Saiccor - The First 50 Years 5.8 MB - Sappi

The Tainton Period (1971–1983)
with an uncanny ability to select the right man to solve the right
problem�
At the same time as Earnshaw was appointed Chief Engineer, two
certificated engineers, Ben Curtis and Deon Hughes, were engaged�
The engineering department reorganised as follows:
Frank Rhodes became Divisional Engineer Pulp Finishing (bleaching
and drying), with Giorgio Natali as his assistant� Deon Hughes
became Divisional Engineer Pulp Preparation (up to bleaching) with
Piero Mian as his assistant, and Ben Curtis was Services Engineer
(including workshops and training) with Gino Salotto as his assistant�
Frank Rhodes was an engineer in the merchant navy before joining
Saiccor at the beginning of 1962 as Services Engineer� In August 1963
he became Mechanical Engineer in charge of the workshops, and in
January 1966 Divisional Engineer for the drying plants, workshops
and transport� In October 1971 he was appointed Divisional Engineer
for Pulp Finishing (bleaching and drying)� From 1977 he worked on
remodelling the stores� A man with a sharp sense of humour and
fun, Frank enjoyed everything he did� He retired at the end of February
1981 and died on 24 December 1997�
Deon Hughes resigned at the end of August 1972 and was replaced
by Mike Brull from 15 January 1973� Mike worked tirelessly as
Divisional Engineer until 1979 and then on special projects, including
being the competent person for all statutory boiler inspections, until
he retired on 31 March 1994� Graham Mortimer retired at the end of
April 1973, leaving Bruno Trevisan to run the electrical department
until Jimmy McFeat was engaged from 1 September 1973� Jimmy
was a sound graduate engineer who never allowed anything to disturb
his equilibrium� He remained electrical engineer until he retired on 1
October 1989�
The recruitment of artisans was still a major problem and it was
agreed to put more emphasis on training artisans� An apprentice
training scheme was set up and in July 1973 Ado Magrin was
transferred from the mechanical workshop to take charge of
apprentice training, which he did until he retired at the end of
February 1976�
Attilio Segatto succeeded Magrin as Workshop Superintendent in
July 1973� Attilio, a ‘Godfather’-type character, soon became known
as Mr Modificato because of his penchant for altering equipment
that came into the workshop� Most of these modifications worked,
and some were extremely innovative� Attilio remained Workshop
Superintendent until he retired on 31 March 1989�
During this period, a close working relationship developed with
two outside engineering companies that eventually became
extensions of Saiccor’s engineering department� Durban Engineering
was set up by Elio Rossi in Durban to service the paper industry
before Saiccor started� He did some workshop work and much
73
Frank Rhodes
Mike Brull
Jimmy McFeat