2 VENTURESUNDAY TRIBUNE MAY 04 2014

TUFBAG lives up to itsname as a tough player inan extremely competitivemarket.

The company makespolypropylene bulk bags thatcarry large quantities of drygoods of 500-2 500kg for themilling, sugar, chemical andmining industries.

Tufbag can churn out2.5 million bulk bags and1.5 million mine support bags ayear.

But managing director GarethJelliman says the bags don’t havestandard measurements. “Wework closely with clients to createpackaging solutions. Everythingis customised and everycustomer’s requirements differ.”

So the business relies on strongrelationships.

Jelliman says the operation islabour-intensive with the bagshand-made. There can be up to1 200 staff at the busiest time, atthe height of the sugar seasonbetween April and December.

This seasonality is balanced bybusiness with the mining sector.

The company has threemanufacturing sites – two inWestmead and one at Isithebe.

Logistics are handled in-housewith long-haul transportcontracted out. The company haswarehouses in Joburg and CapeTown.

Tufbag is vertically integratedwith raw materials sourced fromlocal manufacturers. Extrusionand weaving along with cut, makeand trim (CMT) are done in-house.

“We are proudly South Africanand don’t use imports,” saysJelliman.

Although the competition isstiff, the firm is able to take onrivals that source off-shore.However, this necessitatescarefully control of labour costsand overheads.

Tufbag is 35 years old and laysclaim to being the first big bagmanufacturer in South Africa.Gareth’s father Bryan, now semi-

retired, started Multi Tarp andBag in 1986 after breaking awayfrom his boss to start his ownbusiness. Over the years, hiscompany grew, eventuallydropping the manufacture oftarpaulins to focus on bulk bags.

Gareth Jelliman has been withthe company for 20 years. He“grew up walking around thefactory”, so joining the familybusiness was a naturalprogression. But he had to workhis way up from the bottom.

His younger brother Wayne isthe commercial director and hismother Bridget is chief executive.

“We are passionate andemotionally connected to thisbusiness and our staff. They arenot just numbers. We have secondand third generations of familiesworking here. A lot of peoplecame with my father when hestarted up and have been hereever since. We also have good

management on whom wedepend,” he says.

While building the business, hehas seen much change. Jelex wasestablished in 2001 as the supplierof raw materials to Multi Tarpand Bag and, as it became morevertically integrated, sought extramachinery to produce its ownbags.

In 2001, R38 million wasinvested in spinning and weavingequipment, the first major capitalinvestment in 10 years.

Tufbag was then their biggestrival, but in 2010 the Jellimanfamily got the opportunity toacquire the company.

This second major capitalexpansion brought with it themachinery they had wanted tobuy.

In 2013, the two companiesmerged and began trading underthe name Tufbag which, Jellimansays, was a far more apt name.

He says the merger was thebiggest challenge the companyhad faced and it took blood, sweatand tears to consolidate thebusinesses.

Although essentially a periodof inward focus, there was goodgrowth and Jelliman expects animprovement this year as thecompany implements a strongmarketing drive.

Much of the growth is expectedto come through new productdevelopment, which will includethe introduction of newtechnology and custom-designedbags suited to uses and sectors thecompany previously did nottarget.

An example is CemRite, aninnovative internationallypatented product sold to themining industry via a jointventure with Trimrite, the largestsupplier of timber-based supportproducts in the South African

deep-level mining industry. This has replaced the old

timber stacking system used inmines. Bags are takenunderground in a compact foldedformat, then filled with cementand slag reclaimed from minedumps.

These are stacked around atimber pole to form a cementcolumn to provide support inmine shafts – a lower-cost, better-performing product that is easierto handle.

Although this product isrelatively new and has beenmarketed for only the past fouryears, the company has operatedin the mining sector for 25 years.

Jelliman says the platinummining strike has hit his businesshard with 480 staff placed onshort-time for two months. But heis confident turnover will stabilisewhen that is resolved.

He says Tufbag is alwayslooking at other options.“Opportunities presentthemselves daily and we are in agood position to take fulladvantage of them.”

The company already exportsup Africa and to Peru, the US andAustralia. Jelliman says being inDurban means the firm isgeographically well positioned tosupply Africa and the broaderexport market. With theirnetworking in Australia beingramped up, they expect a salesboost there too.

He says further investment in astate-of-the-art laboratory and testfacility four years ago, to ensureproducts meet internationalstandards, should help in servingoffshore markets.

Jelliman says the facility notonly complemented the company’sISO 9001 certification but alsoenables them to do their ownresearch and development.

Above all, it proves they don’tcut corners. For example, aTufbag product designed to carry2 000kg must be able to handle upto 10 000 kg in a top load test.

In the factory with Tufbag managing director Gareth Jelliman, whose dad, Bryan – now semi-retired – started the original business. Picture: SHIRLEY LE GUERN

Ingenuity andgrowth help bagthe competitionIn an intensely competitive market,Tufbag customises to meet clientneeds, Gareth Jelliman tells Shirley le Guern