Words Brian Jefferies
The stainless steel canopies made by KZN-based company Rock Solid Industries (RSI) have always been highly regarded, but now the quality and fitment process has been stepped up a notch.
After completing an order for 2000 canopies for the Telkom and Bidvest fleet, the company has shifted its focus to streamlining the production of its leisure canopy range.
An important achievement has been acquiring ISO 9001:2008 certification, which involved a full revamp of their 4000-square-metre Westmead factory. This included new flooring, mezzanine decks, streamlined assembly stations, and, significantly for us end-users, three state-of-the-art Aero-Cure Spray booths.
The new paint process means that custom-painting options can include both a wide range of colours to match most vehicles, and the possibility of different panel colours.
The biggest and most prominent improvement, however, has come in the way they assemble the Smart Canopy range.
RSI has now developed a patent pending modular design to construct their canopies.
Instead of a single welded unit, the canopies are made up of five key components: the roof, two side panels, the front panel and rear door. These components are now bolted together for final assembly.
They can also be compactly packed (36 canopies to a 20-foot container) for RSI’s export programme, which covers the UK, Australia, Germany, Spain, the UAE, and Tanzania, Botswana and Namibia in southern Africa.
