WearCheck TCS Senior Laboratory Technician
Cape Town

Main Job Functions:

• Responsible for the Laboratory operation, focusing on efficiencies, to achieve the Company’s strategic and operational objectives.
• Responsible for ensuring that the branch meets its goals and objectives in a timely manner.

Position Requirements:

• Minimum Education – Completed tertiary qualification in Analytical Chemistry, Chemical Technology or similar.
• 5 years of professional experience in an Analytical Chemistry Laboratory or similar position, preferably in the diagnostic testing of insulating materials used in high-voltage electrical equipment.
• Working knowledge of SANAS 17025.
• Intermediate Microsoft skills.
• Knowledge and experience of IEC and related Standards for diagnostic reporting.
• Excellent communication and organisational skills, must be a team player, and show proven leadership ability.
• Must have time and change management skills.

Key Responsibilities:

• Calibration, operation and Primary maintenance on the following Analytical Chemistry Techniques, Gas and Liquid Chromatography, Coulometry, Electro Chemistry and Physical(Electrical) testing techniques of Insulating materials.
• Ensure all laboratory analytical testing and calibration is planned and performed accurately in accordance to work instructions as well as procedures
• Guarantee that the evaluation, reporting and interpretation of test results are accurately reported to customers according to the requirements by following recognised analytical standards, including the responsibilities of a technical signatory in accordance with SANAS 17025.
• Must be deemed competent and authorised to perform all calibration, test methods as well as utilization of all laboratory equipment.
• Manage consumables and ensuring that laboratory consumables are organised and stored according to safety instructions.
• Set daily/weekly/monthly objectives and communicate them to personnel.
• Manage the safe use of equipment and schedule regular maintenance in-line with the planned maintenance program.
• Train new employees on the safe use of laboratory equipment and accurately follow procedures.
• Manage the reliability and availability of all Laboratory equipment by checking processes and final output
• Sample registration and data capture in accordance with internal procedures.

Availability: The successful candidate must be available to start as soon as possible.

Only CV’s sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will be considered.

Applications close on 10th August 2018. If you have not received a response by 17th August 2018, please consider your application as being unsuccessful.

Ongoing professional development and training has always been a priority at WearCheck, ensuring that staff stay up-to-date with constantly-evolving technology.

Ten of the company’s reliability solutions technicians recently passed their CAT certification through the Mobius Institute, which is a worldwide provider of education in reliability improvement, condition monitoring and precision maintenance. Four technicians achieved CAT 111 certification, while six technicians earned CAT 11 certification.

WearCheck is the certified Mobius training centre for Africa.

CAT 11 students underwent a compulsory 18-month practical experience, followed by four days of lectures and a full day examination. CAT 111 students had to complete a 36-month practical experience, lectures for four days and examinations.

Vibration database setup and fault analysis are the predominant focus of both CAT 11 and CAT 111. The training sessions are practical and hands-on, enabling the technicians to hone their skills and progress to the next level.

Technicians who gained their CAT 111 certification are Louis Peacock, Marius Grobler, Eddie Pieterse (Jnr) and Kobus Venter. Those who earned their CAT 11 certification are Adriaan Bouwer, Jovan Combrinck, Nande Magxagxa, Adriaan Schoonbee, Sipho Zwane and Hein Coetzer.

The successful candidates hail from WearCheck bases all around South Africa.

WearCheck’s reliability solutions consultant, Mobius trainer and CAT 1V graduate Dennis Swanepoel, is proud of the achievements of his team. ‘Well done, guys, now for the next level!’

The Mobius Institute Board of Certification (MIBoC) is ISO/IEC 17024 and ISO 18436 accredited, providing globally-recognised certification to category I-IV vibration analysts in accordance with ISO 18436-1 and 18436-2.

Mobius courses are also run for customers by WearCheck anywhere, any date, on demand.

Images:

These reliability solutions technicians from WearCheck earned their CAT 111 certification: (from left to right) Louis Peacock, Marius Grobler, Eddie Pieterse (Jnr) and Kobus Venter.

These reliability solutions technicians from WearCheck successfully earned their CAT 11 certification: (from left to right):

Adriaan Bouwer, Jovan Combrinck, Nande Magxagxa, Adriaan Schoonbee, Sipho Zwane and Hein Coetzer.

Members of the International WearCheck Group (IWCG) get together each year in a different member country to share ideas about the latest technological innovations, discuss new condition monitoring trends, learn about new laboratory practices and instruments and to keep the international WearCheck business network going. 

Seoul - the beautiful capital city of South Korea – was the venue for this year’s IWCG conference in July. 

WearCheck MD Neil Robinson (back row, fifth from left), along with delegates from Canada, USA, Hungary, UK and Argentina attended the 2018 International WearCheck Group (IWCG) meeting in Seoul, South Korea in July.

Diagnostician Ashley Mayer has re-joined the team of diagnosticians at WearCheck’s head office in Pinetown.

Ashley, originally a Durbanite, holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering, as well as a national certificate in Datametrics and has completed an Advanced Business Programme.

His career kicked off in Durban as a mechanical engineer for Chempute, after which he joined the WearCheck team as a diagnostician for four years. A stint at ABB as a tribologist was followed by five years in the USA with the Noria Corporation, finishing up as director of Applications Engineering.

In 2009, Ashley returned to WearCheck as senior technical consultant in Johannesburg, which was followed by two years as manager of the Speciality Laboratory and three years as the company’s training manager. He travelled far and wide running technical training courses for WearCheck customers throughout Africa and beyond.

This year, Durban extends a warm ‘welcome home’ to Ashley. Throughout his career, Ashely has presented several papers at conferences, and has had many of his condition monitoring articles published in professional publications. He has won two gold awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

From “The Practical Handbook of Machinery Lubrication – 4th Edition”:

Increasing the percentage of a certain additive may improve one property of an oil, while at the same time degrade another. When the specified concentrations of additives become unbalanced, overall oil quality can be affected. Some additives compete with each other for the same space on a metal surface. If a high concentration of an anti-wear agent is added to the oil, the corrosion inhibitor may become less effective. The result may be an increase in corrosion-related problems.

WearCheck provides condition monitoring services to many sectors, some of which are highly specialised.

One of WearCheck’s long-standing customers in the aviation arena is Honeywell Aerospace - a global company that invents and manufactures technologies that address some of the world’s most critical challenges around energy, safety, security, productivity and global urbanisation. 

Honeywell ‘s SOAP (spectrometric oil analysis program) laboratory engineer Perry Rexroad, from Phoenix Arizona, recently visited WearCheck’s Pinetown laboratory to conduct an audit of the process of preparing the oil filters for analysis as well as laboratory instrument accuracy.

For more than 20 years, WearCheck has analysed oil samples and filters from Honeywell’s aircraft components, and our diagnosticians have based their maintenance recommendations on these results.

As this work is unique and specialised, Honeywell requires that our diagnosticians are specifically trained and certified to diagnose their samples, and that they undergo regular assessment to earn re-certification.

During the audit, WearCheck’s three existing Honeywell diagnosticians (Daan Burger, Ravi Chetty and Steven Lumley) were successfully re-certified, and Ashley Mayer, the newest member of the diagnostic team, also received his Honeywell certification.

Aerospace audit: Perry Rexroad (left) of Honeywell in the USA conducted an audit in WearCheck’s Pinetown laboratory recently. WearCheck’s three existing Honeywell diagnosticians (Daan Burger, Ravi Chetty (inset) and Steven Lumley (right)) were successfully re-certified, and Ashley Mayer (at microscope) received his certification

Ashley Mayer, the newest member of WearCheck’s diagnostic team, is now the fourth diagnostician to be certified by Honeywell, along with Daan Burger, Ravi Chetty and Steven Lumley.

WearCheck couldn’t be prouder of diagnostic manager John Evans, who recently diagnosed his two millionth oil analysis sample. 

John diagnosed his first sample back in February 1983 when he worked for Barlows in Botswana.  After a stint with De Beers in Botswana, also in the oil analysis field, John joined the WearCheck team in 1989 as a diagnostician.

His promotion to diagnostic manager in 1997 meant his workload included a bit more admin, however, this did not slow down his sample diagnosing!

Not only has John clocked up the impressive sample diagnosis count, he has also authored more than 30 of WearCheck’s ever-popular Technical Bulletins. Many of John’s articles on condition monitoring have been published, and he has devised many of the company’s customer training manuals. John has also published a book on oil analysis.

Whilst we don’t have official statistics, we do know that it is extremely rare on a global level to have diagnosed this quantity of samples, therefore John’s achievement aligns him with only a handful of top diagnosticians globally who have reached an equivalent milestone – among them, fellow WearCheck diagnosticians Michelle Allis and Rowan Maartens (recently retired).

Caption: WearCheck’s diagnostic manager John Evans recently diagnosed his two millionth oil analysis sample, ranking him alongside only a handful of top diagnosticians globally who have reached an equivalent milestone – among them, fellow WearCheck diagnosticians Michelle Allis and Rowan Maartens (recently retired).

Early automotive engines didn’t use any kind of filtration for the oil. It wasn’t until a patent was granted to Ernest Sweetland and George Greenhalgh in 1923 for their product the “pure oil later” or “Purolator,” that you could buy an automobile with a full pressure lubrication system.

It would be many years later before a full flow oil filter found on today’s automobiles was incorporated.

The 1940s would bring about filtration systems on mass produced vehicles, and the 1960s made oil filter changes much more convenient with the advent of “spin on” disposable filters. Through the next few decades, advances were made in the internal construction and filter media, making the filters much more efficient. Today, all automotive engines, whether gasoline or diesel, come with filtration designed to improve oil cleanliness and thus extend the life of that engine.

WearCheck TCS Branch Manager: Cape Town

Main Job Functions: 

• Managing all operational aspects of the branch and staff
• Providing technical services to customers (Diagnoses of results and issuing of reports)
• Responsible for ensuring the branch meets all goals and objectives in a timely manner

Position Requirements: 

• Minimum Education – 3 years tertiary chemical qualification and 6-8 years related experience
• Minimum 5 years managerial experience
• Excellent knowledge of the ISO17025 requirements
• Sound knowledge of Giza, Oasis and TCS Software
• Excellent Computer Skills (Microsoft Office Excel, Word and Power Point)
• Excellent leadership, communication, team building and change management skills
• Methodical, accurate, conscientious, energetic and technically minded
• Good time management and organisational skills
• High attention to detail and ability to work under pressure.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Ensure Laboratory staff work carefully and efficiently in the prescribed manner to produce accurate results
• Ensure that samples are analysed timeously by Laboratory staff
• Maintain comprehensive training of Laboratory Staff by means of structured training programmes, and promote continuous development of staff by providing coaching and motivation
• Promote teamwork and co-operation in the branch by holding regular branch meetings
• Implement and ensure safety compliance at the branch and monitor regularly
• Maintain the efficient use of consumables and dispose of Laboratory waste streams in an environmentally responsible manner
• Set realistic budget goals and monitor income and expenses as well as report deviations from the goal
• Ensure that the branch has sufficient stock of consumables at all times
• Ensure that all laboratory analytical testing and calibration is planned and performed accurately
• Must be deemed competent and authorised to perform all calibration, test methods and be able to utilise all laboratory equipment
• Perform accurate Diagnosis for WTCS and WSL Laboratories in accordance with IEC and related Standards
• Send reports to customers timeously
• Timeously address all customers’ queries regarding their reports
• Develop forecasts for financial and business objectives
• Meet company goals and objectives
• Identify areas of improvement and propose corrective actions
• Address customer and employee issues promptly
• Network to improve the presence and reputation of the branch and the Company.

Availability: The successful candidate must be able to start in their position as soon as possible.

Only CV’s sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will be considered.

Applications close on 20th June 2018. If you have not received a response by 29th June 2018, please consider your application as being unsuccessful.

Meet WearCheck’s newest scientist – Vincent Sithole. He joined the company last year as a research and development assistant, and has recently been promoted to junior chemist at WearCheck’s Pinetown laboratory.

Vincent is working on several interesting research projects in the lab, one of which is the assessment of the determination of glycol in used engine oil through headspace gas chromatography.

Vincent explains, ‘The presence of ethylene glycol in used engine oil is an indication of antifreeze coolant leakage into the crank-case of an internal combustion engine, thus predicting engine-wear problems, therefore this is an effective preventive monitoring tool.

‘Glycol coolants break down in a high temperature engine environment, leading to the formation of acids that, in turn, attack nonferrous bearing surfaces, causing reactions with oil anti-wear and antioxidant additives.’

Vincent recently completed his master’s degree in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry, and notes with interest that his WearCheck lab work dovetails neatly with the subject of his thesis and published peer-reviewed journal articles – phosphorus/sulphur metal compounds (applied as antioxidants and anti-wear additives in petroleum products).

Before joining WearCheck, Vincent had embarked on his PhD while working as a teaching assistant at the University of KZN in Durban.

Caption: Vincent Sithole, junior chemist at WearCheck, operates a gas chromatograph.