Looking good, feeling great
A focus on niche markets has proved to be a successful strategy for Prime Product Manufacturing, as Ruari McCallion learned from managing director Kaaiman Schutte.
While many successful businesses around the world have started with a good idea, a garage and hard work, few have grown as fast or as effectively as Prime Product Manufacturing. Currently based in Pelindaba, 25 kilometres from Pretoria, its roots go back to the mid-1990s when it was established as a corporation in 1997 by Mike Rigby and Koos Basson, who remain senior directors. It now occupies a 13,000 square metre factory on the NECSA Eco-Industrial facilityÔÇöbut not for much longer.
ÔÇ£At the end of the year we will be moving all our operations and personnel to a new building we have bought in Pretoria,ÔÇØ says managing director Kaaiman Schutte. ÔÇ£We will also be adding a specifically designated pharmaceutical facility.ÔÇØ
Prime Product Manufacturing is one of South Africa's leading contract manufacturing and packaging businesses. Focusing on the personal care, cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances segments, it produces a number of brand-name items for companies such as IncoLabs, Tiger Brands, Annique, Avon Justine, Johnson & Johnson and ShÔÇÖzen to name but a few. Some of the brands include Everysun, Tropitone, Gallia, Like Silk and Lip Ice. The workforce has grown to over 200 people, with an annual turnover of around R75 million.
ÔÇ£Prime Product Manufacturing is the third-biggest company in our sector in South Africa,ÔÇØ says Schutte. ÔÇ£We are happy to be more specialised than our larger competitors. We donÔÇÖt want to be the biggest; we donÔÇÖt chase turnover for its own sake. We want to pursue our core values and core purpose, profitably.ÔÇØ Not that the company turns away from expansion and growth. ÔÇ£We are looking to double in size over the next few years. Compared with the other majors, we are small but we like to think we are respected for what we do and how we do it.ÔÇØ The company follows Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards and has US FDA (Food & Drug Agency) approved manufacturing facilities. It has now embarked on the process towards ISO 9000:2000 accreditation. ÔÇ£We are also seeking MCC compliance for our new pharmaceutical facility,ÔÇØ Schutte adds.
While challenging, these quality accreditations are, of course, essential for an organisation that is seeking to expand into international markets, as well as increasing its footprint in its domestic arena. It has an office in California but it is early days, as yetÔÇöit is a representative facility, aimed at marketing to brands that are intending to expand their operations into South Africa.
Prime Product Manufacturing has the capacity and resources for a full range of services, from single contracts to full-service operations. It is able to manufacture liquids, gels, creams, lotions and powders in batch sizes from 50 kilograms to 7,000 kilograms. All products can then be further processed on one or more of its 16 filling lines, which can handle most packaging formats, including hot-fill. Four lines are devoted to tubes; three to bottles; two to jars; two more to lip balm and kits; and one each to talcum powder and perfume. It also has a dedicated aerosol container filling line.
The production areas feature positive pressure with regulated temperature and humidity. Water is processed through a de-ionising plant with ozone purification, to ensure the water quality required for cosmetics manufacturing. But a business needs people in order to operateÔÇöthe right people, in the right places, with the right skills. Prime Product Manufacturing talks about having people ÔÇÿon the busÔÇÖ and ÔÇÿin the right seatsÔÇÖ.
ÔÇ£We have over 150 people working on the production line and around 15 highly-skilled personnel working on R&D [research and development],ÔÇØ says Schutte. ÔÇ£R&D is one of our core skillsÔÇöin fact, our head of R&D was one of the first people the founders hired, over a decade ago. We are building the company to survive and prosper, and to be durableÔÇöwe have a long view.ÔÇØ Close attention to detail is important, as is quality. Prime Product ManufacturingÔÇÖs breakthrough year was 2002, when it secured its first large-scale suncare contract. It has grown from there because its customers are satisfied with the standards the company applies, within its own factory walls and with its suppliers.
ÔÇ£For example, we comply with international standards, such as those set by Johnson & JohnsonÔÇöthere is no allowance made for us because we are in a developing economy,ÔÇØ Schutte says. ItÔÇÖs a situation he is more than happy withÔÇöit helps the company to maintain and constantly improve its competitive standing. ÔÇ£We are audited on a continuous basis by our customers and they are very strict. We take action wherever and whenever it is needed.ÔÇØ Prime Product ManufacturingÔÇÖs primary toolbox for business improvement is, currently, ISO 9000:2000ÔÇöbut it has its eyes firmly on the future.
ÔÇ£We are looking at things like statistical process control, lean manufacturing and six sigma,ÔÇØ explains Schutte. ÔÇ£We have employed a specialist industrial engineer to help us, and that process is making us more efficient. As a company, our heart is our core ideology. Over the past two years, we have asked the question of who we really areÔÇönot what we would like to be, but who we are. We went through a process that involved our employees and identified our core values and our destiny.ÔÇØ Those core values include respect for peopleÔÇöemployees, customers and suppliers; empowerment of passionate, self-disciplined employees; the belief that the company is better together than as individuals; and commitment to fair play, honesty and integrity.
ÔÇ£We are proud of being a special companyÔÇöwe respect other companies in our field but we believe we are unique,ÔÇØ says Schutte. ÔÇ£Everything else will change but our core values will not.ÔÇØ
