The Bolt and Engineering Distributors (B.E.D.) Group recently had a joint presence at Electra Mining Africa 2022, with longstanding global welding partner and supplier Fronius Africa. This was the first time that B.E.D. had attended Electra Mining Africa as an exhibitor, together with Fronius Africa.
The trade show – which took place at the Johannesburg Expo Centre (Nasrec) in Gauteng from 05 to 09 September – is Southern Africa’s largest across the mining, electrical, automation, manufacturing, power and transport sectors.
B.E.D. CEO Mike Giltrow explains: “The B.E.D. Group has been the sales and service partner for Fronius International GmbH since 2016, before the company opened its satellite demonstration centre in Kayalami in April 2020. The Fronius Africa demonstration centre enables customers to experience manual and robotic and automated welding solutions; as well as the premium quality of the welding equipment.
B.E.D. was invited by Fronius Africa to join its stand at Electra Mining Africa this year, to showcase our excellent relationship, and our joint ability to offer an effective welding sales and service pathway to our mutual customers. In this way, B.E.D. and Fronius Africa are driving awareness of the Fronius brand across sub-Saharan Africa.”
The B.E.D. Group did on-site welding demonstrations and assessments, and provided technical advice to customers and other visitors, on Fronius Africa’s Electra Mining Africa stand.
“As their sales and service partner, we provided support on the stand to Fronius Africa’s Perfect Welding division. Furthermore – because of our extensive national footprint – we are also able to offer Fronius Africa customers around the country fast and excellent service,” explains Giltrow.
“Live trade shows such as Electra Mining Africa offer one of the best networking opportunities available. Our team members were able to speak to hundreds of people, all interested in the latest Fronius welding technology to improve the efficiency of their production department and overall manufacturing processes, in line with Industry 4.0 . The show had an incredible feel and energy, with visitors and exhibitors alike being motivated, engaged and interested in taking their businesses to the next level. We are delighted with the quality and quantity of enquiries we received during the event, and have taken on board many insights and valuable suggestions,” Giltrow enthuses.
Edric van der Walt, Fronius Africa Welding Specialist adds: “This was the first time that Fronius Africa had its own stand at Electra Mining, although we have been here in the past with other partners. Our customers have been very pleased to see the Fronius brand represented at the show.
In addition, teaming up with Bolt and Engineering was an excellent experience: there has been great interest in our partnership with the B.E.D. Group. The visitor attendance at this year’s show was strong, and it seems that people were delighted to once again to return to trade shows in person – to experience new products and solutions in real life.”
Giltrow notes that visitors to the stand over the five days of the show were able to see and experience live demonstrations including the use of the Fronius TransSteel Pulse 5000, the iWave 300 Multiprocess series masters; as well as the MIG/MAG, TIG welding, and electrode welding processes showcased at professional levels.
“The Fronius iWave 300 is one of the most advanced digital welding systems on the market,” advises Giltrow. “We were also proud to showcase the new generation of TransPocket 150/180 devices, which bring a high degree of flexibility to the welding process. In addition to its almost indestructible housing and cutting-edge technology, the TransPocket has numerous functions that simplify welding work.”
He also advises that, thanks to the Fronius AccuPocket 150/400 TIG model, mobile TIG welding – in addition to mobile electrode welding – is now a reality. “Weighing just under 11 kilograms, the Fronius AccuPocket is the perfect companion for assembly work on construction sites, and can also be used in electrically hazardous areas, such as in boiler welding, as a mains cable is not required.”
In terms of the overall benefit of exhibiting at Electra Mining Africa 2002, Van der Walt observes : “This type of live expo experience helps Fronius Africa in two ways. Firstly, we are getting our brand name out there and making more people aware of our welding machines and services, improving our company’s chances of being involved in future request for quote (RFQ) processes.
Secondly – from the experience of engaging with people directly – we have gathered a number of strong new business leads. We would definitely like to return to Electra Mining Africa in the future, on a co-branded stand with B.E.D. as our exclusive distribution and sales partner.”
“The Electra Mining Africa expo – and the opportunity for B.E.D. to share a stand with Fronius Africa – is a result of our very solid and longstanding relationship,” says Giltrow.
“Exhibitions like these are very important for the growth of our industry, and as a proud local distributor, importer and exporter, we had a great experience connecting with buyers, engineers and decision-makers at Electra Mining Africa 2022. We will gladly partner with Fronius Africa again for the next show,” he concludes.
