Provide relevant practical and theoretical/professional training in order to increase the competitiveness of the foundry industry personnel and to ensure a constant flow of skilled and professional people entering the industry. Six key areas of support have been identified under this result area, these areas address different skills needs within the industry.
- T1: National Training centre rollout support
- T2: Industry skills programme (NQF 2 – 4)
- T3: Advance technology courses (NQF 5 and up)
- T4: Onsite technology training
- T5: Career Path Framework (Foundry artisan programme)
10-Nov-2011
Industry skills development and training
National foundry training centre roll-out
SAIF is in the process of acquiring testing equipment for the Western Cape Foundry Training Centre. The feasibility study for the Gauteng Training Centre was completed at the end of September. The first feedback meeting was arranged with the Gauteng Department of Economic Development where the initial feasibility findings for a training centre in Gauteng were presented on 9 September 2011. Key stakeholders have been engaged during the month of September for the most suitable location for the centre. A final meeting will be arranged with the department and other stakeholder to discuss the two options of the implementation plan. The two options to consider is positioning the training centre either at the University of Johannesburg or at the Ekurhuleni FET College. The key aspect to take into consideration is the future sustainability and being able to institutionalise the training centre into an already public academic arena. (See full report)
Industry skills programmes
Western Cape Institute of Foundrymen (WCIF) has been successfully training workers within the industry since 1994 on an eight module training programme (from now on it will be called the Industry Skills programme). The modules include;
- Casting and Method Design
- Cores and Coremaking
- Fettling and Shotblasting
- Melting and Metallurgy
- Moulding and Sand
- Productivity and Production Planning
- Quality Control
- Supervisory Skills.
The training covers a broad spectrum of activities in the foundry industry. SAIF acquired the programme in FY 2010/11 in order to offer the same opportunity for foundries in Gauteng and other regions.
The table below shows the training module that was offered during this quarter.
| Trainer | Victor Peachy |
| Western Cape Training Module | Diploma in Foundry Technology (Fettling) |
| Date | Aug – Oct 2011 |
| Delegates | 16 |
The needs identification of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) within the broader industry has been completed. The findings have shown that 20% of the foundries responded to the survey, to read further about the findings please see the following documents:
Advance technical training programme
UJ MCTS in collaboration with SAIF hosted the third Foundry Colloquium titled “Moving towards green foundries in South Africa” in the week of 27 – 28 October. Professor Adel Nofal; Professor of Metal Casting at Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, Cairo University, Egypt and Mr John Morin – President Worldwide Material Services, USA sponsored by the NFTN funding under this training area were two of the keynote speakers.
NFTN’s presentation on Thursday, 27 October informed the participants of the progress made by the Waste Management Working group. To view the presentation click here
Onsite technical training
The tables below summarise the various onsite training that has been offered during this quarter. A number of Thirty Eight (38) workers have been trained within the quarter bringing the total amount for the year to Sixty Two (62); this exceeds the targeted amount with Twelve (12).
| Trainer | Axcert In Service Training |
| Training Course | Non Destructive Testing 101 (Intro) |
| Date | July – Sept 2011 |
| Delegates | 13 |
| Trainer | Carl Reinhardt |
| Company | Whal Industries |
| In-foundry training | High Pressure Die Casting |
| Date | 12 – 16 September 2011 |
| Delegates | 25 |
Careerpath framework
MerSETA has been appointed by QCTO as the official Quality Development Partner for the development of the qualification and training material. Work done by the CPF management team has been handed over to MerSETA. This makes control over the way forward very difficult in terms of completion of the current learners still awaiting requirements from MerSETA to complete the first year as well as taking on new learners for 2012. Other than the above difficulty uncertainty of the way forward by government on the selection process of the Artisan