COMPANY PROFILE
2013
universal storage
Turnkey storage solutions
company report
Turnkey storage solutions Editorial – Joe Forshaw Production – John Cliff
Since 1994, Universal Storage Systems has been providing first-class racking, shelving and storage solutions to companies and industries across the country. Sales Director, Jan Breytenbach, tells IndustrySA more about what makes the company a success.
Last month, we discussed the importance of supply chain logistics and the negative effects that can arise from having an unproductive distribution system. This month, we speak to Universal Storage Systems, a Johannesburg based company, helping local, national and international clients to ensure they are making the most of their space and offering quality solutions to storage problems. In February 2012, Universal Storage Systems completed their part in the development of the UTi Pharma distribution centre at Linbro Park, Gauteng. The company installed the country’s first clad rack building which was locally designed, engineered and manufactured. The facility is used by UTi Pharma for the storage of pharmaceuticals and has the ability to store over 38,000
PAGE 2 JUL 13
pallets. This type of innovative build allows for flexibility and expansion as the system uses racking as the main structure, with cladding sheets added for walls and roof. Rack clad builds offer optimal cubic area storage space, are relatively fast to erect and they are cost effective. Universal Storage Systems Sales Director, Jan Breytenbach, tells IndustrySA that the UTi Pharma project was a one of a kind. “The project with UTi Pharma was a first for us and a first for South Africa. Everything was new on this project; we had to design tools from scratch. This is one of the flagship projects that Universal has completed. We finished at the end of February 2012 and I think it will be a while before we do something like that again, projects like that don’t come around all that often,” he says.
Universal Storage Systems
Universal build strong, long standing relationships with their clients and with UTi Pharma, the association goes back over two decades as Breytenbach explains: “It’s been a great relationship and over 21 years we have come to fully understand that our client has to service the storage needs of many leading pharmaceutical companies while ensuring that patients always get the original quality medicine they need, when and where they need it.” So when a company decides they need a new storage solution or racking and shelving system for a new warehouse, how does the whole process work? Breytenbach explains that Universal offers an allencompassing service, from concept to completion. “We do a large range of products which starts with industrial shelving and racking. We also do small part storage and normal pallet racking. Pallet racking is our
core business and forms the biggest part of our work although small part shelving is also big for us. Pallet racking is the product of which we sell the most. “We are not a storage company; we do not offer storage to clients. What we do offer is a solution to the client about storing their product in their warehouses. “Myself or a member of the sales team will go and see a customer and they will explain the vision they have for the warehouse. We will then go in and assess the products and the available space and present the customer with an auto-cad drawing from which they can understand how everything will look. We will then go backwards and forwards until the customer is happy with all of the technical drawings and then a price is submitted. From there, an order is placed and we manufacture everything locally, we don’t import any product from anywhere.
JUL 13 PAGE 3
company report “It is important to buy local as all local products are certified so we know exactly what they can and can’t do. It’s a full turnkey solution, from initial contact until the day we hand the warehouse back with racking installed, we handle everything.”
STRONG HISTORY Universal has a long and deep history but in South Africa its roots can be traced back to 1994 when the current management saw an opportunity and bought the company with the view of fulfilling its obvious potential. “The company was bought in 1994 by our management,” explains Breytenbach. “They had previous experience with big companies before the opportunity came up to buy this company and in 1995 it became Universal Storage Systems. “At that time, the company was struggling but the management saw an opportunity for the future. Since then we have been growing and growing and getting bigger and bigger all the time. “We have shown growth since 2008 at a rate of about 32-33% annually. This year started off very slowly but after the first quarter it started picking up and now we are very busy – workwise, we cannot complain. I think the boom will last until April next year and after that we will see how the market is performing.” There are plans afoot to continue the exponential
PAGE 4 JUL 13
growth that the company has experienced over the years and Breytenbach says that the opening of a new sales and distribution branch in Nelspruit will help to serve the growing market in Mozambique as the company looks to Africa at a time when growth and development on the continent continues to gather pace. “We have around 140 employees. Most of the team is located in Johannesburg. We have branches in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and a new branch which has just opened in Nelspruit. We moved into the premises on April 1st with the purpose of expanding the company’s reach. “The north eastern part of the country is an area in which we are looking to expand so this branch is perfectly located. It’s also close to Mozambique where there is a lot of expansion happening because of the coal and natural gas reserves that are being serviced. The new branch will allow us to serve that area effectively rather than working from Johannesburg. “We currently service Botswana and Swaziland. We have agents in Botswana that sell our products but we will also service that area from Johannesburg. A long time ago, we had an export department in Universal and we would export to Africa and the UK and we had a branch in Dubai but exchange rate problems forced us to cancel export activities. “We are looking at avenues into Africa, especially
Steel Merchants since 1986 Steel distribution throughout sub Saharan Africa
Shearcut Processing Efficient customer service Technical Processing Expertise and customer support ISO 9001:2008 certified Processing includes Sheet & Plate Cut to Length, In-line multi-blanking and precision Coil Slitting
Visit us on www.bsisteel.com or contact us Tel: +27 (0) 11 8617608 |
Fax: +27 (0) 86 6752803
Email: jerry.govender@bsisteel.com | letitia.basiak@bsisteel.com
Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria and we are looking at setting up distribution in these countries but right now we are still in the planning phase and nothing is concrete yet,” says Breytenbach.
CHALLENGING TIMES Every business has faced its challenges thanks to the global economic slowdown and Universal is no different. Although the company has seen tremendous growth, it has also seen projects stall because of the uncertainty in the economy and tough trading conditions, especially in the steel market. “Towards the end of last year, there were a lot of greenfield projects that we started working on but when the time came to start breaking ground, a lot of the projects were put on hold. People pulled back and decided to wait until the end of the year before looking at it again. “Everyone has felt the pinch. With the exchange rate going up and down and the volatile steel prices, it is very difficult to plan too far down the track. The whole building industry suffers from the effects of the rand-dollar rates and steel price fluctuations. “If steel production slows, it can have dramatic effects on the prices as the market will have to look elsewhere,
“We are looking at avenues into Africa, especially Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria” to places such as Malaysia and Brazil, to import steel and that brings with it import duties and all the rest,” says Breytenbach. As mentioned above, even during the times of price fluctuation and exchange rate instability, the company has plans to expand but Breytenbach says that expansion will consist of movement into new markets, not into new products or services. “We can always look at international markets but we don’t want to take on too much in one go. For now we will focus on the African markets and as we grow we can look at exporting again. “Competition in Europe is tremendous; they have fantastic automated facilities and can often make products a lot cheaper. We are working towards automation but we still rely on manual labour. “Shelving and racking is our core business. JUL 13 PAGE 5
company report
We have an R&D department so we can look at improving our products but we will not move away from our core.” It is this core activity that made Universal so popular over the years so it is no surprise that the company will continue to focus on what it knows. Too often we see companies diversify away from their core activities unsuccessfully and Universal will not fall into this trap. The future holds continued investment in quality and a focus on meeting customer requirements. “All of the manufacturing takes place under one roof at our headquarters in Johannesburg, Strydom Park. Everything that we sell gets manufactured here. “What separates us is quality. The way we manufacture and the quality processes are second to none. We have a lot of experienced people and this assures the customer when it comes to products. We are obviously competitive on price as well and we spend a lot of money ensuring we deliver the best product,” says Breytenbach. This is an industry that is becoming more and more important to the South African economy and as the country continues to develop and levels of consumerism PAGE 6 JUL 13
continue to increase, companies have to ensure they are controlling their stock in the correct way with storage obviously playing a huge part in that. Breytenbach concludes by telling us that effective utilisation of warehouse space is now a vital part of business and can become invaluable to any company. “With the growth of the population comes growth of the amount of products needed. Everything from medical to food has to get to the customer faster and more and more distribution centres are popping up. Wherever you have product, you have to store it and as land becomes more expensive you have to utilise all the space you can, you’re not paying for air. The design and use of distribution centres is now integral to the country.”
.
“Wherever you have product, you have to store it and as land becomes more expensive you have to utilise all the space you can, you’re not paying for air”
Nero Steel cc has over the past nine years become one of the leading manufacturers of mezzanine floor’s and related structural steel products in SA. This success has been in large due to fundamentally sound relationships been formed with our customer who buy and sell our products to the end user within the South African materials handling industry. This in turn creates a reputable and reliable source of supply which is delivered to the end user at a great value for money price. We believe that success is only really achieved with the formation of sound partnerships between ourselves, our customers and suppliers that ensures sustainability into the future. To date we have been involved with over eight hundred mezzanine floors of small, medium and large sizes. We have done and continue to do work indirectly for the nationally and internationally recognized companies with astounding success. We have also been involved in high profile projects and have provided structural fabrication for the King Shaka Airport situated just outside Durban. Two of our flag ship projects have been a 3500m2 mezzanine floor for the Grafton & Everest factory in Durban and a 2900m2 mezzanine floor for the Bravo Sleep Products factory in Johannesburg, the latter being a monumentally high single level “simply supported� structure at a height of 7.3m. Nero Steel conforms to all SABS codes of practices relating to structural steel fabrication and SEMA codes and works in close conjunction with our independent professional engineer to ensure integrity, compliance, functionality and value for money designs that will not let you down!
+27 11 793 1111 www.universal-storage.co.za
(0)1603 618 000 info@industrysa.com East Coast Promotions Ltd, Ferndale Business Centre, 1 Exeter Street. Norwich, Norfolk NR2 4QB