Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) is commemorating the 41st anniversary of the Mercedes-Benz Learning Academy (MBLA), which was created in 1981. For four decades, the MBSA has trained hundreds of talented craftspeople in the Eastern Cape via the MBLA. As a significant service provider in the MBSA’s comprehensive strategy to further high-quality education and technical skills training, the MBLA has been meeting its strategic goal of training the best to build the best.
Four decades later, the Learning Academy remains the leader and primary feeder of the Mercedes-Benz East London plant’s technical personnel, while also contributing to the fight against the Eastern Cape’s continuously high youth unemployment. Furthermore, the MBLA has maintained its ability to provide high-quality artisan, shopfloor, and advanced technology training to local businesses, government, and private students.
In his remarks during the 41st-anniversary celebration, Andreas Brand, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Manufacturing said:
“Apart from building excellent vehicles, Mercedes-Benz South Africa is committed to making a significant contribution to the automotive supply chain and the people of the region.”
Over the last four decades, we have been blessed in many ways. For 41 years, the Mercedes-Benz Learning Academy has supported the competitiveness of our East London manufacturing facility, as well as the skills development and educational needs of Eastern Cape youth. Today, the Learning Academy supports our business strategy by maintaining a steady flow of skills while addressing youth unemployment and underdevelopment.”
In 2016, MBSA debuted the cutting-edge MBLA after an R130 million Public Private Partnership with the National Treasury’s Jobs Fund. The transition of the MBSA Technical Training Centre into a full-fledged Learning Academy is an outstanding achievement. The collaborative investment not only helped the facility’s enlargement but also accommodated additional trades and updated technology for both learners and automotive suppliers.
The Academy takes pride in its industry-leading absorption rates of its learners into gainful work in the automotive industry. The MBLA has assisted learners in gaining relevant work experience and exposure, and it has a near-perfect absorption rate, with many graduates being incorporated straight into the MBSA manufacturing plant’s talent pipeline. Other learners, notable suppliers in the East London Industrial Development Zone, are also taught for integration into the automotive value chain.
“With the introduction of new electric vehicles, the automotive sector is being changed, and MBSA is keeping up.” Automotive technology training has been broadened to incorporate modern product technologies as well as further training on high-voltage cars. As part of our environmental goals, our facility has been producing hybrid electric vehicles since 2016, and training our staff to produce these vehicles has been a priority at the MBLA. The MBLA has continued to progress its digital transformation path, offering digitalized and blended e-learning to apprentices, plant employees, and industry partners through a variety of products and facilities, including virtual platforms.
“Our vision for the future of the MBLA is that it continues to support the MBSA in creating premium luxury automobiles for the globe employing the best talent from Africa,”
Brand concluded.