Manufacturing

Brady i7500 automates UHF RFID encoding for industry. (Image source: Brady Corporation)

Print and encode the first RFID label right, with 0 label waste. Brady Corporation’s new i7500 RFID label printer does not waste a single label in calibration. The printer uniquely recognises RFID labels and auto-selects the optimal RFID encoding option to achieve outstanding print and encode reliability

Unique technology

The new BradyPrinter i7500 Industrial RFID Label Printer prints and encodes the first RFID label right. Tested competitive models waste 10 to 30 labels after each consumable change.

The printer also automatically locates label RFID chips to select the right internal antenna and power level that optimally encode UHF RFID labels currently loaded in the printer. In most RFID printers this input needs to be provided manually. The Brady printer’s unique technology reduces label waste even further, limits void labels, avoids time loss in production environments and adds great practicality for non-expert RFID printer users. Brady claims the technology accurately recognises RFID chips, even on labels as small as 15 mm width.

The patent-pending print and encoding technologies included in Brady’s new i7500 RFID make the printer extremely easy to use in a wide range of industrial contexts. They enable industries to easily switch UHF RFID label types on a single printer, without suffering label waste with each consumable change.

Fast, automated setup

With setup time for large, small, on-metal (up to 2mm thick) and off-metal UHF RFID labels under 3 minutes, the i7500 RFID is 25 to 2 times faster than most competitive models.

The printer’s exceptional material setup and calibration speed strengthens its ability to protect industrial operational throughput. Designed to keep the line moving, Brady’s new RFID printer reduces support interventions, UHF RFID tag scrap, component scrap, unplanned downtime and production bottlenecks, all at a print & encode speed of 3 seconds per label.

High accuracy data

From large pallet labels to small component tags, the i7500 RFID printer includes automated UHF RFID label encoding verification. At the same time it can add human legibles and tiny machine-readable QR-codes and barcodes for legacy applications, in both 300 and 600 dpi.

Data can be sourced from company systems and sent to the printer via Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Common data standards can all be printed and encoded, including GS1 for worldwide unique RFID EPC codes and barcodes on item-level.

Next level track & trace

The BradyPrinter i7500 RFID brings on-premise RFID printing to a wider range of industries. Highly reliable and easy to use, the printer does not require extensive technical expertise nor large amounts of excess labels to waste in calibration.

The new i7500 RFID label printer is part of Brady’s complete industrial RFID solution that also includes reliable RFID labels, RFID readers and RFID software. Together, these solution components enable next level track & trace advantages.

Trigger IoT- events and automations when scanning a label or a specific volume of labels. Enable home-in applications on tagged assets. Improve just-in-time tracking, automated inventory and cargo control. Strengthen compliance in advanced industrial supply chains. Or link products to their digital passports with RFID. The BradyPrinter i7500 RFID can give any asset, item and product a unique digital identity that can be read from a distance, without needing line of sight. The new RFID printer completes Brady’s quality traceability offer that enables reliable track and trace in any industry, with barcodes and/or RFID.

Find out more about the BradyPrinter i7500 RFID >>

Brady Corporation in Africa & Middle East

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Prometal SA to boost Cameroon steel sector (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Cameroon is stepping up efforts to expand domestic manufacturing and reduce reliance on imported industrial goods, with steel processing playing a growing role in the country’s industrialisation drive

Rising demand from the construction, infrastructure and agricultural sectors is creating opportunities to develop more local value chains and increase the production of finished goods.

It is against this backdrop that Prometal SA is expanding its steel processing capacity, backed by €40mn in fresh financing from Afreximbank.

The funding comes from an African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) revolving working capital facility and will support processing and transforming semi-processed steel into a range of finished steel products, including agricultural equipment and construction materials.

Hayssam El Jammal, Prometal SA’s CEO, said it marked a new stage for the company’s growth plans.Jammal said the growth strategy combines “vertical integration across the value chain from the processing of raw materials to the production of finished goods…[to the]…horizontal expansion into new markets with the clear ambition of producing in Africa goods that are still largely imported today.”

This, in turn, would strengthen African production capacity, reduce dependence on imports and retain greater value within the continent.

African industrialisation

Jammal said the deal also reflects Afreximbank’s commitment to turning African industrial ambitions into reality “further contributing to the broader industrialisation and economic transformation of our continent.”

The facility is expected to the production of a wide range of finished steel products, including agricultural equipment and construction materials.

It will also boost Prometal SA’s capacity to meet growing demand for steel and metal products across the construction, infrastructure, industrial and agricultural sectors within Cameroon.

“By identifying and capacitating African industrial champions, like Prometal SA, the Bank is strengthening Africa’s domestic manufacturing capacity and creating domestic and regional value chains,” said Dr. George Elombi, Afreximbank’s president and chairman.

Growth plans

Prometal SA is a leading metallurgical and industrial group with a growing industrial footprint.

Over recent years, it has already implemented various investments aimed at developing local manufacturing capacity and replacing the import of products previously sourced from international markets.

The group is organized around two principal business lines: Prometal Acier and NOVIA Industries.

Prometal Acier is the group's core steel and metallurgical business and a key player in the regional steel industry with operations across seven industrial plants and an aggregate annual production capacity of approximately 360,000 metric tons of finished steel products.

NOVIA Industries, established in 2018, is the group's expansion into the agribusiness sector and has rapidly developed into one of the leading players in its market segment.

It has an estimated production capacity of 500 tons per day of edible oil and 160 tons per day of soap, positioning it as a significant producer of refined palm-oil products and related by-products.

Read more:

Maersk opens 1,500 teu container depot in Cameroon

MSC expands Kribi intermodal connectivity

Can AD Ports unlock Douala's trade potential? 

Wang Jiazhong, senior vice president of Yadea Technology Group, pictured with Spiro’s CEO Anant Badjatya (Image source: Spiro)

African mobility group Spiro has signed a partnership with Yadea to scale accessible and sustainable electric transport across the continent

The partnership comes as Spiro accelerates its next phase of growth and expansion across Africa following its latest US$270mn funding round, which included investment from NewTrails Capital, a Chinese fund.

Yadea, founded in China, is the world's leading manufacturer of electric two-wheelers, with more than 100 million vehicles sold worldwide in over 100 countries and 10 exclusive production facilities globally.

Under the agreement, Yadea will supply electric two-wheelers and related EV products tailored to Spiro’s expanding regional markets, while Spiro will integrate the vehicles into its proprietary battery-swapping and energy infrastructure.

The companies will also co-develop customised two-wheeler platforms engineered specifically for local road conditions and commercial utility across Africa.

“Africa’s shift to electric mobility is accelerating and this partnership helps us meet that demand at scale,” said Anant Badjatya, CEO of Spiro.

“By bringing together Yadea’s manufacturing strength with Spiro’s electric mobility ecosystem and operating experience across Africa, we are compressing the timeline to clean transport — helping thousands more riders switch to affordable EVs faster and multiplying our climate impact across the continent.”

Spiro already boasts an operational network and battery-swapping ecosystem across seven countries.

Together, the companies aim to build a scalable, commercially sustainable EV framework serving millions of commercial fleet operators, delivery services, logistics providers, and daily commuters in Africa’s fastest-growing mobility markets.

“Our strategic partnership with Yadea…opens fantastic opportunities to jointly pioneer the next era of electric mobility in emerging markets”, said Gagan Gupta, Spiro’s founder.

Wang Jiazhong, senior vice president of Yadea Technology Group, said Africa represents a huge frontier for zero-emission transport.

“Our mission to reduce carbon emissions has reached a powerful milestone through this partnership with Spiro. Together, we are combining global innovation with local infrastructure to deliver scalable and sustainable mobility solutions that serve millions of riders and transform Africa’s urban transit.”

Read more:

Wartsila renews Mercy Ships service agreements

Volvo Buses to supply 38 electric buses to Cape Town

Bolt business mobility solutions thriving in Nigeria

Rethinking South Africa's wastewater potential (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Wastewater is still too often viewed as the end of a process, something to treat and discharge once it leaves a home, business, mine, or industrial site

In a water-scarce country, that linear view overlooks its value and the consequences of returning it to a connected water system.

South Africa’s rivers and water-transfer systems carry water across municipal, provincial, and national boundaries. Water may be abstracted, used, treated, returned, altered, and abstracted again downstream. The performance of wastewater infrastructure therefore affects far more than the site or municipality operating it.

“Some by-products of wastewater treatment can be used to generate energy that is fed back into the treatment infrastructure, reducing its demand on the grid,” says Kosikee Emma-Iwuoha, associate and water civil engineer at WSP in Africa. “Treated effluent can also be reused for irrigation or, with further treatment, in industrial processes.”

Wastewater is already part of the water system

Discharged water does not disappear from the resource system. Lee Boyd, technical director and water resource scientist at WSP in Africa, says return flows already form part of the water available to downstream users in South Africa’s connected catchments.

“South Africa’s water is reused extensively. Return flows can be abstracted again downstream, where their quality affects domestic users, agriculture, industry, and aquatic ecosystems. Water quantity and quality are connected and should not be managed separately,” says Boyd.

Return flows are incorporated into reconciliation planning in all catchments. However, Boyd cautions that return flows do not always meet the required quality after treatment, and sewer failures can prevent it from reaching treatment works.

Emma-Iwuoha’s earlier career experience includes extending a treated-effluent pipeline to potential users in the Western Cape where he saw firsthand that effective reuse ultimately hinges on reliable collection, treatment, monitoring, and clear end‑use planning.

A disposal mindset sends risk downstream

When the objective is simply to move wastewater through the system and dispose of it, less attention may be paid to the condition of the material entering the receiving environment.

Emma-Iwuoha says poorly managed discharge can overload natural systems, contribute to eutrophication, affect downstream water quality, and create environmental and health risks. The linear model also loses economic value that could support monitoring, maintenance, and further treatment.

The bulk network is central to this problem. Treatment capacity has limited value if sewers leak, surcharge, or release wastewater before it reaches the plant. Upgrades therefore need to cover collection, conveyance, treatment, monitoring, and discharge as one system.

Boyd says investment must also be matched by operational capability: “A treatment works can be upgraded, but the wider question is who will run it, whether there are enough people, and whether they have the skills and support to monitor performance.”

Design should begin with the catchment

Catchment assessments and water quality management plans help define what wastewater infrastructure needs to achieve before the physical solution is selected.

A catchment assessment identifies the downstream communities, industries, ecological systems, risks, and reuse opportunities that may be affected. It helps establish the required capacity and which receiving environments need protection.

“A suitably detailed catchment assessment gives us a better understanding of the risks, needs, and opportunities. The water quality management plan provides the benchmarks for choosing treatment processes, monitoring performance, and responding under normal and emergency conditions,” says Emma-Iwuoha.

Boyd adds that site-level wastewater and surface-water decisions should reflect the condition and objectives of the broader catchment. That depends on reliable evidence, yet monitoring information is often fragmented across government departments, municipalities, mines, industries, laboratories, and other water users.

Consolidating and verifying that information would improve treatment planning and allow problems to be identified sooner. A report received months after a pollution incident may explain what occurred, but it cannot reduce the impact while contaminated water is still moving downstream.

Resilience depends on people as well as assets

Wastewater systems need to be designed for expected growth rather than present demand alone. Government plans, municipal budgets, industrial expansion, urbanisation, and long-term operating requirements influence how much capacity is needed and how soon another upgrade may be required.

Emma-Iwuoha says coordination between government and industry can help prevent infrastructure from reaching capacity shortly after commissioning. Community involvement is equally important because acceptance cannot be assumed simply because a solution is technically sound.

Residents may have concerns about location, odour control, downstream river use, and the implications for health and livelihoods. Engagement needs to address these concerns while explaining the sanitation, environmental, and economic benefits.

Shared data requires similar trust. Boyd says a credible platform that verifies and protects monitoring information where necessary could strengthen catchment-wide planning without duplicating work.

Innovation has to reinforce the fundamentals

Waste-to-energy is one of the most promising opportunities identified by Emma-Iwuoha.

As treatment processes improve, organic material from wastewater can contribute to energy generation and, in suitable applications, create synergies with solid-waste management. It can reduce the energy burden of treatment where the scale, feedstock, economics, and operational capacity support it.

WSP has built capabilities in solid waste management and is expanding its capacity in wastewater treatment and process engineering, supported by expertise in water science, environmental assessment, and civil engineering.

Bringing these disciplines together allows teams to define what needs protection, set the required water quality targets, and translate those requirements into infrastructure that can be funded, built, operated, and adapted over time.

South Africa will not unlock the resilience value of wastewater through technology alone. Functioning bulk networks, skilled operators, verified data, appropriate treatment, credible governance and community support must be considered together.

Planned as a single system, wastewater can support the country’s water security rather than remaining an obligation at the end of a pipe.

Read more:

Atlas Copco launches portable emergency trash pumps

Aveva to host key industrial event in Johannesburg

WEC Water takes on unsafe sanitation in South African schools