Germiston, Gauteng Civil works are well underway on South Africa’s first flat-steel investment project to take place in 30 years. As official PMO team, ECS is working alongside Scaw Metals to drive the R3-billion project forward over the next 12 months.
PMO keeps project On-track
- Civil works: over 75% complete.
- Most of the works are reimbursable: linked to Key Performance Indicators.
- Procurement of equipment: over 50% complete.
- A ramp up of structural steel, piping, and E&I activities.
Mile Sofijanic, MD of ECS, provided his insight on the project: “Brownfield projects are riddled with risks in project execution. By working in a collaborative manner with Scaw Metals operations and maintenance, engineering companies, OEM Danieli from Italy and other construction companies, we are managing excellent rates of progress, safety, and quality records without interruptions to ongoing production work via our PMO. This is only possible when everyone is working together as a team towards mutually beneficial goals.”
A significant project for South Africa
This is the country’s first investment in flat-steel production since the Saldanha Steel Project was initiated by Iscor (now ArcelorMittal South Africa, or AMSA) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) in the 1990s. The new benchmark narrow- and medium-width hot-strip mill will go a long way to addressing the current domestic manufacturing imbalance between flat and long steel. Scaw aims to become a centre of excellence for flat products for the sub-Saharan Africa region. The advanced technology and design of the new production complex will enable a process line that introduces a wider product mix for further business development. Scaw can then turn its sights to serving various market segments and reaching remote and underserviced segments and areas.
ECS is extremely proud to be implementing PMO with Scaw Metals and the Barnes Group on this mega-project which will reach its peak during the July to November period at about 1 200 workers on site.
ECS OUTREACH
MD, Mile Sofijanic chats to learners about ECS’ involvement in the Scaw Metals Project, as well as engineering as a career.
Engineering skills in South Africa remain critically low while the demand for vocational skills remains high, including training in the fields of construction and electrical engineering. ECS is always keen to talk to learners about our projects as a way to encourage future studies and provide an idea of the scope of engineering as a possible career choice. We visited schools in Katlehong and Thokoza to give a snapshot of our involvement in the Scaw Project. The level of engagement with the youngsters was inspiring; online research is just no match for a real-life account of a typical day in the life of a project manager. Organisers, NPO Phinda-Mzala are doing a great job to steer learners into the future, and ECS is looking forward to further outreach opportunities in 2023.