Quick Answer: What Are the Key Manufacturing Priorities for South Africa?

The five manufacturing priorities shaping South Africa’s industrial future are cyber-resilient operations, energy efficiency and visibility, connected data-ready plants, asset reliability and uptime, and skills development with sustainable technical support. All five depend on the same thing: reliable access to genuine, supported automation and electrical products for the equipment already on the plant floor.

Staro Distribution, an Authorised Value-Add Distributor for Rockwell Automation and an authorised distributor for SineTamer and Prosoft, supplies Allen-Bradley PowerFlex drives, SineTamer surge protection and the wider control portfolio from stock in Sasolburg and Secunda.

By Ninya Claassen, TLDC Marketing
Published: 20 October 2026

South African manufacturers are under pressure to raise output, contain operating costs and keep production running on ageing infrastructure. The next chapter of manufacturing is less about buying the newest machinery and more about running existing plants resiliently, efficiently and with better information.

Each priority below includes practical first steps and where a dependable supply partner makes the difference, because most improvement plans eventually come down to getting the right product, on time, with the support to apply it correctly.

1. Cyber-Resilient Operations: Protecting the Connected Plant Floor

Cyber-resilient operations protect industrial control systems and keep production safe and reliable as operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) become more connected.

Every new connection between production equipment and business systems adds visibility, but it also adds exposure. In a manufacturing plant, a cybersecurity incident can stop production, delay orders and compromise process control, not just leak data. Cyber resilience therefore belongs in capital planning and equipment modernisation, shared by engineering, operations and IT.

Practical First Steps

1. Identify business-critical production systems. List the controllers, networks and HMIs whose loss would cause the greatest disruption.
2. Clarify OT and IT responsibilities. Agree who owns industrial cybersecurity decisions, system changes and incident recovery.
3. Specify security into new hardware. Evaluate security features and supported firmware whenever equipment is replaced or connected remotely.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is a useful reference for structuring that risk management. For the technical architecture, see Staro’s guide to OT cybersecurity for industrial control systems in South Africa.

Where Staro Distribution fits: Secure plants start with genuine, traceable hardware. Buying Allen-Bradley controllers, network switches and drives through an authorised distributor avoids grey-market and counterfeit stock, and gives the plant a product that carries the manufacturer’s firmware updates and security support.

2. Energy Efficiency and Visibility: Controlling the Cost of Production

Energy efficiency and visibility mean knowing where electricity goes, how equipment consumes it and which improvements return measurable value.

Rising tariffs and the legacy of load shedding keep energy high on the agenda. Motors driving pumps, fans, compressors and conveyors are usually the largest consumers, which is why measurement should come before any spending on optimisation.

Practical First Steps

1. Establish an energy baseline. Compare consumption with production output, operating hours and major equipment loads.
2. Find the high-consumption motors. Prioritise equipment with long running hours and variable load, especially pumps and fans that are throttled with valves or dampers.
3. Tie each project to a measurable outcome. Define the expected saving in energy, stability or cost before approving expenditure.

Featured Product: Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 525 Compact Drive

Where a motor runs at full speed against a valve or damper, a variable frequency drive is often the quickest efficiency win. The Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 525 covers 0.4 to 22 kW and matches motor speed to actual demand. Its embedded EtherNet/IP also reports speed, load and fault data to the plant’s PLC, which feeds energy visibility and maintenance planning at the same time. Built-in Safe Torque Off (PLd / SIL 2) supports machine-safety requirements without extra hardware.

Staro Distribution holds PowerFlex drives as part of its Allen-Bradley range and can help select the right model for the motor and control system. Compare the full compact range in Compact PowerFlex Drives: Choosing Between the 4M, 523, 525 and 527, and see how VFDs improve energy efficiency in process plants for the savings principles. The measurement foundation is covered in why energy visibility is the first step toward industrial efficiency.

3. Connected, Data-Ready Plants: Turning Machine Data Into Decisions

A connected, data-ready plant collects reliable information from its equipment and makes it useful for production, maintenance and management decisions.

PLCs, HMIs and drives already hold data on machine states, alarms and performance. The challenge is that this information often stays trapped in individual machines or in control platforms from different manufacturers. The goal is not to collect every data point, but to connect the few that answer real operational questions.

Practical First Steps

1. Start with one operational question. For example: why does the packaging line keep missing its output target?
2. Map existing data sources. Identify which PLCs, HMIs and drives already hold the required information.
3. Connect priority equipment first. Validate the data on one area before expanding reporting across the plant.

Data quality matters as much as connectivity. Inconsistent tag names, incorrect timestamps and unreliable signals undermine trust in otherwise useful reports.

Where Staro Distribution fits: Many plants run a mix of control platforms. As an authorised Prosoft distributor, Staro Distribution supplies gateways and in-chassis connectivity modules that link Rockwell, Schneider and Siemens equipment without replacing working controllers. Where the integration itself needs engineering, Staro Integration can design and commission it.

4. Asset Reliability and Uptime: Protecting Production

Asset reliability and uptime keep production-critical equipment available through planned maintenance, protection against avoidable failures and quick access to spares.

Modern equipment still fails if it is exposed to poor power quality or if replacement parts take weeks to arrive. Reliability should not depend on how fast the maintenance team reacts after something breaks; it depends on knowing which assets are critical and having a plan for them.

Practical First Steps

1. Rank equipment by production impact. Identify assets whose failure would stop a line or an essential process.
2. Review repeat stoppages. Look for recurring nuisance trips, ageing components and repairs that never fix the root cause.
3. Build a spares and replacement plan with procurement. Confirm stock availability, lead times and discontinued products before the next shutdown.

Featured Product: SineTamer Surge Suppression

Many unexplained drive trips and control-board failures start on the supply side, with transients from lightning, contactor switching, motor starts and utility switching. SineTamer surge protection devices are installed on the incoming feed to VSD panels, MCCs and control power circuits. Rather than only clamping large spikes like a conventional surge protector, SineTamer uses frequency-attenuation circuitry to reduce high-frequency disturbances across the whole sinewave, which is where much of the repetitive damage to sensitive electronics originates.

Staro Distribution is an authorised SineTamer distributor and can size the correct unit for the supply voltage, configuration and exposure level. Read more in SineTamer VSD protection: stop nuisance trips and drive failures, and see common VFD failure causes and how to reduce downtime for the wider reliability picture.

5. Skills and Sustainable Support: Building Long-Term Capability

Skills and sustainable support ensure manufacturers can operate, maintain and modernise their technology throughout its working life.

Control systems often outlast the people who installed them. When the engineer who understood a system retires or moves on, documentation gaps and unfamiliar product ranges quickly turn routine maintenance into extended downtime. At the same time, newer platforms demand new skills.

Practical First Steps

1. Identify single points of knowledge. Find machines or controllers that only one or two people understand.
2. Document critical systems and transfer skills. Preserve configuration files, drawings and backups, and pair experienced staff with newer technicians.
3. Review supplier support arrangements. Confirm where product information, compatible replacements and specialist advice will come from over the system’s life.

Where Staro Distribution fits: Staro Distribution assigns product specialists to each range it carries, backed by an internal sales team, so plants get technical answers alongside the product rather than a part number alone. Local branches in Sasolburg and Secunda, stock of fast-moving items and account facilities for repeat customers all shorten the gap between a problem and a fix. For project-level help, see Allen-Bradley support for PLC, HMI and drive projects and why local Rockwell Automation support matters for uptime.

Manufacturing Priority Scorecard: Risks, First Steps and Staro Distribution Entry Points

Use this scorecard to decide where to direct attention first.

Staro’s Distribution Perspective: Know Your Installed Base

From a supply perspective, the most common obstacle across all five priorities is the same: plants do not have an accurate record of the equipment they already run. Cybersecurity teams need to know which controllers and firmware are on site. Energy projects need to know which motors already have drives. Maintenance teams need to know which products are discontinued and which spares are on the shelf. An installed-base review, matching every critical device to its current lifecycle status and replacement, gives each of these projects a reliable starting point. It is also where a distributor adds the most value, because it turns emergency purchasing into planned procurement.

How to Choose Your First Priority

Rather than launching five programmes at once, ask three questions:

• What could stop production tomorrow? If it is unexplained trips or failing equipment, start with reliability. If it is uncertainty about network exposure, start with cyber resilience.
• Where are we losing money without knowing why? If consumption or performance cannot be explained, start with energy visibility or connected data.
• Can we sustain what we build? If critical systems depend on a few people or discontinued products, address skills and lifecycle support before a major upgrade.

The right first priority is the one with the greatest operational or financial exposure. The right plan is one where each project supports the others instead of competing for the same budget.

Source Your Next Manufacturing Improvement From Staro Distribution

Whether you need PowerFlex drives for an energy project, SineTamer protection for a troublesome MCC, or an installed-base review before your next shutdown, Staro Distribution can supply the product and the specialist advice to apply it. Contact Staro or email sales@staro.co.za to discuss your requirements.

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