NFTN Chairman farewell message

Dr. Oliver F. R. A. Damm

I have had the pleasure of serving as the inaugural chairman of the NFTN for more than 4 years now. NFTN has come a long way in this time. There have been many skeptical voices, particularly in the early days, from various quarters who initially saw the NFTN concept as a threat, or as yet another “flavour of the month” government initiative – doomed for failure. Some of the early meetings of the inaugural steering committee and with industry stakeholders were stormy and there were many disagreements. However, the one aspect that united all those involved at the time was the shared desire and commitment to support the local foundry industry.

I am very pleased to say that this commitment has borne fruit. It has taken time to build confidence and credibility in the NFTN, and to achieve the current high level of alignment with industry needs and government strategies. I am proud to say that in my own experience, the NFTN is now a valued and respected support mechanism for the foundry industry which, together with the SAIF and the dti, will continue to work with and for the industry that it serves. Based on the successes achieved so far, the NFTN is poised for significant growth in the coming years in terms of the size and scope of its programmes, and I have no doubt that this will result in even greater impact.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the dti for its unwavering support and core financing of the NFTN, and all my fellow steering committee members past and present for their commitment and constructive attitude. Your support and guidance has been invaluable for the development of the NFTN. Also, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the project managers who successfully managed the operationalisation of the NFTN.

Some of the successes of NFTN in my term as chairman that I would like to highlight include the following:

• Achieved good alignment between stakeholders, especially between industry, government (dti) and CSIR as the implementing agency of the NFTN;
• Successful establishment of NFTN governance and operational structures;
• Development and implementation of a substantial training programme for the foundry industry – an industry first. Supporting the SAIF in appointing its first full time president, and managing the roll out of the training programme;
• Successful development of a suite of projects and interventions to support the foundry industry

Direction of the NFTN

As a key dti industry support initiative, the NFTN has made substantial progress in supporting the foundry industry through training, competitiveness improvements, and technology support. These programmes continue to gather momentum under the able leadership of Adrie El-Mohamadi, the NFTN project leader, and the SAIF. Looking forward, the key focus areas for the NFTN are:

• Industry skills training – development and implementation of learnerships and skills programmes in collaboration with the SAIF;
• Implementation of competitiveness improvement projects on an individual company basis, analogous to the Technology Assistance Programmes (TAP) offered during 2010/11 through the Department of Science and Technology, to address performance gaps identified during the industry benchmarking process;
• Implementation of programmes to increase energy efficiencies in the foundry industry; and
• Developing sustainable solutions for the disposal of waste sand.

All these activities are aimed at addressing the gaps identified in the work done so far in terms of industry benchmarking, energy usage profiling, and cleaner production, to achieve tangible improvements in competitiveness at individual company level.

It has been a privilege to be involved in the development of the NFTN over its formative years, and I am confident that it will go from strength to strength in the coming years – Oliver Damm.

Project Leaders, previous and current – bids Oliver a fond farewell

Richard Bean

Oliver played a huge role in establishing the NFTN. His clear thoughts, perseverance and negotiations with all the stakeholders moved the concept forward to the support organisation it is today. He also played a massive role as Chairperson of the NFTN. His very professional way to facilitate often very sensitive issues, especially in the beginning will always be remembered.

On a personal note my thanks for his support and guidance during my tenure as Programme Manager – Richard Bean.

Letlotlo Phohole

Oliver has been the main champion for NFTN and the main sounding board I had at CSIR. He has represented and positioned NFTN best within the dti, DST and CSIR. His technical know-how and experience within the metals space, technology and engineering management was invaluable and a rare combination. Oliver was central to what we managed to achieve at NFTN. I was lucky to have worked with him and value the mentorship he provided. I wish him all the best – Letlotlo Phohole.

Adrie el-Mohamadi

I have had the privilege to work with Oliver for the past 10 months. In this time I truly valued his insight, perspective and guidance while settling in to my position at NFTN. His strong leadership in the Steering committee meetings shall be sorely missed. Although I know this is not the splitting of paths between Oliver and NFTN, his day-to-day support in the NFTN office shall not go un-noticed.

Thank you Oliver, for your contribution to making NFTN what it is today – Adrie el-Mohamadi.