NFTN AND SAIF HOSTS BRICS FOUNDRY FORUM IN SOUTH AFRICA

NFTN AND SAIF HOSTS BRICS FOUNDRY FORUM IN SOUTH AFRICA
Meaningful research findings to be presented

06 February 2013: The NFTN and the SAIF are jointly hosting the third BRICS Foundry Forum in South Africa on 13 March 2013. The National Foundry Technology Network (NFTN) is an initiative of the dti and works closely with the South African Institute of Foundrymen (SAIF).

This is the third BRICS Foundry Forum, the first of which took place in Brazil in 2011, followed by the second BRICS foundry forum in China last year.

Adrie El-Mohamadi, Project Leader of NFTN , says that although the previous two forums were characterised by to the presentation of foundry market data by each of the participating countries, this third Forum will cast a spotlight on the factors that are driving change in the foundry industry with a view to maximising the learning between the various participating countries.

The Forum is held at one or two-year intervals and is aimed at supporting the industry activities of the organising country. Other issues on which the Forum focuses include sustainable approaches to foundry industry development, technique refinement, practical approaches to the reduction of pollution, foundry clustering and occupational health and safety.

It is imperative that we address the challenges facing our manufacturing industry as a collective and therefore the NFTN believes in collaboration not only with industry associations but also with academia and research institutes,comments El-Mohamadi.

The objectives of the BRICS Foundry Forum are:
To follow the foundry market evolution of the BRICS countries
To promote technological information exchange among the countries of this economic block
To improve the professional development and education of the foundrymen of the BRICS countries
To strengthen relationships with the BRICS countries to obtain the comparative advantages of these countries to the benefit of the whole foundry industry.

In line with these objectives, NFTN/SAIF decided to drill down into further detail than the foundry market. ?The design of the study will allow us to make meaningful comparisons between the various countries, zooming in on the iron casting foundries,says El-Mohamadi.

The data will provide a snapshot of the iron foundry industry per country in terms of the number of iron foundries, the total volume of iron production, employment in iron foundries and the market segments served by the foundries. It will also indicate the rate of domestic use as compared against exports, the incentives offered by the respective government, a breakdown of iron foundries in terms of jobbing versus production. Finally, the average quality certification of foundries in each country will be indicated.
El-Mohamadi says that the research report will also provide specific information on the average cost structure of iron foundries in each country as well as the cost and availability of raw material. The study outlines the energy infrastructure in each country, productivity of labour and human resources, the cost of capital, environmental regulation and government support, as well as the leading foundries in each country, she explains.

We hope this will offer us the opportunity to establish a cross learning platform between the BRICS countries. The session will conclude with a presentation by high-performing countries and sub-sectors within the industry to outline the reasons for their success. This will include factors such as the enabling environment, what they are doing differently and how the foundry sectors in other countries can learn from their experiences, says El-Mohamadi.

The fourth Foundry Forum will be hosted in India in 2014.

 

Localisation For Africa

Phillippa Dean