The East London industrial development zone (Elidz) is building a R50-million metal-surface treatment plant at its automotive supplier park as part of its plan to increase the Eastern Cape’s global competi- tiveness and attract new automotive players to the region, says Elidz automotive sector manager Cyndi-Lee Perils.

The metal-surface treatment plant is about 30% complete and on track to meet the milestones specified by car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA). Perils says the first plant and equipment deliveries are expected by the end of March, with first production from the component wash plant scheduled to start in September.

The project is supported by MBSA, which will sustain the project’s initial business case by initiating local supply projects for its next generation C-Class model that will be assembled at its plant in East London.

MBSA identified the need for a metal-surface treatment plant, specifically with electrophoretic coating (e-coating) functionality, in East London and the Eastern Cape region more broadly, which would meet the high automotive standards expected by its consumers.

MBSA says the aluminium pretreatment and e-coating plant, which will create about 50 direct jobs for people from the Buffalo City metropolitan municipality region, will further strengthen the automotive supply chain and enable the production of additional products in the province.

Perils says, initially, the facility will mostly service the automotive component industry; however, owing to the flexibility of the plant’s design, Perils hopes that it will service the metal-surface treatment needs of other industries.

Paint finishing equipment supplier Bendet Engineering Services MD Hein Minnie says the plant differs from existing facilities in South Africa, as combined processes have been built into its design, making the plant flexible enough for the country’s various metal-surface treatment needs.

Until the construction of the 5 700 m2 treatment plant, there was no facility in the Eastern Cape that could cater for component manufacturers that are required to supply chemically treated components to original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Therefore, East London was, in some instances, being overlooked as an investment destination by component manufacturers.

Many of the component suppliers that Elidz tried to attract were interested in establishing assembly plants in East London but, owing to the unavailability of a metal-surface treatment facility, the suppliers opted to supply finished products to MBSA from their plants in other countries. “This is one of the reasons why Elidz management decided to invest in the plant,” says Perils.

She adds, however, that establishing a shared facility will reduce the individual invest- ment costs of component manufacturers, as they will not be required to invest in manufacturing equipment and a metal-surface treatment plant to finish their products before they are supplied to OEMs.

MBSA has allocated the pretreatment of its new C-Class aluminium body parts to the metal-surface treatment plant, while the vehicle’s seat structures and door modules supplier, RG Brose, which has invested in an R80-million facility at Elidz, will also require e-coating functionality.

Although MBSA and its component suppliers have been instrumental in bringing this project to fruition and in supplying initial business to the metal-surface treatment plant, all existing and new metal-parts and assembly suppliers in East London and the Eastern Cape are potential clients, which will contribute to the further development of the plant, says MBSA.

The plant’s future development will also be driven by the metal-surface treatment plant operator, automotive seat structure manufacturer Dynamic Automotive Systems and Elidz-based suppliers.

At the ground-breaking ceremony of the plant in November, Elidz CEO Simphiwe Kondlo said the establishment of this facility would have huge spin-offs for the automotive sector in the Eastern Cape, attracting new suppliers and increasing local automotive content for current OEMs in the province.

He says Elidz’s ultimate aim for the automotive sector in the short to medium term is to deepen local content and develop second- and third-tier suppliers. “The most effective way to achieve this is to strengthen and further expand Elidz’s basket of industry-specific bene- fits, such as the surface treatment plant.”

The Elidz’s 16 ha automotive supplier park houses 11 first- and second-tier component suppliers, which produce a range of components for the local and export markets. These components include fuel tanks and brake and fuel pipes from TI Automotive; tyre and wheel assemblies from MC Syncro; carpet, acoustic and trim components from Feltex; seat pads and headrests from Fehrer Automotive; and dashboard and overhead liners from Johnson Controls.