Anew master toolmaker programme, which forms part of the Intsimbi National Tooling Initiative (NTI), a product of the Toolmaking Association of South Africa (Tasa), will assist in relieving the strain – the lack of available skills – on the manufacturing industry.

The Intsimbi NTI will be piloted this year and is designed to equip individuals with the competence tools and techniques necessary to succeed in specialist fields within the tooling sector of the manufacturing industry.

The master toolmaker programme comprises 20% theory, 20% practical and technology work and 60% project work.

It entails five areas of specialisation – plastics mouldmaking, metal-forming die-making, casting and die-casting, mouldmaking or patternmaking and machine building and precision machining.

The programme also offers generic workplace skills such as technical business management, business management and administration, automation and control, tooling systems engineering, the theory of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing, materials strength and rapid prototyping, as well as manufacturing and metrology.

It will be offered as a modular part-time course over two years at technical and academic universities participating in the NTI programme in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria. Specialist trainers, supported by international and local subject specialists from industry, will present the course.

A National Qualifications Framework Level 4 mechanical engineering qualification or higher, and a toolmaker trade or equivalent, with at least four years’ experience in one of the fields of specialisation, will serve as an entry requirement for the programme.

NTI programme CEO Dirk van Dyk notes that South Africa has a shortage of 46 000 qualified artisans, according to the Higher Education and Training Department.

“To rectify this situation, Tasa, in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry, has taken dedicated steps to address the problem through various skills develop- ment programmes. This will grow the manufacturing industry and equip the labour force with technical skills.

“The toolmaker programme will fill the gap in the tooling industry for business and entrepreneurship-driven toolmakers, ensuring the future of the South African tooling manufacturing and manufacturing industry,” he says.

Van Dyk says the programme, which is based on the German Master Artisan model, takes into account the needs of the local manufacturing sector determined through a series of work sessions with members from the tooling and manufacturing sector.

Following the programme, participants can enrol for an engineering qualification that will be offered at the participating technical and academic universities in South Africa.