Jan Roetman (Fluke), Peter Verwer (Comtest), Bert Vellema (Fluke) and Phil Upton (Comtest’s partner in Ghana, ITSC)
Roetman commented, “Comtest has experienced excellent growth with Fluke’s range of test and measurement equipment within the South African market over the past 18 months and it has become clear that there are opportunities to expand our partnership into the rest of Africa.”
He also complimented Comtest on its marketing activities, adding that this combined with the high level of technical expertise and experience found amongst Comtest staff members had resulted in Comtest doing more business for Fluke in South Africa than ever before. He said, “It is virtually impossible to tell a Comtest employee from a Fluke employee!”
Fluke’s sales manager for export, Bert Vellema, continued the praise: “Comtest has shown considerable growth year-on-year and its well qualified and dedicated team has won several awards from Fluke for its success in the region.”
Vellema also referred to Fluke’s continuously expanding product range, which would increase Comtest’s product portfolios and give it an opportunity to expand into new markets. He said, “Thermography has proven to be a good market for Fluke. We are the market leader in the southern and South African region via Comtest, who has been extremely successful in penetrating what is a completely new market segment for Fluke.
“It is Fluke’s strategy to be a leader in the relevant markets, and to this end Fluke favours a strategy of either developing the necessary technology or acquiring a company associated with that technology.”
Commenting on Comtest’s new capabilities in calibration through its service partner, Repair Metrology Services (RMS), Roetman said, “RMS provides an invaluable and professional service. The ability to calibrate and repair Fluke equipment in South Africa is essential to the success of Comtest as it is just not viable to do this from Europe.”
RMS has recently upgraded its DC and AC capabilities to cater for new Fluke products and the high accuracy demand from the market. The newly acquired Fluke infrared source also makes it possible to calibrate and/or verify thermal imagers and extends the range of regular infrared thermometer calibration. RMS director Les Wesson says, “We are a primary SANAS accredited laboratory capable of supporting Fluke products in the South African region.”
Fluke has announced its entry into two new market segments with the introduction of the Fluke 411D and 416D laser distance meters and Fluke 719 electric pressure calibrator.