GLOBAL INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP MEET IN NEW TRADE PARTNERSHIP LAUNCH

AN innovative Swiss-South African trade partnership, launched in the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park (NMBLP) outside Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, is set to create opportunities to increase local content in South African automotive manufacturing.

Under a global contract secured by Swiss company WEIDPLAS, its South African trade partner QPlas, a subsidiary of Cape Town-based plastic injection-moulding specialists QTeC Moulding, has set up shop in the NMBLP to manufacture a range of interior, exterior and under-bonnet plastic components for Mercedes Benz South Africa (MBSA).

Backed by the partnership and technology of WEIDPLAS, the highly-automated QPlas plant is able to deliver components at the global quality standard expected by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive sector, enabling it to secure global contracts for local manufacture, thereby supporting increased local content and job creation in the local supply chain, QPlas managing director Tom du Toit said.

WEIDPLAS South Africa general manager David Krumbock said the company’s unique trade partnership approach was more than a standard customer-supplier or outsourcing relationship.

“Our model is to secure global supply contracts and then form trade partnerships with local suppliers, supporting them with equipment, project management, skills development and technology transfer.

“This is not about an international company coming into South Africa and bringing its own people. It’s about developing the local company and enabling them to compete globally, create employment and add value to the local economy.

“The intention is for QPlas to be able to grow their business off the back of an initial solid contract and project support provided by WEIDPLAS,” he said.

Krumbock said that, since commencing production, WEIDPLAS had both grown volumes and started negotiations for supply of additional parts in order to “deepen localisation” for MBSA.

“We have also secured a supply contract for the new Toyota Hilux platform and are in the final stage of negotiations with VW for components for the VW Polo platform. Our goal is to become the supplier of choice of interior trim and under-bonnet components to global OEMs in South Africa,” Du Toit said.

Krumbock said WEIDPLAS’s backing through securing the international contract, and its technical and project management support, led to “upskilling” of local companies and enabled them to secure business from global OEMs “as the risk is covered by the international partner, ensuring security of quality and an unbroken supply chain”.

“The opportunity is now there for QPlas to develop the skills of its employees, ensure the quality of its operation, and seek out new business on the basis of a strong and credible foundation of what it has delivered to the WEIDPLAS customer,” Krumbock said.
Du Toit agreed that the support of WEIDPLAS had enabled a “steep ramp-up curve” of just eight weeks from the installation of machinery to the first delivery to MBSA.

Editors Notes:

About QPlas:
Located in the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park in Uitenhage, QPlas is a spin-off from Cape Town-based QTeC Moulding, a company with a 15-year history of supplying moulded plastic components to Ford, GMSA, Toyota and VWSA. QTeC’s biggest line is exterior mirrors for VWSA, and they are currently the only manufacturer of exterior mirrors in South Africa. The company has a 31% BEE shareholding.

About WEIDPLAS:
WEIDPLAS is part of the TechniPlas group, a privately held group of specialised plastics manufacturing companies headquartered in North America with 11 manufacturing facilities and some 2 000 employees worldwide. Headquartered in Switzerland, WEIDPLAS is a leading innovator and manufacturer of complex plastic components for the automotive and sanitary industries. The company offers a complete value-added chain from engineering, tooling, prototyping, production and quality control, to packaging and logistics. WEIDPLAS operates in the technical business areas of functional components, decorative solutions, lighting and illumination, and mechatronics, predominantly serving leading global automotive brands. In addition to extensive facilities across Europe, WEIDPLAS is represented in Brazil, China, South Africa and the USA through a combination of production facilities, production cooperations, and technical and sales centres.

Author: Salome Clack from Maven Connection.
More Info link: http://www.weidplas.com
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MOULD PERFECTION – Swiss plastic component manufacturer WEIDPLAS and South African partner QPlas, a specialist plastic injection-moulding manufacturer, launched an innovative trade partnership in the high-tech QPlas facility in the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park on Wednesday. Celebrating the launch were, from left, QPlas operations director Le Roux Harmse, WEIDPLAS vice-president Daniel Spirig, QPlas managing director Tom du Toit, QTeC Moulding operations director Natalie Johannes, WEIDPLAS South Africa general manager David Krumbock, and WEIDPLAS CEO Thomas Freiberghaus. Photo: Gerdie de Lange – GdL Photography

DEAL BREAKER – WEIDPLAS South Africa general manager David Krumbock and QPlas managing director Tom du Toit shake on the agreement reached. Photo: Gerdie de Lange – GdL Photography

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