International manufacturing and recognition sets this manufacturer apart from its competitors.
In a world where urbanisation and technological advancements often disconnect us from nature, South Africans are leading the way in reclaiming their outdoor spaces. In the aftermath of the grip of the Covid pandemic, South Africa stands head-and-shoulders above other nations for its enthusiastic embrace of outdoor activities. This surge in outdoor engagement reflects a profound shift in lifestyle habits, with South Africans seeking solace, relaxation and connection in the great outdoors.
South Africans love the outdoors and they have got to have the kit to enjoy it. SmartCap canopies fit the lifestyle of many bakkie or truck owners
Whether embracing the serenity of a sunset, revelling in the sound of ocean waves or silently watching the antics and habits of our diverse, and in many cases unique, wildlife, there’s a palpable desire to reconnect with the earth and find solace in its beauty. South Africa is full of adventure pursuits. If you can imagine an outdoor adventure, you can find it, from water sports to hiking.
There are thousands of kilometres of track to trek. South Africa offers a bounty of excellent long-distance cycling events and leisure trails, hunting opportunities, fishing experiences, challenges for any type of sports person that loves the outdoors or the adventure of exploring as a tourist wanting to explore every corner of our country and those of our neighbouring countries. Or maybe it is just the pleasure of cooking in the great outdoors as we are fortunate to have a climate that offers abundant sunshine throughout the year.
WATCH: A view of the US factory:
In short, all South Africans love the outdoors but like everything else hotel, B&B and general accommodation is becoming expensive. Coupled with the fact of the cost of caravans, the cumbersome logistics associated with a caravan or a 4×4 trailer, the harrowing experience of towing and housing one, has seen a strong movement towards the purchase of a vehicle that is known as a bakkie (single cab/double cab) in South Africa, a Ute in Australia and in the US a truck or a pick-up truck, whether it is mid-size and full size, and then purchasing a canopy and fitting it out to suit your needs or adventure.
SmartCap is the world’s first modular truck canopy system. From its 5-piece modular design, to its seamlessly integrated accessories, SmartCap lets you build and organise your truck bed exactly how you want it
SmartCap was started by entrepreneur Michael Voss
This option is definitely more affordable and will allow you the freedom of realising your off-road dreams and rallying out into the veld or countryside for a weekend (or entire season) of outdoor living. The pandemic has forced us to be tourists in our own country and staycations are all the rage and have almost become an obsession with many. Flying on a jam-packed plane or taking a multi-day cruise on a ship are no longer an attraction.
With a passion for the outdoors and exploring the new, the restrictions placed on our movement were more than a hinderance. Now that these restrictions have been lifted South Africans have been furiously gearing up and booking their leisure accommodation and activities. With its diversity of landscapes South Africa lends itself to exploring, feeling and touching, awakening all our senses. It is no surprise then that manufacturers of any equipment or accessories related to outdoor adventure are the ones that have grown and will continue to grow in the future.
SmartCap’s assembly area in its Pietermaritzburg factory
This year SmartCap installed a Trumpf TruBend 1150 CNC press brake in its Pietermaritzburg factory
Companies such as SmartCap, a manufacturer of canopies that are easily fitted to your bakkie or pick-up truck, is one such company that has experienced this growth. SmartCap is based in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa where it manufactures truck canopies as well as in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal, where it manufactures accessories to make your outdoor and camping experience more comfortable. These include bed replacement systems and many other cargo management accessories. The company, established in 2007, now has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas and is rapidly expanding its presence and market share in the US.
SmartCap lets you build your bakkie/truck bed to perfectly suit your adventure. For example, if you’re going to kayak and camp for the weekend, toss the kayak on a platform rack, your fishing gear in a full-bin, and every tool or utensil to prep a gourmet meal in the wild, stows neatly away in a camp kitchen. From camping to overlanding, the camp kitchen turns your truck into a moveable feast. Complete with a foldout camp stove, cutting board and secure storage for the included dishes, cookware and spices. Whatever your adventure, SmartCap lets you organise your cargo exactly how you want it.
Michael Voss
SmartCap was started by entrepreneur Michael Voss, who grew up in a German/Austrian household. Both his parents are expats and business owners and he worked in their manufacturing plant during childhood and saw first-hand the challenges, determination, resilience, and staff well-being at play, plus their success in all their hard work.
The Pietermaritzburg factory has also acquired a Trumpf TruLaser 1030 Fibre laser with a Trumpf LiftMaster Compact and a Trumpf PartsMaster that allows for cut parts to be conveyed to an operator for sorting and further processing
The fabrication line in Pietermaritzburg
Voss’ childhood learning, mechanical engineering and business degrees through Durban’s University of Technology, working as a design engineer at Dunlop Tyres in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal followed by a period of designing and manufacturing toolboxes, paved the way for him to develop a problem-solving mindset.
“I have a great love for people, cultures and travel. Travelling, whether it’s to a foreign country or within your own country, is an exciting and enriching experience. It was through one of these experiences that I undertook to design, manufacture and launch our bakkie canopy,” said Voss.
“We decided to do an overland trip to Botswana, a country that borders South Africa and has excellent game-viewing opportunities. You can explore the natural beauty and wildlife of Botswana, go game viewing along the Chobe River and see breath-taking sunsets, but the majority of the roads in the wilderness are dirt roads, so you need a reliable vehicle.”
“The country also has some excellent camping accommodation and we decided to experience the country in this way. At the time we had a vehicle that was fitted with a fiberglass canopy. The majority of the canopies available at the time were either made of fiberglass or aluminium. While not weak, a fibreglass canopy is more prone to break and crack than an aluminium truck canopy, which is more likely to merely receive dents.”
The welding department in SmartCap’s Pietermaritzburg factory
Because it was decided to manufacture the canopy in a modular format it allowed the company to flat pack the components for packaging and shipping and earn the resultant cost savings. It would also allow the enthusiast, who wanted to buy the product directly, to assemble their purchase by following the clear instruction manual, once it had been delivered to their home
“Most fibreglass canopies can only carry a load of 50 to 70kg without some sort of additional internal frame and are very prone to cracking, which then allows the outside elements to invade your ‘living’ area, including plenty of dust. This was a big negative on our trip and I came back saying: ‘I can do it better’.”
This was the birth of an exciting and so far, successful trip for Voss and partner Andrew Campbell, who initially was the company’s auditor before deciding to invest.
SmartCap’s story began in 2007. In its early years, Voss and one staff member lined truck beds and offered bespoke engineering services. However, in 2013, with his idea and ambition firmly secured in his thoughts Voss began to action his idea.
Voss noticed there was a gap in the market for a product manufactured in stainless steel. Voss believed that stainless steel had many attributes that would be very advantageous in the success of the product. These included its roof load-carrying capabilities, sturdier construction and extra durability and the ease of use when it comes to welding and forming the material. It is also an extremely strong and versatile material and, contrary to popular belief, it isn’t as heavy as you’d think. Due to the strength of the stainless steel the canopy can be manufactured from much thinner gauge, and it is therefore lighter, without sacrificing strength.
One of the three Trumpf TruBend Cell 5170 enclosed cells that include a press brake and a Trumpf BendMaster robot for automated bending in the US production facility in Fort Worth, Texas
The three Trumpf TruLaser Weld 5000 cells, a turnkey system for automatic laser welding in the US production facility in Fort Worth, Texas
Because SmartCap is built from an automotive grade stainless steel, it allows SmartCap to design approximately 17% taller openings than the average side door you’ll find on a fiberglass canopy. This makes a huge difference in terms of ease and convenience. The SmartCap will hold 150kg of gear when moving and a whopping 350kg when you are parked, which could include a rooftop tent and two humans. That’s almost double the load compared to the average published recommended weight for a fibreglass canopy. Most metal canopies are rated for 300kg-plus load carrying capacity and weigh about the same as conventional fiberglass canopies. SmartCap’s durable strength means more lumber, more gear, more fun.
Every door and panel is built out of stainless steel to hide and protect your cargo from would-be thieves, significantly reducing the ability to smash and grab. Plus, whatever the road or job site throws its way, the SmartCap is built to take it.
The company says that SmartCap is the world’s first modular truck canopy system. From its 5-piece modular design, to its seamlessly integrated accessories, SmartCap lets you build and organise your truck bed exactly how you want it.
The company has also added features such as double skin gull wing side doors, a front solid steel wall, a rear solid door, a high-level brake light, a positive pressure filtered air vent and integrated universal roof rails. For users who are looking to increase the security of their SmartCap, the security screen provides additional protection for the rear window.
The smart factory, located in Fort Worth, Texas, is a $55 million capital investment that created 250 full-time jobs
The automated deburring cell in the US production plant. Every single sheet metal component is processed in the Arku deburring machine
SmartCap subsequently launched their first stainless steel canopy in 2013, producing ten canopies a week. However, Voss then created another feature for his product. He decided to manufacture the canopy in a modular format. This would allow the company to flat pack the components for packaging and shipping and earn the resultant cost savings. It would also allow the enthusiast, who wanted to buy the product directly, to assemble their purchase by following the clear instruction manual, once it had been delivered to his home.
The SmartCap products are tested out in the rugged terrain of South Africa and the surrounding countries. Every inch is built to withstand the twisting and jostling of off-road trails, to be watertight during torrential flash floods and to be dust-tight over thousands of kilometres of driving through the rugged terrain that people love to explore and push their equipment to its limits.
US production
SmartCap ships product to 30 countries around the world and has 14 resellers and fitment centres in South Africa. It also has OEM approval from Ford, Nissan, Isuzu and Toyota and has won many local South African Awards, with their most noted international award being that of ‘Best Product and Nine Global Media’ Awards at SEMA 2019.
Laser welding
The assembly line in the US
However, in 2022 the company took a huge step forward to increase its reach worldwide with the opening of a 36 000 square metre smart factory to manufacture its metal canopies for the back of pickup trucks in the US. The smart factory, located in Fort Worth, Texas, is a $55 million capital investment that created 250 full-time jobs.
As one employee said: “I’ll say something with sincerity that goes against what almost all 26-year-olds say on LinkedIn or any other platform. I want to work at SmartCap for the rest of my career. They use automation to overcome the challenges of today’s manufacturing while caring and providing creative jobs for their employees.” This is certainly a show of confidence for a South African manufacturer in the US.
Production equipment
To cope with the company’s desire for automation and flexibility needs, like in South Africa, the company has invested in Trumpf fibre lasers and press brakes and where possible, automation. The Trumpf Smart Factory solutions have provided cutting and bending technology that are connected by a “spine,” the automated material storage tower, as well as software that organises the entire process. Stacks of components are picked up by an autonomous guided vehicle, which moves them to the welding line, and then to the paint line.
The equipment includes two automatic guided vehicles and 60 carts, three Trumpf TruLaser Center 7030 fibre lasers, one automated Arku deburring machine, one manual deburring machine (Edgebreaker 1000), three Trumpf Trubend Cell 5170 enclosed cells that include a press brake and a Trumpf BendMaster robot for automated bending, another automated cell the Trumpf Trubend Cell 7036, one Trumpf Trubend 5170S press brake and three Trumpf TruLaser Weld 5000s, a turnkey system for automatic laser welding.
SteelCap’s association with Trumpf started in 2018 when company executives visited Trumpf factories in Europe and immediately ordered equipment to manufacture canopies and associated accessories. Prior to taking this decision all component manufacture was outsourced.
The SmartCap will hold 150kg of gear when moving and a whopping 350kg when you are parked, which could include a rooftop tent and two humans. That’s almost double the load compared to the average published recommended weight for a fibreglass canopy
SmartCap have designed and developed SmartComponent add-ons including the camp kitchen that has dedicated storage spaces for everything from drinkware to cutlery and cooking utensils. An integrated fold-down stove creates a cooking platform without the need for a table. It’s lockable and gas struts keep it open when you are cooking
In 2018 Retecon, Trumpf’s long-time agent in South Africa, delivered and installed a Trumpf TruLaser 3030 Fibre with a Trumpf Liftmaster Compact for automated loading and unloading, a Trumpf TruBend 5130 CNC press brake and a Trumpf TruBend 7036 CNC press brake. This was followed up with two Trumpf TruBend 3100 CNC press brakes in 2019, a TruBend 1150 CNC press brake in 2023 and now in 2024 a Trumpf TruLaser 1030 Fibre with a Trumpf LiftMaster Compact, a Trumpf PartsMaster that allows for cut parts to be conveyed to an operator for sorting and further processing and a Trumpf TruBend 1150 CNC press brake.
Voss’ vision was a modular truck canopy that would help keep gear organised, cargo secured, and provide a solid platform for rooftop tents. He created the SmartCap, a stainless steel canopy that is weatherproof, strong, easy to remove, and customisable.
Every door and panel is built out of stainless steel to hide and protect your cargo from would-be thieves, significantly reducing the ability to smash and grab. But the SmartCap canopy is not just for overlanders and recreationists. Sportsmen and commercial users are also catered for
Perhaps the most interesting looking though are the SmartComponent add-ons including the camp kitchen that has dedicated storage spaces for everything from drinkware to cutlery and cooking utensils. An integrated fold-down stove creates a cooking platform without the need for a table. It’s lockable and gas struts keep it open when you are cooking.
For overlanders and recreationists that are looking for a more robust system, with built-in storage behind the wheel wells, a slide-out drawer, and a flatbed storage platform, SmartCap’s bed replacement system, the Smart Tray, accepts a variety of additional accessories.
But the SmartCap canopy is not just for overlanders and recreationists. Sportsmen and commercial users are also catered for.
For further details contact SmartCap on TEL 033 846 2300 or visit www.rsismartcap.com
