Celebrating 30 Years of Engineering Dynamics: A Journey of Innovation and Excellence
The Beginning
Founded by Christo van der Walt over 30 years ago, Engineering Dynamics has become one of the industry leaders in preventing costly and disruptive machine failure in South Africa and beyond our borders. The journey began when Christo, then a young graduate mechanical engineer, found himself at a crossroads.
During 1993, with the impending change in South Africa’s political landscape, financial constraints forced the company Christo was working for to make some difficult decisions regarding non-core operations. Christo was encouraged to start his own venture, taking over the company’s condition monitoring portfolio of products and existing clients. With a loan against his house and, as he explains it, a lot of motivation but only a basic understanding of running a small business, he embarked on a journey that would help grow the industry at large.
Growth and Expansion
In the early days, the team consisted of Christo, an admin assistant, and one technician. Despite the challenges, the company moved to its present office in 1994 and has been growing steadily ever since. Remaining deliberately small, with never more than 5-6 employees, to this day Engineering Dynamics prioritises personalised attention, fit-for-purpose instruments and agility. Together, these allow them to meet the unique needs of the machine condition monitoring market.
Engineering Dynamics carved its path through word of mouth, initially growing a client base that revolved around a user group of widely-used USA-based Entek vibration monitoring equipment. While many people approached the threat of Y2k with dread, Christo and his small team were hard at work upgrading clients’ Entek software. This led to them winning Entek’s Best International Distributor award, an amazing accolade for a fledgling company in a relatively small market compared to Europe and the Americas.
In the early 2000s, two large Fin Fan vibration protection projects at a Mpumalanga-based petrochemical company further helped propel Engineering Dynamics’s growth.
In 2005, the company launched Engineering Dynamics Services (EDS), a separate venture aimed at offering condition monitoring services. This has been particularly beneficial for companies that lack the human resources and/or capital to do their own machine condition monitoring. Having started in Durban, EDS has since expanded across South Africa, becoming a valuable, trusted partner for many businesses.
A Commitment to Quality and Innovation
Engineering Dynamics’s agility has allowed them to change focus according to market conditions over the years, with a current focus on laser shaft alignment. This includes the critical aspects of training and support of these products. Understanding the dynamics of our local market, Christo aligned Engineering Dynamics with world-leading Easy-Laser, becoming their sole distributor for sub-Saharan Africa. Easy-Laser fits in perfectly with their ethos of providing affordable technology that’s easy to understand. This is especially suited to the South African and African markets, where mechanical artisans and fitters use the products. Christo believes so strongly in this product that Engineering Dynamics encourages all potential and existing clients to consider it.
Training and Education
Understanding the importance of education in handling high-tech equipment, Engineering Dynamics has also invested heavily in training. Offering comprehensive courses in Laser Shaft Alignment, Vibration Analysis and Field Balancing, equips clients with the knowledge and skills to become assets to their companies. Engineering Dynamics’s Laser Alignment Competency certificate is unique and highly regarded in the industry. In short, their goal is to help other businesses and contractors succeed. This is further demonstrated by their commitment to providing fast, friendly service and recommending the most suitable tools for the job (not necessarily the most expensive).
Looking Ahead
As Engineering Dynamics celebrates its 30th anniversary, the company is looking towards the future. A strong focus on Easy-Laser products, training and support will remain and be extended. In addition, with the advent of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, the condition monitoring industry is on the brink of an exciting new era. And Engineering Dynamics is at the forefront of this change, evaluating how to improve its products and services by taking advantage of all that AI offers.
Conclusion
Over the past 30 years, Engineering Dynamics has grown from a small start-up to a respected industry leader. Through innovation and resilience, they have made a significant impact on the industry, while ensuring they stay true to their roots of personalised, rapid and affordable service.
Here’s to many more years of ensuring the longevity of the industries they serve!