Apollo Tyres’ Chairman, Onkar S Kanwar, inaugurated the state-of-the-art Component Preparation Unit at the Ladysmith tyre manufacturing facility in South Africa. This is a 6,500 square metre unit, with potential for further expansion, and has been installed with an investment of Rs 30 crore. The unit has a new calendering machine and triplex extrusion line. Also present on the occasion were Dudu Mazibuko, District Mayor and M Madlala, the Mayor of Ladysmith.
Speaking at the inaugural function, Onkar S Kanwar said that the challenges South African tyre manufacturers are facing, are of high manufacturing and wage costs, and the threat of cheaper imports. Despite the challenges of the overall economy, at Apollo we will continue to invest in our people, plants and processes to strengthen Apollo Tyres South Africa for expansion into the African continent. South Africa has enormous potential, he added.
The new unit will remove capacity bottlenecks and further improve quality and productivity, while enabling capacity expansion. This component unit will feed both the Durban and Ladysmith manufacturing units, thereby increasing the commercial vehicle tyre capacity of Durban by 20%, and the Ladysmith passenger vehicle and light truck tyre capacity by 30%.
Since the acquisition of the former Dunlop Tyre facility in South Africa, Apollo has invested around Rs 70 crore ($85 million) towards upgrading machinery and increasing manufacturing efficiencies in both plants.
Substantial investments have also been made in people development and skill building in local communities.
Luis Ceneviz, Chief Executive Officer, Apollo Tyres, South Africa said that it is a continuation of efforts to modernise and upgrade plants to enable the company to capitalise on upcoming growth across the African continent. In a similar manner given the acute shortage of skilled artisans, we have a programme in place to train young talent with mechanical aptitude. This has already brought into the fold young talent from the community, he said.
Given the special needs of the Ladysmith community, and the limited number of businesses in the area, investments have also been made at the Inkanyezi Special School for young adults with special needs, to create self-employment opportunities; at the Ladysmith High School for computer literacy, and at the Sizanokuhle Creche to enable it to attain financial independence.