In line with its ethos of being ‘passionate about excellence’, automotive sector manufacturer and Motor Industry Bargaining Council member Malben Engineering announced in November that it had won the Environmental Stewardship category in the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) Awards for Excellence.

A national federation representing 16 independent employer associations in the metal and engineering industries – with a combined membership of over 1 300 companies employing over 170 000 people – SEIFSA created the Awards for Excellence to honour the “brightest and best in the metals and engineering sector”.

Malben Engineering, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last year, supplies stampings and welding components to local vehicle original-equipment manufacturers and other sectors such as mining and construction. The company stated that it is South Africa’s first automotive component manufacturer to trial ‘green’ low-carbon steel, and it recently scored 98% in an international Responsible Supply Chain Initiative audit initiated by multinational automotive manufacturer Ford.

Malben stated that it received the highest score ever achieved by a local supplier –another ‘first’ for South Africa.

Operational director Luca Smargiasso noted that the increasing demand for green steel, and the ultimate decarbonisation of the local steel supply chain, will be game-changers for South Africa’s steel and automotive sectors.

“The SEIFSA Environmental award is dedicated to our founder Amerigo Smargiasso, for his inspirational leadership over the past five decades, and to our partners in the green steel venture. These are leading German steel and technology group Salzgitter AG and [its] local representative United Steel Services, which supplied the green steel; and local value-adding steel processor and merchant Allied Steelrode, which facilitated the sourcing and importation thereof.”

Smargiasso added that Malben is proud to be “at the forefront of the sustainability evolution in South Africa” and sees the award as a demonstration of its passion for supplying “world-class product”.

“Through agile decision-making and authentic, people-centric values, we are [even more] passionate about innovation and new technologies,” he averred.

As such, he stressed that environmental and sustainability imperatives remain at the core of its operations.

“We would also like to thank our management and staff for their enthusiastic hard work and dedication in establishing, maintaining and continually improving our quality and environmental management systems, [which] focus on productivity and efficiency, minimising waste and pollution, optimising natural resources and ensuring that we have the flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of our sector and our customers,” Smargiasso concluded.