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.