SMC Corporation Japan, the world leaders in pneumatics and industrial automation component technology, has expanded its global operations into South Africa.  With it's official launch in April 2016, the creation of SMC Pneumatics (South Africa) Pty Ltd enables companies in both South Africa and neighbouring countries to have easier access to SMC's range of over 12,000 basic components, which are available in over 700,000 variant forms. Machine builders and end users in Africa can now benefit from increased levels of high-quality technical support and the availability of customised products and local assemblies produced in our state-of-the-art Johannesburg factory. Established in 1959, the Tokyo based SMC Corporation has steadily expanded into international markets worldwide and now has global production with factories and local subsidiaries in 50 countries, plus 400 sales offices and a distribution network in a further 32 countries. Globally, SMC now employ around 25,000 people and in line with its focus on face-to-face customer communication, 5,000 of these are highly trained technical sales engineers who deliver the highest levels of customer support.