Manufacturing skills capacity in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa’s second largest provincial manufacturing industry, is set to get a major boost with the opening of the Production Technologies Association of South Africa’s (PtSA) new multi million rand Centre of Excellence in the province.
The ultra modern1600 square meter Centre of Excellence, based in Marianhill, Pinetown was officially opened by the Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Andrew Grant Whitfield. The Centre is a project of the INTSIMBI Future Production Technologies Initiative (FPTI), a national multi-stakeholder initiative that was established under the auspices of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) and PtSA to recapacitate South Africa’s distressed tooling industry. PtSA is an industry membership-based organisation dedicated to empowering South African toolmaking companies to ensure a sustainable future for the local manufacturing sector and acts as the voice of the tooling industry.
In his opening address Deputy Minister Whitfield said the PtSA’s Initsimbi FPTI programme has the potential to be expanded to serve as a central hub of manufacturing, skills development, clusters, and enterprise development in South Africa and on the continent. He emphasised that addressing the challenges faced by the tooling sector was crucial for reversing the trend of deindustrialisation and revitalising South Africa's manufacturing economy. “As a collective, government, industry and PtSA need to improve South Africa’s skills development and training models if the country wants to be in the new technological frontiers and deepen our manufacturing capabilities. Addressing the challenges requires strategic investments in technology, skills development, and policy interventions aimed at fostering a competitive and sustainable tooling industry and promoting domestic manufacturing. Government will continue to advocate for increased local content, particularly in the automotive sector, as it is one of the largest consumers of tooling. This strategic focus is essential for creating a robust market that can drive the recovery and the growth of the tool, die and mould sector in South Africa.”
Government (the dtic, the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Eastern Cape and Gauteng Provincial Governments) have to date invested more than R700 million into the INTSIMBI FPTI to build the necessary capacity (human resources and physical infrastructure) to deliver international and locally recognised trade and part-qualifications and toolmaking capacity that are in line with industry needs. The production industries have contributed more than R250 million towards the INTSIMBI FPTI.
The PtSA Centre of Excellence is fully equipped and accredited to train toolmakers to obtain the latest South African SAQA accredited occupational certificated qualifications. These qualifications are in line with recognised international training standards and include internationally recognised employable skills certifications approved by the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) who sets global skills standards for the industry. The training also focuses on creating a skills base for the implementation of the 4th Industrial Revolution principles to address the convergence between the digital and physical manufacturing worlds. The new state of the art Centre of Excellence, incorporating a trade test centre, will enable PtSA to train and qualify more students in KZN in an environment mirroring industry expectations. It will also increase PtSA’s capacity to provide customised training to the manufacturing industry and provide a central meeting space for industry/stakeholder liaison.
Nearly a third of South Africa’s manufactured exports are produced in KwaZulu-Natal and manufacturing generates 20 percent of employment in the province.