15
EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
SAPPMA hosts first
quality workshop
Held at the Plastics|SA head office in Midrand, Johannesburg on 10
April 2019, the workshop was the first in a series aimed at addressing
quality matters relating to plastic pipes within the general industry.
By Benjamin Brits
The decision to host quality workshops was taken
because SAPPMA identified the need for training and
knowledge transfer within the industry — not only for
manufacturers and suppliers of HDPE or PVC pipe, but
also for engineers, auditors, quality inspectors as well
as standards writers and specifiers.
Locally produced plastic pipes are manufactured in
accordance with national standards, which are generally
based on ISO standards. The custodian of these standards is
the South African National Standards (SANS) Authority, which
is part of the SABS. Many of the standards, however, date
back many years and the writers of these original standards
are no longer in the industry. This, coupled with changes and
technology advancements, leads to the challenge that some
of the standards have become incomprehensible for many
industry participants, on all levels.
Standards, as the basis of best practices, cannot be
written or enforced without the comprehension of all
of the various elements involved in their development.
It is becoming increasingly evident from training and
mentoring programmes, that a solid understanding of the
basis of standards is lacking.
It is within this scope that the Southern African Plastic
Pipe Manufacturing Association (SAPPMA), launched its
quality workshops campaign as a mechanism to address
the dilemma. The hope is also that these workshops will
encourage industry stakeholders to work together to
ensure the continuation of quality for industry.
The first quality workshop was presented by Ian Venter,
technical manager for SAPPMA, with contributions from
Reza Theunissen and Khanya Ngobo, who are testing
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
instrumentation specialists of Advanced Laboratory
Solutions (Instron and TA Instrumentation).
During the workshop, Venter took a comprehensive
look at the need for standards, elements involved in
the establishment of standards, the process of quality
systems, the dimensions of quality, and policy formation.
The first SAPPMA quality
workshop presenters.
From Left: Reza
Theunissen (Instron),
Ian Venter (SAPPMA)
and Khanya Ngobo (TA
Instrumentation).
This was followed by presentations by Theunissen and
Ngobo, who went into technical details relating to testing
and instrumentation equipment used for material and
component property determination and analysation of
data that are crucial elements in the manufacturing
process, and are required in adherence to strict formulas
and standards in order to meet best practices.
After the workshop, 80 attendees networked together before
breakaway sessions were held to determine the subject
matter for the planned future quality workshops. These will
include focusing on the following topics of quality:
• Understanding the elements of a pressure pipe
systems standard, Part 1: raw material, Part 2: Pipes,
Part 3: Fittings, Part 5: Systems, Part 7: Conformance.
• Product Quality Plans and how to incorporate them
into your Quality Management standard, Type
Testing (TT), Batch Release Testing (BRT), Process
verification testing (PVT), and Audit Testing (AT).
• Thermoplastics pipe properties of importance for
specific designs and life expectancy of a pipe system.
SAPPMA’s next quality workshop has been scheduled for
18 July. More information about the time and topic will be
communicated in due course. For more information and
possible participation, or access to the existing workshop
material, please email Ian Venter: [email protected]. PA
June 2019 Volume 25 I Number 4