German electronics manufacturer Siemens has entered into a local manufacturing agreement with Cape Town-based black industrialist company Electro Inductive Industries (Eii).
Through this partnership, Eii will benefit from internationally recognised skills and knowledge transfer, while Siemens will benefit from having its own branded transformers that are mainly locally manufactured.
“The local transformer manufacturing industry will benefit significantly from this investment in bringing manufacturing technology and skill sets to South Africa, while the entire supply chain will also benefit from Siemens’ experience in global procurement and local subsupplier development,” Siemens South Africa head of transformers Ronnie Naidoo said.
The investment will create jobs and bring new technology capability to South African industry.
“The new transformer partnership is a major milestone in the localisation of Siemens’ medium power transformers assembly, which forms part of government’s ongoing multibillion-rand Black Industrialist Programme that focuses on the localisation of electrical products such as transformers,” he said.
The manufacturing facility is currently being developed and upgraded in Cape Town to cater for a new line of Siemens transformers as part of its growth and job creation strategy.
Downstream benefits of this localisation project will be felt across the entire supply chain through Siemens’ global procurement and enterprise development programme.
“This new partnership is important in helping South Africa to achieve its market growth, with benefits to society as a whole, such as an increase in job creation. It also helps Siemens to expand its local portfolio,” said Naidoo.