Tufbag

COMPANY PROFILE

2013

Tufbag

This one’s in the bag

CompANY PROFILE

This one’s in the bag Editorial: Christian Jordan Production: Chris Bolderstone

Tufbag is one of South Africa’s industry leaders when it comes to flexible intermediate bulk containers and as we move into 2014 the company is investing in order to grow. Managing Director, Gareth Jelliman tells IndustrySA more…

What is your solution when you have to move large amounts of dry, flowable products? Have you ever actually considered this problem? If you are a mine you will have, or if you are in agriculture or food production or road construction, moving heavy amounts of flowable product can represent a logistical and functional nightmare.

With a new mine for example; you cannot just pile up your excess earth creating mountains by the side of your site. And with agriculture, you cannot move enough fertilisers to cover 100 acres of land in an open skip, you need a strong, flexible, reliable solution that is going to protect and manage your goods.

The answer is flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBC), bulk bags or jumbo bags. Unlike metal, wooden or plastic containers, bulk bags can be easily transported and stored when not in use and they still provide the strength and sturdiness to keep your materials contained and safe.

In South Africa, one of the leading suppliers of FIBC is

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Tufbag, a family run company based just outside Durban.

Recently, Tufbag Managing Director, Gareth Jelliman told IndustrySA that even during tough economic conditions and a challenging economic climate, the company has managed to perform extremely well with October being one of the most successful months in Tufbag’s history.

“2013 has been a year of change and with change has come its challenges,” he says “but our future looks bright and prosperous with October 2013 being one of the most successful months in the company’s history.”

RESTRUCTURING Tufbag has a long and complicated past and in 2013 the business added another milestone to its history when it restructured, joining two industry leaders namely Multi Tarp and Bag and Jel-Ex. “Tufbag as is today is the joining of two rival companies that dominated the FIBC bulk bag industry in South Africa for the past 30 years,” says Jelliman.

Tufbag

Multi Tarp and Bag was started in 1986 by Bryan Jelliman and Jel-Ex was started in 2001 as an extrusion and weaving company, also owned by Bryan Jelliman and Tufbag, a company owned by Norman Cook, started in 1982. In 1988, Tufbag was bought by Nampak, one of the country’s most prominent names in packaging. In 2006, Raffia Holdings bought Tufbag, which was now fully integrated, and renamed the company Raffia Tufbag. This changed in 2010 when the Bryan Jelliman Family Trust bought the shares in Raffia Tufbag and dropped Raffia from the name, reverting back to the company’s original name, Tufbag. “Tufbag is now South Africa’s single largest bulk bag and underground mine support manufacturer,” says Jelliman.

As we move into 2014, Jelliman says that the past 12 months have been about bringing together the cultures of the business that have merged. “2013 has been a year of rationalising of the various business units,” he says.

“The single biggest challenge has been the merging of

two arch-rivals and the management styles.”

The joining of the two companies will help achieve the goal of becoming a partner to companies across many different industries as Jelliman explains.

“Tufbag is a proudly South African organisation, aimed at supporting local industry. We are looking at being the manufacturer and supplier of choice for our clients, adapting to their needs and building partnerships within their businesses, always adding value.

“The majority of our business is in the sugar industry thanks to our geo-graphical positioning. We also service industries including fertilisers, mining, milling and chemical.”

QUALITY PRODUCT Tufbag’s products are some of the most popular on the market, and for good reason. FIBCs are most often made of thick woven polyethylene or polypropylene, either coated or uncoated and come in a range of sizes. Their

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CompANY PROFILE capacity is normally around 1000kg but the larger units can store even more. The average bulk bag, made to ship one metric ton, can weigh between 2-4kgs on its own.

“Currently, we have the capacity to produce 2.1million bulk bags and 1.5million underground mine support bags per annum. Annually, we convert 7,500 tons of polypropylene polymer into our products,” says Jelliman.

The company produces a diverse range of bags suited to various products in different industries.

“Our bulk bag is the core of our business, with the OMEGA bulk bag being our flagship product. We also specialise in form stable bulk bags namely SquarePack bulk bags, single point lift bags as well as the internationally patented Tellap bulk bag which integrates a pallet into the bag,” he explains.

Clearly, this is not a company that plugs a round hole with a square peg. For every requirement, there is a different solution and even as customers come up with new and different problems, Tufbag strives to come up with cost-effective, innovative products and Jelliman suggests that the company has already started planning for meeting the demands that will arise in 2014.

“We are always extremely busy with new products; our

research and development team are always looking for new ways of producing our products more efficiently and reducing costs to clients. Our product is a technical product and requires careful consideration to safety, so with that in mind we use our world class laboratories based at each manufacturing site to aid us in these developments.

“New markets for Tufbag, without giving away too many secrets, would be a new food grade approved manufacturing facility and some exciting niche products that we will release into the market in early 2014. More information about all of these products will be available on our new website www.tufbag.com, set to launch soon.”

These fantastic products that serve ‘hard to please’ markets are produced by Tufbag’s 1200 strong workforce and, in-partnership their clients, the company utilises its first class technology to produce what Jelliman calls “world class products”.

“We are a strong player in our market and we have the single largest extrusion and weaving plant in South Africa, using the most advanced machinery available to our industry from Europe, with Starlinger of Austria as our machine supplier of choice, a company of who we have had a long standing relationship with, enabling us to offer world

“Striving for Greater Heights” J.J. Logistics is a diverse and uniquely structured transport company based in Ladysmith, KZN. We currently have a fleet of 20 horse and trailers and 20 rigids, all servicing the whole of South Africa and our neighbours in Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. At J.J. Logistics we strive for customer satisfaction and believe that every customer is a valuable asset to us.

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Head Office: 41 Progress Road PO Box 2315 Ladysmith 3370 Tel: (036) 633 0121/6330119 Fax: (036) 633 0118 Cell: 083 625 2192 Email: jay@jjlogistics.co.za

: Tufbag

"Proud to be associated with Tufbag"

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CompANY PROFILE

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Tufbag

GROWTH

So, with growth definitely on the cards and customers and markets all burgeoning, Tufbag has placed itself in an extremely strong position. Jelliman concludes by telling us that focus on customers, staff and targets are what makes the company a triumph.

“The key to our success is hard work, and dedication to our customers and closely working with our staff in order to achieve our desired goals.”

To date, Tufbag has been a considerable success and is now widely regarded as an industry leader. However, the company is not happy to sit back and is continually planning its next project.

“Our annual growth is estimated at 6% and the fact that our product are extremely labour intensive means we will always draw on the local community to supply labour for our various processes,” explains Jelliman.

“We are busy with various 2014 capital expenditure projects at the moment, two completely new and top secret, and one being a new blown film extrusion line to supply our plant with polyethylene film. This project has been on the cards for many years as it is the last phase in our total vertical integration project.”

“Tufbag is a proudly South African organisation, aimed at supporting local industry.

We are looking at being the manufacturer and supplier of choice for our clients, adapting to their needs and building partnerships within their businesses, always adding value”

class products made locally.

“We are extremely conscience of imported products threatening our local industry and rely heavily on our service levels to counter these threats, but working closely with our clients we are able to offer the best solution for their application.”

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