Aritech may be a relatively new name in the South African security scene, but the company's credentials and certainly its fire detection products were well established through the local company Centralised Electronics.
Centralised Electronics was formed in Cape Town in 1983 by Chris de Kock and fellow entrepreneur engineers from CSIR and the defence industry. The initial focus was on the design of military products but the business soon diversified into other security products including a car immobiliser range for Toyota. Real strategic direction came for the company when Telkom issued a tender during 1988 for fire control equipment and using their excellent design capability Centralised Electronics won this substantial order after demonstration of a prototype model. Fire detection and control panels was to become the company's continued speciality and the product produced was so good that Centralised Electronics were soon exporting into Europe as well. It was in 1990 that Aritech Europe was appointed as their distributor, a very good choice at that time as that company was active in 12 European countries with their own range of intrusion detection products which fitted neatly into a portfolio with fire detection.
As time went on the relationship between Aritech Europe and Centralised Electronics grew stronger and with the growth in the fire detection business in Europe Aritech acquired the local company during August 1995. After some deliberation it was decided in 1997 that Centralised Electronics would change its name to Aritech (Pty) Ltd and that the technology associated with manufacture would be transferred to the Aritech manufacturing facility in Roermond in the Netherlands. This was not a reflection on the capability of the operation in Cape Town but was based on the hard fact that the parent company had spare capacity at its plant in the Netherlands and this more modern facility did not require a large capital injection to expand production. The positive side of the arrangement is that the R&D will remain Cape Town-based with the facility becoming the international company's Centre of Excellence in fire detection. The transfer of manufacturing technology began in 1997 and will be completed by the end of this year. Local manufacture of outdated systems for customer replacement purposes will continue in the interim, but all existing ranges and new products will be produced in Roermond.
Expansion of business
In South Africa Aritech begun to diversify out of its core business of fire detection with the addition of access control and intrusion products in 1997. These were complementary products available from its parent company in Brussels. The latest addition to the product range is that of CCTV which was added at the beginning of this year.
The new Country Manager of Aritech in South Africa is Brett Birch, while the former MD of Centralised Electronics, Chris de Kock, has established Interlogix Africa, the target for this company being to open up new branches on the African continent. A start has already been made with the opening of an office in Namibia earlier this year.
Aritech in SA reports to Interlogix Europe & Africa, which has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Interlogix Europe and Africa in turn reports to Interlogix in the USA which is a public company listed on the NASDAQ. Besides being virtually in the same time zone, the local company has a direct ISDN line to Brussels and is also linked into the parent's WAN providing excellent IT infrastructure. Goods shipped out of the central distribution centre in Roermond Holland will go directly to the local company's warehouse in Johannesburg before distribution to the local branches in Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal.
Some of the better known brand names under the Interlogix portfolio include Caddx, Sentrol, ITI, Fiber Options, GBC, Kalatel, Cosmotron and of course Aritech. As worldwide distribution agreements had been in place before the most recent merger, other South African companies are actually sole distributors for some of these brands, and not Aritech. The total portfolio covers the primary areas of intrusion detection, fire detection and control, access control and CCTV surveillance and monitoring.
Besides the InterlogiX portfolio Aritech will continue to distribute fire detectors from Apollo Fire Detectors in the UK with which Aritech has had an association for the last 13 years. These high quality products were always recommended as part of the South African company's total fire protection solution and are very well received in the local market; it is therefore logical that this association remains.
As for the local track record of Aritech, the company under its previous name was well known as a supplier of reliable cutting-edge fire detection control systems. Its original customer Telkom has remained faithful to their products which today are installed in numerous Telkom buildings and exchanges throughout the country. Eskom is also a major user of the company's fire control panels with installations in many power stations including Matimba, Kendal and Duvha. Important commercial users include the large banking groups such as First National, Standard Bank and Nedcor, as well as mobile telephony provider MTN.
Total electronic security solutions
The local company's rebirth as Aritech now allows it to offer customers a total service in regard to not just fire control, but CCTV, access control and intrusion detection. This is in line with the global trend where large projects are interlinked and cover all aspects of electronic security. A major advantage that Aritech has over its competition is that all of the products it offers come out of the InterlogiX stable and are inherently integration compatible. The installer thus does not encounter the problems of mix and 'mismatch' on site. The other considerable advantage offered is that for the installation company they have a single supplier who can assist with all problems and training courses can cover the application and integration of the entire product line. Aritech makes particular use of its regular training courses to ensure that installers are certified. Although the company then expects these installers to be capable of handling their own on-site problems Aritech staff will assist in the solution of the more unusual problems.
Worldwide the manufacturing facilities of Aritech and InterlogiX are all certified to the ISO 9001 quality management standard and the R&D facility in Cape Town will also retain its registration. As a result of its global sales network all products produced by the company now carry international approvals to facilitate entry into markets which require UL or other certifications. For South Africa SABS has recently introduced a new standard but this is equivalent to EN54 to which all products already comply. While many manufacturers will declare that their products have been designed to comply with a certain standard, InterlogiX and Aritech products have been actually tested by internationally accredited test houses to ensure real compliance in practice to the applicable standards
Aritech in South Africa is now geared up to provide its customers with total fire and security protection and in order to ensure that standards are maintained it is a member of both the ESDA and the Fire Detector Installers' Association (FDIA). Whether the need of the installer is residential or commercial Aritech can provide a solution. With sales and technical support personnel in the sales offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal Aritech is capable of providing countrywide service and a complete range of state-of-the-art products direct from the manufacturer. As a result, Country Manager Brett Birch sees South Africa as a strong growth market for the local company.
For details contact Brett Birch, Aritech on tel: (021) 946 3595.
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