The ample boardroom at Yokogawa South Africa’s new head office in Randburg can easily accommodate 20 people around the working centre table. The four of us seem lost in the roominess, but that initial awkwardness soon fades and at the end of our allotted hour, there is barely enough space to contain the passion of two of the SAIMC’s most enlightened presidents.
SA Instrumentation & Control product manager, Jane van der Spuy and I are here to join Vinesh Maharaj (Yokogawa South Africa sales and marketing director, and immediate past president of the SAIMC) and Oratile Sematle (E&I Group manager at Sasol, and current SAIMC president).
We have all put aside our professional responsibilities for an hour and are meeting as volunteers serving an organisation that we are passionate about – the SAIMC. Our aim is to review the progress the Society has made since it became the recognised ‘Voice of Automation’ in South Africa under Vinesh’s capable leadership, and to talk about where it is headed, as Oratile carries the fire during his tenure for the next two years.
Vinesh’s contribution to the SAIMC can be summed up in one word – transformation. “When I took over the presidency in 2013, Johan Maartens, my predecessor, had paved the way for change,” he says. “But we needed more; it was time to take a calculated risk.”
The plan was ambitious. “We needed to reinvent ourselves,” explains Vinesh, “both in terms of our strategic objectives as an organisation, and in terms of our value proposition to members and to industry. We had to sweep away the cobwebs.”
What followed completely redefined the SAIMC. A two-day strategy session with industry leaders sees the formulation of a medium term business plan, which includes championing the cause for automation as the tenth distinct engineering discipline recognised by ECSA (Engineering Council of South Africa). A modern new logo emerges and the Society unveils its fresh persona in a glittering function at the end of 2013. Automation’s voice speaks its first words.
Something more subtle happens as well. A groundswell of urgency develops as the new culture takes hold. It draws industry leaders wishing to volunteer their time to serve at the top echelons of the organisation. People who want to get things done; people like Oratile Sematle.
“I’ve taken over a completely revitalised SAIMC thanks to the work of council under Vinesh’s leadership,” says Oratile, who has been listening intently up until this point. “During my term, the challenge is different. My goal is to build on what we have already achieved, but we must take it further. We have to make people at the highest levels in our country understand that automation is not a threat, but rather, a key driver for industrialisation in our region.”
“This is crucial,” agrees Vinesh, “but it is only one of the missing pieces in the puzzle.”
“We need to get much closer to the industry fraternity and to the educators as well,” explains Oratile, as the vibe in the room starts to build.
“And to ECSA,” adds Vinesh, “but I know this has high priority on your agenda.”
What they are intimating is that the work has only just begun. While there is much that can be accomplished along the way to add to the value proposition for SAIMC members and patrons, both Vinesh and Oratile believe that the big payoff will come when ECSA inaugurates automation as the tenth official engineering discipline.
“With the situation as it currently is people often just fall into an automation career by accident,” explains Oratile. “Not just at engineer level, this applies to technicians and artisans as well. Most of them qualify in an electrical or electronic field and then it is up to their employers to equip them with the skills they need to undertake instrumentation or automation related work.”
“To become more competitive as a nation we need to reindustrialise,” adds Vinesh in a tone that conveys quietly controlled passion. “The government has already stated this, but they are getting the wrong advice on how to implement it. Automation is a key component, but instead of importing automation skills from abroad, we should be developing our own. We have everything we need; all that is lacking is a cohesive approach between the various stakeholders.”
The two believe that this is where the SAIMC can and must make a meaningful difference.
“One of the ways we can stimulate our economy is to cut our reliance on imports,” rationalises Oratile. “But in order to do this we must be able to offer a better quality of product at a price that compares with the cheaper imported equivalents, from China, for argument’s sake.”
“Automated production and quality control can help us achieve this,” adds Vinesh. “Look at the textile industry. It has been completely destroyed by cheap imports and thousands of workers have lost their jobs.”
What they are hinting at is the belief that with proper implementation and the right focus, automation can create new jobs by either revitalising an industry that has become uncompetitive, or by opening up opportunities in areas that are currently underexploited – minerals beneficiation for instance.
Vinesh contextualises it perfectly: “Automation is not a silver bullet that can fix everything that is wrong in South Africa. We are where we are for many reasons, some of which are the legacy of previous governments, and others which are not. What is important is that we don’t just accept that we are destined to stay where we are, and this is where automation has a role to play.”
“To be competitive globally, I believe that automation and labour have to be successfully combined,” says Oratile, warming to the theme. “You can no longer just rely on labour. The beauty of automation is that it cuts across all sectors, and with proper management, workers displaced by automation in one sector can be reskilled and deployed in another, which has become more competitive, because of automation.”
All very well, but how do we develop the capability?
“The question of skills shortage is a complex one,” outlines Oratile. “Traditionally we have been strong in instrumentation, but the problem we are faced with is that those skills, mostly learned through experience, are not successfully being transferred to the younger generation.”
“Exactly,” Vinesh joins in animatedly. “A skilled person is not just somebody with a qualification. A skilled person is someone with the right qualification for their profession, enhanced by good on-the-job experience. Automation has become much more complex than just instrumentation, these days it takes 3-4 years for someone from another discipline, electrical for instance, to become fully productive as an automation engineer after they qualify.”
“We could shorten that to 1-2 years if we had an appropriate automation qualification supported by relevant practical training,” adds Oratile. “What happens currently is that after the 3-4 years Vinesh mentioned, these people become highly sought after and are often lost by the employer who initially invested in them. Sometimes they are even lost by the country, and then the cycle starts all over again.”
The SAIMC identified this need early during Vinesh’s term when the business plan was drawn up and something it hopes to address through the work it is currently doing with the Universities of Technology and with ECSA.
“If the country is serious about a strategy to make local manufacturing more competitive, then automation is a key component of that and it is crucial that its role be adequately defined,” says Vinesh heatedly.
“What we are trying to explain to the authorities is that the automation courses we need already exist,” adds Oratile thoughtfully. “They just need to be repackaged into a qualification that can serve industry better. In the view of the SAIMC, it will not be necessary to introduce any new academic courses.”
What has been raised at ECSA is that people currently being registered as process engineers were never specifically trained in this discipline.
“This status quo could continue indefinitely unless we get buy-in from industry who are the ‘consumers’ of such process engineers,” explains Vinesh. “If we don’t do something to change the situation, properly trained and experienced process engineers will remain a scarce commodity, and they will have to be imported from abroad.”
“Surely it is better to develop our own people and then let them create jobs for others through the growth of our manufacturing sector as it becomes more competitive?” asks Oratile somewhat rhetorically. “Our responsibility as the voice of automation is to raise the profile of our profession. We can make a real contribution if we can show young people that automation is cool, and a career path worth following.”
“But we can’t do this without offering them a properly recognised qualification,” says Vinesh, in no mood to take prisoners. “We already know that there are universities eager to provide the courses we need. Now we need to take automation mainstream.”
The next step is a presentation to ECSA and other stakeholders on 19 October to showcase what the SAIMC has accomplished to date.
“This is a vital meeting for us,” says Oratile earnestly. “ECSA will only recognise this tenth discipline if it has support from the academic institutions.”
“We are almost there,” adds Vinesh. “The presentation will be based on the business case for automation. We need to prove that there is a critical mass, around four hundred industry people out there, ready to register in an automation engineering discipline. This is research that Johan Maartens – the newly appointed SAIMC COO – is busy doing for us. We also need to show a development path that allows people to progress from one level to the next – how to get from artisan to technician level, for instance.”
“ECSA would like to get as many people as possible registered,” concludes Oratile. “What we must do on the 19th is show them how the SAIMC can help to achieve this. With the academic institutions behind us, we have a very strong case to present.”
In conclusion
Some of what has been discussed is idealistic, and most certainly there will be obstacles along the way. To sit in comfortable surroundings discussing the pros and cons of automation as a driver for economic growth in Africa is one thing, but overcoming the harsh political and demographic realities is quite another. What is undeniable though, is that the new SAIMC has leaders of vision and purpose. If automation can make a meaningful contribution to South Africa’s growth and prosperity, then there is a passionate organisation run by committed people ready willing and able to make it happen.
Look out for the next report after the meeting on 19 October.
Anyone wanting more information can reach Oratile or Vinesh through SAIMC secretary, Ina Maartens, 086 107 2462, [email protected], www.saimc.co.za
| Tel: | +27 11 312 2445 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.saimc.co.za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about SAIMC |
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version