs, drives innovation and provides industries with valuable raw materials. At Pilot Crushtec, we are committed to providing the equipment that makes this possible but the real transformation will come from a broader commitment across business and society to embrace recycling as both an environmental responsibility and a business opportunity.”