Black economic empowerment (BEE) companies must boost their competitiveness, says Kelvin Radebe, managing director of Lebone Engineering, a Johannesburg-based electrical engineering empowerment company.

"The preferential treatment currently enjoyed by BEE companies is finite. They will eventually have to compete head to head with mainstream rivals," says Radebe. "They should use the time at their disposal to focus on development of both human and technological resources to boost their competitiveness."

Lebone Engineering is owned by Ilizwi Industrial Holdings (90%) and Lebone Engineering Share Scheme Trust (10%). Ilizwi is 100% owned by six black professionals, while the Trust has all Lebone Engineering employees as its beneficiaries. The company recently enjoyed a technological boost in the form of a design software grant from Autodesk. The software replaces the company's outdated design software with new generation model-based design technology - Autodesk Architectural Desktop.

Autodesk reseller, Autograph, is also playing an integral role in the project. It has provided Lebone Engineering with its ElectrIT software - a solution for the generation of schematic layout drawings for electrical building services. In addition, Autograph is taking full responsibility for all training and ongoing support to the emerging engineering company.

Autodesk Africa managing director, Errol Ashwell, says he anticipates that seeding the design technology at Lebone Engineering will spread the message about the competitive advantages of its application to other emerging design-centric companies." We will be monitoring Lebone Engineering's progress as they migrate to new generation technology and will report to the design industry as a whole about the advantages of transition."

For more information contact Autodesk, 012 664 8115.