Introduction
Mechanics at Suame Magazine
Located in Kumasi, Suame Magazine is an industrial cluster of Micro-, Small- and Medium- Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) that specialise mainly in vehicular repairs and metal works. Its 20 square miles encompass an estimated 12,000 businesses and a working population of some 200,000. It is considered to be part of the informal sector of the economy, characterized by private, labour-intensive, largely unregulated and unregistered manufacturing and service enterprises. Linkages also exist between local artisans, such as garage and machine shop specialists, and engineering firms. Not only is Suame Magazine a major centre for vehicle repair that attracts both Ghanaian and international customers, it also plays a crucial role in capacity building in the local economy by providing practical training in vocational, technical and engineering skills.
The Fihankra project is an intervention towards capacity building with emphasis on technology skills acquisition and an awareness of the environment to ensure sustainable development. Small scale engineers, entrepreneurs, and students together with faculty from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology-KNUST will explore areas of enhancing business operations and instituting a hire purchase program for equipment and tools acquisition by workshop owners. A strategic partnership with the University and other relevant institutions and partners is an integral part of the project to ensure sustenance and continuous innovation.
Additionally, the project will seek to establish a centre for common learning and excellence in business service delivery in vehicular repair and spares parts sales. This will be modeled around a basic engineering workshop and machine tools sales program, to propel retooling and establishment of new light manufacturing and engineering workshops across Ghana beginning with Suame Magazine industrial cluster in Kumasi, Ashanti Region. Hence, the project initial use the Intermediary Technology Transfer Unit-ITTU set up by the Technology Consultancy Center-TCC of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi for training to promote innovation as well as create an opportunity for the university to become relevant in grassroots industrial development just as happened in the 1970’s and 1980’s but this time with enhanced technology and environment awareness. The project will be implemented by entrepreneurs of the Kumasi Center for Lifelong Learning with a combined work experience of 30 years in the areas of engineering, business, entrepreneurship and sustainable development
Project Background
There are various challenges facing the project focus area (Suame Magazine) which have been highlighted in detail. Such challenges when dealt with will remove obstacles to innovation and job creation at the biggest industrial cluster in Ghana and arguably West Africa.
– Technology
Along with advances in automotive technology, vehicular repairs have also become increasingly sophisticated – new equipment, software and techniques are needed to determine the root cause of failure for many components in modern vehicles. Unfortunately the application of new automobile technology to diagnosis of vehicle faults within the Suame Magazine is largely non-existent. The main reasons for this are:
- Lack of exposure and basic knowledge of ICT skills by operators
- Inadequate facilities available where artisans can learn ICT and auto diagnosis skills
One of the biggest challenges for this cluster is the increasing ICT-driven entry barrier in the global automobile industry which manually-based artisanal operations of the current cluster cannot keep pace with. This technological barrier affects not only the artisans, but also vehicle manufacturers, since customers are unable to secure quality support and servicing for modern vehicles. This leads to tarnishing of many vehicle brands, and creates an obstacle to newer vehicles entering the growing market in Ghana.
– Literacy
Many of the residents and artisans in Suame Magazine have had very little formal education and literacy rates are low. This impedes business development, creating barriers to business management and growth which include difficulties in:
- Learning to use ICT
- Developing relationships with clients from outside Suame Magazine.
- Understanding and following clients’ requirements
- Establishing formal documents and business processes
- Maintaining business records and developing business plans
- Marketing products and services
- Legally registering businesses
- Gaining credibility for work
– Business Development and the Formal Economy
Most of the MSMEs in Suame Magazine are currently working in the informal economy. Few businesses are registered and most are low-technology small-scale, family-based enterprises, many of which suffer from fluctuating production and have difficulty accessing capital and wider markets – All characteristics of the informal sector. Similarly, much of the employment in the Magazine is informal with work carried out by artisans on their own account or with no written contract and no employment benefits or legal protection. Internationally, low-skilled, manual employment in the informal sector is associated with low wages and poverty. Health and safety standards and other conditions of employment are generally low. Thus many of the artisans in the Magazine have a precarious existence with few buffers between themselves and poverty in the event of ill-health, adverse economic conditions or other misfortunes. This emphasises the need for businesses and individuals within Suame Magazine to gain enhanced ICT and business skills and hence access to the formal economy if they are to achieve growth, raise standards and improve livelihoods.
– Environment, Health and Safety
The activities of many Suame Magazine artisans involve procedures such as metal cutting, grinding, drilling, welding, painting, and electrical repairs, which carry significant health and safety risks. However, with most local artisans operating in the informal sector and receiving limited training, the level of awareness and standards of health and safety achieved within the Magazine are substantially lower than would be expected in a modern engineering environment. This is an issue not only in terms of injuries and damage to the health of artisans and other Suame residents, but also in that it discourages formal-sector industrial customers from placing contracts with MSMEs in Suame Magazine, and thereby limits artisans’ access to the market for their products. While it is immediately apparent that health and safety standards in Suame Magazine are low, there is little data currently available to identify the highest priority areas of risk and the most cost-effective means of risk reduction. Businesses within Suame Magazine operate with considerably lower environmental standards than would be acceptable in modern industry – waste is burnt rather than being removed or recycled; oil is allowed to drain into the ground; and fumes are released unfiltered into the atmosphere. Not only does this degrade the environment for artisans and other residents of Suame Magazine, it also serves as a disincentive for customers. Many of the environmental issues relate to the context and infrastructure of the site, but there are also measures which could be taken by individual artisans to improve their environment. There is, however, little data currently available to identify the highest impact environmental issues and the most cost-effective means of impact reduction.
– Quality of Artisanal Engineering
Most of the workshops in Suame Magazine are engaged in manufacturing engineering products where customers specify their requirements by means of engineering drawings. Many of the artisans, however, have no training in understanding such engineering drawings. As a result, customers’ requirements are misinterpreted, leaving them disappointed and so discouraged from placing repeat orders with Suame Magazine artisans. Similarly, many of the artisans in Suame Magazine are unaware of the standards of quality control expected by customers. Because of this, artisans do not always employ sufficient rigor in ensuring that customers’ requirements are followed with sufficient precision; or that the correct quality of materials and accuracy of measurement are used. This frequently results in disappointed customers or wasted work and higher costs for artisans.
Project Interventions
Small scale engineer at Suame Magazine interpreting drawings
To address the challenges outlined, a number of interventions have been outlined to build capacity, promote innovation and entrepreneurship, and create businesses and assist trainees retool workshops or acquire new ones.
The interventions are in ten parts comprehensively addressing the challenges from Adult Literacy, technical and technology skills acquisition, business development and environmental awareness.
– Develop & Deliver Adult Literacy Program
The Adult Literacy Program will involve teaching basic literacy skills. Students will learn how to communicate in the business language in Ghana (English), working French, as well as reading, writing and numeracy. Already some 50 trainees have undertaken such program in collaboration with partners such as the West African Trade Consultancy based in Toronto and Abidjan.
– ICT Program
The ICT program will involve three courses through which students (artisans) can learn how to use ICT, from a basic level to the more advanced use of data management and presentations oriented software. Students are also exposed to use of the internet, such as setting up email accounts and browsing through websites. The ICT program has since trained about 60 entrepreneurs who are yet to be taken through the auto diagnostic program but have been unable to do so due to lack of auto-diagnostic teaching tools and equipment and the absence of a strategic partner.
– Develop & Implement Auto Diagnostics Program
The auto diagnostic program will teach youth, apprentices and master mechanics how to use industry specific ICT tools. Students will learn how to diagnose faults in cars, trucks and trailers and effectively repair vehicles.
– Provide access to Internet facilities
This program will involve having internet enabled workstations to assist artisans make use of internet resources and also be taken through how to browse for industry specific information and the use of e-commerce resources.
– Develop & Deliver Business Skills Program
The Business Skills Program will have two different levels. The first level will be for students who have low literacy skills, and will include topics such as keeping basic records in paper form. The second level will be for students with some knowledge of ICT and will include more advanced topics such as electronic recording of financial and other information, planning and budgeting, marketing, financial management and project management.
– Establish Business Development Advisory Program
This program will involve having a business advisor available to residents and artisans in Suame Magazine. Through this service, participants would be able to receive customized business related advice, such as help with creating a business plan, which will enable them to manage their businesses more effectively and efficiently in the future. A pilot project with the National Board for Small Scale Industries-NBSSI, Ashanti Regional Office was implemented at the Suame Magazine Industrial Development-SMIDO offices at the industrial cluster. Two business advisors who happened to be National Service Personnel posted to NBSSI were seconded to the pilot project from where 100+ entrepreneurs received business advice and training ranging from business registration, inventory control, financial literacy, supply chain management and business profiling. The project was developed on the work of a research team led by IBM senior Manager from India, Subram Natarajan which also included Fihankra project team lead.
– Develop Quality Management Training Program
A pilot project will be developed to convey to artisans the basic tenets of quality control and how they can be employed in the MSME environment. This program will raise awareness in MSMEs of the quality standards expected by customers and enable them to apply greater standards of precision and rigor in their operations. As a result, products manufactured or repaired in Suame Magazine would be of higher quality, giving rise to greater customer satisfaction, and manufacturing operations would be more efficient.
– Develop Engineering Technology and Manufacturing Program
Courses in reading and interpreting engineering drawings and in precision use of modern machine tools and measurement techniques and instruments will be developed and delivered on a pilot basis. This will involve the establishment of a fully-equipped workshop within Suame Magazine where artisans can see modern techniques and standards demonstrated and can practice their use. Developing these skills will be enhance technical communication; provide MSMEs with a better understanding of the needs of external clients and partners; and give them the skills to more reliably translate this understanding into delivery of a satisfactory product. A hire purchase program for equipment and tools acquisition by workshop owners will be instituted to transfer innovation and job creation within the cluster
– Develop Health and Safety Training Program
This program will involve assessing current health and safety practices in Suame Magazine, raising awareness of health and safety issues and running workshops to address different aspects of health and safety. Participating in this program will reduce participants’ risks of health and safety problems, and improved practices adopted by participants should reduce health and safety risks to others.
– Develop Environmental Awareness Program
This program will involve assessing the effects of current practices on the environment in the Suame Magazine, raising awareness of environmental issues and holding a series of workshops addressing different aspects of environmental management for artisans. This program would result in decreased environmental damage caused by MSMEs in Suame Magazine.
Action Plan
The Fihankra project team is seeking strategic partners to enhance project interventions and create opportunity for practical skills and equipment acquisition to boost light manufacturing and engineering in Ghana. To this end, partnerships will be pursued with local and international development agencies, private sector companies, academic/research institutions and government.
A proposal for the retooling of the ITTU, KNUST Center at Suame Magazine is a major step to ensuring that practical and modern technological training and harnessing of innovation takes place at the industrial cluster which will have a ripple effect within similar industrial centres across Ghana. It is expected that about 1000 entrepreneurs would have been fully equipped with relevant engineering, technology skills and environmental awareness with tools and equipment to work within 36 months of project roll out.
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