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TAC expands South African base

Tour Andover Controls (TAC), a supplier of integrated systems for building automation, has opened a South African base in Midrand, Gauteng, with branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Mpumulanga in order to reinforce the TAC local service providers and customers through increased sales, technical and logistical support.

TAC leads the 'Building IT' market, or information technology for buildings. The company established the concept of Open Systems for Building IT, which articulates TAC's primary objective to develop, produce and market solutions that improve the operations, indoor environment and provide building owners with added value through being able to make informed decisions to lower operating costs for more attractive properties.

TAC's Open Systems for Building IT utilises information technology to provide such benefits as indoor climate comfort, energy savings, energy quality and reliability, flexibility, top-level security, reduced expenses and user-friendly operation.

TAC has the advantage in the local market in that it is a one-stop, fully integrated solution provider, able to supply the building management system, workstations and supervision, CCTV and access control, medium and low voltage electrical distribution and power monitoring and control.

TAC is already a building management systems leader in South Africa, with local partners and different brands in the country for the last 10 years. Installed bases include such prestigious sites as Monte Casino, the landmark Sandton City Shopping Centre, Lever Brothers, and First National Bank International Convention Centre Cape Town. Additional TAC reference sites include the headquarters of the Scorpions, the headquarters of the SA Revenue Services, the Sandton Convention Centre, Holiday Inn hotels and Rand Merchant Bank.

"As building automation continues to move toward open standards and systems, it is critical that solutions are built on technologies that can immediately integrate and grow within an organisation," says Schneider Electric/TAC South Africa's marketing manager, Bruno Prevot. "Open protocols are the basis of open systems and it is imperative that products interoperate with one another. Building owners can select a solution from TAC with confidence, knowing that it supports such protocols as LonMark, Soap, XP, Modbus-IDA, OPC, TCP/IP, XML, BACnet and Internet Explorer.

"Open system protocols give customers the freedom to choose products today that they know will comply with open standards and interoperate with other open standard products in the future," he adds.

Schneider Electric acquired Andover Controls in August 2004, reinforcing the foundation for Schneider Electric's growth platform in the building automation industry. Together, these companies provide added value through building services for indoor climate, security and use of energy, delivered with advanced technology and integrated solutions.

TAC is running its local business from Schneider Electric South Africa's Midrand premises. Outlining some of TAC SA's future objectives, Prevot says that one of the first tasks that are in progress are the evaluation of further key partners around the country towards developing and strengthening the existing base.

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