Crisplant South Africa, part of BEUMER Group, a leading global supplier of automated baggage handling systems, will be at the Airport Cities World Conference & Exhibition 2013 to highlight the expertise which enabled the disruption-free upgrade of the main baggage handling system at O.R.Tambo International Airport in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

Crisplant will also feature the Residential Services which have provided Crisplant staff, on-site, to operate and maintain the baggage handling systems, for the original Johannesburg International Airport and for the new O.R.Tambo International Airport.

Crisplant will reveal the techniques which allowed the major upgrade of the baggage handling system to be installed with no disruption to the normal operation of the airport. The upgrade required the integration of two new sorters, the refurbishment of an existing sorter, and a new upper-level control system to deliver a 50% increase in capacity.

This increase was essential to equip O.R.Tambo International Airport to handle up to 28 million passengers per year, including athletes and visitors to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. The upgrade also introduced new fail-safe features designed to guarantee 24/7 availability of the system.

Also featured at the Airport Cities World Conference & Exhibition are the Residential Services and Support agreements under which Crisplant has had sole responsibility for the continued operational efficiency of the airport’s baggage handling systems since 1994.

These agreements ensure that teams of Crisplant Residential Service employees are on-site, around the clock, to carry-out preventative maintenance and help the airport to maintain a world-class service by installing the latest technology upgrades.

"Crisplant has been our prime supplier for automated baggage sortation machines and associated systems since 1994, supporting our growing passenger numbers by installing the baggage handling systems in our domestic and international terminals," explains O.R. Tambo International Airport’s manager for maintenance and engineering, Mr Kobus Nel.

The Airport Cities World Conference & Exhibition will take place in the City of Ekurhuleni, South Africa, from 24-26 April 2013.