Electricity + Control October 2015

CONTROL SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION

ROUND UP

Siemens hands over Northriding manufacturing cell

On 15 September, Siemens hosted over 50 people, which included representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry and Eskom to celebrate the official handover of the new lean manu- facturing cell to FearlessTechnical Contracts and Services at their Siemens North Riding Manufacturing Facility, an incubator for Small Enterprises. The Fearless organisation started out as temporary workers that were contracted to a labour broker. Due to Siemens’ decision to stop the use of labour brokers,TshepoMokoena, founder of Fearless and his teamwere given the opportunity by Siemens to register his business as a small enterprise and to continue rendering their ser- vices as a supplier to Siemens. Fearless is a completely black owned company and today comprises 15 employees, men and women. As part of Siemens’ culture of continuous improvement, their manufacturing process was improved by isolating certain pre- assemblies and a lean manufacturing cell was established to pro- duce these sub-assemblies.Taking into account Fearless’ excellent service delivery and commitment, they have now been appointed as the main suppliers in charge of the new lean manufacturing cell to produce certain sub assemblies for the Eskom Kusile project.

Rita Nkuhlu, Siemens Executive Director stated, “At Siemens, we believe that helping to develop small and medium sized enterprises can ignite an economic upturn in our country.” With Enterprise Development forming the core of the country’s economic sustainability, the company has invested over R100 M towards supporting strategic black partners in their quest for eco- nomic sustainability, by enabling them to hold 100% black share ownership in businesses which continue to have access to market share and thrive as stand-alone enterprises. In February this year, Siemens launched the Supplier Develop- ment Programme, which marked the start of a process whereby a select number of suppliers were chosen to partner with Siemens in order to develop their business ambitions. Fearless is one of the 50 companies that have been selected from their 3 500 supplier base. Each of these suppliers is part of a tailored development programme to meet their specific require- ments.The program includes a combination of mentoring, coaching and internal and external training in both technical and soft skills. Enquiries: Kalai Pillay.Tel. 011 652 2285 or email kalai.pillay@siemens.com

Representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry, Eskom, Fearless Technical and Siemens at the official Launch of the Lean Manufacturing Cell to Fearless.