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Meet our partners - Aluminium City The process of getting aluminium to the end user is much like any other product, involving a complete supply chain with numerous ‘links’ assisting in the fabrication, sale and delivery of the product. The sale of aluminium to truck builders happens via aluminium stockists and distributors like Aluminium City, which started trading in January 1984, initially as a stockist of aluminium for engineering markets and later architectural markets. According to Alan Wykerd, General Manager, Aluminium City: “We have been supplying the trucking industry with aluminium since 1984. We have never been a supplier of steel. Our expertise in aluminium enables us to offer effective alternatives to other materials such as steel. Aluminium City is the sole official Hulett distributor specialising in aluminium only.” Wykerd believes that aluminium is gaining acceptance more and more in the transport industry as a result of the ability of the material to enable more payload. “The growth of aluminium usage in this market recently has been very high and we anticipate that this growth will continue for the foreseeable future,” he says. “The use of aluminium in transport in other parts of the world is extensive and we expect that the South African market will in time reflect the same consumption.” Aluminium City’s customers include the cream of local trailer and truck body fabricators like SA Truck Bodies/Henred Fruehauf, GRW Engineering, Vebody, Serco/Nuline and Grenco in the Cape and The House of Trucks, Afrit, TFM and Tanker Trailer in Gauteng. As the market matures, aluminium gets used far more on different components says Wykerd. “In general road transport applications, the usage is on trailer floors and enclosures. It is also being used for the petrol tanker business. There are various opportunities that can be explored with OEMs as well. Aluminium is being used as barrel plates, dish ends and various other extrusions.” Developing skills in this booming market is vital to ensure its long term success. Aluminium City sales staff receives training both in-house and at Hulett Aluminium, says Wykerd and design skills are addressed through the Aluminium Federation. “There is a shortage of people who are adequately trained in welding,” he adds. “However, training programmes are now available through the Aluminium Federation in conjunction with SAIW.” With payload the primary driver behind the use of aluminium, Wykerd explains other benefits the metal has to offer: “It’s a low maintenance product that fabricates easily with a readily available local supply.” He is both pragmatic and bullish about aluminium’s future in the transport arena: “The growth in the industry is likely to remain high for some time owing to the need for conversion from steel for payload benefits. There is an ongoing need for the aluminium industry to continue and perhaps increase the efforts at educating the trucking industry in general.”
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