From ENGINEERING NEWS:

South African supplier of lifting and rigging as well as marine and offshore mooring equipment Anchor Industries has experienced significant growth over the past four years, culminating in the rental of new premises in Johannesburg.

The new facility in Jet Park is about three times larger than the previous Elandsfontein facility, allowing for increased stock-holding capability to avoid out-of-stock situations. The enlarged space also enables improved productivity, allowing workers more space to manufacture products on the shop floor.

"We had outgrown our previous premises," says Anchor Industries MD Dale Hutcheson. "In the past four years, the Johannesburg branch has grown its turnover in excess of 50% year on year. Since March, we have expanded our stock holding by 60%."

The growth of the company is silhouetted against high interest rates and increasing fuel and food prices, not to mention labour costs. These issues, along with unpredictable fluctuations in the value of the rand and increased steel prices have necessitated Anchor Industries to attempt to maintain price stability internally. Hutcheson explains that by increasing stock holdings, the company is able to strategically avoid dramatic changes in the price of its products and to increase turnover further through increasing sales volumes.

Hutcheson says that, in addition to increasing the stock holding, the diversity of the stock being held has also been widened. Anchor Industries has added the Titan Tuff chain blocks and lever hoists as well as the Gunnebo GrabiQ Gr10 flexible chain sling system to the company's product offering.

The Titan Tuff comes standard with a load limiter preventing the unit from overloading. This provides additional safety in mines, ensuring an automatic limit, thereby preventing accidents. If there is no over-load protection, an operator could unknowingly exceed the limit, putting workers' safety at risk.

The Gunnebo GrabiQ Gr10 flexible chain sling system is a patented flexible unit, manufactured and tested by Gunnebo Industries in Sweden. This flexible chain sling system can reduce the number of components necessary for any multi-leg sling, allowing for the clipping on and off of elements as required. With fewer components, less maintenance is required.

"The new products at our disposal will help us to compete locally and internationally in providing good service to our customers. In a drive to further improve on our service and safety commitment, we will independently test all of our lifting equipment. As a first step, the Oblong Master Links have already been sent to the Council for Scientific Industries Research (CSIR) in order to perform break tests. All of the results were higher than specified," says Hutcheson.

In line with Anchor Industries' ISO9001:2000 quality policy, extensive work has been conducted over the past year to ensure that all products comply with local and international specifications. Independent testing by the CSIR was carried out on certain chain blocks, lever hoists, chains and fittings that are supplied by the company.

However, a reliable product is not all there is to ensuring safety. "In the lifting and rigging industry, the end user's product knowledge is lacking," says Hutcheson, explaining that incorrect use of rigging and lifting equipment could lead to serious injury or fatalities among workers. "It is a constant challenge of ours to educate our clients and to encourage health and safety standards. In the industrial world, this focus can easily be neglected in favour of growth and profitability, and so we have made it an issue of company culture."

Anchor Industries offers advice to customers adhering to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, while providing inspections, registers, certification, sling tags, colour coded safety boards and replacement products.

The company also encourages and assists its customers to attain the Lifting Machinery Examining Certificate. The comapany has also been approved by the Department of Labour to examine lifting machines and lifting tackle.

In response to the boom in industrial activity, suppliers have been unable to keep up with the demand for products and services. It is this weakness that Anchor Industries has exploited to its benefit, Hutcheson explains. He says that Anchor Industries' competitive advantage, which paves the way for much of the company's business, is its ability to source products and supply them in a relatively short amount of time. Part of that ability is attributed to the large range of rental equipment stocked by the company.

Meanwhile, Hutcheson reveals, Anchor Industries is planning one or two acquisitions by the end of the year. "When times are good, and businesses are profitable, it is difficult to make acquisitions," he says, explaining the strategic timing of the planned acquisitions. "It is easier to acquire companies when times are tough in the market and businesses are struggling."

Anchor Industries is looking to international offshore industries, however, when it comes to organic growth. The company's main exports lie in its marine and offshore element, providing for much of the company's turnover. "As far as our offshore side goes, we consider ourselves an international company based in South Africa," says Hutcheson. "We get enquiries from around the world, its not unusual."

He continues to say that market's demand in Sub-Saharan Africa for the kind of product Anchor Industries provides still outstrips the supply thereof, leaving the door open to opportunists. While much of the companies business is focused on Sub-Saharan Africa, Hutcheson says that the company has conducted deals with clients in Russia, New Caledonia, and South America. "We would like still more business in southern Africa. The company is hungry for opportunities," he concludes.