Having just celebrated its 110th birthday, Defy Appliances today finds itself Southern Africa’s largest manufacturer and distributor of major domestic appliances. From its head office in Jacobs, Durban, Defy offers to the consumer the full range of kitchen and laundry appliances as well as solutions in the room air conditioner market.
The Defy name first came to prominence during the 1920s, with the company producing the first electric stoves in South Africa in 1932. Defy has since taken a leading role in appliance manufacturing, pioneering amongst other things gas stoves, washing machines, tumble dryers, continuous clean ovens and convection ovens in South Africa.
“The operations in fact began in 1905,”says Rajan Gungiah, Defy Marketing Director, “as the brainchild of two gentlemen named John Skinner and Sir Benjamin Greenacre. What we now call our head office in Jacobs is where it all began, predominantly in the manufacture of quality cast-iron pots, as well as some roof sheeting and asbestos products. Over the years the shift into cooking appliances took place.”
“Even in its very beginnings the company looked to bring innovation to all the different sections of home appliances in order to transform consumers’lives,”says Gungiah of Defy’s overall objective. “This has remained a core facet of what we do, whether it concerns cooking, cooling or small appliances, a market we entered into just a few years ago. At each juncture we ensure that the appliance we introduce is environmentally friendly and will make a difference to people’s lives, allowing them to prepare, store or clean in the most effective way possible and with the latest available technology.”
Clearly, this is a market whose competitiveness has grown hugely during Defy’s lifetime, with its enduring success down largely to its local priorities, Gungiah says. “Our ability to locally manufacture most of the products that we sell in the market is fundamentally important, as it gives us the ability to constantly add new features and benefits and offer a better value proposition in a market which remains very competitive. We have poured a huge amount of time and investment into research and development which has resulted over the decades in our having relevant products that are competitive with the very best in Europe.”
“A massive focus on quality and consistency works alongside what is arguably the most comprehensive service and aftercare infrastructure in the country. It is so important that our customers know that they have the peace of mind of knowing that full backup is provided in terms of local parts and capabilities to resolve any issues or changes which may arise with their machines over time.”
Defy then is very much a South Africa-focussed business, but with extensive plans to grow its footprint outside of the country. “Probably 85% of our revenue, as well as the majority of our development focus, has been in the Southern African region and key countries on our borders. Our scope of responsibility however spans across the entire African continent, and so in time the company’s ambition and strategies are to develop those strategic countries within Africa.”
As Gungiah goes on to explain, however, this will only take place if a continuation of the work which has built up the Defy reputation is feasible. “We will pursue other markets only if it can be executed in a manner which will allow us to replicate the success we have had locally. If we were to do this in Kenya, for example, it would be crucial that we have the capability to dominate the market from a competitive point of view with our products and services.”
“We have identified a Defy ‘toolkit’, with which to build up our market presence, which comprises the right product aftercare and service infrastructure, people resources and local offices. We therefore keep our focus to where we can execute this in a flawless manner, which will include one or two new countries each year for the next ten in keeping with our expansion plan.”
“Opening up a new country comes with the full weight of Defy support. All of the localised infrastructure operated centrally from Johannesburg is decentralised into what works for that market.”
The scale of this planned expansion is being matched by Defy’s commitment to constantly improving its service offerings. “By the end of 2015 we will have seen investment of close to R 1 billion, to improve efficiency and in new technology primarily,”Gungiah details. “Around 95% of this has already been invested in upgrading all three of our plants, perhaps most notable among which is the massive new press we have installed in our Jacobs factory that improves our output by six times. That allows us to price competitively and continue to offer value to consumers.”
Amidst such large-scale ambitions has arisen the occasion of Defy’s 110 year anniversary, testament to its standing within the market, a rarely seen longevity whose importance Gungiah is keen to stress. “This is a huge milestone for us, and we are doing all we can to communicate to our consumers and our internal staff our thanks to each of them for their input as we celebrate Defy’s history to date.”
“We saw it firstly as an opportunity to energise the company from within. We have exceptionally high loyalty rates – average service levels are around 15 years – which means many people have been part of our success for a long time. All our activities, celebrations and offerings have been centred around 110 years. Secondly came a focus on our customers, who have played a central role in our success and development over this period of time. We have engaged individually with them around this event and even plan to take 22 of them to the Rugby World Cup this year.”
Perhaps most importantly, in terms of this landmark event, is recognition of the role played by Defy’s consumers in its story. “We have opted to extend the warranty on our cooling products from two to five years. This additional three years comes at massive cost to us as we are a major manufacturer in the country, but we can trust the products and we felt this would be of huge benefit to those who buy them.”
“We are incredibly positive about the future,”concludes Gungiah, and in particular from a penetration point of view. “We believe that there are some segments, such as dishwashers, where we only have a 7% penetration in the country, that hold massive opportunities for us to grow over the coming years. We believe that the investments we are making for Africa, outside of all the external factors which affect business performance like the economy and politics, give us a great foundation to expand and the signs point to even greater success to come.”