Following years of R&D, ERG Industrial launched to the market a simple-yet-innovative safety product, the solar-powered flashing range of products, in September 2025. The range basically consists of solar-powered, self-illuminating hazard cones designed for mining, quarrying and construction sectors.
The design of this range, says Preis, was informed by some of the research work that he had undertaken previously as a young mining engineer, largely through the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC). One of the key projects at the time, he says, was the development of minimum illumination standards to improve hazard identification and minimise risks associated with moving machinery in inherently dark, dusty mining environments.
“During the MHSC research project, it became clear that illumination is only part of the visibility equation, which is critical in achieving safety,” says Preis. “More important is not the point source of light, but how the object you expose to the light interacts with the light.”
Illumination, he says, is simply the amount of light provided in a given area (measured in lux), whereas visibility is the practical ability of a worker or machine operator to actually see hazards and pedestrians. Therefore, illumination is the tool for achieving the goal of visibility.
ERG Industrial’s first foray into the flashing cone business was some three-and-half years ago through a partner that built these safety cones. “The idea of a self-illuminating cone immediately resonated with us. Traditionally, safety cones at mines and quarries relied on the vehicle shining a light on them to make them visible – which is basically a one-way system. Self-illuminating cones create constant visibility without the need for the machine to cast light on them, thus increasing safety,” says Preis.
Due to some design issues with the previous range, compounded by the lack of bigger sizes, particularly the 1,8-m flashing cone – said to be the standard in Africa – ERG embarked on the development of its own flashing solutions. Following a rigorous testing regime, the first batch was delivered to a large mining customer operating in Zambia in September 2025, marking the official launch of ERG’s in-house designed and built flashing cones.
The range
At the core of this range is the solar-powered flashing safety cone range. Built for extreme mining environments, it is available in 0,85-m and 1,8-m tall variants. The range is designed to automatically flash at night, run for up to 48 hours on a single 6-hour daylight charge. The cones are highly customisable with different flashing LED colours – red, yellow, orange, blue and green. Customers can tailor their own reflective text on the flashing cones.
“Every one of our cones, regardless of size and colour, has a base white colour for two reasons: firstly, to allow UV rays to penetrate and charge the solar unit and, secondly, to allow the light within the unit to flash visibly through the cone. However, the white colour allows for glare-free illumination, preventing eye strain and thus reducing operator fatigue, which directly correlates with higher alertness and lower incident rates,” says Preis.
The 1,8-m flashing cone is particularly targeted at night-shift applications, with a focus to improve visibility, thereby increasing safety at mining operations. Targeted high-risk activities include drilling and hauling during night shift operations.
Having proven the concept in mining, ERG Industrial is extending the flashing range to other industries, particularly construction, with the addition of the solar flashing road delineator and many other road traffic signs.
Quick uptake
Following the September 2025 launch, ERG Industrial reports a strong uptake of its flashing cones in the mining sector. Since then, the company has sold to seven mining companies in South Africa, with even more sales into the export market. Sizeable batches have been delivered to several West African countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, United Arab Emirates, Portugal, Canada, the United States and Brazil, amongst others.
“What we have observed is that mining companies first buy small batches – 40-50 units – for testing purposes. Once they are happy with the product, they then place large orders, which has been the case since we launched last year. The uptake of our solar flashing cones has been much faster and easier than any other product that we have launched in the market before. Apart from the fact that it is a great product that sells itself, it also taps into the safety budget rather than the production budget, which is often squeezed,” says Preis.
Expansion
As demand grows, ERG is optimising production to increase output. Consequently, in July 2025, the company moved into a larger 500 m² facility in Midrand, Gauteng, allowing for production expansion. This was a significant upgrade from the previous 105 m² premises. Due to the continued growth of the business, in March this year the company expanded its current space to 1 500 m², which is envisaged to be sufficient for the projected growth up to 2028.
The Midrand headquarters houses ERG staff, including engineering, supply chain, facilities management, operations management, as well as the assembly of flashing cones. It also comes with a warehouse, which houses 3-4% of the Varistem stemming plug inventory in the country, as well as other products such as pink collar cones (hole covers). In future, ERG will also host blasting training courses in the facility.
Several factors, says Preis, were behind the office expansion. “One of the key factors is that we intend to scale the production of our flashing range of products and we need more space to do that,” explains Preis.
Another factor, he says, is the growth in headcount. From a two-man ‘band’ in 2019, the company now boasts a headcount of nearly 20, an indicator of how ERG has scaled its operations over the past seven years.
“One of the three big factors of this office expansion is that there is a lot more in the pipeline in terms of in-house product development. We are currently developing several new products and processes. We therefore want to create more space for R&D to bring new product ideas to life,” concludes Preis.
