Component manufacturer Dycer Engineering is diversifying its capabilities to include the assembly of automotive components, says MD John Gawler.

Dycer, which manufactures the separate parts of a specific automotive component, now also assembles the parts into one component, to sell as a unit.

“We are able to handle the entire component manufacturing process in-house, from drawing and making patterns to casting and machining castings,” he says.

The company, which is a level 3 broad-based black economic-empowerment contributor and is also ISO 9001 accredited, runs a computer numerically controlled-machine shop, as well as a fabrication shop that produces the automotive components. It also undertakes general engineering work and is actively looking to grow this segment of the market.

Dycer, last year, also established a foundry, which specialises in spheroidal graphite iron and aluminium castings, and will shortly start doing steel castings.

The company is continuously manufacturing new products and, can either manufacture to customer specifications, or the component details are specified in-house.

Truck and bus components manufactured by Dycer include brake shoes, manifolds, chassis components, sumps, pulleys, drag links and torque rods. The company also manufactures a number of components for military vehicles.

“We often manufacture components for obsolete vehicles, as these components are not easily accessible.

“We have just developed a brake butterfly for an obsolete motor for a customer. This includes the housing, shaft, levers, bushes and butterfly. We draw, manufacture and assemble the complete unit in-house,” says Gawler.

Meanwhile, to deal with skills development challenges, the company provides in-house training. However, in instances where there is a specialised need, Dycer brings in experts to train its personnel in aspects like machining and drawing programs where Mastercam for SolidWorks software is used.

Another challenge facing the company is the fact that imported components are often cheaper to buy than locally manufactured products.

For this reason, the company actively seeks opportunities to work on smaller production volumes.

“When a large volume of components are needed, it is difficult to beat the prices of imports. However, when smaller volumes are required, there is a definite gap for local companies to compete. However, we need to focus our efforts on reliability of supply and not price,” he explains.

Dycer also focuses on providing higher- added-value components, which clients are willing to pay more for, as they can get everything done from one source.

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