iTek Drives, which supplies variable speed drives and control panels across Africa, has moved to larger premises in the Meadowdale industrial and commercial hub, near OR Tambo International Airport outside Johannesburg in South Africa
The new property provides a warehouse with facilities for receiving and dispatch, a large workshop for product assembly and repair, a variable speed drives (VFD) showroom, plus training and office facilities, with room for further growth.
iTek Drives is Africa’s leading supplier of the Optidrive range of VFDs south of the Sahara in Africa. Also known as inverters, VFDs are the electronic controllers commonly fitted to fans, pumps, compressors and cranes to smoothly manage electric motor acceleration and deceleration by changing voltages and frequencies.
Increasing sales is one reason for iTek’s move to bigger premises, according to Ryan Bisnath, sales director. “By serving as a single-source supplier, we will remove the difficulties and risks associated with ordering and assembling an integrated system from two or more separate companies,” he said.
The space at Meadowdale is also sufficient to develop alliances with electric motor companies, he noted. Distribution is another possibility — iTek recently announced the sale of VFDs, control panels and specialised electric motors to a copper mine in Zambia. Proximity to OR Tambo will also facilitate rapid delivery by air.
Bisnath also said he anticipates working more closely with importer Emac (Electric Motors & Components) to supply flame-proof motors, explosion-proof motors and slip ring motors to the African market. Other brands will include KMMP, VEM, and CEMP.
iTek intends to marry these European motors to Optidrive VFDs and iTek’s locally-built control panels, to deliver a turnkey system. “Our core business as a variable frequency drives supplier has not changed, but we hope to make a lot easier the customer’s purchase of his integrated motor and drive systems.”
iTek Drives has been growing the Optidrive name in Africa since 2016.
In 2024, the company also opened a comprehensive testing, repairs, programming and software centre in Johannesburg.
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Typical variable speed drives from the Optidrive range (Image source: iTek Drives)
