MEMSA targets increased industry interaction

MEMSA

TARGETS INCREASED VISIBILITY AND INDUSTRY INTERACTION By Nelendhre Moodley

In a bid to help the mining industry’s original equipment manufacturers address some of the challenges they face and increase its membership base, Mining Equipment Manufacturers of South Africa (MEMSA) has been on a drive to dramatically increase its visibility, CEO Lehlohonolo

Molloyi tells SA Mining. Established in 2016, MEMSA is an industry cluster organisation aimed at advocating for and promoting the interests of its members and the South African mining equipment industry more broadly. The cluster works closely with a range of partners to maintain and build the competitive advantages of the industry, which include cost-effective manufacturing, continuous innovation, and the ability to customise equipment to customer requirements. Membership is currently at 40 including major local original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as AARD Mining

Equipment, Bell Equipment, Dezzi, Fermel,

HPE, JAE and Rham, as well as a range of emerging, small and medium manufacturers. To grow its membership base and reduce its reliance on funding from the Department of Science and Innovation through the Mandela Mining Precinct and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic), MEMSA has been implementing a strategy to build out and communicate its value proposition, gain greater visibility and build win-win partnerships with private sector entities. This has seen the CEO engaging industry OEMs and service providers, and participating in numerous webinars, seminars, networking events and exhibitions.

“Since I took over last year, I have been fostering relations with our members and meeting at least five local manufacturers each month to better understand the challenges they face and how we, as MEMSA, can assist them in improving and growing their businesses.

“In fact, we have been pushing for the mining manufacturing industry to have a louder collective voice so that we are able to better tackle issues impacting industry. This includes the need for industry-appropriate financial instruments and incentives.”

The sector has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, irregular supply of electricity and weakened investor confidence.

Meanwhile, in line with increasing its visibility, MEMSA recently held its inaugural golf day – an event sponsored by Standard Bank, Bell Equipment, Sanlam, Paramount Tracks and Spress and attended by 80 players, including MEMSA member companies.

The golf day had guest speakers from the dtic (Tshepiso Kadiaka, deputy director of minerals beneficiation and mining equipment), Exxarro (Sandile Khumalo, manager of supply chain sustainability), and Standard Bank (Eran Singh, business banking, head: trade sales).

Molloyi also secured a seat as a guest speaker at the recently held Manufacturing Indaba and Dubai Expo 2020. He was hopeful about growing MEMSA membership to beyond 50 by the end of 2021.

MEMSA can assist clients in improving and growing their businesses. “ “ – Molloyi

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TAKING TARA TO THE NEXT LEVEL

The Technology Availability and Readiness Atlas (Mining TARA) platform, which was launched in 2020, recently received a facelift.

Mining TARA provides an easy access point for local and global mining companies and engineering, procurement, construction and management companies to view mining technologies developed and manufactured in South Africa.

It was developed in response to the realisation that the range of quality and innovative equipment manufactured in South Africa is not well known – even among some local buyers. Researchers in the South African Mining Extraction, Research, Development and Innovation (SAMERDI) programmes further need to understand what technologies are available locally.

The database structure and user interface were revamped to increase flexibility and make it more user-friendly. The upgrade was completed late last year, and the improved website is to be launched early in 2022.

“We streamlined the search engine into different categories and sub-categories to help users to better navigate the programme. For instance, we divided the equipment into underground and surface-mining products, as well as functional groups such as mine development, stoping, mineral processing and support services, including IT, communications and logistics.

“The objective is to ensure that users are able to reach the desired information as easily and as quickly as possible,” he explains.

The new site is dynamic and will provide subscribers with updates on new equipment added to the market.

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The commodities sector boom has not “ “ translated into investment in the mining manufacturing sector. – Molloyi

DRIVING RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION

According to Molloyi, since the closure of the old Chamber of Mines Research Organisation, much of the investment into mining research, development and innovation had declined, with the knock-on effect being significant job losses.

“As a result, the mining industry is relying mostly on innovative products developed by Scandinavian countries, which remain heavily invested in RDI for the development of cutting-edge innovations. And while the commodities sector has been booming and adding to government reserves and to gross domestic product, it has not translated into investment in the mining manufacturing sector.

“Moreover, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer people have been onsite, which has led to an actual decline in the mining manufacturing segment,” says Molloyi.

In fact, local manufacturers have had to pick up the slack and invest in their own RDI initiatives, targeting product development to improve health and safety by progressing, for instance, developments in autonomous articulated dump trucks.

Efforts to reduce the carbon footprint have seen OEMs advancing developments in lithium ion battery projects, and subsequently, battery-powered vehicles.

“A number of local manufacturers are progressing innovations aligned with automated vehicles, trackless machines and pushing the boundaries in developing collision avoidance systems. The aim is to ensure greater safety for equipment operators who often work near danger zones, particularly in underground mining operations.

“A number of the products from the Isidingo Drill Challenge, initiated three years ago by the Mandela Mining Precinct and MEMSA, are currently being trialled with some products already at commercialisation stage,” he says.

Further to this, local OEMs are collaborating with institutions of higher learning, including Wits University, on various initiatives, such as DigiMine, and the University of Pretoria on 3D and virtual reality simulations. n