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Mechanical Technology — May 2016
⎪
Special report
⎪
M
ercedes-Benz South Africa
launched its state of the
art Mercedes-Benz Learn-
ing Academy (MBLA) on
arch 17. 2016. The Academy is a
culmination of a R130-million joint
investment by MBSA and the National
Treasury’s Jobs Fund, which was signed
in 2014.
The grant agreement signed by the
two parties has seen the transformation
of the MBSA Technical Training Centre
into a fully-fledged and world-class
Learning Academy. The MBLA is des-
tined to be a strategic service provider
in MBSA’s holistic approach to further
education and training with an ultimate
objective of helping the region in the con-
tinuing fight against high unemployment.
It was in July 1981 when the MBSA
Technical Training Centre first opened,
as one of the first multi-racial training
facilities in the country. For more than
three decades, the centre has been
MBSA’s think-tank and the main feeder
of the technical workforce for MBSA’s
East London plant.
During this time, the MBSA Technical
Training Centre made a significant con-
tribution in affording opportunities to
people who would otherwise not have
received technical training. In the pro-
cess, a continuous feed of artisans into
the East London manufacturing plant
was ensured.
The pool of skilled personnel that
has been provided by the then Technical
Training Centre have placed the East
London plant amongst the best, allowing
it to be a valued contributor in the global
production network of Mercedes-Benz
cars. It is also such training initiatives
that have contributed to the plant’s proud
heritage and history of almost seventy
years in the country.
The centre, which has now been
transformed into a Learning Academy,
currently boasts some 180 learners and
is expanding its numbers in order to have
surplus capacity as well as to better pro-
MBSA
Learning Academy launched
Students undergoing introductory shop floor skills training, which targets unemployed school/
college leavers.
On the same day that Mercedes-Benz
South Africa (MBSA) released its
2015/2016 annual results, it also
officially launched a R130-million state-
of-the-art Learning Academy to boost
skills in the Eastern Cape region.
vide artisans for the broader community.
This is over and above the company’s
internal needs.
“The Mercedes-Benz Learning
Academy aims to be the most advanced
automotive training facility in the coun-
try. We will do this by continuing to
provide high-quality technical training,
which will produce skilled artisans in our
continuing bid to curb unemployment,
particularly amongst the youth in the
region. This is being done in partnership
with government and its initiatives for job
creation. Through the academy we also
aim to provide our people with a sense
of purpose by giving them confidence in
what they do,” says Mercedes-Benz CEO
and executive director for manufacturing,
Arno van der Merwe.
“Education and skills development is
of paramount importance to the business
and the sustainability of our company
and the communities in which we oper-
ate. To this end the company has over
many years showed its commitment to
participate in the national collaborative
effort to ensure skills transfer and job
creation for workers in the automotive
sector – not only for our plant but for the
broader industry,” adds Van der Merwe.
As such, the joint agreement with the
Jobs Fund came at the time when the
rapid advancement of technologies had
placed enormous training demands on
both the MBSA manufacturing plant and
the industry in the region, exposing a wid-
ening gap of technical training expertise.
“The Jobs Fund partnered with
Mercedes-Benz South Africa because
the project satisfied two critical criteria
for us. First, the intervention would
respond to a specific need in the labour
market and it would improve the pipe-
line of appropriately skilled artisanal
labour that could be deployed, not only
at Mercedes-Benz South Africa but also
within the broader labour market. Second
and more importantly, Mercedes-Benz
South Africa also guarantees employment
contracts for many of those completing
the training programme. The Jobs Fund is
appreciative of the positive collaboration
it has shared with Mercedes-Benz South
Africa,” says Najwah Allie-Edries, head
of the Jobs Fund.
In the immediate future, the MBLA
aims to be an externally accessible
training facility that will offer trade tests,
training and, essentially, placement of
unemployed persons to the industry, thus
bridging the gap between jobseekers and
industry.
Accordingly, the MBLA has increased
the current training staff complement
from 10 to 14 technical instructors.
Plans are also in place to increase the
number of trades that are currently
facilitated by its accredited Trade Test
Centre to include all major trades, includ-
ing: automotive electrician; millwright;
fitter and turner; motor mechanic; and
mechatronic technician.
There are three categories of trainings
currently offered by the MBLA. These are
the shop floor skills training targeting
unemployed school/college leavers for