AIDC-EC Presents Prestigious Africa Kaizen Award to CRH-Africa Automotive

On December 4, 2024, the Automotive Industry Development Centre Eastern Cape (AIDC-EC) handed over to CRH-Africa Automotive a prestigious award at a ceremony in Gqeberha. This outstanding company, a key player in the Eastern Cape's thriving automotive sector, excelled in the Annual Africa Kaizen Awards (AKA). The AKA, a joint initiative of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), recognises organisations that embody Kaizen principles and practices.

The Eastern Cape, a hub for the automotive sector, played a pivotal role in this project through the AIDC-EC. This organisation is dedicated to enhancing the quality and productivity of enterprises, fostering competitiveness, and promoting Kaizen ethos.

The core value of Kaizen centres around the adoption of an attitude to pursue advanced levels of productivity by all members of an organisation, and not just the application of its management method in isolation.

CRH-Africa Automotive, occupying 17,000m² and employing 494 staff members, received the award in the large-scale organisation category. This achievement underscores the company's commitment to excellence and its position as a player in the regional automotive sector. Prior to the awards, the nominees made online presentation on their activities and achievements on 22-26 July, which contributed to mutual learning and information sharing of Kaizen good practices among the nominees, nominators and Kaizen promoting institutions.

Scoring process of the nominees was made by representatives of the nominating organisations and members of the Examination Committee. All of them demonstrated well-established Kaizen performance such as strong top managerial leadership, 5S, visualization, layout changes based on a time study and digitalisation.

For 60 years, CRH-Africa Automotive has been a cornerstone of the Eastern Cape's component industry. As a pressings plant, the company supports various Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 customers with exhaust components, brackets, flanges, and automotive assemblies. According to Etiene Els, the Divisional Head of Metal Pressings for both Gqeberha and KwaZulu Natal plants, the company is intentional about expansion and growth.

‘’We are proud to announce that in August we also acquired Technique Manufacturing in KZN to further expand our footprint in the South African automotive sector cementing our position in the OEM space’’.

To achieve their productivity objectives, they had to overcome a significant hurdle: workmanship. By embracing Kaizen principles, the company transformed its work culture, fostering a formidable team that strives for exponential growth, sustainability, and quality.

The Continuous Improvement Manager at CRH-Africa, Tina Spalding oversees the execution of the Kaizen ethos, playing an instrumental role in ensuring the organisation is agile in the highly competitive automotive sector.

“Ever since we scooped the award colleagues at shopfloor have since been pouring into my office asking when we will be doing the next Kaizen training. People are so keen and eagerly want to be involved in these QPI projects which is a major cultural shift we have observed closely,

We are so thankful to the team at AIDC-EC all the way from the managers and interns who have opened our scope in terms of what we can do and other various projects that we can tap into. They showcased the results we can derive when we take Kaizen seriously. Now, we have newer methods and strategies to steer growth in our company’’.

Spalding emphasised the electric atmosphere at the QPI Awards, surrounded by companies that prioritize productivity.

"It was inspiring to see how Kaizen is valued, especially in South Africa, where we're competing with global markets. We aim to sustain this momentum and transfer our knowledge and skills to our new plant in KwaZulu Natal"

It is through these initiatives that the AIDC-EC remains steadfast and driven to function as a catalyst for a transformed, growing, and sustainable automotive sector in the Eastern Cape.