Hudaco Power Transmissions (formerly Bauer Geared Motors South Africa) is delivering total drive solutions to customers across the Southern African region. The company has Southern Africa distributor agreements with leading international Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) Bauer, I-Mak, Elecon and GSM, and complements its high quality, comprehensive industrial gearbox portfolio with local content, assembly, testing, commissioning and repair services, underpinned by local experience and know-how.
Bauer Geared Motors South Africa, the sole Southern African distributor of the renowned Bauer range for the past 37 years, was acquired by Hudaco in 2002. In July 2021, the Bauer business name changed to Hudaco Power Transmissions. “Our new company name is an accurate representation of our fully comprehensive industrial gearbox offering and has opened up several new markets and opportunities for us,” confirms Hudaco Power Transmissions Managing Director, Derek Gilmore. “Moreover, we now have access to a large pool of competencies and capabilities through our alignment with the well-known and well-respected Hudaco brand. This enables us to reach into new markets and supply turnkey projects to an extended customer base.”
“Our recent supply of five large-sized 750kW industrial gearboxes and two 185kW units for the Tippler upgrade project at an Iron Ore Export Plant in Saldanha demonstrates that customers in the large gearbox market are now approaching us for industrial drive solutions,” notes Gilmore. “The fact that these 750kW machines, which are manufactured by Elecon, are the largest industrial gearboxes we have supplied to date, also bears testament to our capabilities and competencies in this space.”
The company signed a distributor agreement with India-based OEM, Elecon Engineering Company Ltd., one of the largest manufacturers of industrial gear units in Asia, in November 2020, to supply their complete product range. “The welcome addition of the Elecon range of power transmissions up to the massive 9MW drives has certainly opened up the large gearbox market for us,” confirms Gilmore. “In addition to a new proprietary range of high-performance units, the Elecon agreement also secures us the sole rights to supply new Elecon bevel helical drives with the value adding flexibility to retrofit or replace old gear units.” Gilmore adds that, as part of the agreement with Elecon, Hudaco Power Transmissions also provides the Radicon range of industrial worm gearboxes which already has a solid, well-established installed base in the local mining, paper and sugar processing segments.
The company’s portfolio for the mining, manufacturing, water, utilities and steel industries was extended with the acquiring of sole distributor rights for I-Mak products in July 2019. “More recently, we further boosted our solutions offering to the mining sector with the signing, in January 2021, of a distributor agreement with GSM for the supply of their RX 800 series of industrial gear units.”
“Customers see us for the power transmissions specialists that we are and recognise our abilities in supplying and supporting large industrial gearboxes, alongside our smaller geared motors. This puts us in a position of trust with our customers in terms of our core competencies, knowledge and expertise,” concludes Gilmore.