South Africa’s small group of industrial designers have united under the newly estab- lished Industrial Designers Association of South Africa to realise the vision of revolutionising the manufacturing industry through design.

Association chairperson Bernard Smith tells Engineering News that the association’s members are confident that they can play a meaningful role in growing the competitiveness of the local manu- facturing sector.

Most of the appliances and other durable goods currently sold in South Africa are foreign made, or manufactured in South Africa under licences from companies abroad.

The ability to develop durable goods in South Africa will boost local manufacturing, thereby stimulating job creation and economic growth.

Moreover, locally designed durable goods could save South Africa an estimated R19-billion a year in licensing fees.

Local manufacturers pay licensing fees of up to 89% of the value of products made under licence from foreign companies.

The Industrial Designers Association’s ambitions to revolutionise the South African manufacturing industry through increasing local design is supported by the experiences of the Four East Asian tigers, as the high-growth economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan are collectively known.

South Korea is the strongest East Asian tiger and its success is largely attributed to educational reforms, which established the institutions required to create a skilled workforce.

South Korea’s education and training initiative places a strong emphasis on teaching industrial design.

Industrial design is offered at 156 Korean universities and colleges of design, which produce a total of 3 400 industrial design graduates every year.

South Korea has also inculcated a culture of competitiveness through design by setting up the Korean Institute of Design Promotion.

The association’s government committee chair, Gold Mametja, says that industrial design is an integral part of economic growth, without which developing nations struggle to build the competi- tive manufacturing ability required to sustain economic growth.

He points to parallels between South Korea and Ghana.

When Ghana became the first African country to attain independence in 1957, its gross domestic product (GDP) was similar to that of South Korea.

However, in the last 50 years, Ghana’s GDP declined in real terms while South Korea’s GDP has been among the fastest growing worldwide.

The decline of manufacturing abilities in resource-rich economies in favour of raw material exports is known as the resources curse or Dutch disease, which is

an economic concept that tries to explain the apparent relationship between the exploitation of natural resources and a decline in the manufacturing sector.

The theory is that an increase in revenues from natural resources will de-industrialise a nation’s economy by raising the exchange rate, which makes the manufacturing sector less competitive.

Many South African manufacturing companies have been negatively affected by the rising prices of inputs, including raw materials and fuel, and the relative strength of the currency.

As a result, the local manufacture of some durable goods has declined in favour of imports.

“When South Africa exports raw materials only to buy them back when they have been converted into finished products abroad, it comes down to exporting wealth and importing poverty,” Smith comments.

He believes that industrial design can play a significant part in improving the competitiveness of South African durable goods by introducing innovation and reducing the cost of production.

The problem is that industrial design professionals are few and far between.

South Africa has about 25 full-time industrial design practitioners.

This means that there is one industrial designer for every 1 000 chartered accountants in South Africa.

While South Korea produces 3 400 graduates a year, a total of 18 to 22 students a year graduate as industrial designers in South Africa.

The two tertiary institutions presenting industrial design degree courses in South Africa are the University of Johannesburg and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

A third tertiary institution, the Tshwane University of Technology, will offer the industrial design degree course from 2008.

One of the main aims of the association is to increase the profile of industrial designers in South Africa.

Smith says that while the local manufacturing industry, in general, undervalues the profession, companies abroad acknowledge the strategic importance of industrial designers.

“Abroad, industrial designers are generally paid well and work in an enabling environment where they are given sufficient access to research and development (R&D) resources.

The result is continuous innovation, which is the lifeblood of companies,” he comments.

Smith says that, concerning R&D, few local companies provide for the capital required to develop new competitive products, although the investment in such a product usually pays itself back tenfold if not a hundredfold over the life of the product.

The newly formed association’s mission is to consolidate the industrial design profession and promote the benefits of industrial design to all stakeholders as a competitive, value-adding resource in South Africa.

Bridging the Innovation Chasm

The Department of Science and Technology’s R&D strategy highlights the innovation chasm in South Africa, which is characterised by a dire lack of design and engineering skills.

Smith and Mametja believe that the association can assist South Africa in bridging the innovation chasm by engaging with government to improve the country’s design education capacity, and by creating a greater understanding in the manufacturing industry concerning the value of industrial designers.