The Toolmaking Association of South Africa (TASA) was established in 2004 as a representative body for the South African Tool, Die and Mould (TDM) making industry. TASA is constituted as a national body with representation from all provinces that have significant tool, die and mould making activities. Representation is through the TASA provincial structures.

TASA was a driving force in the mobilisation of the National Tooling Initiative (NTI) and will remain an important and strong stakeholder in the process of the full establishment of the NTI which has as a national objective namely, the revitalization of the South African Tool, Die and Mould Making industry.

The National Tooling Initiative (NTI) is an initiative that has, as a national objective, the rehabilitation of the South African Tool, Die and Mould Making (TDM) industry and thereby contributing to a strategic growth stimulator for Manufacturing and Technical skills development.

The NTI has been developed as a national, multi-stakeholder initiative and structured as a Public Private Partnership (PPP). This has been done in order for government and industry to co-operate in the large scale intervention that is required to rehabilitate the TDM industry.

5 major driving programs have been identified and defined in order to focus all efforts towards achieving the rehabilitation objective: They are:

• Skills and expertise development.
• Capacity expansion,SMME and BBBEE Structuring.
• Technology recapitilization.
• Competitiveness improvement and export development.
• PPP Governance structure development.

Stakeholders take part and contribute to these programs on both regional and national level through capacitated legal structures, and forums.

The Regional Tooling Initiatives (RTI's) were launched as fully capacitated section 21 companies. The core objective of these initiatives is to assist SMME's in the regions in achieving the goals of the National Tooling Initiatives (NTI) within the framework of the 5 driving programs.

The RTI's will act as the catalyst and mentor to the Regional Tooling Initiative for gaining access to governmental funding agencies such as the DTI, DST and DED in order to define and execute projects for the upliftment of the industry. The RTI's originate from the National Tooling Initiative (NTI) and has embarked upon a road-mapping process that will build a deep understanding of some of the regional key drivers of economic growth and job creation as well as identifying key interventions needed to maximize the growth potential of the identified sectors. This road-mapping process serves as a pillar of the regional economic policy development and implementation by providing "leadership thought" to ensure effective, outcome-based economic development to meet its targets. The process will further identify highly productive and labour absorbing sectors of the economy so as to create increasing numbers of sustainable employment opportunities.

TDM Powered Programme has a career for you.

The Tooling Manufacturing Industry is currently implementing a constructive turnaround strategy to ensure that the industry generates and retains sufficient skills to keep the manufacturing industry competitive within the global context. One of the first steps is the implementation of the TDM Powered Pre-Apprenticeship Orientation Programme aimed to assist and empower candidates (who might experience difficulties in normal circumstances) to enrol for apprenticeship training.