The foundry industry employs an estimated 11,500 direct staff. It is conservatively estimated that at least 350 workers per annum need to be trained in order to meet the skills demand of the industry. The national state of the art training centre rollout should allow for practical training outside of the production environment. The immediate target market for the national training centres are represented by shop floor workers, with key skills being melters, moulders and foundry patternmakers. However it will not be limited to shop floor training but will also cater for managers and specialisation area training.
Achieved to date
The first Green foundry training centre has been rolled out in the Western Cape under the auspices of the WCIF situated at Atlantis foundry. The initiative was in cooperation of SAIF, NFTN, GTZ and Atlantis foundry. This is the pilot of three centres intended in the National rollout. The training centre shall be launched early in the new Financial Year.
Planned activities for 2011/12
Taking into account that Gauteng represents more than 50% of the foundries in South Africa, it is understood that a training centre allowing both theoretical and practical training in a state of the art simulated environment is imperative. The roll out of the Gauteng green foundry training centre is planned for this Financial Year. The process is foreseen to take about 18 months; hence it will run over into FY
The bulk of funding for this centre is depending on the response of the Gauteng Provincial Government. Funds for the centre are estimated at R5 million.
Possible risk identified
In the event that Gauteng Provincial Government delay or withdraw their offer, the Gauteng green foundry training centre planned shall have to be postponed or alternative funding will have to be looked at.
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