SPEC celebrates 45-year milestone
SITUATED in the heart of Nelson Mandela Bay’s manufacturing hub of Perseverance, Surface Preparations Equipment and Coatings (Pty) Ltd (SPEC) is celebrating its 45th anniversary as water engineering and corrosion protection specialists.
As part of the larger mother company, SPEC GROUP, which also includes two other divisions namely SPEC Hardware and SPEC Holding Trust (Properties), SPEC has its main focus on providing turnkey solutions in water engineering projects.
The principal business of SPEC, being corrosion protection, concrete and mechanical rehabilitation, site-based contracts in all aspects and having available the necessary expertise and quality control management, enables it to offer turnkey solutions to all corrosion and maintenance problems.
SPEC is an approved applicator by the majority of manufacturers and suppliers of industrial, marine and offshore protective coatings. All personnel, plant and equipment necessary for surface preparation, application and quality control testing of protective coatings are available in-house.
The business renders its services both on site and in a fully equipped factory.
At the premises, situated at 19 Kurland Road, Perseverance, the factory is fully equipped to render a corrosion protection (abrasive blasting and coatings) plus a mechanical rehabilitation (general fabrication) service.
The factory’s fully enclosed blasting booth is an expansion of its business operations and SPEC is one of only a few companies in the greater Nelson Mandela Bay metro with a blasting booth that conforms to all environmental specifications.
“We cater for walk-in trade at our on-site factory and provide tailor-made solutions to individuals and business,” SPEC Group CEO Arnold Avenant said.
“Our main focus at the factory is abrasive blasting and our R2-million blasting booth is the biggest contractor’s booth in the Eastern Cape.”
The impressive blasting booth, which measures 15m long x 8m wide x 6m high adheres to all requirements of the Nema Aqua Act and has the capacity to even blast cement trucks.
Adding to a factory with advanced new-age technology, “our latest venture in the factory is a ‘wet dipping’ system, which primarily focuses on the automotive and related industry for coating of casting parts. This venture opens up an exciting new market to us,” said Avenant, adding “the plant will be fully operational early February next year”.
“Apart from also offering a wide range of machinery, equipment and trucks [rigging with crane size up to 32 ton/m] for hire, the factory now also boasts a new division for audio installations,” Avenant said about branching out into this popular niche market.
“The exciting aspect of this expansion is that we mainly focus on custom-built audio installations in any make or model of vehicles.
“In support of operations, our fleet of brand new 1-ton bakkies built for the field is adding to the reliability factor, which is a priority when it comes to new equipment,” Avenant explained.
Other specialised services offered by SPEC : Surface preparation:
Degreasing and neutralising; abrasive blast cleaning to all ISO standards; needle descaling and chipping; power grinding and brushing; control testing; high-pressure washing up to 450 bar. Coatings and linings:
Epoxies and urethanes; Elastomeric polyurethanes; glass flake and ceramic coating and linings; control testing. Industrial painting: Masts and elevated structures: Valves and pumps: SPEC offers a full pump and valve component
rebuild service at a fraction of replacement cost – Rebuilding of worn and corroded pumps and valves; Elastomeric polyurethane; glass flake and ceramic. Powder coating – FBE:
The firm is an approved applicator of FBE powder coating, which is internationally used to protect pumps, valves, pipe-fittings, automotive components, food and beverage equipment. Mechanical maintenance:
On offer are services in the fields of water- and sewer-related mechanical installations and refurbishment.
Rebuilding of worn and corroded pumps; valves (gate, sleeve, needle, butterfly); aerators (horizontal, vertical etc); mixers; scrapers; gearboxes; biological distributors; gravity filter systems; water gates (sluice, radial); steel pipes, specials and fittings (up to 2m in diameter).
Rebuilding of worn shafts using hi-tech ceramic and metal filled epoxies. Concrete protection and rehabilitation:
SPEC offers a complete concrete protection, waterproofing and rehabilitation service with protection of concrete against water and chloride penetration; carbonation and chemical attack.
Application areas – Sewer pump stations and sumps, concrete sewer pipes, bridge structures etc; chemical spillage containment (bunds); floors; low reinforcing cover; damaged structures
(dam walls, valve chambers, digesters, concrete bridges).
Rehabilitation of damaged concrete – Repairs to spalling and cracking due to corrosion of the reinforcement; external reinforcing by means of steel plates or carbon fibre strips; drilling and grouting in of additional reinforcing bars or post tensioning bars; crack injection and sealing; polymer and epoxy repair mortars; migrating corrosion inhibitors. Specialised demolition work:
SPEC has experience in technically difficult and potentially dangerous demolition work.
On the expertise side, SPEC is a sustaining member of the Corrosion Institute of Southern Africa (CISA), the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa (SEIFSA). The firm holds a 7ME, 7CE and 5EP grading with the CIDB, enabling it to tender for projects to the value of R40-million which will – with SPEC’s current CIDB registration on level 8ME in an advanced phase – soon allow for projects to the value of R 130-million.
SPEC is also a proud contributor in terms of B-BBEE. The firm commits itself to ensuring that it trains and promotes the previously disadvantaged, who show an interest in the firm’s fields of operation.
In this regard, it assists its workforce with payment of their children’s school fees, uniforms and stationery.
SPEC further provides enterprise development services to external beneficiary enterprises for the purpose of financial, operational and/or developmental sustainability. SPEC Hardware (Pty) Ltd, which opened its doors in July this year. The store, which is open to the public for business, is adjacent to the company’s head office with the entrance in 8 Makepeace Crescent, Perseverance. With experienced manager Andy Sinclair at the helm, it supplies from DIY to construction hardware needs.
“SPEC Hardware was established to service both business and the wider communities of Perseverance and Red House,” Avenant said. “We are on average 5% cheaper than the market and offer free delivery to these two areas.” SPEC Holding Trust, which rents (Despatch area) and develop property on a large scale. An open day will be held at SPEC on December 2 from 1pm for all old and new customers and suppliers to join us in a “walk-through” of our premises at 19 Kurland Road, Perseverance. Our senior staff will be available to answer all your questions and/or to explain what SPEC offers the industry.