Power group chooses Improvon for R300m development

GLOBAL POWER and automation group ABB South Africa has chosen the Improvon Group to develop its new high-tech facility in Longmeadow on the East Rand. ABB SA achieved record power and automation orders of R3.6bn in 2006, 30% higher than the previous year, spurred by the local electrical power infrastructure expansion programme and a more buoyant business in industrial plant automation, said CEO Carlos Poñe. Revenues for 2006 were R2.7bn, up 11% on the previous year, the highest achieved by the company in its 14 years of operation in the country. No surprise therefore that its new facility will be state-of-the-art. The new building will incorporate many of ABB's leading edge technologies in building automation, lighting and energy efficiency, said Poñe. The mid-July sod-turning ceremony was the culmination of approximately two years of negotiation and planning, said Jorge da Costa, director at the Improvon Group. The 80 000 m2 site will accommodate a modern 3-storey office block and a single-level state-of-the-art warehouse complex comprising manufacturing, assembly and logistics facilities. This complex will be mechanically ventilated and linked to the main office block via an underground tunnel leading from the security office at the facility’s entrance. Large concrete aprons surrounding the warehouse complex will facilitate easy truck marshalling. The facility is expected to be ready for occupation in 2009.