Macro batching hoppers from Dalein Agriplan_
SEW-EURODRIVE (Pty) Ltd. has supplied about about 120 geared motors to Dalein Agriplan for a customised 100 tph feed mill for a major beef producer in the Free State. This is not only one of the largest single projects undertaken by the manufacturer to date, but is also one of the biggest fully-automated systems of its kind in Southern Africa. The project commenced in early 2017, and was completed at the end of 2018.
Critical to the ongoing success of Dalein Agriplan has been the steady supply of geared motors from SEW-EURODRIVE (Pty) Ltd. over the years, Sales Manager Willem Strydom reports. “Our longstanding association with Dalein Agriplan indicates how important the agricultural industry is as a future growth area.”
Part of the larger Dalein Group of companies, Dalein Agriplan designs, manufactures, and commissions a range of modular feed mills, with outputs from 3 tph to 100 tph. It also manufactures raw materials handling and processing facilities across Southern Africa, and as far afield as Ethiopia and Ghana.
The success of the company’s feed mills is due to the high degree of accuracy with which they weigh the raw materials, with a 5 kg to 10 kg margin on a 9 t batch, Dalein Agriplan Owner Lohan Heyl reveals. “Such accuracy is critical for the mixed ration to have the best possible homogeneity, and hence adherence to the formulation.”
Key to this accuracy is the use of quality components from main suppliers. “Our clients in the agricultural industry depend on us to meet their requirements and specifications, and we in turn rely on companies like SEW-EURODRIVE (Pty) Ltd. to provide the best-possible components to ensure that our locally-manufactured feed mills are world-class,” Heyl elaborates.
“We strive to associate ourselves with global leaders because it is a reflection on our reputation as well.” Heyl adds that, apart from the quality German-engineered geared motors themselves, what is equally important is the customer support and technical back-up that Dalein Agriplan receives. “There is a fast turnaround time on geared motors in the event of any breakdown, from critical spares to replacement units, which allows us to reduce the downtime for our own customers.”
Dalein Agriplan pioneered its compact purpose-designed feed mill in the early 1990s, and to date has designed and built about 100 throughout the region. Its current target market ranges from smaller farmers who want to reduce their costs by producing their own high-quality feed, to larger corporate mega-farmers with largescale commercial operations.
Strydom explains that the products supplied include helical bevel geared motors for macro batching plants, parallel helical geared motors for belt and chain conveyors and bucket elevators, and inline helical geared motors for screw conveyors.
Commenting on the current state of the feed-mill sector, Heyl believes that it is still in a growth phase at the moment, driven largely by the entry of smaller-scale players. “There is price pressure at the moment, with some of the larger feed mills not running at full capacity due to the cyclical nature of the broader agricultural industry. However, we have maintained our growth over the years, and continue to make steady inroads into the African market.”
