Automotive supplier park cuts costs by 10%

Pretoria facility is first for Africa Anna Cox A NEW Automotive Supplier Park in Rosslyn, Pretoria, which will offer estimated savings on local transport of at least 10%, was opened last week by Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Affairs, Jabu Moleketi. The park is a provincial Blue IQ project aimed at helping ensure that the South African automotive industry becomes globally competitive and, as a result, sustainable. This innovative approach to clustering suppliers in the proximity of one or more large customers is a first in Africa. The Rosslyn-based Automotive Supplier Park is close to BMW, Nissan, Fiat and Ford and therefore in a position to optimise supply chains to these Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). "For many years we as OEMs have been aware that large savings may be achieved by having our main parts suppliers located alongside our own assembly operations," said Ian Robertson, managing director of BMW South Africa and current president of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). "There is no doubt that the establishment of this Automotive Supplier Park will have significant benefits to both the OEMs and suppliers in the medium to long term," he said. According to Jochen Freese, managing director of the Supplier Park Development Company (SPDC), the Automotive Supplier Park will offer estimated savings on local transport of at least 10%, while the integration of processes should produce additional savings in local inventory. "Reduced cycle times in the supply chain will allow for added flexibility and cost savings in materials handling equipment," said Freese, who is leading the project in his capacity as the South African representative of German-based international applied research organisation, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft.