Another world first for Krugersdorp’s Pratley as they launch new product
Krugersdorp-based Pratley has yet again brought a seemingly simple product to the market which can have a lasting impact on any industry.
In the heart of South Africa, one company has been pushing industry boundaries for more than 70 years, bringing new and innovative products to the world stage, time and time again.
In 1948 the Pratley Manufacturing and Engineering Company was brought to life in a small garage in Hillbrow by family patriarch George ‘Monty’ Pratley.
Operations have since been moved to Factoria in Krugersdorp, where their head office and manufacturing plant are currently situated. Today, the company is run by Monty’s son, CEO Kim Pratley and his sons, Andrew and Charles.
By the end of February this year, Pratley was ready to reveal its newest innovation – a cable gland that far exceeds the industry standard in terms of performance, reliability and safety, called the Pratley Ex d/e Flameproof Enviro Compression Cable Gland.
Kim opened the product launch with a hearty laugh, saying, “I’m going to try and fire you up about a damned nut at the end of a piece of cable”. In truth, this is more than just a nut. In any cable system and enclosure, the cable gland is usually the weakest link. The gland is specifically designed to be used in hazardous environments, where the surrounding atmosphere is highly ignitable. A weak point in a system of electrical wires and boxes can lead to an explosion, placing the lives of workers in peril. No matter how reliable, fireproof and sealed-off the electrical enclosure is, if the anchoring cable gland isn’t up to snuff, the entire unit may fail.
The cable gland does not only adhere to the strictest international standards – which no other gland has ever been able to accomplish – but far exceeds the uncompromising prerequisites.
Pratley claimed that there is nearly no place on Earth where the cable gland cannot be installed, ranging from fire-prone mines and deep underwater operations, to some of the coldest and hottest climates on the planet. The gland is also IP66/68 certified and can withstand underwater conditions at depths of about 350 metres (20 metres deeper than the deepest a human as ever scuba-dived, and equal to the depth of the North Sea 50km offshore), and temperatures ranging from -20°C to 95°C.
“There is no other cable gland in the world that can outperform this one,” Kim reaffirmed.
Not only did Pratley create the only South African product that has ever been to the moon – Pratley Putty was used on the Ranger Moon Module in 1965 – but now their cable gland will be used in some of the deepest and most dangerous places man can access on the planet.
Pratley lastly hinted that they’re nowhere near done, and a few more world firsts are already in the pipeline.
