Providing more than
one million workers
– from security to
industry, construction,
mining and everything in
between – in South Africa with
personal and protective work
wear and equipment requires
military-style logistics planning
and execution, as well as very
reliable supply chain partners.
“We manufacture work wear,
safety equipment such as hard
hats, goggles, work boots as
well as a bespoke range of
corporate wear and we handle
a lot of our logistics in-house.
We therefore position ourselves
as logistics and distribution
specialists,” said the company’s
newly appointed CEO, Andrew
Robinson.
Robinson was appointed by
Kit Group founder and Group
chairman, Joe Pereira, to drive
the company’s next phase of
local and international growth.
“I started in my garage 25 years
ago, but I am not the brand.
The company’s brand lies in the
strength of its management,”
Pereira told FTW.
Today the company has
three off-site warehouses at
its downtown Johannesburg
premises where the clothing
and equipment is designed and
manufactured and where stock
is packaged and distributed to
the various on-site warehouses
the Kit Group manages on
behalf of its clients.
“We manage and control the
stock at our clients’ on-site
warehouses as well and have
designed an integrated IT
platform that provides full
visibility across the supply
chain, allowing us to accurately
monitor stock levels and
manage our distribution
schedule according to those
levels,” commented Kit Group
warehouse manager, Koos
Breytenbach.
He added that the clients
could access their own on-site
warehouses and draw stock
whenever they needed it, as the
warehousing system provided
immediate updates and there
was no need for manual
updates.
Breytenbach said the biggest
challenge faced by the off-site
warehouse was to get stock
packaged and shipped on time
to the client’s on-site facilities.
“But we manage because all
departments – from design to
production to distribution – are
in constant communication,” he
said.
Ensuring the security of stock
at the manufacturing plant and
the various warehouses is also
of paramount importance due
to the sensitive nature of some
of the uniforms that are created.
“We produce the majority of the
security industry’s uniforms
and we take every security
measure we can to ensure that
the stock is protected, including
a 24-hour monitoring system,
access cards and more,” said
Breytenbach.
The company has its own
f leet of vehicles for national
distribution, although it does
make use of an express cargo
service when required. However
it outsources its transportation
and clearing and forwarding
responsibilities for cross-border
Kit’s top logistics
pain points
Check list for logistics
providers:
• They need to ensure that the
certification and paperwork
is always up to date. This
includes manufacturing and
export documentation that is
often subject to change.
• They need to fully
understand the
manufacturing process. This
means knowing what goes
into a garment and being
able to answer queries from
customs officials during
clearance at borders.
• All clearing and forwarding
transactions and procedures
need to be completely aboveboard
and above reproach.
Integrity of doing business is
therefore paramount
• Transporters and clearing
and forwarding agents need
to stay up-to-date on any
changes around legislation to
ensure ongoing compliance.
and international distribution.
CAPTION
Kit Group machinists hard at work ... supplying
personal and protective work wear to more than one
million workers. Photo: Shannon Van Zyl
