Engineering has traditionally been very male dominated, with the percentage of female engineers at universities and in the workplace substantially lower than what it should be. ABB has been working to diversify the engineering industry by creating opportunities for women.
In response to South Africa’s high unemployment rates and the lack of female engineers, ABB has a range of skills development initiatives in southern Africa. These include ABB JDF scholarships, ABB learnerships, a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Zambia, P1/P2 engineering training, ABB Engineer in Training, and the ABB Learnership for Disabled Graduates.
ABB’s Diversity & Inclusion 2030 targets include 50% university hires, 25% women in ABB leadership (19% by 2025), well established policies, a yearly improvement of the inclusion score in the employees’ engagement survey, and 100% access to employee resource and affinity groups.
ABB is committed to solving some of the biggest global challenges of our time.
This is only possible through its exceptional people who work every day towards this goal, based on a culture of diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity as being critical to business success. In celebration of International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) on 23 June, ABB highlighted three individuals who are making a significant contribution to the success of the company in numerous ways.
Dipuo Harriet Masilo, laser engraving machine operator
As a machine operator, Masilo designs, manufactures and prints labels for ABB switchgear units, which are used to supply power to various government-owned entities and privately owned mines. She works in the ELDS production factory along with the fabrication, assembly, wiring and testing departments. “I am very proud of our team,” she says. “I have a passion for making things with accuracy, precision and quality.” Her interest using software was ignited while working as a software programmer for laser measuring units before joining ABB as a laser engraving machine operator. “The work that I am doing here is very challenging and needs a person with passion and understanding, and who is highly efficient. I love my work,” says Masilo. She adds that the basic PM course she undertook at UCT taught her that managing a project teaches you to be more attentive, knowledgeable and organised, especially when it comes to achieving clear and meaningful objectives and outcomes.
Jane Tshabangu, project planning and controls specialist
Tshabangu is responsible for overseeing all production orders manufactured in-house at ABB’s Longmeadow, Johannesburg manufacturing facility. Her role includes ensuring copper is available on a just-in-time basis for panel plating, and releasing all jobs for picking and placing by the production team.
“What keeps me passionate and excited about what I do is that I am always focused, making sure that nothing holds up production, as they rely on me to coordinate the workload,” says Tshabangu, who focuses on teamwork, problem solving and communication as her core competencies. “I would like to see more women in high-level positions,” she adds. Her message to young women contemplating a similar career path is simple: “Speak up in a way that is powerful, and get to know your rights as a woman and fight for them!”
Dineo Maphaka, production development specialist
Maphaka works with the fabrication team in the electrification division. She compiles programs for the CNC punching machines while keeping a watchful eye on reducing the scrap rate. Her job is to ensure a smooth production process for all the components needed for switchgear assembly. “Every project brings an opportunity for me to learn something new and work with different people. As our products do not always use standard components, this gives me an opportunity to expand my skills,” she says.
Her career highlights at ABB include progressing from a wire lady to her current role. She was also nominated for an internal award for achieving a significant reduction in the overall scrap rate. She has a Diploma in Electrical Engineering and a certificate in writing Computer Numerical Control (CNC) code for lathe machines. Prior to ABB, she worked as a CNC operator, setter and programmer for both CNC lathe and milling machines. “It took many years and lots of learning to be where I am right now. I have put in the hard work to ensure that I excel in any position I am in,” says Maphaka. Her advice to young women is to “be assertive, confident, and level-headed. Speak out if you do not understand anything at work. Let us be brave! There are a lot of opportunities for women today. It is all up to us to go out there and grab them.”
International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), by the Women’s Engineering Society, celebrates its 10th year in 2023, promoting the amazing work of women engineers across the globe. INWED gives women engineers around the world a profile when they are still hugely under-represented. As the only platform of its kind, it plays a vital role in encouraging more young women and girls to take up engineering careers.
| Tel: | +27 10 202 5000 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.abb.com/za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about ABB South Africa |
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version