www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I July 2023 31
Feature
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From a contractor point of view , by interrogating the information remotely they can interpret what ’ s wrong and where .
It is the advances in tooling electronics that is enabling this natural refrigerant technology to progress ,” explains Taylor .
SOUTH AFRICA ’ S POSSIBILITIES South Africa and the rest of the African continent have a lot to offer the world as a supplier of Tooling Systems ,” says Bob Williamson , president of ISTMA World .
While there is some considerable development needed in the tooling industry in Africa , South Africa boasts advanced capacity to design and manufacture world-class assembly systems , which it supplies to the international automotive industries . When it comes to dies and moulds , the South African industry provides in the region of 10 % of the local needs of the manufacturing sector .
South Africa also has by far the most developed tooling sector for tools , dies and moulds ( TDM ), while small pockets of excellence exist which are focused on supporting the packaging industry in countries like Zimbabwe , Ghana , Kenya and Angola .
“ It must be noted that all manufacturing requires tooling and without a strong and vibrant tooling sector , South Africa would be at the risk of de-industrialising ,” says Williamson .
South Africa has developed an acknowledged world-class and accredited programme for the training of toolmakers , which has the potential to become the world standard in toolmaker training .
This uniquely South African solution is a product of the government and industry partnership INTSIMBI FPTI , which is led by the Production Technologies Association of South Africa ( PtSA ) and developed in collaboration with international
partners to address the needs of the TDM sector in providing a competency-based toolmaker apprenticeship programme to support manufacturing .
“ The modern-day manufacturing industry is characterised by technological advancements . The fourth industrial revolution ( 4IR ) represents a giant leap towards digitalisation and concepts like artificial intelligence , robotics , the internet of things ( IoT ), genetic engineering and quantum computing are fast becoming the building blocks of the manufacturing industry of the future . The PtSA TDM Powered toolmaker apprenticeship training programme was designed to future-proof the careers of those individuals in the industry ,” says Tapiwa Samanga , chief executive officer at PtSA .
Williamson notes that for Africa to become a serious contender in the global tooling industry , government and industry partners need to scale up the INTSIMBI programme significantly and train more toolmakers and facilitate more enterprise development in the tooling sector .
“ In terms of policies and regulations , there needs to be increased support for the TDM sector . Relevant bodies and government need to acknowledge the role and achievements of this critical industry sector in the development of the economy as well as increased investment allowances . Import duties on critical commodities such as tools steels and accessories need to be reduced or removed altogether ,” says Williamson .
The 16th International Special Tooling and Machining Association World Conference ( ISTMA 2023 ) which will coincide with the All Africa Expo , will facilitate the necessary dialogue to find solutions to these and other issues in the industry . RACA
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I July 2023 31