scholarly journals Interventions to Skills Development in the Automotive Manufacturing Sector of South Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Opeyeolu Timothy Laseinde ◽  
Grace Mukondeleli Kanakana
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Automotive Manufacturing

Harnessing Externalities to Enhance Competitiveness in an Industrial Cluster

2015 ◽  
pp. 202-219
Author(s):  
Mary Jesselyn ◽  
Bruce Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Pattern Matching ◽  
Industrial Cluster ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Technology Spillovers ◽  
Automotive Manufacturing ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Manufacturing Network

This chapter investigates the effects networks have on the acquisition of external economies. The objectives of this chapter include determining if businesses located in clusters are benefitting from external economies and identifying the extent to which these firms are using their networks in accessing these external economies. Six SME business owners were interviewed. They form part of an automotive manufacturing network based in Port Elizabeth in South Africa. The researchers used content analysis and pattern matching to analyse the data. The findings indicate that the entrepreneurs interviewed were all using their networks to gain external economies. They used networks to gain technology spillovers in the form of information on new trends and processes in the industry and highlighted the fact that the network contacts provided opportunistic information. The study also found that some of the entrepreneurs used their network to source skilled employees from the pooled labour market and obtain specialized services and input.

scholarly journals Occupational risk factors for shoulder chronic tendinous pathology in the Spanish automotive manufacturing sector: a case-control study

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Rodriguez Diez-Caballero ◽  
Joaquín Alfonso-Beltrán ◽  
Iker J. Bautista ◽  
Carlos Barrios
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Psychosocial Factors ◽  
Musculoskeletal Diseases ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Individual Risk ◽  
Predictive Values ◽  
Occupational Risk Factors ◽  
Automotive Manufacturing ◽  
Multiple Variables ◽  
Load Handling

Abstract Background Musculoskeletal Diseases (MSDs) are among the most prevalent health problems encountered in the workforce in Europe. Multiple risk factors contribute to their onset. In the present study, different individual risk factors for chronic tendinous pathology affecting the shoulder were analysed in a sample of workers from the automotive manufacturing sector. Methods An observational retrospective study was conducted with 73 cases of officially recognised and compensated occupational diseases and 94 aleatory cases of healthy workers from the same car assembly company. The experimental group comprised individuals with tendinous chronic pathology of the rotator cuff. Multiple variables that identified the risks present in the job were assessed along with participants clinical evaluation. Furthermore, two standardised guidelines for risk factors assessment were also used: the Spanish National Institute of Social Security (INSS) and the American Occupational Information Network (O*Net). Both descriptive statistical analysis and Odds ratios calculations considering the occupational disease as a dependent variable were performed. Results The use of hand tools, exposure to mechanical pressure in the upper limbs and awkward postures were the most prevalent risk factors. Pressure on the palm of the hand and the hand tool impacting the hand were also important risk factors. Some psychosocial factors such as lack of autonomy and mental workload were also associated shoulder tendinous diseases. The association of age, load handling, and awkward postures were the core risk factors responsible for most of the tendinous chronic injuries of the shoulder in this sample of car assembly workers. Conclusions Both ergonomic and psychosocial factors were present and increased the risk of developing occupational chronic tendinopathies at the shoulder in this sample of workers. Aging, load handling, and awkward postures showed the strongest predictive values. Greater knowledge of how risk factors interact would facilitate the design of better preventive workplace strategies.

MODELING EFFECTS OF INCENTIVES FOR INDUSTRY COMPETITIVENESS USING A SYSTEM DYNAMICS APPROACH

2012 ◽  
Vol 09 (02) ◽  
pp. 1250011
Author(s):  
MARTIN KAGGWA ◽  
JASPER L. STEYN ◽  
ANASTASSIOS POURIS
Keyword(s):  
System Dynamics ◽  
South African ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Automotive Manufacturing ◽  
Industry Competitiveness ◽  
Policy Lever ◽  
Industry Investment

Investment in state of the art machinery and tooling and in R&D is widely seen as a prerequisite for achieving industry competitiveness in the long term. Investment-based incentives that countries provide for these inputs are perceived as a way of supporting industry competitiveness. Despite this being a global phenomenon, there is no formal process to guide the offer of these incentives. The process of designing such incentives is often based on internalized judgment rather than on formal models making it difficult to assess such interventions objectively and to improve on them. Specific to South Africa, the offer of incentives to the automotive industry to support its competitiveness has had mixed results. In particular, investment in R&D has remained minimal. The paper presents a system dynamics model as a proposed instrument in formalizing the offer of incentives, applied to the South African government's offer of incentives to the automotive manufacturing sector. The model was developed from qualitative and quantitative information on how the incentives had been structured. Simulations of the model reveal that the incentives model, as a stand-alone intervention, had a significant and positive effect on industry investment, but had no specific policy lever to direct investment into R&D and subsequent innovative activities. By this measure, the incentives model has not been a strong policy framework for supporting long-term industry competitiveness.

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