ELIDZ plant ships 90% of components overseas

One of the major players in
the East London industrial
development zone (IDZ) is
Foxtec-Ikhwezi – a supplier
of high-volume forged
non-ferrous products to the
automotive industry.
The company base is
conveniently located about
two kilometres from the
Port of East London, 1km
from the Mercedes Benz
SA (MBSA) plant, and
7kms from the East London
Airport.
It was founded in 2004
as a joint venture between
Otto-Fuchs of Germany
(70%) and Ikhwezi
Investment Holdings (30%),
and started production at
its R112-million plant in
September 2006.
Foxtec-Ikhwezi supplies
parts to the SA and also
European production plants
of Mercedes Benz. It is
the single source supplier
into the global market for
these components, and its
East London IDZ plant is
established as the supplier,
for example, of forged
aluminium suspension
struts for the rear axle of
every Mercedes Benz Cand
E-Class in the world. It
is also making suspension
parts for high-performance
AMG models, and for the
SL-Class 2012 model.
While most of its
products find their markets
in Germany, the US and
China, the company is
constantly looking to
expand, according to
Foxtec-Ikhwezi GM,
Antony Funston.
“We now have an output
of 5.4-million parts, and
we are shipping 90%
of the components we
produce overseas,” he told
FTW. “But, as well as
adding to our automotive
customer base, we have
also expanded into
the production of nonautomotive
components.”
An initial move into the
general engineering field
has been the production of
aluminium drive adaptors
for a mining company
in Swaziland, according
to production manager,
Andrew Brown. And, he
told FTW, the company is
aggressively marketing its
expertise to other potential
customers, and is also
looking at using a variety of
other non-ferrous alloys.
In this, Foxtec-Ikhwezi
will share in the skills base
of partner, Otto-Fuchs,
which manufactures highquality
products for the
aerospace, automotive,
construction and general
engineering industries,
manufactured from
aluminium, magnesium,
copper, titanium and nickel
alloys.
“The widespread
application of light-weight
materials in the field of
general engineering is
due to their excellent
combination of dynamic
strength, low density and
good corrosion resistance,”
said Brown. “The forging
technology allows us to
adjust the direction of
the optimum mechanical
properties to the direction
of stress in a component
and thus fully exploit the
properties of the material.
“And copper and brass
alloys, for example, have
good processing properties.
They are easy to form and,
at the same time, have a
high strength and resistance
to wear, tear and corrosion.
They have a wide range of
applications, in particular in
hydraulics and pneumatics.”
Training is also a focus
for Foxtec-Ikhwezi,
according to Funston.
“Continuous investment in
training and development
is vital to the firm, as
is creating a safe work
environment,” he said. “As
the work place needs to
be a safe place to work,
this is ensured through
the implementation
and accreditation of
OHSAS18001 standards and
ISO14001.
“The work place also
needs to be challenging and
productive, hence the strong
focus on achievement
of goals with the aid of
mission-directed work
teams.”
And, the company must
be doing something right,
insisted Funston. “Not
many businesses can count
the likes of Mercedes as
valued customers,” he said.