COMPANY PROFILE
2014
Ukhuni Furniture
27 11 887 9243 | www.ukhuni.co.za
company profile
Building a successful framework Editorial: Harriet Pattison Production: Hal Hutchison
With two decades of experience behind them, Ukhuni Business Furniture is increasing its footprint, moving into neighbouring African countries and building a successful reputation as far afield as Europe. Managing Director, Michael Stein attributes much of the company’s success to its employees and the dedication they have shown from the very beginning…
It’s only when you start to think about the variety of office spaces, desk spaces and work stations across South Africa that you realise how imperative these are to the day to day running of a business. The initial model of Ukhuni Furniture began over 20 years ago in 1993 when Managing Director, Michael Stein started looking for a little business in which he could hone his skills as a salesman, having previously worked in the steel industry.
BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL REPUTATION Stein explains that while it took time to become a reputable and respected company, it wasn’t long before Ukhuni Furniture started to attract corporate customers: “We found a small catalogue dealership called Business Furniture Centre and we took over the business in 1993. From there, we had a corporate sales capability so we started growing the business and
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started to land some corporate customers. “This necessitated a need for product development and a design for more systemised office furniture. We then started to develop our own manufacturing plant and from there, we commissioned some industrial designers to develop a product for us which we then invested in.” With a little help from a very well-known designer, Stein explains the company began to develop its own systems and products, attracting a larger customer base. “We commissioned some really fantastic South African designers, one of the most well-known and best in South Africa, Brian Steinhobel. I didn’t even think he’d take my phone call but he did and we developed our first major chassis base desking system and we started learning the skills and started buying the machinery and developing our manufacturing capability.
Ukhuni Furniture
“It took a while to get our reputation going and our products going but people really loved our service and our way of doing business and we started to land a few contracts,” explains Stein. Today, Ukhuni Furniture’s client base is largely the corporate interior design, architectural, project management and space planning market. Producing on average about 15,000 work stations, storage units and seating units, Ukhuni Furniture also handles corporate campuses, new projects and refurbishment throughout South Africa and Africa. Stein explains: “That further developed into branch roll out requirements, so we have the corporate systemised furniture which are open plan, work stations, work partitioning and cabling requirements, with all the necessary green requirements. That’s very different from say branch banking which would require telecounters and personal banking pods.” Providing such a wide variety of products and
services across a multitude of industry sectors, Ukhuni Furniture now employs nearly 300 people but Stein insists it still remains very much a family-run business and environment.
“We commissioned some really fantastic South African designers, one of the most well-known and best in South Africa, Brian Steinhobel” “The average service of our staff is ten years. We have two types of training, one is the in-house training program that is both company related and department specific. We also place quite a high investment, for a small family business, in external training where we are either bringing in facilitators or we are sending staff to specific training such as upholstery training.
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company profile
“Number two is with regards to development. My head of Human Resources is a lady who started as a sander in our spray booth area and today, she’s head of Human Resources. She has two children in University and owns her own home. Another example is my head of Board Production, a guy who started on the factory floor and was probably the most militant shop steward you could meet as a representative of the Union. Today he owns his own car, has his own home and runs our Board Production Plant. “So the growth and opportunity available and the success stories of people within our business has been amazing and that has resulted in a long length of service, growth and retention of skills. It has also resulted in less than 1% staff turnover in a year, so it’s a very proud record that we have built up,” says Stein.
BIG GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES With substantial growth throughout Southern Africa, Stein explains that this has necessitated the need for additional premises and the growth of Ukhuni Furniture’s manufacturing and marketing investment. “In 2013 we achieved about 15% of our sales north of Southern Africa into Africa, so that is a big growth opportunity,” he says. In addition to increasing its footprint further onto African soil, Stein explains the company has also built up a reputation a little further afield: “We’re having the quality of our service and products being confirmed in Europe and we’re finding now that the
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global corporates are switching the buying to us and appointing us to do their roll outs throughout Africa rather than importing the products from Asia, Europe or America to improve on logistics costs. “So we’ve developed relationships with manufacturers, for example in Lagos in Nigeria, we’re doing quite a big project for Standard Charter Bank where all the board components were in fact locally manufactured.”
INTEGRAL CUSTOMER SERVICE Of course, in an industry which provides the frame work for many businesses, it is in high demand. Stein explains that in order to remain at the top, you must remain focused on what it is you first set out to do. For Ukhuni Furniture, it was to provide consistent, flawless and valued customer service. “There is a lot of competition,” says Stein. “We have worked very hard on building a brand, developing products of integrity and a service level of integrity and have tried to operate at a high level of corporate governance. “We are competing with a range of people who don’t necessarily have the range or scope of what we do so that’s resulted in us diversifying our business. We’ve had customers who have been with us from the day we started. We offer a consistent service, irrespective of the quantity they buy, we could be doing a project for 3,000 work stations or two, but each will receive the same level of love and service.”
Ukhuni Furniture BUILDING A FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE For a company that has built upon such an impressive reputation and service history throughout Southern Africa and beyond, Stein explains that the challenging economy can have an impact on business: “The economy is under pressure and we need the economy to grow in order to grow our business. In the short term, maintaining our business and becoming sustainable would be critical, even before we look at growth. “The protection of the level of employment we have is critical to our business, the staff really need to trust that this is their home. We see growth in the form of our diversified products and department like the branch type roll out business.” Looking to the future, it seems this family focused business will continue to remain just that. Stein attributes much of the company’s success to its employees and the commitment they have shown from the very beginning: “I’ve often thought if I had to write a book about the success of business and I think one can put it down to looking after your staff but I think the basic answer is you have to show up.
“My management team have been with me a long time, through thick and thin. You have to be there for your staff and be there for your suppliers and your customers. You have to build a balance sheet, you’ve got to look to drive the good things in business, manage your stock, look for cash flow and you can’t do any of this if you don’t show up. “We have all sacrificed a lot to build this company, day in and day out you must show up. You have to work hard at the balance,” concludes Stein.
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“My management team have been with me a long time, through thick and thin. You have to be there for your staff and be there for your suppliers and your customers”
Sheet Metal Design and Manufacture CIS provides design and manufacture services to the sheet metal consumer market, primarily with Mild Steel, Stainless Steel and Aluminium. We make the following services available to our customers
Design:
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Fully equipped drawing office with a team of qualified engineers and designers utilising the latest 3D CAD packages Research and development of customer products to their specification & requirements With many years of experience in sheet metal and related products we are able to offer custom solutions to our customers’ needs
Laser Cutting:
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High Speed Automated machinery ensures quick turnaround time A wide variety of material is readily available with special materials processed on request Up to 20mm in Carbon Steels Up to 12mm in Stainless Steels Up to 8mm in Aluminium
Punching:
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Latest in Automated equipment allows 24hr operation Maximum sheet processing size in 3000mm x 1500mm Punching up to 4.0mm in Mild Steel, 3.0mm in Stainless & 6.0 in Aluminium
Bending:
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We offer Fully Automated Robotic Bending as well as conventional CNC Bending 3D CAM software ensures accuracy and repeatability Maximum work piece length in 3100mm Processing from 0.5mm up to 12.0mm thick material Specialised press brake tooling allows bending of intricate & complex components
Welding
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Automated Robotic MIG Welding offers excellent repeatability and high output
Aluminium Processing:
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Specialised saws for accurate cutting of Aluminium Extrusions & Sections Profile Machining Centre for Milling / Drilling / Tapping of Aluminium Extrusions & Sections
CNC Turning:
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CNC Lathe with Y-axis allows us to manufacture complex parts in a single operation
46 Andries Street, Wynberg, Sandton | P.O Box 1854 Jukskei Park 2153 Tel 011 887 8399 | Fax 011 786 4882 Email gary@crestinfo.co.za Reg. No. CK1997 020607/23 VAT No. 4410166898
Automated Bar Feeder ensures high output levels
Metalworking Machinery:
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Autofeed Band saws for processing Section and Tubing Drilling / Tapping machines
Sheet metal Inserts / Fasteners:
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We stock and install as wide variety of sheet metal inserts & fasteners Round and Hexagonal Riv Nuts for Sheet Metal and Tubing Captive Nuts, Studs and Stand-offs for Carbon Steels, Stainless & Aluminium Weld Studs for Carbon Steels, Stainless Steel & Aluminium
Surface Treatments offered:
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Powder Coating – wide variety of standard colours available, custom colours upon request Zinc Electroplating – Blue & Yellow Passivate
Assembly:
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Partial and full assembly of customer products. Packaging and handling according to customers specifications
MIG, TIG and Spot Welding of Carbon Steels, Stainless Steels & Aluminium Handling – Overhead Crane and Manipulators
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