Harvey Roofing Products

HARVEY ROOFING PRODUCTS

HARVEY ROOFING PRODUCTS

Quality Stamped:

Superior Harveytile Brand Ready for Growth PRODUCTION: David Napier

‘Lightweight yet strong, the overall cost effectiveness of Harveytile is legendary’ – this is the message being strongly conveyed by General Manager, Albie Jordaan. He is confident that Harvey Roofing Products is the best in the market and outperforms competition when it comes to quality, cost, and aesthetic appeal. Now on his agenda is further growth; expanding into new geographic markets and further developing the product range.

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All tiles manufactured by Harvey Roofing Products, a division of Macsteel, are stamped with the Harvey Quality Stamp – a mark which ensures only the very best quality materials are used.

ISO:9001 and ISO:14001 certified, every tile that leaves the Harvey Roofing Products factory in Johannesburg is pressed, coated, painted, bound and covered with industry-leading resources. This precision has seen the Harveytile brand becoming known as the best in South Africa. The main differentiating factor between Harveytile and the rest? Harveytiles are made from steel. Being a member of the Macsteel Group, only the finest steel is used in production.

After more than fifty years, Harvey’s reputation is stronger than ever and Managing Director, Albie Jordaan is looking to drive home the quality characteristics of the company’s product range.

“Like anything in life, you get a lot of imitations. People start to copy you because of your success,” he says.

“They use inferior quality and we like to

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reiterate that if it doesn’t say Harveytile, it’s not a Harveytile. Unfortunately, imitation products are a challenge that we constantly face. The problem is that competition tiles are too thin. Our tile is a 0.45mm tile, and we manufacture our own paint which also carries warranty.”

In recent years, Harvey Roofing Products has been on an aggressive marketing drive so that its clients – the large hardware retailers in SA – and end users understand the difference between cheap imports and highquality, SA-produced, speciality tiles.

“We are running various campaigns. We use social media as that is a platform which has taken off in a big way. Our brand awareness campaigns through social media have proven to be successful. We are working hard on our campaign, but research has proven that we already have a very strong brand. Harveytile has become a household brand in South Africa,” says Jordaan.

After being acquired by Macsteel in 2008, Harvey Roofing Products falls under the Macsteel Service Centres SA division. The two businesses have

many complementary elements and the merger came as an obvious and easy decision.

“Harvey was established in South Africa in 1967,” explains Jordaan. “It’s been around for many years and it was owned by Murray and Roberts.

Macsteel supplied the steel for Harveytile and it made sense to acquire the business.

“We use two types of steel. One is with a galvanised substrate, for inland application; and the other is with a zinc aluminium substrate, for coastal applications. We produce in a variety of colours. Our tiles are perfectly suited for residential use, and although it’s a steel tile its appearance does not look like steel. We coat it with a granular stone paint to give the look and feel of a traditional stone roof tile.

“It’s very popular for re-roofing, where you can fit the tiles straight over an existing corrugated roof. The benefits, besides from the aesthetics, are that we offer a 20-year warranty and it’s very easy and quick to install.

There is no hassle-factor of breakage and transport is so much easier.”

HARVEY ROOFING PRODUCTS

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CAPACITY INCREASE In 2017, Harvey Roofing Products was forced to increase capacity at its plant because of increasing demand from customers. While there was not a shortage in steel or raw materials, the production flow was bottle-necking at the coating phase.

“We had two coating lines and we added a third because it was becoming a hold-up within the business,” explains Jordaan.

“Harveytile is dominant in two of South Africa’s provinces – Mpumalanga and Limpopo. In Gauteng, the brand is known but not dominant, so we are looking to raise brand awareness there.

It’s about creating awareness for the end-user about the benefits of having a Harveytile on the roof of your house.

“Going back a couple of years, we couldn’t keep up with demand. At that

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time, we didn’t focus on marketing in other provinces because it would be no use as we would not be able to meet demand with supply. That is why we expanded our capacity. It gave us the ability to focus on business in the other provinces.”

Today, the company’s factory completes a full turn-key manufacturing process and has the capacity to produce up to nine million tiles each year. Currently, the factory runs under capacity and Jordaan is busy growing orders.

EXPANDING RANGE Alongside the well-known Harvey Elite Tile, Harvey Roofing Products also manufactures and distributes the Harvey Tuff Tile; known for strength, the Harvey Thatch Tile; known for fashion and charm, the Harvey Solar Bracket;

designed to house solar panels atop tiled roofs, a Light Gauge Steel roofing structure solution; designed as an alternative to timber, and the company is always looking at innovative new products to further its range.

“We have products in development.

We are working hard to bring exciting new things to our mix, but we have a way to go yet,” admits Jordaan.

“We are busy with the Harvey Slate Tile which resembles natural slate and has the same look and feel. That should be launched by the end of July. We are forever looking at opportunities to diversify our product range.”

Extensive knowledge of the industry, collected by the company’s more than 340 people, over a large time period is key when it comes to product development.

“We are in the roofing market; we

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know the market, and we have the channel to the market. In South Africa, roof tiles are predominantly concrete and concrete has the biggest market share. We are looking at different composites to try and take some of that market share, but we are still working on many formulations,” says Jordaan.

Harveytiles that end up on the rooftops of South Africa’s homes and commercial buildings are usually sourced by end-users through the

// THE BENEFITS, BESIDES FROM THE AESTHETICS, ARE THAT WE OFFER A 20-YEAR WARRANTY AND IT’S VERY EASY AND QUICK TO INSTALL. THERE IS NO HASSLE-FACTOR OF BREAKAGE AND TRANSPORT IS SO MUCH EASIER // 6 / www.enterprise-africa.net

country’s large retail network of hardware stores. Harvey Roofing Products has strong relations with all the big players including Buildit, Cashbuild, P&L Hardware, Buco, EST, Builders Warehouse and more. Going forward, Jordaan is keen to further these relationships so that the Harvey brand can grow even stronger.

“80-90% of Harveytiles are sold through retailers and success is about getting retailers to stock the product. You have to be very close to the retailers and it’s about direct interaction, support, back up, and technical assistance.

“When you supply to the retailers, you have a responsibility to create demand with end-users so that they do go to retailers and buy your products.

That is why we see our relationships with retailers as extensions of our own business,” he says.

“Some of the retailers have hundreds of stores around the country and they don’t stock Harveytile in all of their stores. There are regions where it just doesn’t make sense because of the level of demand. But where there is demand, we want to ensure our products are readily available.

“We don’t have exclusivity with certain retailers. Our pricing model is transparent and we have a volume rebate structure with our retailers. We are always looking to expand the number of retailers that stock our product as that is the only way to grow business.”

Further growth will be achieved by realising potential in new markets around Southern Africa. So far, Harvey Roofing Products has made minimal progress building its reputation on the continent, despite the large African presence of its parent company, and sends just 3-4% of production north.

Jordaan is very keen on growing this figure, mainly because of the lacklustre economic conditions in South Africa.

“We see potential for growth in the countries neighbouring South Africa. Right now, there is not huge demand from African markets but there is without doubt huge potential and I am busy developing that. We would be happy to move into new markets with retailers that have outlets there, but further north it would be a direct sale model.

“It looks exciting in the near future. Bear in mind, the South African economy is subdued but there is

HARVEY ROOFING PRODUCTS

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// WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING TO EXPAND THE NUMBER OF RETAILERS THAT STOCK OUR PRODUCT AS THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO GROW BUSINESS // positive GDP growth in many African markets. What makes Harvey attractive to export companies is the ease of transport compared to a concrete tile – especially with breakage and weight.

Now that we have that added capacity, Africa has become a focus.”

BUILDING ECONOMY? The subdued economy in South Africa, which has been a problem for so many, is not something which Albie Jordaan wants to focus on too much. A veteran of the industry, who has been working with SA steel since ArcelorMittal SA was Iscor, he is wary of the fallout that can come with a weak economy but ensures

the only focuses at Harvey Roofing Products are quality and growth.

“Things are going well; we feel very blessed and very fortunate,” he says.

“We have grown market share despite the tough conditions. When things are tough, it’s no use just throwing your hands in the air, you have to stay focussed and carry on.

“We are all hoping for more positivity but I don’t think it’s going to be an immediate turn around – there are many things that need to be fixed in South Africa. If you do want to grow, you will have to grow against substitute products. The forecast for the rest of the year is not really positive but compare that to other African countries, like Botswana and Angola, GDP is more positive.

“Right now, South African consumers are indebted and when they spend money, it’s not usually on house renovations which is unfortunate.

We will continue to make our offer: If you are going to renovate your house, Harveytile is the only way to go.”

With a suppressed construction industry adding to the economic sloth, companies that are not managed well, where efficiency strategies are not

adopted, start to struggle very quickly.

But for 52-year old Harvey Roofing Products, longevity now comes as second nature.

“It is tough out there. We are fortunate that we are still doing well but there are many companies that are struggling.

“We are a people company; we look after our people. Employment is important to us, and having happy staff is vital. If we can grow, we will all grow.

We have no intention of scaling back,” states Jordaan.

Lightweight yet strong, the overall cost effectiveness of Harveytile is legendary. Because of this, the future is nothing but bright.

“We are positive. We will continue growing; there’s no two ways about it.

We don’t see doom and gloom; we’ve always said, if you fail, it’s your own fault,” Jordaan concludes.

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