Foundries must apply front-end engineering to reduce the weight of their castings and to develop products that are designed to be manufactured at a competitive price.
Localisation for Africa
Foundries must apply front-end engineering to reduce the weight of their castings and to develop products that are designed to be manufactured at a competitive price.
Dr Shawn Cunningham, a partner at Mesopartner who works with the NFTN to promote competitiveness and technology upgrades within the foundry industry, echoed that foundries need to focus on their customers’ needs. He was speaking on the back of his engagement with the industry, which entailed visiting foundries and foundry customers. Cunningham explained that foundries must apply front-end engineering to reduce the weight of their castings and to develop products that are designed to be manufactured at a competitive price.
Dr Shawn Cunningham- Process Facilitator and Partner, Mesopartner( PartG), South Africa
There are many manufacturers in South Africa who are looking to localise and this will be encouraged by the Preferential Procurement Act. Already, State Owned Companies are demanding greater local content.
This requires investment in new technology and new partnerships between foundries, their customers and universities.
Cunningham outlined that NFTN, SAIF, ASFA and the universities are trying to pull foundries closer,“ we can do this now because we are working from the inside out” says Cunningham.
“ NFTN is developing partnerships with buyers of castings to develop the resilience and competitiveness of their foundry supply chain, thus we combine a supply push( upgrading the
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