The lack of skills in South Africa is hampering export growth, says Rich Hauman,
managing director of Goodyear South Africa.
Announcing plans for Goodyear's Uitenhage plant to increase its exports from the current 40% of its production, he stressed that it was vital for the South African industry to meet world class competitiveness standards.
Companies need to enhance the skills of their workers in their plants from the factory floor right through to operations and planning levels.
The harsh reality is that if you do not give good service, you are out - and correctly so! South African companies, therefore, need to adopt the correct attitudes towards global competitiveness.
He warned that imported tyres were dramatically affecting the South African market. About 15-20% of the local market is now imported.
These imports put further pressure on the local tyre industry to ensure that they achieve world class quality standards and competitive prices, Hauman says. The prices in South Africa are already among the lowest in the world, especially in the truck tyre sector.
Hauman says that the challenge in South Africa is that it is a third world country making first world products with first world equipment, training and operations methods. However, South African companies are expected to offer third world prices and are faced with third world practices of dumping used tyres.
Hauman says that South Africa currently has 30-40% excess capacity and so needs to strengthen its export focus to maintain the current work force.
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