FEATURE MAINTENANCE


PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION


SAIT promoting knowledge transfer in Tribology


time and maximize profits. There are four types of maintenance practices that are used by most companies: Corrective Main- tenance, Preventive Maintenance, Risk- based Maintenance and Condition-based Maintenance. Regardless of which type of maintenance is used, the personnel carry- ing out the maintenance must deal with aspects of lubrication, friction and wear of different parts of the machines. To ensure that these professionals are carrying out maintenance using the lat- est technologies and are well equipped on the different aspects of maintenance, constant training is essential. . This is ex- actly what The Southern African Institute of Tribology (SAIT) is doing; offering a platform for training professionals on the aspects of lubrication, friction and wear. Dating back to 1983, SAIT was started by


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a group of industrialists and researchers, concerned with the extent of tribological wear in South Africa, and they convened and formed the ‘Wear Society’. After sever- al presentations on a range of wear-relat- ed subjects, the South African Institute of Tribology (SAIT) was formally launched on 29th March 1985. SAIT was established with the following


objectives: • To provide education in industry of the science and technology of Tribology.


• To promote the transfer of information and technology related to Tribology in Southern Africa.


• To promote the development of exper- tise in Southern Africa with a view of solving tribological problems and re- ducing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).


• To maintain membership of the Inter- national Tribology Council (ITC), and support liaison with this and other Tri- bology groups and societies.


• To stimulate research and development in Tribology.


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From L-R: Patrick Swan accepting the 2023 Louw Alberts Award on behalf of Dave Scott from Henco Booysen (SAIT President) SOURCE | SAIT


LUBEZINE MAGAZINE | MARCH 2024


aintenance is a crucial part of every industry as it ensures that the equipment is working ef- ficiently to reduce down-


Since its existence, SAIT has established technical knowledge transfer


through


Best Technical Achievement award floating trophy. SOURCE | SAIT


• To promote the professional status of Tribology.


• To become the Tribology authority in Southern Africa.


SAIT is a member of the Southern Af- rican Engineering Community, the World ribology Body, the International Tribolo- gy Council (ITC), based in UK, and it also has a working agreement with the Society for Tribologists & Lubrication Engineers (STLE) of United States where it trains its members on lubricants and lubrication.


technical meetings and mini-seminars on topics of interest in the lubrication and materials fields such as wear of materials, bearings, gears and condition monitoring. It has also carried out plant visits, and in- ternational tribology conferences with lo- cal and international guest speakers and authorities in the various fields of tribol- ogy. In addition, the SAIT offers training courses which were introduced on the principles and technology of lubrication and materials. The knowledge gained by over 3 500 students, who have attended the courses so far, has been put into prac- tice in the industry. Some of the training courses offered


by SAIT include: Lubrication Engineering which gives participants a full under- standing of the principles and technology of lubrication. The course is presented as a five-day course, and it targets mainte- nance personnel, and anyone concerned with the operation, maintenance or man- agement of industrial plants, machinery, transport and other lubricant related dis- ciplines. A one-day introductory course on the same topic is directed at plant opera- tors, buyers, artisans and apprentices. Another course offered is Introduction


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