A strong tool and die making foundation equips Malben Engineering, a Tier 1 automotive component manufacturer, to collaborate with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and global toolmakers on new tooling, while also providing in-house support for manufacturing, according to Technical Director Marco Smargiasso.
“Malben’s vertical integration and investment in its tool and die making (TDM) capability is a key differentiator, especially because South Africa is short on TDM skills,” Smargiasso says.
“Local industry has lost over 80% of its capacity to support its own manufacturing, due to outsourcing to international markets and a lack of infrastructure investment.
This is according to the INTSIMBI National Tooling Initiative: a national, multi-stakeholder initiative which was established under the auspices of the South African Department of Trade Industry and Competition (the dtic) and the Production Technologies Association of South Africa (PtSA) to implement a turnaround strategy for South Africa’s distressed tooling industry,” he adds.
A strong foundation
Malben started out as a tool and die maker in 1974, and – unlike many tool and die makers at the time – then transitioned successfully into mass automotive component production. However, also unlike many current competitors, the company still retains and continues to invest in TDM as an in-house support service.
Smargiasso attributes the local TDM deficit to a lack of economies of scale: “To have a stable TDM business, you need consistent work flow. In the automotive component sector, it tends to be a ‘feast or famine’ scenario. When an OEM launches a new vehicle, tool and die making is in demand, and locally there are not enough suppliers.
Then, there is typically also a big gap between model launches – and another challenge faced by TDM businesses is that the OEMs tend to carry over many parts from old to new models – with model life cycles typically ranging from 7 to 10 years. With no new tool and die making demand, tool and die makers cannot survive.”
While South Africa is home to 7 major OEMs that make approximately 600 000 vehicles per year, China’s 16 OEMs produce over 30 million.
Furthermore, a decline in TDM is not unique to South Africa, Smargiasso adds: “With the largest automotive industry in the world, China has out-competed TDM sectors globally – and OEMs now outsource most tooling for new models to China.”
Malben’s significant step-change – expanding its manufacturing capability in 2021/22 – followed the launch of new vehicle models by its largest OEM client, which required more than 200 new tools. Malben produced 40 of those tools – significantly more than its local competitors.
The company has also created a tooling facility to maintain and make replacement components for the tools used in production: “We would not be able to run our manufacturing operation without the support of our tool room. We have invested in software and technology that keeps us relevant and competitive,” advises Plant Manager, Jithin Kottikkal.
Over the past two years, the main investment has been in reverse engineering software: “Our tool room handles repairs and improvements. We have found slight discrepancies between computer-aided draughting (C.A.D.) models received from China, and the tool itself. So, we take the original and reverse engineer it, making any adjustments based on that,” Kottikkal explains.
Tooling up for the future
Smargiasso emphasises the value of Malben’s historical experience in tool and die making: “We use this to analyse the tool designs presented to us by Chinese manufacturers. We make sure that the designs will deliver the correct product quality and run capacity,” he says.
He believes that the 80/20 principle applies: “We determine 80% of your project cost within the first 20% of the actual life-cycle. By getting the quality and the tooling design correct up front, the home-line trials, customer sign-off and approval process goes smoothly. More importantly, it means that for the rest of the project life – normally 10 years – we do not have a tool that becomes an “albatross around our neck.”
Commercial Director Marius Schafer concurs: “Even though we do not have the capacity to manufacture very large tools, we continue to invest in the intellectual property – knowledge and expertise – needed to manufacture high-quality parts. As a Tier 1 supplier, Malben’s value-add and differentiator for our customer includes meticulously reviewing the tooling for functionality, robustness, durability and in terms of process layout.”
This is achieved via process modelling and stamping simulations. This was somewhat complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic, when Malben liaised with a tool shop in China thousands of kilometres away, remotely.
Continued investment
To remain up to date, Malben is also still investing in equipment – for example, planning for the installation of a new 2 500 ton press.
“Because of our tooling expertise and upgraded technologies, our internal investment in people and skills, intellectual property and in leveraging different linkages and partnerships, we can quickly pivot as required, adopting and incorporating any new technologies on the market,” Smargiasso concludes.
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