A profile of the non-automotive manufacturing sector was developed based on sector research undertaken in the first half of 2013. The research focused on the following main characteristics of the sector:

• Identifying manufacturing enterprises active in the sector;
• Identifying their geographic location;
• Determining the significant sub-sectors;
• Evaluating the level of employment in the Sector;

The NAM Sector in the Eastern Cape includes enterprises classified into nine of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes:

A total of 384 enterprises, employing approximately 27,400 people were identified in the research (see breakdown in charts below).

Analysis of the research data by sub-sector reveals that the top 10 sub-sectors (metal, construction materials, clothing, plastics, furniture, chemicals, machinery, packaging, electrical, signage) accommodate 325 enterprises (84.6% of the NAM Sector) employing 21,000 people (77% of the NAM sector employment). The largest single sub-sector in the NAM sector is the metals sector – 110 enterprises (28.6% of the NAM sector) employing 7,306 people (26.6% of the NAM sector employment).

Cluster organization requires that participants are geographically located relatively close together. Analysis of the Eastern Cape NAM sector indicates that:

• 94% of all NAM enterprises are located in the Nelson Mandela Bay (59%) and Buffalo City (35%) areas;
• 94% of all manufacturing enterprises in the Top 10 NAM manufacturing sectors are located in the Nelson Mandela Bay (60%) and Buffalo City (34%) areas;
• Only 4% of the NAM enterprises are located in the old Ciskei / Transkei areas;

The geographic distribution of the identified NAM sector enterprises is shown in the following map (yellow markers indicate the location of at least 1 enterprise).