Caption: Photo from left to right: Paul Hiel (not Hill), Honourable Deputy Minister Fikile Majola, Karel Bos, Embassy of Belgium – Ambassador Didier Vanderhasselt, Elisabeth Bos (daughter)
BOSAL Afrika, part of the BOSAL Group and global Tier 1 automotive supplier, has invested about R25 million in the upgrade and relocation of the new OEM manufacturing Emission Control Systems (ECS) plant in Koedoespoort Industrial, Pretoria.
“World-class standards have been implemented in the plant’s layout, manufacturing efficiency and operational excellence. The plant possesses full in-house capabilities to develop and produce state-of-the-art emission control systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles,” said BOSAL Chairman, Karel Bos.
“The new plant will allow BOSAL Afrika to more than double its revenue with new business both for hot and cold-end emissions control systems by week 48 of this year. To achieve this revenue increase, in excess of a further R20 million will be invested in production capacity in the months to come. This increase will not stop there, we see additional opportunities to grow both the cold-end as well as the hot-end business significantly. The hot end business would not only be for the local market but also the export market.”
“BOSAL Afrika has moved out of the manufacturing, distribution and sales of aftermarket products, tube and tubular products, hydraulic and mechanical jacks, and irrigation and electrical conduit products to name a few,” said Mr Bos.
“This change has necessitated that we re-evaluate our South African business and its strategy. We have decided to initially focus on Original Equipment hot and cold-end emission control systems and automotive carrier and protection systems.”
“The reorientation resulted in the requirement to invest in the plant which was made to achieve a paradigm shift in the areas of quality and competitiveness by implementing lean flow manufacturing processes.”
Deputy Minister Fikile Majola said: “We want to commend BOSAL for introducing the latest and best automotive technology to South Africa. As government, we are pleased that in establishing this facility, local content will increase and new jobs will be created.”
“Key to improving productivity and enhancing efficiency in the plant is BOSAL’s commitment to skills development and training, which is critical to any business success.”
“We congratulate BOSAL on this investment and are encouraged that they are growing their investments in South Africa and continue to view South Africa as a strategic investment partner.”
“Together with others, we consider your company a key investor in Tshwane’s growing automotive hub. The job-creation potential of these strategic investments is very important and I encourage you to keep striving to assure that this investment creates value for local communities.”
Renai Mothilal, Executive Director of The National Association for Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM) of which BOSAL Afrika is a member, added: “This is another great example of the SA Automotive Masterplan delivering positive results for the components sector.”
Mr Bos said that in 1968 BOSAL Afrika was the springboard for the growth of BOSAL in Europe, North America, South America, Russia, to name a few regions, making BOSAL into what it is today with a revenue of Euro 462 million (R7.6 billion), with over 20 plants worldwide, employing 2,200 people.
“We see growth opportunities because we have some unique advantages compared to our competition. In South Africa for emission control systems BOSAL is the longest-established company, the market leader, the most vertically integrated manufacturer and the only company with significant R&D capability.”
“These unique advantages allow BOSAL to localise the production of virtually all emission control systems requirements of the OEMs in South Africa.”
“We are now in the planning stage to bring our Automotive Carrier and Protection Systems plant to the same level as the Emission Control Systems plant, which will entail an upgrade of the building and a complete layout change. The entire manufacturing process will be converted to a lean flow manufacturing process as well.”
“We will increase the vertical integration further among others by investing in a tube mill to make thick wall tubes which will mean a significant investment in equipment and tools. All this investment will improve the competitive position of the business and further enhance the quality of our processes, thereby improving our overall quality.”
“Over the next two to three years, we will also triple the business by starting to manufacture towbars for export to Europe and possibly South America. The increase in activity will require a significant investment in production equipment to increase the capacity of the plant so that it can manufacture the necessary volume.”
“Not only will the plant be the benchmark for Africa, but it is also the benchmark for the BOSAL Group globally. We will roll out this standard at all our plants across the globe. Thereby making BOSAL as a group more competitive and achieving a compound annual growth of more than 13% in the next five years which will result in a revenue of approximately 1 billion euros or R16.7 billion by 2024.”
He said that BOSAL Afrika will more than contribute to this growth with the plans for Emission Control Systems and Automotive Carrier Systems.
The growth will also be realised by adding new products to our product portfolio globally, such as seat frames, air vessels, aluminium fuel tanks, amongst others.
“Besides these new products, our innovations in the Emission Control Sytems will also contribute to this growth. These innovations include acoustical valves, lotus coating for AdBlue vehicles, ultra-lightweight emission control systems, heat recovery systems to reduce emissions, active noise cancellation, and emission retrofit systems to reduce emissions of older cars to euro 5 norm.
Deputy Minister Majola added: “For our part, we commit to supporting this investment partnership through our redoubled efforts to expand our mechanisms for cooperation.”
“As government, we are constantly strengthening our systems, regulations and procedures to improve our country’s standing in global business competitiveness measures. We must make it easy for investors to do business.”
“We want a large auto industry in South Africa with an ecosystem of small, medium and large players able to reach the scale of production necessary to make us a serious global player.”
Background
Chairman Karel Bos’ grandfather saw the opportunities when he came to South Africa on a business/holiday trip in 1951. He was so optimistic that he recommended his son to go to South Africa to start BOSAL Afrika who then followed his father’s advice and founded BOSAL Afrika in 1952. Current Bosal International Chairman Karel Bos, the founder’s son, continues to see considerable opportunities in South Africa to develop BOSAL’s business, and hence the investment in South Africa.3