CMACS EXTENDS NAMBIAN FOOTPRINT

Caption: Vula Namibian pipes prior to delivery.

Written by David Beer on behalf of the Concrete Manufacturers Association

CMACS, the Concrete Manufacturing Association’s certification arm, has gained a second Namibian client, Vula Namibia. The company’s first audit took place in May which it passed with consummate ease.

Founded in 2016, Vula started by importing infrastructure products from South Africa. However, when the price of diesel spiked in 2019 this business avenue was no longer competitive and a decision was taken to begin local manufacturing. To this end a new plant was established 15km outside Windhoek in 2020 and it now supplies infrastructure products throughout Namibia, parts of Botswana and the Northern Cape.

Vula’s product range comprises stormwater pipes, culverts with base slabs, precast concrete toilets, manhole chambers and cover slabs, kerbs, and other precast concrete products.

Vula sales manager, Brendan Britten, says that from the outset the company has been producing stormwater pipes, culverts, manholes and covers to SANS standards and certification.

“We would not be able to sell these products unless they were SANS certified and this meant that well before our first CMACS audit, we already had a good quality management system in place to obtain SABS certification. What we liked about our CMACS audit was that it was done on time and only took two days.  This is crucial because any delays in the certification process is costly, holding up sales and distribution.

“All our certified products are manufactured to a minimum of 40MPa and our batching is done via a combination of electronic and manual controls. And like all well-run precast concrete plants our quality management process begins with raw material testing,” says Britten.

“We do a sieve analysis of our aggregate and sand deliveries, checking for stone size and sand impurities, and our cement suppliers provide us with test certificates. The testing of our finished product range involves submersing sample cubes in temperature-controlled water and thereafter we subject them to seven-day and 28-day compression tests. We also do density testing for products destined for coastal areas.

“We were very fortunate in that when we opened our factory we received a substantial order to supply civil products for the construction of a highway to Windhoek’s new international airport. The market is somewhat quiet this year with everyone waiting for some large budgets to be released,” concludes Britten.