New managers for Continental’s African tyre plant

Continental Tyre South Africa (CTSA) has appointed a new senior management team for its tyre manufacturing plant in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). The appointment comes as Continental gears up to increase the site’s role as a supplier of light commercial vehicle tyres to global markets.

Ahmed Boualam is the new general manager for manufacturing with a remit to manage overall plant operations. Continental has named Ramoabi Moeng deputy plant manager, a role in which he supports Boualam with the running of the facility. Both managers have extensive tyre industry experience as well has experience in the manufacturing sector.

Boualam was seconded from Continental’s Sumter tyre plant in South Carolina, where he served as plant manager for the past two years. CTSA’s general manager for manufacturing, JJ Dowling, has relocated to the USA to take up the position of Sumter plant production manager.

A force to be reckoned with

“I want to thank JJ Dowling for all of his hard work and commitment to CTSA over the past five years he was with us, and wish him all the best for his new role at our sister plant in Sumter,” says Martin Buday, managing director of CTSA. “We extend a warm welcome back to Ahmed who takes over the reins as our new GM for manufacturing.

“Our Gqeberha plant in South Africa is not new to Ahmed as worked here for three years prior to his move to the US. I am certain that he, along with our newly-appointed deputy plant manager Ramoabi Moeng, will be a force to be reckoned with as they use their combined experience and expertise to successfully steer the manufacturing side of our business,” Buday adds.

SA plant to be a major global LCV tyre producer

Boualam has been involved in the tyre industry since 2007, starting in his native France as a production management engineer for Michelin before moving up to production manager in the curing and final finishing areas. He joined Continental in France in 2011, initially as area manager in the curing and mould shop, and later in the hot preparation and mixing room. A three-year stint as production manager for Continental’s tyre plant in South Africa followed in 2016 before he was selected to head up the Sumter facility in 2019.

“It is fantastic to be back in South Africa, and I look forward to working with the local management team to continue the transformation of our facility as we work towards increasing the production of light truck tyres,” Boualam says. “While optimising the output of our current assets, we are working closely with our colleagues in Hannover and will be making further investments in our factory to expand our production capacity for this important sector.

“The goal is to make Continental Tyre SA a major producer of light commercial vehicle tyres within Continental globally, and supply tyres of the highest quality to more markets around the world,” Boualam continues. He is a qualified mechanical and production engineer, and has a Master’s degree in Business Management, which he completed in 2005.

Moeng becomes deputy plant manager

As the new deputy plant manager, Ramoabi Moeng has gained considerable experience in the manufacturing sector since 1997. He spent 11 years in vehicle production, including a one-year training stint in Germany, before joining a pharmaceutical company in 2008 where he headed up the engineering, production and operational projects portfolios over the ensuing seven years.

Moeng joined Continental Tyre SA in 2016 as maintenance manager, and was selected to lead the Manufacturing Engineering Technologies team in 2018, a position he held until his appointment as deputy plant manager in August 2021.

“I am looking forward to learning more about the tyre manufacturing operations under the leadership of Ahmed and the rest of the CTSA Exco team, while ensuring that we produce quality tyres on time and at competitive costs for our local and international customers,” Moeng says.

“Part of my responsibilities includes the role of regional coordinator for Continental’s Sustainable Production of Quality Products initiative for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). This involves ensuring that our local plant is fully integrated into Continental’s global quality structures, and that we consistently produce tyres of the highest quality for our customers around the world,” he continues.

Moeng has a National Diploma in Electrical Engineering, a Diploma in Business Management and a qualification in Advanced Maintenance Management – the latter from the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany. He completed a Management Development programme in 2006, and followed this up with a Master of Business Administration degree from Nelson Mandela University in 2012.

The Gqeberha site is Continental’s only tyre production facility on the African continent. It was established in 1947 as General Tyre South Africa and began producing Continental-branded tyres in 1985 before becoming 100 per cent owned by Continental in 2013.