The Society for Automation, Instrumentation, Mechatronics and Control (SAIMC) is establishing a skills trust fund to sponsor individuals in their studies and work experience so that they can step into the industry as professionals and participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and take advantage of the latest technologies being developed, says SAIMC CEO Johan Maartens.

Based on the broad-based black economic empowerment scorecard, the fund will result in SAIMC’s working with tertiary institutions prepared to adopt its programmes to produce graduates that can “hit the ground running” when they enter the workforce.

“People graduate from tertiary institutions and are not being integrated into industries or starting their own business. Few, if any, education institutions have any idea what becomes of most of their graduates. This is one of the few areas where the ‘product’ yield is incentivised above ‘market acceptance’ of those ‘products’,” explains Maartens.

SAIMC also intends to assist participating institutions with equipment and train-the-trainer programmes.

Adopting education and training programmes to cater for the introduction of new 4IR technologies is vital and should not be a money-making by-product of education, says Maartens, highlighting the need to integrate such programmes into the basic education curriculum.

“We need to take education and training seriously and make it possible for our talented youth to, with the appropriate education and training programmes, take their rightful place in industry, either as employees or as employers.”

Avoiding 4IR Adoption

Money is always a factor in a company’s decision to adopt the 4IR and automation; therefore, salespeople who are focused solely on selling the technology is a huge stumbling block.

“The focus should always be on the business benefits. In some cases, salespeople rave about a new technology, but cannot translate this into rands and cents for the business,” states Maartens.

Unfortunately, the 4IR and automation are still associated with job losses.

However, those who embrace 4IR technologies will blossom and for them, the possibilities are endless, says Maartens, highlighting that the 4IR presents individuals with the opportunity to start small home businesses, sell their products internationally and employ others in the process.

In the past, it was difficult for companies to determine demand for their products and, therefore, they spent substantial capital on large manufacturing facilities and keeping significant stock on hand in warehouses.

“Peoples’ requirements have changed. It has become possible to identify a need for a product using the Internet, create a solution using technology – such as three-dimensional printers, laser devices or software programming – and sell it globally over the Internet.”

To ensure that it prospers in the 4IR environment to become a global leader, South Africa needs to understand that the world will not wait for the country, says Maartens.

“The world must automate, owing to a lack of human resources and because it is more economical. “By not understanding this, South Africa will be left out and will continue to import instead of export goods, causing even more job losses.”

Engineers involved inautomation, instrumentation, mechatronics and controlare reluctant to register with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) because of the significant cost and administrative burden involved.

However, the Engineering Professions Act of 2000 made it compulsory for anyone doing “engineering work” to register with ECSA or face a fine of potentially twice the salary they earned from such work, states Maartens.

This is to ensure compliance with the international accords signed by ECSA to guarantee that the technicians, technologists and engineers qualified in South Africa are on the same level as those in the other countries participating in these accords.