www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I September 2024 29
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Personality Profile Sponsored by :
SAIRAC FELLOW ANTON JANSEN
REFLECTS ON ALMOST 50 YEARS IN HVAC
By Eamonn Ryan
Anton Jansen ’ s HVAC career began in 1976 – selling cable glands for a company in Johannesburg . Here , he was offered the opportunity to open a branch in Durban for Luftspares ( Pty ) Limited - a Cape Town based fan manufacturing company .
Jansen recalls that it was at his first meeting at Luftspares , that he was given the best compliment of his life . A director said , “ Anton , I can teach you what you don ’ t know about fans , but the way you handle yourself , your honesty , and enthusiasm , are qualities that cannot be taught .” Jansen says , “ I didn ’ t appreciate the value of those words until years later when I had to employ my own people . Then I knew exactly what those words meant .”
“ I started out with limited sales experience and very little product knowledge , but armed with some leaflets and the confidence of the directors , I went out and tried to sell fans . In those days it wasn ’ t just about HVAC , it was about supplying fans to anybody for any industrial use e . g . workshops and factory managers . Fortunately , the orders started coming in and as our product range grew , our fans sold and the company began hitting new sales records .”
He further recalls going into people ' s offices with a tape measure and notebook , manually calculating what the clients would need and then scoping and costing the work via manual processes as well . When fax machines came out , it made things easier because one could see pictures and visualise plans and fan placements while off site – but the arrival of computers was nothing short of “ revolutionary ”, he says .
Jansen never stopped working through any challenges that came his way - including tough political and economic climates , demanding clients , difficult engineers , and changing goal posts – small jobs turned into medium jobs and those , in turn turned , into multi-million Rand orders – all while building and maintaining client relationships .
The next milestone in his journey came when the Durban factory was no longer able to meet escalating customer demands . He responded by building the required number of fans himself , after hours . He engaged an engineering company to cut the fan cases and flanges and taught himself how to weld . “ My welding was obviously not the best when I started , but it improved with practice , and I got the orders out
Supplied by Luft Fans .
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Anton Jansen , founder of Luft Fans retires at 81 . |
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The new offices of Luft Fans in Durban , South Africa . |
in time . My manager then agreed to let me do some of the overflow manufacturing and complete other similar orders inhouse . That turned into supplying several clients and soon the realisation of expanding the business in the early 80s .”
Fastforwarding to the early 90s , the company - which was well established in South Africa and Namibia , and arguably the largest fan and ventilation supplier in several regions – underwent a name change to its detriment . It subsequently changed ownership twice and sold off subdivisions . The Cape Town and Johanesburg branches were shut down , and only Durban remained operational .
Jansen ended up buying the Durban branch and re-establishing the company under its previously well-known brand name , Luft Industries Natal ( Pty ) Limited . This was completed within a six-month period of paying off loans and completing distribution agreements , legalities , and keeping the business running .
From there the business grew from strength to strength with Jansen ’ s son joining the company in 1995 . Over the years Jansen was witness to many technological and methodology changes in the fan manufacturing industry , including developments in airflow , silencers , and even what he considers the greatest fan-technology advancement of all - the adoption of electronically commutated ( EC ) fans that have drastically changed the dynamics of the fan sector . RACA
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I September 2024 29