A visit to the tyre factory with General Tire and Continental South Africa

Ever wondered how a tyre is made? We received an exclusive tour of the General Tires/Continental factory, getting a detailed glimpse of the process writes Brent vd Schyff.

GQEBERHA – Visiting the factory off the backend of the tour. The purpose is to get some exposure to the factory and the processes and people behind it. This factory produces 8 000 tyres a day. Do the math. That’s just short of three million tyres a year. That means that in the one hour that we were walking through the factory, 333 tyres had gone from raw materials to finished goods ready to be fitted to your vehicle. Staggering. The numbers keep on rolling but what remains is that General Tires and Continental South Africa have one serious operation on the go. We were on the educational end of a well-curated tour through the inner workings deep inside the belly of the beast. writes Brent 

For our economy, which is predominantly dependent on the mining sector to create the opportunity to bring in foreign investment, the automotive sector plays a big part in that conversation when contributing 4,3% to the gross domestic product our country creates (According to a NAAMSA report). Part of that automotive sector involves critical cogs in the supply chain like companies such as General Tire and Continental South Africa, which supply to our local market and export to foreign markets. An attractive investment opportunity use case for any foreign company where dollars outperform our Rand. 

The positive off-shoots of that investment are widespread and incredibly good for our economy and country because there are humans behind everything that depends on the opportunities that come with this. From a high school friend who I bumped into on the flight back to Cape Town who works for an engineering firm responsible for many of the automation efforts in the plant, to the line workers and supervisors who are incredibly proud to show off their sections of the facility. As part of the tour, we’re taken through the carcass building process, and I’m struck by how much goes on behind the scenes. It’s not just a piece of rubber that exists between the road surface and your vehicle’s rim…

The tour continued, and I was overloaded with visual stimuli. From steel beading to rubber sidewall sections to the robots and quality control measures that exist to the orderly way everyone works. This finely tuned machine runs 24/7, 351 days a year. The mandatory 14 consecutive days of downtime allows non-synchronous maintenance teams to run necessary shut-down procedures while the workers enjoy a well-deserved break over the festive period.

The automation processes put in place are vital in lifting workers’ skill sets. The educational opportunities provided through various CRS initiatives will ensure that workers invest in uplifting their skills versus the manual labour jobs that automation replaced. Quality over quantity. This, in turn, means that the factory can increase production beyond what was reasonable back in the day. This is reaffirmed as we are taken past the newer conveyor belt transporting system being commissioned around us through the tour. 

The company’s key products focus on the 4×4, SUV and Van sectors, a dominating part of all vehicle sales, operating out of the industrial hub that is Gqeberha, employing 1000 people over the manufacturing and marketing and sales spaces. Job creation does, however, spread beyond just the direct labour force. One needs to consider the families affected that are part of the supply chain to the manufacturing process too. So, for every general Grabber AT3, you find on your Isuzu D-Max that comes directly from this factory, there is a positive story behind it. Feel good yet?

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In a presentation before the tour, we’re reminded that the decision-makers behind the scenes are always focused on sustainability, and there are big plans in play to align the factory’s operations to the changing landscape of the motor industry. That is reassuring for our country and the community that surrounds the factory. This is a place that is in it for the long haul and to continue the legacy of Continental in this country with the General Tire brand. In a country that is as brand loyal as South Africa, this will be rewarded in the long run.

I’m impressed at the cleanliness of the entire operation. In an environment that is as dependent on raw materials and machinery reliant on finite natural resources, the level of wastage visible is almost non-existent. I question the reworked tyre figures in production, but that IP is kept closed off to the general public. I expect it to be low, which is good for the environmental extremists to be aware of.

What’s key to understand in this changing post covid world that has seen such economic destruction across economies that are having green shoots like this factory is a successful initiative and one worthy of praise as the world repairs itself and more, locally, given the high levels of unemployment in this country, having foreign brands incorporated within the country is a healthy sign of a growing economy and will continue to inject positive goodwill through the list of services, product and community responsibility initiatives it provides.

 

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