What a whirlwind the past two weeks have been! The RMI just finished exhibiting at the Festival of Motoring at Kyalami, which was a great success. It is always so important to showcase our brand to our customers and give them the peace of mind in knowing that by using an RMI accredited member their vehicle will be tended to according to the highest quality standards.
In a couple of days we head off for Johannesburg Expo Centre for the 8th edition of Automechanika Johannesburg, the largest business platform for the automotive aftermarket on the African continent. It is the ideal meeting place for all stakeholders to gather, connect, and network, bringing together suppliers and buyers and showcasing rapidly changing technologies and processes.
The event will play host to multiple sector-related conferences making it a must-attend event for those involved in the automotive aftermarket sector. Of course, the RMI and its constituent Associations will be there in force – building momentum together with the team from Automechanika. We greatly value the partnership with Messe Frankfurt and welcome the opportunity to showcase our values, services and products to other owners and product suppliers.
We will once again have a large stand at the show supported by each of our eight Associations. We’ve got some exciting activities planned including the debut of our new corporate video.
In addition to our stand, we will also be hosting a number of executive meetings and conferences. In celebration of women’s month in August we will be hosting our Women Driving change event with a theme: Enough strength for the journey. It promises to be another exciting celebration of our heritage, diversity and inclusion.
On the labour and training front, we are hosting an RMI Labour and Skills conference that will look at labour law and skills in the automotive aftermarket – particularly regarding who’s pushing and who’s pulling. The demand and supply of skills and labour are crucial in improving competitiveness and allowing the industry to contribute even more significantly to the country’s GDP so this will be a critical conference to attend.
Equally there will be a strong focus on compliance with TEPA hosting an impressive line-up of expert speakers for their one day ‘Blow the Whistle’ conference on 7 September. The session will focus on the very important issue of industry compliance and the need to set up an Industry Compliance Forum. Their powerful slogan of #seeitsayit should resonate with delegates.
MIWA will co-host a conference unpacking and reviewing where we are two years on with the Guidelines for Competition in South Africa. The conference entitled ‘The Guidelines – Making it work for YOU!’ will also include a good global view from the CEO of the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA).
Finally, the VTA will be hosting a conference that promises to be an exciting and vibrant information-sharing and networking event for all vehicle testing industry stakeholders. Topics that will be covered include testing of electric vehicles and corruption in the vehicle testing industry.
As you can see the stage is set for an informative and vibrant couple of days with jam-packed activities and networking opportunities. It really is the one event in the year you don’t want to miss so we encourage all members to really make an effort to attend.
September Automobil edition here: Automobil September 2023 (wilkencomm.co.za)
