East London based contract electronics manufacturer, Vektronix, had become a household name in its field, newly appointed business development manager Kobie Pienaar said.

“The branding of a new company name within its industry is of paramount importance for future business. This goal was achieved through participating in exhibitions at electronic fairs and extensive advertising in the national media. Today, two years later, Vektronix is a well respected player in the electronics manufacturing market.”

Vektronix was established in 2003 after a management buy out from the national electronics company Tellumat. Subsequently, the young and dynamic management team reaped the benefits of their bold decision by trading profitably every month to date. Vektronix repairs the entire country’s M-Net decoders, as well as decoders from Greece and Cyprus at a rate of between 400 – 500 decoders per day.

In December 2003, Vektronix became the only electronics company in the country to populate and assemble printed circuit boards for an innovative pre-paid battery powered solar electricity unit which provides rural homes, which are not on the Eskom grid, with enough energy to power 4 lights, cell-phone charger, a radio and for several hours a day a black and white TV. The project is subsidized by the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs which has appointed five concessionaires nationally to install the units and it aims to install about 50 000 units in the next few years.

Following their excellent performance on the project Gauteng based Rural Area Power Solutions (RAPS) Technologies, who designed the solar power unit, awarded the entire assembly contract to Vektronix earlier this year.

“It is a really positive East London story, as the fibreglass housing for the units are manufactured here in East London by the Fibreglass Shop and we do the board assemblies and final integration ,” said Pienaar. The contract has created employment for eight more employees. “At present we assemble up to 1500 units per month. We are fortunate that there is a pool of skilled people in the electronics industry in East London who previously worked in the television manufacturing industry that we are able to draw from” Pienaar said.

There is scope for expansion in contract electronics manufacturing and there will always be opportunities for niche products to be manufactured as is evident with the RAPS project, he said. “There is also a strong indication that government recognises the need for research and development to stimulate electronics manufacturing and to harness capabilities in the country which are comparable with anywhere in the world. With the strong team Vektronix has, there is the capacity to take on new work with turn around times that exceed clients’ expectations.”

Pienaar pointed out a number of advantages in being located in East London where labour and overhead structures cannot compare to Gauteng or Cape Town based companies. With his design engineer background and years of experience in electronics, Pienaar who originally hails from Pretoria, says he is particularly pleased to be part of Vektronix which is responsive to his entrepreneurial skills.

- Lorna Schofield