Pavlo Phitidis. Picture: SUPPLIED
Pavlo Phitidis. Picture: SUPPLIED

Related articles

Is the China tide turning? Not so long ago, China was perceived to be the deindustrialising juggernaut of developed and developing economies. Weak industries in consumptive economies were eradicated. Those with somewhat stronger industrial bases that relied on proprietary and protected products and processes just held on and of them, those that also established a presence in China in some shape or form, thrived.

Trade Call Investments Apparel (TCIA), established by Herman Pillay after being approached by the union to turn Seardel, a cape based clothing manufacture plant around in the hope of saving 2,254 jobs.

He initiated his 3 step plan when he first met and spoke with the employees. They were shocked at this action since in the businesses previous incarnation, they had no voice and were invisible. Their ideas made up the bedrock of his turnaround strategy and securing their commitment gave him the confidence to move to the next action.

Herman introduced himself as a stranger to a series of customers. They too were never approached be the former executives. After sharing his idealistic vision of what the business could become he asked for their support. Their ‘favour bank’ was in the red and jaded by failed turnaround efforts by the former executive, they demanded a pragmatic plan and real commitments with penalties for non-delivery.

Finally, Herman tackled the suppliers. Some of the relationships were more than 30 years old. Horrified by the slackness and laziness in the relationships which offered soft pricing and no innovation, he knew he had a problem! Supplier contracts were suspended and tenders for the procurement of services issued. The notifications went far and wide into the industry and caught the eye of Judy Chen of Uno Sewing Machines CC.

Judy runs the business of a 4 generation sewing machine business. With the ability to service every part of machines sold in 1958 to a customer, typically a home industry user, over 30,000 parts is a testament of how the family values customer service.

Judy identified that employee productivity was being hampered by arcane workstations and prehistoric machines installed by the former suppliers on long term maintenance contracts. Her proposal delivered a multi-functioning workstation, training for the employees that would see them increase their capability and enable them to perform many more tasks with leading generation technology.

Formerly 4 activities, independently performed, broke the rhythm of an employee’s tasks. The innovation introduced by Judy enabled the employee to perform all 4 tasks from a single workstation and in a single sitting and action. The automation she introduced also increased the training on the employee matching wages to productivity that beat China.

Not only has Herman saved the jobs that were about to be lost, but further created an additional 707 jobs within a year of the turnaround on a black bottom line. Customers too have responded to a broader range of product that he introduced leading to more orders. This and the upskilling of employees to operate the new workstations has provided more meaning and value for the team of 2,961 staff today.

In a competitive industry, the selection and performance of suppliers is crucial to your sustained growth. A broadened evaluation of suppliers becomes a key competitive advantage requiring a line-of-site to the market positioning of the business including an understanding of that businesses customers. Increasingly we are seeing in The Growth Engines it’s not the people that are the problem nor necessarily the laws of the land. All countries have them in good and bad doses. Largely, effective competition and growth emerges when entrepreneurs representing the customer and supplier equally committed in their mandates collaborate to lead our economy through excellence.

* This article was amended on March 24