“Customer- and people-centric” is how Operational Director Luca Smargiasso describes industry stalwart, automotive component manufacturer Malben Engineering, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.  

The company, which operates two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Nigel, Gauteng, is very well-known and respected for its strong tool design and manufacturing capabilities; as well as the supply of high-level welded assemblies (of varying size and complexity), using the latest technologies and world-class surface finishing, including plating and e-coating, exceeding exacting customer corrosion standards.

Malben is also the first South African automotive component manufacturer to import and trial green, low-carbon steel.

Malben has supplied Ford MC SA at 1st tier level since 1978, and other 1st tier automotive suppliers. It has received Ford’s Top 20 Supplier of the Year Award five times - and recently scored 98% in an international Responsible Supply Chain Initiative (RSCI) supply chain audit – the highest score ever achieved by a local supplier.

Malben was also announced the winner of the Environmental Stewardship category in the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) Awards For Excellence at the end of 2024.  

Proudly local, Malben is a member of MIBCO (Motor Industry Bargaining Council), and automotive component manufacturers’ association NAACAM, with solid faith in both to represent and champion their interests.

Engineering a firm family foundation

Smargiasso says the family – and the greater ‘Malben family’ of staff - are the custodians of the Malben brand that his father, Amerigo Smargiasso, established back in 1974.

Amerigo Smargiasso remembers how he and five other founding partners - who immigrated to South Africa from Italy during the 1950s and 1960s - cashed in their pensions and, in his case, borrowed R2000 from his in-laws to raise the capital required to set up an operation manufacturing tooling and pressed metal parts for Malben’s first automotive customer, Fiat.

Additional capacity and tooling were urgently needed in the 1970s by South Africa’s fledgling automotive sector - and these highly skilled artisans worked seven days a week, often only returning home in the early hours of the morning.

“We shared the same passion, dedication to excellence and did business the same way. We were all equally invested and motivated to grow and gain experience,” he remembers.

The first ownership change followed in 1980, when three of the original six founders went on to pursue other business ventures. In 1985 and 1995 respectively, two more founders left the company, making Amerigo Smargiasso the sole owner.

The name, which represents the first letters of the hometown from which each of the Italian founders came, was retained as part of the company’s proud, five-decade legacy.  

Major milestones

By 1978, automotive stalwarts BMW and Ford were added to Malben’s original customer base of Fiat and Alfa Romeo. In 1998, the company opened its plating facility and in 2002, its e-coating facility. A second plant opened in December 2021 - despite the Covid-19 pandemic making travel to South Africa by Chinese commissioning technicians extremely challenging.

Today, Malben offers a fully vertically integrated service, which includes tool manufacturing, component production / assembly and surface finishing.

“Malben Engineering was founded on a passion for supplying a world-class product through agile decision-making and authentic, people-centric values – all of which are still hallmarks of the company. Although our family provides a close-knit, solid foundation, we have also invested in succession planning throughout the company - and are already developing passionate young managers: introducing new, innovative ways of doing business and ensuring that our quality and production performance are maintained,” explains Luca Smargiasso.

Moving with the times

Malben has seen the automotive sector transform from only manual systems, through to its very first welding robot in 1988, and all the way from there to today’s highly automated systems -   entering the digital era with the same passion for excellence as for everything else on its five decade journey.

Commercial Director Marius Schafer notes that the company’s original, deeply entrenched values remain its bedrock: “What makes Malben truly unique is the hands-on approach to ensuring that quality remains consistent. This is vitally important - because many of the components which Malben supplies are integral to the safety of the people driving the vehicles in which they are used.”

Luca Smargiasso agrees, adding: “One of our key differentiators is that we have also spent a long time entrenching a culture of ownership in our people, across the company. This is no longer confined to our family, but applies to everyone in the company. That is where real sustainability comes in – it is inter-generational and broad-based.”

He also pays homage to his father’s approachable personality and daily dedication: “The key to the ongoing sense of togetherness is also my father's continued presence on the factory floor. He is an example of passion and commitment. He and our mother – an extremely inspirational influence in all our lives, and who has worked very hard alongside him - were born during the Second World War. The learnings from those very challenging years underpinned the tenacity with which our parents and their co-founders went on to manage Malben’s first, formative years.”

The company – which the Smargiassos regard like a beloved family member - has a flat management structure, with an enduring ‘open door’ policy, and is characterised by three key elements: compassion, consistency and accountability. 

Many of Malben’s employees have been with the company for many years. Quality Director, Werner Kapp, has been at Malben for 22 years; while Stanley Makwanazi, who started as an operator in 1978 and has worked beside Amerigo Smargiasso since then, is now Production Manager at Plant 1. Cheryl Tranfaliglia, who started as the receptionist, is now the Human Resources Manager.

Gearing up for the future

Malben is firmly driven by a continued focus on customer satisfaction, maintaining the highest quality, safety and technical standards, and investing in two core pillars:  its valued staff and consistent investment in new equipment and technology.

“We will continue to nurture and develop future leaders to work locally and further afield, as we grow the business overseas in new markets. Already, we supply automotive components which go into vehicles exported to Europe, North and South America. We are able to meet the stringent safety and quality standards for these regions, with their demanding, corrosive weather. We are confident about manufacturing and supplying directly in those countries,” Luca Smargiasso concludes.