The Southern African Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association (SAPPMA) says that only top quality pipes manufactured by members who meet the association’s stringent quality standards will be allowed to bear the SAPPMA mark.

According to Jan Venter, SAPPMA’s Chief Executive Officer, board members have taken a conscious decision during a recent strategic planning session, to sharpen their focus on quality and to take a no-nonsense, uncompromising stand when it comes to pipe manufacturers who fail to comply or are found guilty of misconduct.

“It has always been our mandate to ensure that our members only produce and market top quality products that are fully compliant to all relevant standards and specifications, to promote and ensure ethical business activities in all areas of operation and to ensure that the SAPPMA mark is used to clearly differentiate between quality producers and others,” Venter says.

Cost cutting driving down quality

The association reports that they have not hesitated to act against members who were found guilty of taking short-cuts or failed to meet their standards during various announced and unannounced factory audits.

“Due to enormous expenditure on research and development by polymer manufacturers, modern pipe grade materials have such excellent properties that it is now impossible for any pipe engineer to ignore them. However, the plastic pipe industry is also facing growing temptation to cut corners for the sake of saving a few Rands. A combination of factors, such as the failure of the SABS, the big gap that exists between supply and demand, margins have come under pressure and rising raw material prices, have exasperated this problem with HDPE pipe in particular,” he explains.

Making hard decisions

In response to this Venter says SAPPMA remains resolute in its decision not to lower standards or to turn a blind eye when members are found guilty of non-compliance, even if it runs the risk of losing long-term members through expulsion.

“We represent more than 80 % of the pipe manufacturers in South Africa who have all agreed to our Code of Conduct and voluntarily committed themselves to maintain the highest ethical standards in all their professional dealings. We are willing to lose members and make the unpopular, hard decisions to ensure that the integrity of our brand, our name and our industry remain intact”.

SAPPMA urges specifying engineers and decision makers to ensure that they insist on SAPPMA or IFPA membership when drawing up specification, and that only pipes bearing the association’s logo be used for projects.