Atlantis Foundries’ first female director is rocking a male-dominated industry!
Sally Redshaw is Chief Commercial Director of Atlantis Foundries, one of the largest foundry networks for engine parts in the world. The English Rose, who is now proud to call Cape Town her home, began her career at Atlantis as Chief Accounting Officer. Through sheer hard work and determination, she has succeeded in a male-dominated industry on a spectacular level. She slowly but surely worked her way up the ladder over the years, impressing her bosses in various locations around the world until she was promoted to the company’s first female Director.
Sally, while making it big in a man’s world, still manages to bring the more traditionally feminine and nurturing qualities into the workplace, including a keen sense of social responsibility in terms of both environmental and humanitarian issues.
She does all this while managing to make foundries sexy! Read on to find out how this amazing woman with an iron will and a heart of gold does it …
- Tell us a little about your company?
Our history dates back to 1979, when Atlantis Diesel Engines (ADE) was established by the South African Government (IDC) following the imposition of United Nations Security Council Resolution 418, and was licensed to produce Mercedes Benz and Perkins diesel engines for the South African Commercial and Agricultural markets, and for military vehicles such as the Ratel IFV, Buffel, Casspir and SAMIL Trucks.
In 1983, the Foundry was built on a Greenfield site by the Ferroform Foundry Group. They were later sold to the Murray and Roberts Foundries Group, and in 1985 Atlantis Foundries was sold to Atlantis Diesel Engines (ADE), where they not only cast and machined engines and engine components, but also had an assembly line.
In 1999, ADE was liquidated, and Daimler AG (then called DaimlerChrysler), through its subsidiary Mercedes-Benz South Africa (Pty) Ltd, purchased Atlantis Foundries and the Block Line 1 Machining facility, and incorporated Atlantis Foundries into the Daimler Trucks Powertrain business unit.
In 2000, Atlantis Foundries (under the ownership of Daimler) purchased the Perkins Machining line and the V-Block Machining line from the IDC.
In 2002, Atlantis Foundries continued to purchase some of the remaining business from IDC, and acquired the “Atlantis Foundries Business Park’ and Crankshaft line.
At the same time the Perkins ‘Vista’ Capital Improvement Project was approved and commenced production in 2003.
In 2008, a project for the introduction of a new generation of Heavy-duty Engine Blocks was completed and commissioned for Daimler AG/Mercedes-Benz Trucks, and the ramp-up of production started.
On 30th June 2015, German metal casting group Neue Halberg-Guss GmbH purchased Atlantis Foundries (Pty) Ltd from Daimler/Mercedes-Benz South Africa. The Halberg Group of Companies (incorporating Atlantis Foundries) now boasts a combined workforce of almost 3,000 employees across 3 plants based in South Africa, Saarbrücken and Leipzig, Germany, with a combined gross capacity of 365,000 tonnes per annum.
Being part of a global supply chain and part of one of the largest foundry networks for engine parts in the world, leaves Atlantis Foundries well equipped with the latest technology, development and expertise to challenge the future.
Through the years, Atlantis Foundries has seen many changes and has grown into a world class Foundry supplying predominantly heavy-duty engine blocks for some of the world’s leading Truck OEM’s – Daimler, MAN, Cummins, and also Engine blocks for off-road applications for Perkins. We have also cast engine blocks for passenger cars, supplying to SsangYong.
Atlantis Foundries currently exports 99.8% of its products outside of South Africa, with 49.5% of our products exported to the US, 44.8% to Germany, 4.8% to China, and the remaining 0.7% to the UK.
- What does it do for the manufacturing industry?
For one, we keep the Foundry industry in South Africa alive!
We prove that manufacturing in South Africa, can also be the market leader, in terms of both quality and innovation. Atlantis Foundries are considered to be one of the best heavy-duty engine block foundries in the world.
We are working more and more on introducing automation and efficiency solutions and we constantly look for technological advancement and efficiency within our production methods. Automisation has allowed some difficult processes previously done manually to be overcome, thus improving the safety of the workplace and the welfare of our Employees.
We are also active in Benchmarking. Not only in our own industry, but other industries, and are keen to share the knowledge and experiences of our lean transformation to other Companies just starting out on their journey. We frequently visit other Companies and look for new ideas, and in return, host many benchmarking visits to our Foundry to share our successes. This in itself supports the development of manufacturing in SA by opening the door for sharing success stories and experiences.
Over many years, Atlantis Foundries has developed strong business relationships and partnerships with local businesses. Where possible, we also aim to provide support to our smaller Suppliers, and this year we have a higher focus on our Supplier Development Strategy, where we aim to support Suppliers who are struggling with quality or process optimisation, by offering the training on problem solving techniques and root cause analysis, as well as process audits which not only monitors the performance of the Supplier but is also the platform to identify improvement opportunities and improved communication.
We also work together with our Suppliers in terms of new products, and conduct trials and provide open and honest feedback on the performance of the new products etc.
We are active within the local business communities, and local Governmental departments such as WESGRO, Western Cape Government Economic Development and Tourism, and the Aii (Atlantis Industrial Initiative).
We have also created two BEE Companies who are fundamental to our supply chain, and offer discounted rent to the tenants of our Business Park who supply services and products to Atlantis Foundries.
- What is your position at the company? Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am the Chief Commercial Officer and one of three locally based Directors of the Company.
I am responsible for all of the ‘commercial’ topics and external relationships. My portfolio is quite broad and includes Sales & Product Development, Marketing, Logistics, Purchasing & Stores and Quality. I am actually a qualified chartered accountant, so my role nowadays is a far cry from my studies!
I am originally from the UK, and you could say I started my journey to Atlantis Foundries as far back as 2007 when I started working for Mercedes-Benz AMG High Performance Powertrains, the Formula One Engine Plant, as the Company Accountant.
I took a rare opportunity to transfer to Daimler HQ in Stuttgart, Germany as a Manager in the Truck Division and this is where I first made the connection to Atlantis Foundries as they were still a subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz SA, who are owned by Daimler AG.
I was responsible for Atlantis from a Group perspective and provided assistance and support on many accounting topics. I came out on several business trips to Atlantis to assist them with some Accounting projects and after 3 years I was given the chance to take another expat assignment – the decision was between Chennai and Cape Town …… there is no competition!
The rest they say, is history!
After 3.5 years of living in Germany I finally moved to SA for a 2 year assignment as Chief Accounting Officer to help support and develop the skills and knowledge of the Finance Department. After a year of my assignment starting, it was announced that Daimler would sell Atlantis Foundries. I managed the whole M&A Process during the sale, and after several months of debating what to do next (return to UK, return to Germany, relocate somewhere else or make a total life change), I was excited to hear that the new Shareholders wanted me to stay and would offer me a position!
I feel very privileged to be the first female Director of a Company that has so much history. It is fantastic to be able to represent our female workforce on that level – and I would say it is pretty rare in the Foundry industry!
I am now a permanent resident and I have no plans to change that. I’m staying put!
I love my job, it is challenging, but there are certain aspects of it that really get me excited!
I am very creative and artistic so the marketing part is something I can easily get carried away with.
I am busy re-defining the image of Atlantis Foundries, and recently refurbished our reception area bringing it from 1979 to 2017! I am also busy getting our name back out there into the local market, and working towards securing new business within SA to support the drive for localisation. I am also working on redesigning our website, which is a bit outdated.
I also love the quality aspect – Chemistry and Physics were my favourite subjects at school (alongside languages), so with Quality Issues I can ‘get my geek on’ and learn about Metallurgy and how the metal is formed and what causes some of the defects etc. It’s really quite interesting!!
- Tell us about the project you recently did in Atlantis
Orion Organisation is a non-profit organisation based in Westfleur, Atlantis, which specialises in the development of life, and entrepreneurial skills of people of all ages with physical and mental disabilities.
We have supported Orion for at least three years now in various ways.
They made a plea on Facebook for help from an Interior Designer to assist them in updating their Admin building to bring a fresh and more modern look. I contacted their Fund Developer and offered to step in, in the event that they did not find support from an expert in Interior Design.
Nobody came forward, so I got the task!
A little bit anxious at first (thinking I had taken on a massive project way above my qualifications), I enrolled the help of some of our Contractors and Suppliers, some of them who also come from the Atlantis area, to help do the work, and together we transformed their offices completely!
We brought colour into their lives and they love it!
Our reception area houses a small ‘gallery’ of paintings done by some of their Art Students, they have brought some fun and colour into the area so it was really nice to return the favour on such an enjoyable and rewarding project.
I was given free rein to use my creativity and Orion totally embraced my bold ideas for colour.
We completed most of the renovations during their week shutdown at the beginning of July and had the official opening two weeks ago.
More info about the organisation can be found here.
- Why is it so important to your company to give back to the community?
The community of Atlantis was essentially created as a result of our history, back in the ADE days. Approx. 85% of our employees come from the community of Atlantis and surrounding areas. They have given so much to us over the years, and we recognise the importance of giving back, and uplifting the surrounding communities through supporting various projects.
We believe that we share a responsibility towards the communities of Atlantis, Mamre, Darling and Pella, and have adopted Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives which endeavor to assist where we can. We have an SEC – Social and Ethics Committee, where we meet regularly and plan the activities and the allocation of our annual CSR budget. We firmly believe that charity begins at home, so we always allocate our CSR funding to projects in the Atlantis and surrounding areas before consideration of any others.
It is common knowledge that unemployment, poverty and hunger go hand in hand and unfortunately all of the above are a reality in Atlantis and the surrounding areas. It is a low income community with many people living rough, or in shelters without food or warm clothes. Atlantis Foundries believes in helping to provide for families who cannot afford the basic things such as food. We support many projects from Soup kitchens, offering bursaries and providing funding for additional maths and science tuition to aid the fostering of education and development, which is critical for future growth.
At Atlantis Foundries, we believe that education is the key driver to empower individuals who in turn could strengthen societies.
- Do you see more women coming in to the manufacturing/engineering field? What do you think we can do to encourage more women to get involved in what is considered a male-dominated industry?
The Foundry Industry is probably the least glamorous of the manufacturing/Engineering industries you can choose – its dirty, its smelly, but I love it!
Working in Formula 1 was an amazing experience which I will never forget, but I actually love the Foundry!
People think I am mad when I tell them my career story, and I have surprised a few men when I start talking technical, but you would be surprised how many women we have working in that kind of environment and are successful.
In total, there are approximately only 60 women at Atlantis Foundries, but a large proportion of them are actually working in the Foundry. We have a broad mix of metallurgists, laboratorists, Engineers, Artisans, semi-skilled workers and operators, as well as those working in the administration and support areas of course.
I think the best thing we can do to encourage women to get involved is not to think of it as a male-dominated industry!
We still have a lack of females in Management or Supervisory positions and we need to work on that. We must provide the same opportunities to women as we do to men, and encourage the development and training for all as equals.
Although we must try not to think about it as a male-dominated industry, unfortunately the reality is that not everyone sees it that way, so women are generally more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation and lack of respect. We have to support them and we have to stand together.
Every year we celebrate Women’s Day and all of the women at AF come together for an hour. We talk about such issues together. I have shared many of my own personal experiences over the past few years in such forums. We offer support and remind them of their rights and that they should never be afraid to speak up. We celebrate being strong and intelligent women – together!
I was congratulated the other day by two female visitors after a presentation I made at a Chamber meeting, that I actually managed to make ‘Foundry’ look sexy!!!!
- If you could only drive one brand for the rest of your life what it would be and why? Hmm, that’s a tough one!
I think it would have to be Mercedes-Benz. They really have a good range to fit all styles and needs.
I have been driving Merc’s for 10 years now, so I have ‘tested’ a few different models. They are reliable and comfortable, and they have upped their game in the style marks since the 80’s and 90’s.
No longer are they a ‘grandad’ car but now they are sleek, sexy and stylish ;-) – even the really old models are now the super cool car to drive amongst the surfers!
8. Top three cars – if money was no object?
So many beauties to choose from!!!!
Well, I would need an ‘everyday’ car which would be an Aston Martin DB9 without a doubt, in British Racing Green.
I would need a car for spring (summer is too hot for a convertible), and I have my heart set on a Porsche 911 Targa, circa 1982, in black (but I’m already working on that). If I already have the Porsche by the time I’m super rich, then a Mercedes SL55 AMG in Dark Blue would be my choice for a nice warm spring day cruise by the coast.
Of course, if I have loads of money to spend, I would need a ‘shopping’ car which would possibly be a Range Rover Sport (you can take the girl out of England but you can’t take England out of the girl), or my current car (Mercedes GLE Coupe) but the AMG version.
- What was your very first car?
A Peugeot 309 SR – it even had velour trim and …wait for it ….a spoiler LOL – I wrote it off within 12 months L
- Give us your top three driving pet hates
Only three?!! I have at least seven….!
Slow drivers in the outside lane.
Not using mirrors.
Bad parking, and people not knowing the size of their car.
People who honk their horns – GRRRRRR – it’s totally unnecessary!
Dogs on laps
Children not strapped in L
Taxis, Taxis, taxis
- And your top three driving tips
The road can get very slippy when it rains after a dry spell (I learnt that very early on with my first car!)
Your mirrors and indicators serve a purpose – use them!!!
Obviously – Don’t drink and drive people!