2020/21 RESEARCH PROJECT: IMPROVING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE PLASTIC PIPE SECTOR IN SOUTH AFRICA
The study set out to identify the challenges to an ailing and hugely challenged plastic pipe-manufacturing sector and to make recommendations towards its strengthening. What has emerged is that the pipe-manufacturing sector cannot be viewed in isolation.
2018 LACK OF PLASTICS TECHNICIANS AND PLASTICS ENGINEERS IN SOUTH AFRICA AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE
Commissioned by the Plastics Chamber of the merSETA the project focused on the education and training of Technicians and Engineers in the plastics industry. The study, which employed a combined quantitative—qualitative approach, aimed to identify gaps in provision and to make recommendations to the merSETA on future interventions to support the plastics sector.
2016 WHAT LEADS TO AN INNOVATION CULTURE?
Research focusing on the innovative practices in companies that leads to an innovation culture was conducted during 2016, in companies, by having group interviews with integral managers. The research was conducted during March 2016, through interviews with 97 senior and technical managers from 40 different companies who shared insights on building a stronger innovation culture in the South African Plastics Industry.
The research objectives were to:
- Determine the innovation practices adopted by companies in order to build the right innovation capabilities;
- Stratify the degree of innovative practice within the plastics industry with disaggregation in relation to level of innovative practice, company size and location (informed by the stratification) explore in-depth innovative practices adopted by the most innovative companies and the particular characteristics of company-specific innovation cultures.
- Develop a matrix of skills, knowledge and abilities – skill sets and the occupational requirements – to foster the notion of innovation for creating an innovation culture.
Key Findings:
• Perspectives on “surviving” and “thriving” in the market
• Reflections on scope for (radical) innovation in the sector
• Respondent views on key industry contextual factors impacting on company sustainability and competitiveness
• Innovation status in the plastics sector
Thanks to the following companies who participate in the Plastics Chamber Research:
| UV Tooling HIC Straws Duroplastic Berry & Spence Atlantic Plastic Recycling Myplas Alpine Injection Mouldings Polyoak Packaging Tuffy Bowler Plastics Spicoly Plastics Henrose Plastics Ductile Plastics Lumotech Graymaur Principle Plastics Pioneer Plastics DST-CSIR: Nano-materials Industrial Dev Facility, NIDF PipeFlo Sasol Base Chemicals & Polymers |
Elementary Chemicals Plasti-Tech Centre for Polymer Technology (CPT) @ CSIR Productivity Eng. Services & Consultants (PESC) MCG industries DPI Plastics SpeedMark JoJo Tanks Versatile Plastics Plastic Bubbles Nampak Liquid Mpact Plastics Verigreen Pak 2000 Continental Compounders Amrey Plastics Barrier Film Amcor AstraPak Mahle Behr SA |