GOING LARGE WITH LITEC

Litec truss lanched in South Africa

The 1st of April was no April fool for 150 of the cream of South Africa's rental and staging companies.  The evening was utilised to celebrate the purchase of two heavy duty Litec truss systems by CES Media.  It was the ideal opportunity to introduce Litec to the staging industry.

Set-up and products

This event took weeks of planning and the Electrosonic lighting guys came up with the heavy weight staging olympics.  Due to the size of the two Litec structures it was impossible to have an event indoors.  

The two Litec roof structures were set up on a rugby field in Alberton.  The first structure, the Libera system, was configured as a huge 23m x 17m roof that rose to a height of 13m.  Being made of flat pack truss it has the advantage that it saves huge amounts of money by reducing transport and storage costs.

This system is totally scalable and the Client can build various sizes of roof systems with the same basic components.  The tarpaulins are in 2m strips, which are a further advantage, as there is no need to keep different sizes of canopy.  Since it is a heavy duty truss system, it is able to carry high loads of up to 8 tons at a 23m span, which is truly remarkable.

The second structure is a semi spherical dome which is made up of the same components as the Libera system.  This structure is 21m wide and 11m high.  The tarpaulins are in sections and easy to install.

Inside the structures and in line with the sporting theme, numerous games were set-up between the new Martin products - a playstation, a pool table, table tennis, football and an inflatable boxing ring.  The guests could experience the new products under both roofs.

The new Martin products introduced were the SmartMAC, MAC575 Krypton, Stagebar, Maxxyz Compact and the MAC 2000XB 

The heavy weight olympics

After 3 days of setting up and working in the Johannesburg sun, the evening arrived.  Everyone was very excited and looked forward to an evening of fun, games, good company and new exciting products.

One concern was the weather, a storm was brewing and the wind played its part.  On the one hand it was good, to show how stable and safe the truss is but on the other hand the screens and the LED panels had to be dismantled.  The games kept the people warm and once the evening kicked off, fun was had by all.

Bruce Schwarz introduced the products and the response to actually play with the products was received positively.  

"This event was informal, friendly and open and an effective way to get closer to the customers and form and build relationships.  This creates trust with the customers and once the customer trusts the supplier, there is trust in the manufacturer," said Raffaela Scaccia from Litec.  

CES Media's involvement

CES Media's decision to invest in trussing started in 2007.  After visiting PLASA 2007 and viewing various systems they decided on Litec.  Their decision was based on the versatility of the truss and that it is more universal than the other trussing systems available.

The crew from CES found the set-up to be user friendly and easy to put together.  The safety aspect is one of the best they have experienced.

CES Media is the only company in South Africa that owns this type of big aluminium roof and dome structure.  

CES Media made a lot of their equipment available for the evening, including the Martin MAC700s, Parcans, etc

Training and safety

Electrosonic was very fortunate to have Rafaella Scaccia and Amedeo Guizzi from Litec and Martin Solander from Martin Professional attending the function.  Amedeo Guizzi provided technical training on the construction of the structures, which was done three days prior to the launch.  

Training was hands-on and all the guys from Electrosonic Johannesburg as well as KZN and the CES Media crew had the opportunity to pick the brain of Amedeo.  A very important aspect was also covered, safety!

"We didn't know what to expect, but it soon became clear that we were building a small city, the ease of use amazed me and my colleague, Ben.  We in Durban hardly ever see structures as impressive as the Alusfera and the roof system we constructed and what really bowled me over was that you can build almost any shape you can think of.  And it takes up almost no space when de-constructed.  Also the load bearing was out of this world!!!," commented Schalk Botha from Electrosonic KZN.

Safety is a very important aspect of trussing and Litec takes this very serious.  Building truss is a great responsibility.  First and foremost safety is guaranteed and the company understands this responsibility and therefore focuses on attention to detail.  

Litec has very high standards in manufacturing.  This high level in quality means that the products have a long life and high quality equals safety.  Litec products are made to comply with all the relevant international standards and they are tested and certified by the most respectable certification institutes, which includes TÜV, SLV, DVS Zert and EWF.  All the welders are licensed with TÜV.

CES Media utilized the Litec trussing with great success at the H2O Africa wild ‘n wet party in October 2008.

April 2008