ADEC (the Association of Distributors and manufacturers of Electronic Components) has begun the process of transforming itself into AREI (the Association of Representatives for the Electronics Industry) – or, to be more pedantically correct, ‘arei’.
The change was announced at an industry gathering by reigning chairman, Arnold Perumal.
Belying its lower-case spelling, arei has BIG AMBITIONS, not least of which is encouraging the inclusion of manufacturers, not only of components, but also of complete electronic assemblies and finished products. While the organisation’s prime mandate will remain unchanged – that being “to contribute to the creation of an environment which encourages a dynamic growth of the electronic manufacturing industry, at both component and system level, in South Africa – its commitment to encompass the broader electronics industry is at the heart of the identity change.
Perumal elaborates: “At present we have suppliers and distributors as members, the aim being to get on board the next link in the electronics industry, which is contract manufacturers. As I mentioned at the launch, some electronics manufacturing service companies have signed up after discussions with them and we will continue to approach all the rest of the contract manufacturers. Thereafter, we would like to include OEM customers who are manufacturing and designing locally. I would like to include companies from all the major vertical markets in South Africa – automotive, metering, military, consumer, security and the likes.”
The need for the industry to present a united front has long been a subject of concern for many of its members, and this fact came to the fore during recent discussions between ADEC and the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services about the overall state of the electronics manufacturing sector and how to grow it.
Of course, this is not the first time such unity has been sought or attempted. The most recent example was the stillborn SAEIF (South African Electronics Industry Federation) which, despite earnest efforts by many role players from government and industry, failed to establish common ground to satisfy all parties’ disparate interests.
Perumal is determined that arei not suffer the same fate. “We can only look forward to success if we have the support and acceptance of the broad electronics industry in South Africa,” he says, “and if we all are fighting for the common goal of growing the local industry. We truly believe that we have to now work as a matter of urgency to get traction, and present our ideas and suggestions and get commitment from government. Besides the government facet, I believe all the local partners can also collaborate to assist each other.”
Looking forward, the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services is working on a white paper which will hopefully provide a blueprint for the South African electronics manufacturing industry – at least, as it applies to the telecommunications sector in particular.
arei has events of its own planned for 2015, as Perumal explains. “Followers will be pleased to know we plan to release a quarterly newsletter to the public to keep them informed on various initiatives by arei. We will also be rebranding our website and marketing material to reflect our new identity. Very soon we will launch a counterfeit products section on our website to inform and educate the industry on the dangers of these ‘bad bargains’. Of course we have many meetings planned with various stakeholders in the near future and the outcomes of these will be made known as well,” he concludes.
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