Earlier this year, the Motor Industry Workshop Association (MIWA), a proud association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), launched SpannerTorque, a new technical platform to empower members with the latest technical trends and product information.
The platform was launched in collaboration with a number of key suppliers like HaynesPro, TecAlliance, Bosch, TotalEnergies, SKF, My Auto, Launch, GUD Filters, and Alfred Teves Brake Systems (ATBS) – manufacturers and distributors of ATE branded products. Dewald Ranft, Chairman of MIWA says one of the positive spinoffs from the regional sessions has been an additional collaboration between many of these suppliers and the technical high schools where MIWA is currently hosting Motor Mech competitions to encourage more young people to enter the sector and to showcase what opportunities exist. Ranft says MIWA currently hosts these competitions in Kariega at Daniel Pienaar, at HTS Drosdty in Western Cape, Port Rex in East London and Meadowlands Technical High School in KwaZulu Natal.
From next year Dr. Böhmer School of Skills in Bloemfontein will potentially also be hosting its first Motor Mech competition. As a precursor to the show, Dr Bohmer deputy principal of skills, Jan Claassen, recently hosted a SpannerTorque evening for MIWA and co-lab supplier ATBS.
Seeing the value of the presentation, Claassen invited ATBS to come back and address the students. “Our school is a school for Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN). We do not follow the normal curriculum of a mainstream school and rather have year groups than grades,” says Claassen. He says the year groups start with Orientation Year (OR) and then follow with Year 1, 2, 3 and 4 providing specialised training to children who not only have the challenge of disability, but also come from disadvantaged backgrounds. “One of the subject streams is Motor Mechanics, Welding, Maintenance, Woodwork and Agriculture so we were very excited to give our learners an opportunity to hear from industry and really tangibly see in practice what they are learning about in their mechanical classes,” he says.
Claassen says he initially contacted MIWA Chairman, Dewald Ranft to ask if there was any way that MIWA could get involved at the school. “Ranft generously offered us some spare parts, engines, etc, that they were not using any more. He also got us in touch with Bruno Burri from Swedo-Tech.”
The school then hosted one of the MIWA SpannerTorque events at their premises which was a huge success. One of the Co-lab suppliers ATBS said they would like to get involved further with the school and that is how the idea for a presentation to the students and teachers was conceived.
Claassen says the braking system is part of the school’s Year 4 learner’s curriculum for the third term, and the ATBS presentation by Evan Schreiber’s in August was perfectly timed for the fourth year learners.
“Evan gave a great presentation. His knowledge is unmatched, and the way he interacted with the learners, and shared his knowledge, was remarkable. He had a stand with the full brake system on and used it to show the learners the inner workings of the brake system. The learners even had the opportunity to test their knowledge and skills on this. Evan also visited our senior workshop and was very excited to see opportunities where ATBS can get more involved,” says Claassen.
Evan Schreiber, ATE Technical training liaison, says it was wonderful to see the enthusiastic response he received from the learners. Learners were exposed to the same presentation workshop mechanics receive as well as some practical applications. He confirmed that ATBS had even been invited back to do two further presentations in 2025 and would work with the school to ensure some of the information is incorporated into the curricular for learners.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for MIWA to facilitate these types of interactions and we feel the more learners can be exposed to the broader industry, the greater our chances of successfully attracting more young people into the automotive sector and addressing the critical skills shortage. It really is a win-win situation for everyone, and we thank all of our suppliers and technical schools for their ongoing support,” concludes Ranft.