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Local still means good quality, good prices

Amidst the climate of nervousness surrounding South Africa’s ability to compete with manufacturing giants such as China, more and more companies are feeling the sting of an economy that has grown weary and suspicious of local manufacturing. Frequent strikes and high production costs are some of the spectres that haunt our shores, and the omnipresent fear that we will be crushed by the global manufacturing superpowers has only worsened over the past five years or so.

As a technology-driven economic sector, the security industry stands to be hard hit by the overwhelming lack of faith in local manufacturing, and yet there are those companies that have through consistently high-quality products and after-sales support maintained a level of confidence rarely seen in today’s volatile economic milieu.

Ian Tingle, Centurion’s production director.

Centurion Systems is a South African manufacturer of access automation equipment that has been in business since 1986 and is showing no signs of slowing down. With a manufacturing facility in Johannesburg, Centurion produces reliable automation and security solutions for the domestic, commercial and industrial markets including gate motors, traffic barriers, remote controls and roller-shutter operators. While the journey has been anything but easy, Centurion’s success may at least in part be due to a marked sensitivity for what the public needs from a security and convenience point of view. The company’s two latest products – the GSM-based intercom G-SPEAK and the SupaHelix access control and monitoring system – are testimony to this fact.

Centurion’s production director, Ian Tingle, offers his thoughts on why he thinks the company has managed to stay afloat despite the animosity towards local manufacturing. I also asked him what his thoughts are regarding local manufacturing in general.

What are the benefits to users of locally manufactured products?

“The main benefit is that they are designed and manufactured for local conditions, which puts them at a distinct advantage from a reliability and robustness point of view. There is also better control of the supply chain, an ability to react quicker to market changes, greater spares availability and superior technical support.”

What, do you think, motivates users to buy local? Is a cheap price the major motivator or do they value quality products manufactured for local market conditions?

“I think it is a combination of both. Price has to be a consideration, but it is not all-important. For example, our D5-Evo (domestic and light-industrial sliding gate motor) is not necessarily the cheapest, but we do seem to dominate that market segment. Reliability and features count heavily and increasingly so.”

What new or innovative manufacturing processes are used locally?

“What we try to do is design for cost-effective and reliable manufacture – low parts count, careful material selection, low-tolerance manufacture where applicable, strict quality control and employing a philosophy of continuous improvement of both process and product.”

How do local companies compete against a manufacturing giant like China?

“Quite well in our market segment. China’s labour inflation rates are making it less competitive all the time. We also see that acceptable quality comes at a price – one which we in many cases can match or even better. There are obviously many market segments which China still commands absolutely.”

Do we have the appropriate skills to keep innovating and engineering to be competitive?

“I think we are blessed with very good technical ability. We are known for our innovative products.”

What is being done to improve the available skills and make sure that there is a new generation of skills on the horizon?

“We have in-house mentorship and training programmes to assist with skills development. We are contemplating introducing bursary schemes and currently assist staff with study loans, etc. As a country, we are probably not doing nearly enough at this stage.”

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