NEWS
CELEBRATING
20
Years
Multistage Cooling celebrates 20 years
By John Ackermann
After starting as a one-man industrial refrigeration contractor in 1996 , Multistage Cooling ( MSC ) has notched up more than 500 projects and completed all within contractual time frames , of which 16 are ice rinks and the seventeenth is currently under construction .
Bob Vuletic immigrated to South Africa from Austria in 1973 as a qualified mechanical engineering technologist . He obtained his qualification in the ship building industry in 1968 in Yugoslavia with registration 159 awards ( credits ) of the Social Republic of Yugoslavia ( SRY ).
His first job was with Klaus Refrigeration . “ Klaus Neave was a hard master , but I learnt a great deal from him ,” says Vuletic . He continues , “ In 1987 I joined Bronsair and my first contract was the installation of the ice plant at the East Rand Proprietary Mine ( ERPM ) in Boksburg . At 6 000 tonnes of ice a day , it was then the largest ice plant in Africa . Karl Klosterman of Bronsair was an excellent mentor to me . It was at Bronsair that I gained the experience as a contracts engineer on very large projects .”
Soon after starting Multistage Cooling ( MSC ) as a refrigeration contracting company in 1996 , it was awarded a contract to install the first ammonia refrigeration plant for poultry distributor , F Dawood and Sons in Benoni . The refrigeration plant , a greenfield project , had two Gram two-stage reciprocating compressors . Vuletic was known to F Dawood and Sons at the time , because of installing a R502 plant at their Dunswart Butchery in 1981 , while working as a technician at Klaus Refrigeration .
Founded on trust and good service , the relationship with F Dawood and Sons has remained firm and in 2006 , Multistage Cooling designed and installed an ammonia refrigeration plant in a new cold room complex built adjacent to the original store .
The first screw compressors installed by Multistage Cooling were for General Mills , a pastry filling manufacturer in Linbro Park . One Sabroe SAB163 and a SAB123 screw
Bob Vuletic ’ s ( far right ) first participation as a judge in refrigeration at WorldSkills was in 2007 held in Japan . Next to him is Ivan Theron , South Africa ’ s competitor that year with an international counterpart .
The image of service vehicles has showcased MSC as a contractor . The first ammonia plant installed for F Dawood and Sons in Benoni in 1996 .
6 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za COLD LINK AFRICA • May | June 2017