Nftn impact report - 2011

1. 2008/09
IMPACT REPORT
2010/11

2. VISION
To increase the global competitiveness of the South
African foundry industry through the provision of
appropriate services, in order to reduce import
leakage, increase local production, and increase
investment in the sector.
MISSION
The NFTN will facilitate development of a globally
competitive South African Foundry industry through
appropriate skills training, technology transfer,and
diffusion of state of the art technologies.

3. CONTENTS
Message from the dti 2
Message from the Chair of Steer-Com 3
Where we come from 4
What we do 5
Result Area 1: TRAINING 5
Achievements to date 5
Lessons learned 5
Future plans 5
Result Area 2: COMPETITIVENESS IMPROVEMENTS 7
Achievements to date 7
Lessons learnt 7
Future plans 7
Result Area 3: SME DEVELOPMENT 8
Achievements to date 8
Lessons learnt 8
Future plans 8
Result Area 4: INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER 10
Current and future plans 10
Lessons learnt 10
Result Area 5: STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND 11
COMMUNICATIONS 11
Achievements to date 11
Lessons learnt 11
Future plans 11
What makes it work 12
Project leader's message 15

4. Gerhard Nicolaus - In recognition of the value added by the casting industry to the local manufacturing
DTI Ferrous Metals Senior Manager sector, as well as more recent challenges related to energy saving, emission
reduction, lack of resources and foundry talent, unpredictable prices of raw materials,
process control and optimisation, to mention a few, the Department of Trade and
MESSAGE FROM THE DTI
Industry (the dti) recently established the National Foundry Technology Network
(NFTN) as a key support initiative for the foundry industry.
A foundry deals with casting techniques, a process where molten metals are poured NFTN is the culmination of a significant government and industry association-led
into moulds. This forms the first step towards manufacturing a product. The foundry effort to develop a globally competitive South African foundry industry through
industry plays a vital role in the industrial development of South Africa. Started as appropriate skills training, technology transfer, and diffusion of state-of-the-art
early as 3600 BC, the foundry industry has flourished very well and is likely to grow technologies.
further. Castings, which form the first step towards manufacturing a product, are
used for variety of industrial and commercial applications which include automobiles, As government, we are gratified and encouraged by the progress achieved by the
plumbing fixtures, train locomotives, and airplanes, for example. NFTN since its inception in achieving volume impact (increasing the take-up and
reaching affected parties) and quantifiable business benefits within individual
Beyond the fact that castings are all around us (it is often said one is never more participating companies. We look forward to working with the NFTN in the coming
than 3 metres from a casting), small and medium sized enterprises contribute years to assist the local foundry industry in meeting the key business challenges,
substantially to the casting industry. From its contributions in providing jobs and which include threats of cheaper imports from emerging Asian markets, more
employee skills to delivering the dependable, high-quality and cost-effective demanding labour legislation, empowerment and demographic transformation, low
components necessary to advance technology, metal casting has impacted virtually skills levels, stricter environmental legislation, more expensive energy, as well as
every improvement seen by each passing generation. Simply put, our world could demanding quality standards.
not have advanced at its rapid rate without the strength, endurance and ingenuity
of the foundryman.
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5. the dti, without which the NFTN would have remained a dream and not become a
reality
The NFTN has also been fortunate in the quality of its operational leadership. A
good deal of its early successes was due to the strong leadership and tireless
efforts of the NFTN's first Project Leader, Richard Beän. Richard has since moved
on to take up a leadership position within Unido, to be replaced in November 2009
by Letlotlo Phohole. Under Letlotlo's leadership several important projects and
Oliver Damm, programmes came to fruition, including the Cleaner Production pilot project, the
Chairperson SME foundry mentoring initiative, as well as facilitation of the DST Technology
Assistance Programme (TAP). Letlotlo has since moved on to the Technology
Innovation Agency (TIA) as General Manager: Advanced Manufacturing. The NFTN
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
continues to work with both Richard and Letlotlo in their new roles.
The current NFTN Project Leader, Adrie El-Mohamadi, joined the NFTN in November
OF STEER-COM 2010. Adrie has been involved in the development space for more than 15 years,
of which close to 10 have been with GTZ. Her professional background is in
Management especially in areas of Innovation Systems and Technology Transfer.
The National Foundry Technology Network (NFTN) is a key dti industry development Adrie has an outstanding track record of successfully coordinating multi-stakeholder
initiative, aimed at supporting the competitiveness of the South African foundry projects in various sectors of the South African economy, both on a national and
industry through training, competitiveness interventions, and technology support. international level. This experience will enable her to contribute to moving the
Since its inception in 2008, the NFTN has made substantial progress in all these Foundry Industry into a different global competitive field.
areas. It is therefore a pleasure for me to commend this impact report to you, which
outlines in more detail much of the good work done through the NFTN. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the guidance and support of the NFTN Steering
Committee, which includes representatives of all key stakeholders in the NFTN
The NFTN traces its origins back to the initial concept of a National Casting including the foundry industry, government, tertiary education institutions, development
Technology Centre. Following a process of extensive consultation with industry finance, and technology development. Through their positive engagement and
and government, the first business plan was approved by the dti towards the end sometimes robust debate, the committee members have successfully steered the
of 2007 and an amount of R 15.4 million was made available for the establishment NFTN through its formative phase and continue to ensure that its programmes are
of the NFTN. Further funding has since been allocated based on the good progress industry relevant and delivery focused. It is a privilege to serve as your chairperson
that has been achieved the NFTN interventions and programmes. I would like to and I look forward to continued positive collaboration and hard work on behalf of
take the opportunity at this point to acknowledge this foresight and commitment by the foundry industry that we serve.
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6. WHERE WE COME FROM
Timeline of NFTN Activities
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Business Planning,
Skills development Establishment
Funding Secured,
NFTN Established
NFTN
Operationa-
lisation
Careerpath development and roll-out of foundry training programme
and training
Development of Western Cape
Green Foundry Training Centre
Development of Gauteng Green
Foundry Training Centre (planned)
Competitiveness
improvement
NFTN Technical Additional
benchmarking benchmarking planned
UNIDO SPX DST TAP Programme
benchmarking (28 foundries assisted)
Competitiveness improvement support to individual companies
SME
SME mentoring programme
dev
NFTN Energy efficiency project in cooperation with SAIF,
Innovation &
Technology
Energy Audit ESKOM, UJ MCTS & German Foundry Industry
NFTN Cleaner Sand waste management project in cooperation
Production Pilot with CSIR, MINTEK, UJ, SAIF
Activities within the reporting timeframe and indication of result areas of NFTN in which similar projects/activities shall be undertaken in the future.
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7. WHAT WE DO
Result Area 1: TRAINING
Experience teaches nothing unless studied with the aid of theory.
W. Edwards Deming
Provide relevant practical and theoretical/professional training in order to increase
the competences of the foundry personnel and to ensure a constant flow of skilled
and professional people entering the industry.
Provide relevant management and leadership training for the foundry industry
Achievements to date:
• Create a learning pathway/careerpath framework;
• Re-design of the draft foundry qualifications (NQF 2 - 4) approved by SAQA on Lessons learned:
20 July 2009; • Coordination of all training interventions and continued industry participation
• Develop three occupational profiles to articulate with exiting qualifications is imperative; and
specialising as melter, moulder and patternmaker; • Limited educational training centres in foundry process and technology is a
• Develop a national curriculum in support of the occupational profiles; bottleneck for growth.
• 18 learners started the above programme in August 2010;
• Customised in-house training programmes offered to foundries through SAIF Future plans:
to 106 foundrymen; • Extend the national roll-out of foundry training centres to Gauteng;
• An Iron and Steel Casting Conference was held in September 2010 with 121 • Convert the current learnership into Artisanship;
delegates attending. International presenters from Freiburg University co- • Develop a master artisan programme level;
presented; • Increase and promote the uptake of careers in the Foundry industry at scholars,
• Prior to FY 2009/10 WCIF already trained 507 workers in their province (not graduates and post graduates in collaboration with industry associations;
only for themselves). SAIF acquired the skills programme in 2010/11; since then • Development of Trades tests for 3 trades with the National Artisan Moderating
WCIF trained 70 workers and SAIF 120 workers, therefore 190 nationally; and Body (NAMB);
• The first Green foundry training centre has been rolled out in the Western Cape • Completion of course material development for new curriculum with MerSETA
under the management of the WCIF, situated at Atlantis foundry. The initiative • Increase the reach of training to industry; and
was in cooperation of SAIF, NFTN, GTZ and Atlantis foundry. This is the pilot • Facilitate the development of an RPL process for workers within the industry.
of three centres intended.
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8. "I know everything there is to know about safety…at least so far, but anyway I have
adopted the knowledge of safety and not only do I use it onsite but I also learnt to
apply it in my everyday life and it works like a charm". Oleboneng Marekwa
"The overall experience was beyond exceptional and it is definitely an experience
that I will recommend to any new learner that's given an opportunity to undertake
such a learnership". Steven Hill
"The way I see the course is that the directors who created this, created a formula
which I have to follow step by step, and progress to get to the answer, to be a
CLASS OF 2010 success and make them proud of me for which they have worked hard on and to
Some comments from the learners: further this formula for excellence". Tersias Fosters
"To all those out there: An opportunity is missed by most people because it is "My plea to Merseta, ArcelorMittal, Scaw metals, Atlantis Foundries and training
dressed in a blue overall and it looks like work". Francios Swartz staff is to keep on giving such opportunity to even more students to come".
Andile Nkala
"This has been a great stepping stone for me, and being one of the learners has
taught me everything I need to know about the ins and outs of the workplace".
Itumeleng Sekola
"The past 6months was an experience of a life time, I feel like a new born baby
who just discovered walking". Jason Stevens
"I learnt how to be punctual, being punctual at work at all the times is important
because it saves the company money and time". Tumelo Pheto
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9. Result Area 2: COMPETITIVENESS IMPROVEMENTS
It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful
they are. Clive James
Ensure the availability of technical foundry support to add value and eliminate waste,
solve day to day foundry problems and enhance productivity.
Achievements to date:
• International technical benchmarking survey done on the South African Permanent
mould foundries. 46 out of about 54 foundries have been benchmarked;
• International technical benchmarking survey done in the South African Sand
foundries. 67 out of 105 foundries have been benchmarked;
• A shortlist of hundred foundries was made for the Energy Scoping study;
Information on the classification of foundries was received from 38 foundries
while 26 foundries responded adequately, were fully benchmarked, and provided
critical information on energy use and production data; Lessons learnt:
• A project using the local benchmarks, followed by technical and shopfloor • Knowledge of performance parameters is imperative to obtain most accurate
interventions is being piloted at six (6) sand foundries; and information; and
• DST TAP programme offer support to 27 foundries based on the benchmarking • Lack of willingness by individual companies to share data is often a stumbling
done by NFTN. block for the public sector to support industry.
Future plans:
• Extend the benchmarking to foundries that have not yet participated;
• Continuous benchmarking - energy, cleaner production and technical over
interval periods - this should assist in setting performance parameters;
• Increase public support to foundries through the NFTN Competitiveness
Improvement Initiative; and
• Satisfactory surveys on behalf of DST TAP.
"I valued the benchmarking, because it showed me our man hours/ton compared
to similar foundries. The reality of where we were in relation to the benchmark
forced me to invest in capital equipment" John Bryson, KEW
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10. Lessons learnt:
• Lack of skills to upgrade production processes by business owners;
• Lack of resources to invest in technology upgrades for the production of world-
class products, processes and services;
• Lack of product diversification;
• Lack of business development skills; and
• Lack of start-up capital.
Future plans:
• Six (6) foundries supported in the mentoring programme (3 existing and 3 new);
Result Area 3: SME DEVELOPMENT • Three (3) foundries to "graduate" at the end of the programme;
• Twenty (20) jobs retained;
"Powering SMEs - Preparing For The Rebound", Unknown Author
• Fourteen (14) jobs created;
• A 40% aggregated productivity increase for new entrants to the programme;
• Promote and develop the SMEs in the foundry industry to ensure their economic and
sustainability; and • A 15% additional productivity increase for foundries in second year of support.
• Promote technology empowerment of previously disadvantaged individuals
(HDI's).
Achievements to date:
• A mentoring pilot project for emerging foundries was initiated where six (6)
targeted foundries were identified and supported;
• 5 out of the 6 foundries completed a one year mentoring programme and
achieved a 40% aggregated increase in productivity;
• 2 of the 6 foundries have reached a maturity level and have outgrown the
programme; and
• 15 jobs have been retained and 10 jobs created during the mentoring period.
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11. 9

12. Result Area 4: INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFER
It's easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what
worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date. - Roger von Oech
Facilitate relevant foundry R&D which will enhance technology innovation and
transfer.
Current and future plans:
• Production of practical energy management booklet;
• Develop a plant simulation capability for application in a foundry environment
to support energy saving;
• Support the process to capacitate and register Electricity Service companies
(ESCO) dealing with energy savings of furnaces in cooperation with ESKOM;
• Facilitate the reduction of electricity consumption of foundries; and
• Facilitate a solution to the problems arising with regards to solid waste disposal.
Lessons learnt:
• Reliance on foreign equipment suppliers;
• Lack of awareness in foundry technological developments;
• Limited cooperation and commitment from research providers and industry;
• South African industry is only at the doorstep of entering the sustainable
technology arena;
• High cost per product; and
• Lack of resources for R&D.
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13. Result Area 5: STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND
COMMUNICATIONS
Often, we are too slow to recognize how much and in what ways we
can assist each other through sharing such expertise and knowledge -
Owen Arthur
Manage and coordinate information dissemination and technology diffusion.
Achievements to date:
• A database of public sector support programmes and incentives was developed
and posted on the website for download by companies and their stakeholders;
• NFTN website and monthly newsletters aid in keeping the industry and other
stakeholders informed; and
• A process was initiated to ensure a deepened understanding of the foundry
sector to improve the impact of public support programmes. "In recent years the foundry industry has benefitted from an increasing number of
public initiatives to improve the performance of the South African Foundry Sector.
Lessons learnt: One of the risks associated to this is that the different supporting programmes might
• One on one stakeholder engagement is paramount to gain credibility in the undermine each other. NFTN through result area 5 believe it's able to play a
industry. coordinating role in this regard; in playing such a role it believes it can leverage
support and funding for the industry".
Future plans: Adrie El Mohamadi, NFTN Project Leader.
• Utilise existing publisher in SA to regularly promote NFTN activities;
• A comprehensive web site with an enquiry section;
• Regional meetings - Meetings held at locations throughout South Africa. Meetings
are often combined with company visits and supplier presentations;
• Coordination of an overall foundry industry strategy that channels funding
instruments at all levels of government and associated implementation agencies;
and
• Compile a database that captures the activities, support given and programmes/
software used by foundries, mostly used in the public domain.
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14. WHAT MAKES IT WORK
Operating Environment and Governance
• Provide strategic guidance and direction to the activities in which the NFTN will
It must be clear that NFTN is typically not implementing any physical capabilities, participate;
but is rather a network using existing service providers, as appropriate.The key • Providing high levels of support and leadership to the activities in which the
ingredients of NFTN interventions are to 1) have volume impact - increasing the NFTN participate;
take-up and reaching all parties, and 2) achieve quantifiable business benefits - • Informing industry and other key players to ensure their support for the NFTN;
benefits within individual participating companies. and
• Assist in facilitating the raising of funds to support the sustainable development
Communication regarding projects, call for expressions of interest, and proposals of the NFTN.
are done in association with the relevant industry associations, through the NFTN
SteerCom. During the reporting period, the NFTN SteerCom was represented by:
Tony Paterson (AFSA) - Industry Association
Projects can be initiated in two ways, either proposed by industry through industry John Davies (SAIF) - Industry Association
associations or initiated by the NFTN, based on local and global industry drivers Clive Jones (Scaw) - Industry Representative
benchmarks and indentified industry needs. Tony Iglauer - Industry Representative
Rob White (IZASA) - Industry Representative
The assessment of the submissions, by the SteerCom is based on: Kevin Selby (SAIF) - Industry Representative
• Impact - Why and How the foundry industry will benefit from the project Moroasereme Ntsoane (IDC) - Financier
• Human Capital Development - What skills will be developed Setlakalane Molepo (IDC) - Financier
• Capability & Capacity - What resources are available to achieve the objectives Sisanda Mtwazi (the dti) - Funder
• Collaborators/ Consortium - Who will be required to make the project a success Freddie Herselman (the dti) - Funder
• Finance - Cost vs. Benefit justification Nicholas Pule (the dti) - Funder
Gerhard Nicolaus (the dti) - Funder
NFTN SteerCom Lucky Juganan (UJ) - Training
The NFTN Steering Committee is responsible for the following: Oliver Damm (CSIR) - Implementation Agency
• Provide input to the nature of service offerings and markets to which the NFTN Bongani Memela (CSIR) - Implementation Agency
should be aligned; Richard Beän (NFTN) - Ex Officio
• Assist in establishing the credibility of the NFTN through their interactions with Letlotlo Phohole (NFTN) - Ex Officio
influential role players; Adrie El Mohamadi (NFTN) - Ex Officio
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15. Key NFTN Collaborators It is intended that LEAP will facilitate the transfer of valuable knowledge within and
Collaborative relationships with partners from both the public and private sectors, into South Africa through relevant and productive interactions with identified experts.
including government agencies, supplier companies, non-profit professional societies, It is further intended to create new relationships and build existing relationships
and academia, are necessary for the industry development. with other institutions inside and outside the country and enable the development
of local industry.
DST
The role of the DST in technology localisation includes: GTZ Employment and Skills Development Services Programme
• Identification of Technology Localisation Opportunities (Strategic); GTZ is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with
• Supplier Network Development (technology related); worldwide operations, the federally owned Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Technische
• Benchmarking & Technology Capability Assessments (systems development); Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH supports the German Government in achieving its
• Inter-Departmental Partnerships and Joint Planning; development-policy objectives
• City-Region Government Support for Localisation;
• Technology Assistance Package (TAP) - seeks to achieve sustainable global The programme aims at assisting the South African government in building a labour
competitiveness through enhancement of a combination of Manufacturing and market-focused skills development system that is suited to enhance the employment
Design capabilities; and and self-employment prospects of unemployed persons, employees and emerging
• Exploitation of bilateral agreements with respect to technology transfer from entrepreneurs and contribute to sustainable economic growth.
foreign OEMs.
UNIDO
On behalf of the DTI and DPE and DST, the Unido SPX programme supports the
CSDP Initiative by facilitating the increased participation of competitive local
companies in the supply chains of large scale buyers such as Transnet and Eskom.
This is achieved by working directly with key South African industrial associations
to implement a series of support tools and services to link their network of local
suppliers to OEMs and 2nd tier companies.
Advanced Manufacturing Technology Strategy (AMTS) NFTN is a member of the World Foundry Organisation.
Leading Expert Access Programme (LEAP) is an intervention designed to ensure
that institutions participating in the AMTS Flagship Programmes, and the South
African manufacturing industry, have access to international experts.
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16. 2011 SteerCom
14 NFTN Impact Report

17. achievements benefiting the foundrymen we serve through their respective industry
associations. As part of its mandate to facilitate skills development in the industry,
a new career path framework has been developed for the foundry industry, together
with appropriate curricula. This has culminated in the establishment of a substantial,
multi-million Rand training programme which will be managed and implemented
under the leadership of the SAIF with the support of MerSETA.
Several technical benchmarking exercises have been carried out in order to
Adri El Mohamadi, compare the local industry capabilities with international best practice, and to
NFTN Project Leader enable foundries to identify areas for improvement. To date some 103 out of an
estimated 186 foundries have participated in these projects. Reports have shown
that some foundries benefited by the mere participation in the benchmarking.
PROJECT LEADER’S
Strong leadership in these foundries realised the gaps and initiated action upon
this information.
MESSAGE Pilot projects have been conducted in the areas of energy consumption and
management in foundries as well as cleaner production. Relevant guidelines are
being prepared to enable foundries to address these formidable challenges into
I hope the first NFTN impact report was informative to you, our stakeholders. With the future.
the progress and impact achieved in a short space of time since the inception of
NFTN co-ordination office, I am confident that this office has been a vital part of NFTN has also brought international experts to South Africa to advise foundries
the metal casting industry and that the coming years will be different as we focus and help solve local problems. Several foundries have used the outcomes as a
on reaping the benefits of the previous solid foundational actions destined to propel basis and justification to top management to improve housekeeping, optimise
our industry into new and higher competitiveness readiness levels. processes and already benefit from subsequent energy savings or improved scrap
rates. One such example is a company reduced their energy bill by 50%, with an
Our industry has gone through dramatic changes as we found ourselves in the investment in refurbishments to its burners with a payback period of 3.5 months.
midst of a recession. NFTN will need to listen to our stakeholders to continue to I am pleased to say that the interventions of the NFTN have met with an
meet the changing needs of the industry, technology and research providers, overwhelming positive response from the foundry industry at large. In this context
government policies and regulations, and our tertiary education institutions. it is important to note that the NFTN's interventions are guided by the needs of the
The biggest challenge in the first year was to guide and enable the NFTN, through foundry industry, and are focused on implementation and positive impact. Thanks
its governance structures. Substantial progress has been made in almost all 5 to this approach the NFTN is now recognised as an important development partner
objective areas, and this Impact Report highlights just some of this period's many of the local foundry industry.
15

18. These achievements have been enabled by the active leadership of a competent
Steering Committee. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my fellow
committee members for their commitment, support, guidance, and valuable
contributions throughout the NFTN's lifespan. It is important also at this point to
recognise the two project leaders that came before me; Richard Beän and Letlotlo
Phohole whose efforts and commitment was fundamental in building the NFTN. As
one of my predecessor's rightly said "The NFTN endeavoured to play a high level
strategic role by initiating key interventions for the industry. This role is important
and it should remain the objective. Through this role the NFTN will not become an
implementer per se, but remain an agency through which important initiatives are
launched and implemented by its network" Richard Beän.
Finally, I would like to congratulate the CSIR based staff as well as the many
service providers who have worked hard to ensure delivery on the NFTN
programmes, and to thank all of you for your contribution and support - especially
our loyal and long-time friends in the industry. You have made the past years
proud record of achievement possible,
As we move into the new financial year 2011/12 and all the excitement that this
year will bring, NFTN stands ready to serve the local foundry industry and to build
on the sound foundations that have been laid. We look forward to working with all
our stakeholders and to more strong years of delivery and achievement.
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20. For more information, please contact:
Adrie El Mohamadi
NFTN Project Leader
Tel: 012 841 2127
Cell: 082 902 4083
e-mail: adrie.elmohamadi@nftn.co.za