FORMSXPRESS
FORMSXPRESS
FormsXpress:
Inked in SA History PRODUCTION: Karl Pietersen
As your one-stop-shop for any printing related enquiry, Cape Town’s FormsXpress is now one the country’s industry leaders. 25 years old this year, FormsXpress continues to invest in growth and CEO John Donaldson is excited about the future.
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INDUSTRY FOCUS: PRINT
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It’s 25 years and counting for FormsXpress and CEO John Donaldson. The Cape Town-based printing specialist has been delighting customers since before digital, litho or variable data laser printing; since before wide format and LED UV printing; FormsXpress has been at the heart of Cape Town’s printing industry since 1992. Now offering an all-encompassing print service, FormsXpress can deliver computer forms, lithographic, digital and variable data printing with both reprographic and laser programming facilities. ‘Utilising the best colour management and production software, we are able to produce an extensive range of products in-house and on time’ the company says. Celebrations of reaching the 25-year milestone will be modest as Donaldson looks to the future with plans to continually invest in state-ofthe-art technology so that the company can run for at least another 25 years. “We are looking forward to a celebration,” he says. “We haven’t fully decided on how we will celebrate but we will likely include our clients and
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suppliers. Of course, our staff members will be involved and we do have people that have been with us for almost the entire life of the business. We’ve incorporated the message into most of our recent signage and advertising – we’re proud of how far we’ve come. “It’s taken a long time for us to become recognised but I would say that we are now known for being a serious player in the market.” TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT Changing with such rapid speed, the printing industry can often leave small players quickly outdated. “The pace at which technological developments are happening in the printing and packaging industry has increased more in recent years than during the past decade or two. Companies and even individuals who have not adapted fast enough rapidly become the dinosaurs of the industry,” says Stephens Thobela, CEO of Printing SA, the country’s trade association. With this is mind, Donaldson explains that FormsXpress invests regularly in new technology, spending more than R6 million in the past
12 months alone. One of the major investments has been a new machine which will further broaden the company’s service portfolio. “It’s the first Komori half-size to be fitted with a LED UV drive system in South Africa,” he says. “It extends our range of products quite substantially. We regularly invest in new machinery and equipment as we are conscious that we must keep up with the times. I hope, for a time at least, we’ll be unopposed in this area. “We’ve just moved into the LED market, and we’re also doing wide format printing. We look at the needs of the market and we try to anticipate the needs of the future. Our philosophy is to try and be a convenient, one-stop supplier.” This approach to business has helped FormsXpress expand its reach beyond Cape Town into other parts of South Africa. even in a market where the threat of low pricing from Asian markets has caused concern, FormsXpress has maintained its business levels and has managed to grow. “We compete successfully thanks to our location. The Chinese could
FORMSXPRESS
outrun us on price quite happily but our market is too far away from them,” says Donaldson. “We do some work internationally but our core markets are Cape Town and other centres around South Africa. We have a couple of customers who are present around the country and we are always on the lookout for more opportunities like this,” he adds. CONSTANT GROWTH Since its establishment, FormsXpress has grown significantly. Starting out as a two-man operation, the company is now in a position where it creates employment and supports the lives of 120 employees. “We were initially a forms company but we’ve grown into a much more broad-based printer. It started with just myself and a driver and we’ve added around eight people every year – a trend that we hope to continue,” details Donaldson. Of course, growing an employee base is no easy feat and plenty of money and effort is spent on developing people in the right way. Technical and product knowledge is obviously key and so the company has developed a proven learnership scheme which lasts two years and sees staff gain experience with progressively more complex machines. “We undertake a lot of inhouse training and that is how we overcome the skills gap,” says Donaldson. “The problem is a bad education system, and that is true worldwide, and that is why we train our own people. We find this much more effective than taking people who have already learned bad habits. We like to take them fairly young, put them through apprenticeships and offer theoretical training. They gain a full understanding of what is required and we gain a well-rounded employee.” With any growth in staff numbers, Donaldson is mindful of building a presence in other areas of the country. “We should really have offices in Johannesburg so I think longer-term, that is a definite possibility.”
One hurdle that will have to be navigated as time goes on – the company’s BBBEE rating. Currently acting as a kind of anchor and halting the company’s access to big government jobs, improving BBBEE rating is on Donaldson’s agenda. “It does present us with challenges” he says “but we know that it means we have to run a bit faster than our competition. The future may hold a change in structure to meet new requirements but we’re not sure yet – if it happens, it happens. Depending on how things develop politically, we will consider the BBBEE regulations and what we can do to improve.” But right now, business remains exciting for FormsXpress. The company continues to invest in people and equipment, it continues to explore opportunities to build its customer base, its reputation one of the most admired
in the industry, and new products and services continue to be added to the portfolio. “We have a good, large customers base and our turnover is very stable and doesn’t vary widely from month to month,” says Donaldson. “We are doing very well and we are happy to reach our 25th anniversary. Life goes on despite the economic situation,” he concludes.
FORMSXPRESS 021-7015530 info@formsxpress.net www.formsxpress.co.za
Congratulations FormsXpress on your 25th anniversary!
Best wishes for the next 25 years!
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Issue No.61
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JEGIE PADMANATHAN:
People Are The Power
of Bidvest Prestige ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
CCI South Africa / Thebe Tourism Group / RPP Developments / ALG Estates
A S F E AT U R E D I N
ENTERPRISE AFRICA
AUGUST 2017