Preassembled Plant for new customer Brondal

Dolphin Bay was delighted to install South Africa’s first preassembled wood treatment plant for our new customer, Brondal Treated Timbers, this month.

Brondal, in the Nelspruit area of Mpumalanga province, is one of South Africa’s biggest timber treatment operations. It treats poles used for building, fencing, and agriculture, sourcing timber from its own 4500ha of planted eucalyptus.

Brondal had wanted to set up its own treatment plant for some time after renting for years. They opted to source CCA from Dolphin Bay and acquire a new treatment plant through us after a recommendation from their sister company, Safind Forest Products.

Our team designed a plant that could be fabricated, assembled, and tested by SpecPipe Construction in its workshop in the North West Province, to minimise the halt in operations during installation.

“Preassembly is definitely the way of the future.”

“The process of planning and installing the new plant was done with excellent planning and people,” said Brondal General Manager Cobus du Preez. “It was a great pleasure to have a very good team working with us − everything was handled professionally between the companies. All went well, according to plan, and the start-up time was met.

“Brondal Treated Timbers is a fast-growing company and we are doing our best to give top service and quality to our loyal customers. We look forward to a good working relationship with our new supplier Dolphin Bay.”

Dolphin Bay’s Darren Marillier explained that normally the various parts that comprise the plant – tanks, pipes, pumps, electric control panels, and more – are delivered in pieces and assembled on-site. “With preassembly, the traditional timeframe is cut short dramatically.”

The plant we supplied to Brondal is based largely on our Pro-treat plant design, which is envisaged for a fully automated treatment plant. This design moves away from the traditional architecture of wood treatment plants to incorporate all motors and control panels in one centralised, preassembled skid, with only minor piping and electrical connections to be done to the plant and tanks. Fully optimised, the Pro-treat plant can be installed in a day or two: realistically, a treater could close operations on a Friday, and on Monday, when they arrive back to work, be ready to treat.

“We have slightly overshot the one- or two-day installation this time, but we are confident this will be achieved effortlessly with the next installation,” said Bertus.

“We had a few hurdles but sorted them out promptly, and Brondal is back to full production,” said Darren. “In fact, their production has increased substantially due to the efficiency of the design.

“This is definitely the way of the future.”

Added Dolphin Bay’s Mark Duckham: “What stands out for me about Brondal is that they are very ambitious, with high targets, and if these are not achieved, they review what’s happened and make a plan.

“They are lovely guys to work with: hardworking, and it’s a pleasure to count them as a customer.”

We look forward to continuing to provide Brondal with our services, which have become well known in our industry and are encapsulated in the Quality Pledge programme.

Source: Dolphin Bay