COMPANY PROFILE
2014
Tri-Cor Signs
011 474 9044 | www.tricorsigns.co.za
company profile
All pointing in the right direction Editorial: Christian Jordan Production: Hal Hutchison
Tri-Cor Signs has been successfully operating out of Industria, Johannesburg for 25 years. The company has recently expanded, buying new machinery and building on its already impressive service portfolio, and Sales and Marketing Director Kobus Barnard tells IndustrySA that expansion on the continent is one of the next targets for this innovative, quality focussed company.
The sign is perhaps one of the most underappreciated innovations of all time. Its purpose is simple, its process is even simpler, and every day millions of signs around the world help the flow of people, whether around towns and cities, around the workplace or around popular locations; but very few appreciate the work of the sign. Signs have been used throughout time with the first directional signs being used by the Romans on stone columns to show the distance to Rome across the Empire. The first modern road signs were erected in the 1870s and showed directions and distances to towns and cities. Over time, road signs have developed and now different regions around the world have standardised designs for different instructions. In South Africa, directional signs are green or blue and tourism signs are brown. Warning
PAGE 2 AUG 14
signs are triangular with a red and white colour scheme and each group of signs (regulatory, warning, guidance, temporary) has its own specific standard of size, shape and colour. One company who does appreciate the importance of effective signage is Tri-Cor Signs. Headquartered in Industria, Johannesburg, Tri-Cor is one of the country’s leading manufacturer of not just road signs but safety signs, mining signage and corporate signs. Capable of manufacture, installation and maintenance, Tri-Cor has 10 offices around the country and is growing its presence north of the border in Africa. More recently, the company added road marking to its growing list of products and services and this is a sector of the business which has witnessed positive growth over the last year. Sales and Marketing Director, Kobus Barnard explains.
Tri-Cor Signs
“We diversified our business around 18 months ago from pure signage and manufacture and we purchased some road marking equipment. It’s a new venture and it adds to our portfolio without being drastically different from our core business. We see it as more of a recurring business need. Road markings need to be maintained much more often than road signage. It’s growing nicely; in the last nine or ten months it has grown to account for around 10% of our business.”
STRONG HISTORY Tri-Cor was founded in 1989 and initially, the business focussed on safety signs for the mining industry. Today, the business portfolio is wide and much more developed and the company has seen fantastic growth allowing for serious expansion of facilities.
“The business was started by John Mayer, our current Managing Director. He started his business around 25 years ago, manufacturing number plates in Vereeniging and from there he bought another small business and eventually Tri-Cor. “Tri-Cor was an existing business in Industria, Johannesburg and he bought it out and built it up by focussing on the mines - safety signs and safety equipment. Initially, the mines were predominantly Anglo and BHP Billiton. “In ’89 when he bought the business, there were probably only around 20 or 30 people in the company and there was a branch in Johannesburg and Krugersdorp and John had the branch of his other business in Vereeniging but Tri-Cor quickly grew, opening branches all over the country, establishing outlets wherever the mines were.
AUG 14 PAGE 3
company profile “So, from working in a relatively small factory working only for the mining industry, we’ve built the business up and now we have a factory with around 10,000m² of space.
“We have expanded to increase our capacity and meet customer demands but also to be able to offer our customers a wider range of goods and services” “On the back of the success with mining and safety signs, the company diversified into manufacturing road signs and has in the last ten years or so done various contracts on the provincial level, municipal level, and on the national road agency level. “Our biggest growth in the last two years has been with road signs but around 60% of our business is still in the mining industry with safety signs and
PAGE 4 AUG 14
visibility projects. With visibility projects, we don’t only do the signage but we cut the stencils and the kits for big mining trucks. We put all the reflective material on the mining equipment so everything is visible and this is part of the health and safety requirement in the mines,” Barnard explains. “We are able to manufacture signs and we have big teams and fleets of trucks and equipment so that we can install these signs.” Because the company has expanded successfully, there has been a need for new machines and new equipment to keep up with growing customer demand and act as a platform for further growth in the future. Barnard says that as well as expanding the physical floor space of the Tri-Cor factory, the company has also invested in top-of-the-range equipment so that customers can enjoy a wider range of products and services. “We have expanded on two levels. We have increased actual production floor space by purchasing and leasing an additional factory. That happened in the last six months. We’ve also purchased various
Tri-Cor Signs
pieces of equipment, the biggest of which are digital printing machines. We’ve also just purchased a HP flatbed printer, a water-jet machine and a laminating machine. “We have expanded to increase our capacity and meet customer demands but also to be able to offer our customers a wider range of goods and services. The water-jet machine, the laminator and the flatbed printer just gives us a little more flexibility and gives our customers a bigger portfolio of services,” he says.
ON THE ROAD TO THE TOP The business of sign manufacturer is a fairly simple one to get involved with. All you need is the right equipment and some raw materials and you can do a basic job but what separates Tri-Cor from smaller competitors is the company’s ability to undertake large contracts. “There is significant competition,” says Barnard “but the challenge in the industry is that the barriers to entry are quite low. If you have the right piece of equipment and materials, you can put together signs but what we have got right is being the biggest manufacturer with the biggest capacity, allowing us to take on the bigger contracts. “We have competition but we are currently the biggest manufacturer of road signs in Southern Africa
and we would call ourselves the market leader.” And this market leading status attracts big name customers from all around the country. All of the major mining houses, municipalities, government, construction firms and many more all call Tri-Cor a partner. The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) has been busy in the Eastern Cape planning a new BRT system for the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan region and Barnard says SANRAL is a significant client. “They are an important customer, not our biggest but we do a lot of work for them; we recently did some work for them in the Eastern Cape in the Nelson Mandela Metro region. “We also deal with provincial governments. For example, we do all the road signs for the City of Tshwane; everything including installation, servicing and maintenance.” Tri-Cor also recently celebrated the completion of a big project in Limpopo, another area where roads have received a lot of attention. “The contract was for the RAL (Roads Agency Limpopo) and we were awarded the tender at the end of last year to put up all the road signs on Limpopo provincial roads. The contract was in excess of R16 million and around 16,000m² of signage. Over a two month period, we had our factory running 24
AUG 14 PAGE 5
company profile
hours a day to meet the demands of the customer. We completed the job in around nine or ten weeks,” Barnard explains. Another reason why Tri-Cor has become the manufacturer of choice for many big name organisations is its commitment to safety. Safety is a principal concern and the company is committed to providing a “consistently safe work environment, and the peace of mind that accompanies knowing that our employees can return to their families at the end of the day free from harm.”
“On the back of the success with mining and safety signs, the company diversified into manufacturing road signs and has in the last ten years or so done various contracts on the provincial level, municipal level, and on the national road agency level” And safety is not just a concern internally. Many of the signs produced by Tri-Cor are made in a certain way to ensure that they are durable, fit for purpose and above all, safe.
PAGE 6 AUG 14
“We are also part of SARTSMA (South African Road Traffic Sign Manufacturers’ Association) and we make sure we stick to the necessary requirements and that the industry understands that a road sign is not just a road sign – there is a reason why it needs to be manufactured in a certain way, have a certain level of reflectivity, why the products used should be of a certain grade and warranty; it’s all about the safety of the public,” explains Barnard.
EXPANSION Since its establishment 25 years ago, Tri-Cor has seen exponential expansion and that is something which is not set to slowdown anytime soon. The company has an insatiable appetite for growth and will not rule out expanding in any part of Africa. “There is no part of Africa that we would not consider but for now we are still seeing significant opportunities closer to home. “We are about 14 months into our expansion in Mozambique. We’re in the process of setting up a business in Namibia and we are dealing with partners in both Zimbabwe and Zambia. We do see that a big part of growth will come from the development that’s happening north of our borders. “This business is geared to grow with infrastructure development and a lot of that is happening in Southern Africa. I know we are in an economic slowdown but the reality is that Africa is a resource based continent and infrastructure,
Tri-Cor Signs specifically road infrastructure, is important for growth in our economies,” explains Barnard. The focus for the near future will be to continue with the strong growth that has been witnessed throughout the first half of 2014.
“This business is geared to grow with infrastructure development and a lot of that is happening in Southern Africa. I know we are in an economic slowdown but the reality is that Africa is a resource based continent and infrastructure, specifically road infrastructure, is important for growth in our economies” “We are currently negotiating deals with several of the bigger mining companies including Anglo, Exxaro and BHP Billiton so expansion will come through there,
specifically in the Northern Cape. “The focus is also on building our Mozambican business which is starting to take off nicely and we see a lot of growth potential there in the next 18 months. Locally, we are also tendering on some of the development and construction projects that are happening around Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng,” says Barnard. To complement the company’s growth and expansion, Barnard also notes that Tri-Cor is aspiring to become a ‘greener’ company. “It is something to which we aspire,” he says. “The reality is that the industry is very competitive and the requirements from the customer are always focussed on price but from our perspective we recycle, we have energy saving programmes, we manage our electricity and energy usage and we also sit with customers to advise on which products will be more environmentally friendly. “We understand the importance of it and we try to manage the practicality around it.” As infrastructure spending in line with the NDP continues and as the country’s mining and road construction industries grow, Tri-Cor Signs is perfectly placed to serve clients, big and small, and make sure that the company and country continues to move in the right direction. For information on all Tri-Cor products and services, go to: www.tricorsigns.co.za
.
Explore New Opportunities Look around on buildings, in the streets, around the corner. You’ll see Avery Dennison Graphics and Reflective Solutions everywhere; companies across the globe choose Avery Dennison materials to transform their ideas into impactful messages that identify, promote and inform the world around them. From simple communication to powerful brand transformations, we’re here to help you push the visual limits of imagination.
Toll free : 0800 AVERY/28379 Tel (011) 249 5700 Fax : (011) 472 2924 info.za@eu.averydennison.com www.averydennison.com
AUG 14 PAGE 7
+44 (0) 1603 411569 info@industrysa.com East Coast Promotions Ltd, 2 Ardney Rise Norwich, Norfolk NR3 3QH
www.industrysa.co.za