LHL Engineering’s vision is to be ‘the-go-to engineering team’ known for outstanding quality, safety, customer service and value. LHL has its roots dating back to 1969 when the company was started to support the German- imported LHL axel. LHL was taken over by CEO Nelson Govender in 2015, who made a significant investment ensuring that the company was well capitalised and resourced. LHL has a strong track record in the metals and engineering industry with the past 50 years seeing the company grow to become a future-facing global player, adding strategic value to local and international brands, across South African and global markets.

LHL is a specialist fabricator and installer of tanks; pressure vessels; heat exchangers (manufacture and refurbish); reactors; piping; structural steel and general steel component manufacture. Project based teams are available on call for site-based maintenance and installation work.

As a 100% black-owned enterprise with a Level 1 BBBEE status with a 40% black female and 30% youth ownership the business is growing from strength to strength. The recently acquired >5 000m² under cover facility in Glen Anil, Durban (with 6 bays, 13 Over head cranes, 6 of which have a 10t capacity and 11m under hook height), is well positioned to deliver on all your fabrication requirements. The 1500m² facility in Atlantis, Cape Town is adequately equipped for current needs. Both workshops are being fitted with new equipment to facilitate LHL’s growth plans with finalisation expected next year.

Technology will play a critical role in positioning the company as relevant and ensuring it is able to compete with established larger players well into the future. Consequently, all new machinery and equipment, comprising robotics, 4IR, CNC and green technology, will have the aim of differentiating LHL’s offerings as unique.

Based on the changes made in the past year, LHL has been able to acquire new clients, treble its turnover and improve on workload consistency.

This workload includes long term contracts, with one client who owns specialist intellectual property closing his facility and contracting LHL to be the fabrication facility. This client has enjoyed increased volumes, lower costs, improved lead times, improved quality and various other benefits that were not envisaged at the beginning.

Future growth plans for LHL include becoming a leading player in the metals and engineering industry by applying a 4-Pillar platform entailing financial resources, industry knowledge, customer trust and agility, to successfully drive product sales internationally.

Target markets include sugar, chemical, pharmaceutical, petro-chemical, oil and gas, pulp and paper, water and sanitation, transport, and food and beverage industries in both the public and private sector. Past projects have been completed at SAPREF, ASTRON, Illovo Sugar, SI Group, Buckman Laboratory, Sappi Saiccor, Tongaat Hulett, Mondi, Engen and YARA Animal Foods.

LHL Engineering has successfully exported pressure vessels and other equipment including complete plants to Australia, the Far East, Zambia, Angola, Tanzania, Mauritius, Seychelles, the Comores Islands, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana, amongst others.

LHL Engineering was selected to be part of the KZN Localization, Import Replacement and Enterprise Development programme which commenced in November 2021. Through the programme, initiatives such as improved factory layout, production efficiencies, workflow methodologies, quality control measures, staff training have been implemented. In addition, new products have been launched to a competitive and demanding market.

In order to satisfy the market demand, LHL, with a group of companies, have adopted a co-operative cluster approach to provide a one-stop facility that boosts their overall competitive advantages, which is progressing well. The cluster creates an interdependent and mutually beneficial relationship with shared services, including state of the art equipment supplied and maintained by strategic partners.

The increased workload consistency has led to increased employment opportunities. As such LHL’s permanent workforce has increased by 40% with contracted project workers increasing substantially. In addition, a new PR Engineer has been employed to improve design capabilities and client confidence.

LHL is looking to partner with a small number of key clients as their manufacturing expert. This strategy will reduce the effect of project reliance, which is very erratic, with major impact on planning and cashflows.

Together with an impressive array of machinery and production facilities at its disposal and through its cluster partners, LHL has become a market leader with the flexibility, industry accreditation (ISO9001/2015, ISO45001, ISO3834, ASME V111 APP10), skills and knowledge to supply a wide range of products and services to satisfy market demand for different sectors.