MechChem Africa May-June 2023

SA Foundry Industry goes to Düsseldorf South Africa’s National Foundry Technology Network (NFTN), along with the South African Institute of Foundrymen (SAIF) and the Aluminium Federation of South Africa (AFSA), will be showcasing South Africa’s metal casting capabilities and investment opportunities in Düsseldorf from 12-16 June 2023, at GMTN 2023:The Bright World of Metals. MechChem Africa talks to NFTN Director Ndivhuho Raphulu.

T he CSIR based NFTN will be spear heading a South African contingent to participate at the four-in-one GMTN 2023 trade fair and con gresses in Düsseldorf this June. The four individual components of GMTN embrace all aspects of modern foundry technology, metallurgy, thermal processing and precision casting, respectively, through: • GIFA: the premier event for foundry technology, cast products, metallurgy and thermal process technology. MTEC: the international industry exhi bition and gathering for metallurgical technology. THERMPROCESS: the global platform for presenting innovative technology and environmental concepts for indus trial thermal processing plants. NEWCAST: the world-leading interna tional trade fair for precision casting and a showcase for the versatility of modern foundry technology. Held every four years, the combination • • •

of these four trade fairs and congresses represents the best possible opportunity for those seeking new markets for their ser vices and new technologies to incorporate into their foundries. “We have secured funding to participate in GIFA 2023 on behalf of the South African Foundry industry,” says NFTN Director, Ndivhuho Raphulu. “We are taking three of our professional metallurgists along with a team from the NFTN. We have also offered to pay for representatives from the Institute of Foundrymen (SAIF) and the Aluminium Federation of South Africa (AFSA), The key objectives? “The NFTN has three critical areas of interest driving us to go to GIFA. The first is to promote localisation and technology transfer. We want to rejuvenate our industry by identifying the casting tech nologies and services that South African foundries need to enable them to raise quality, productivity and capacity levels,” Raphulu tells MechChem Africa. The second key objective is to develop

NFTN Director Ndivhuho Raphulu.

better access to global markets, Raphulu ex plains: “Most of our South African foundry sector is failing to access the global casting industry market for a number of reasons. We need to find new customers and to con vince them that we can deliver at the quality and price they require,” he says. Third, he continues, many local foundries struggle to remain competitive against our international peers. “So we want to explore the new technologies that will reverse that trend. We also have a skills gap that needs filling, to raise quality and production stan dards. Going to GIFA exposes us to more successful competitors and helps to identify what they are doing better than us. As an industry, we need to be prepared to look for opportunities to improve and to benchmark ourselves against the best competitors in the world,” he adds. The initiative is being funded by the

South Africa still has five or so foundry companies that are world-class.

34 ¦ MechChem Africa • May-June 2023