K-WAY MANUFACTURERS: Deep-Rooted K-Way Thrives in Tough SA Climate
K-Way Manufacturers is providing South Africans with clothing that stands up to the elements, allowing people to keep hiking, running, climbing, and camping, whatever mother nature brings. Made in Cape Town, and sold through Cape Union Mart, the brand is as strong as they come. GM Bobby Fairland tells Enterprise Africa more about growing a lean fash-tech business.
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For 90 years, Cape Union Mart has been a South African retail stalwart, present and recognisable on the highstreets around the country, through rain and shine. Its brands are well-known for performance in the outdoor environment, across street, forest, mountain, and river, always encouraging that sense of adventure that exists in everyone.
Under the Cape Union Mart umbrella is K-Way, a brand that promises ultimate performance in the elements. Technical, practical, and versatile, K-Way is South African-made and favoured by locals who trust that when K-Way says ‘waterproof’, it means it.
Crafted in Cape Town by K-Way Manufacturers, the brand has grown since its launch in 1981 to take the outdoor market by storm, and GM Bobby Fairlamb tells Enterprise Africa that few can compete with the expertise on show in the Ottery factory.
“The word we use to describe our product is ‘fash-tech’ – it is fashionable technical clothing,” he says.
“There is a traditional need for warm jackets, windbreakers and rain jackets but we have taken it to a new level, making it modern and fashionable. We have introduced fresh colours to ensure people look good, but we always keep the technical features so that the end user still gets what they require from the garment.”
K-Way is not a fashion business, he adds. There are no ‘run-of-the-mill’ products for general consumer categories. “The basis is all technical clothing, and all of our products are highly researched and tested. We have a full laboratory to test every raw material that we buy to ensure it meets the standards that we tell our customers it will. We test water resistance, wind protection, colourfastness, and wearability. We have a full design and product development team that works hand-in-hand with the retail buying and design teams, and they come and spend time in the factory to look at the next stage of development for the next season – it’s a continuous process. We are always trying to make sure we have at least 30% new product every six months.”
The portfolio is robust, including expedition coats, shell jackets and pants, ski jackets, puffer coats, fleeces, boots, sleeping bags and much more. Cape Union Mart has always been a retailer focused on long-lasting, strong, well-made products that are as useful as they are beautiful. In fact, the company’s establishment came when founder Philip Krawitz decided to open an outlet for servicemen and tourists passing through Cape Town, requiring products to keep them warm and dry on their travels. Today, Cape Union Mart is more than 200 stores across South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana, and K-Way features in all.
TAILORED GROWTH
Clothing and textile manufacturing remains a key sector in the Cape Town economy, contributing significantly to formal employment and well-known for quality output. K-Way is proud of the set-up it has developed, and Fairlamb highlights the impact on the region.
“We have around 350 people in the factory, and outside of that, in external Cut, Make, and Trim businesses (CMTs), there is probably another 100 people employed full time on our products,” he explains.
“We have a production facility that makes everything from scratch. When a product hits the factory floor, we can turn it around in six weeks but we are always planning at least 12 months ahead to fill our capacity. We like to make sure we are never sitting at a standstill.
“We try and do as much as possible inhouse but we do have a couple of products that are made by SMMEs that specialise in certain products. We give them the design and they produce for us to finish for the retail customer.”
Designs, concepts, and stylings are handled by the local team, with K-Way always encouraging innovation and research to stay at the cutting edge of the industry.
“We are continually developing new products and evolving products. We have taken on young design students to complete their internships and they bring new thinking. We have had an interesting year with some really bright minds coming through,” says Fairlamb.
“Our factory places a big emphasis on health and safety, and we have an international rating to measure ourselves against best-in-class, despite not supplying to international markets.
“We are strict in our supply chain and we look for local companies that are BEE compliant. We always deal with companies that are compliant with international standards around labour practice. We also look for companies that can supply eco-friendly raw materials. We are using a lot of recycled materials in our products and some of our main products are completely recycled. As an outdoor focused company, we like to push that agenda as our customers are like-minded in supporting eco-friendly products.”
Some fabrics that are not manufactured locally are imported, but the focus on quality tops the agenda when searching for partners – all input must be appropriate and stand up to the task for which it is deployed.
TURNAROUND
Fairlamb is pleased with the current state of the business, but it hasn’t always been warm and cosy. When he was asked to join the business by third-generation family owner of Cape Union Mart, Philip Krawitz, K-Way Manufacturers was not in a good place, not competitive, not innovative, and not sustainable.
“We were losing money,” he remembers. “The owner was under pressure. He asked me to stop the leakage and try to break even.”
Krawitz did not want to close K-Way and sacrifice 160 jobs. He was keen on putting people above profits and tasked Fairlamb with a turnaround.
At the time, the textile manufacturing space in South Africa was struggling. As the country embraced democracy and freedom in the post 1994 years, the world opened up as restrictions were lifted – South African retailers could search internationally for the best products, and this meant pricing in the East became attractive. “Our industry had not kept up. We were not competitive and not able to supply retailers with what they wanted.”
Fairlamb had grown up in the industry, working across a number of different roles, and he understood the complex nature of running a factory while supporting successful business.
“I realised that we must change and there was new cluster that had just been formed called the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster (CTCC). This was headed by a group who came out of the automotive industry and realised they could share their experience of lean manufacturing with our industry.”
When, in 2009, the government introduced industry incentive grants that allowed for the purchase of new machinery for manufacturers that added value in the sector, K-Way invested and started to embrace lean principles. These ideals promote improved production, reduced costs, improved quality, and increased profits.
“It transformed the business. We became very successful and we started making money. In the second year after I joined, we broke even and then we started making profit. We have been profitable ever since and that has been a massive achievement. It has justified our existence and we have learned a lot.”
No one was retrenched through the tough times, and the company continues to grow, searching for new talent to drive business.
The people above profit mantra continued through the recent trials with the Covid-19 pandemic. While many retailers knee-jerked into redundancies, K-Way and Cape Union Mart were clear about the value and assets in the companies.
“During Covid, every single member of staff within certain thresholds earned their full salary even though we were sitting at home for six weeks. Everyone was paid in full, and no one was retrenched. Even those earning more, who took a small hit, were eventually repaid what they missed out on.”
Now, K-Way runs a sewing school, an internship programme, and a partnership scheme to help build local CMTs and other potential supply chain partners. Building people is a key ethos that runs through this business, which is ultimately a people-focused entity.
CONSOLIDATION
Currently, K-Way Manufacturers is consolidating. The business has grown extensively alongside Cape Union Mart and is busy developing exciting new products for the next season. No new factories are planned for the short-term, but Fairlamb is keen on continued efficiency and productivity improvements.
“We have expanded rapidly, growing from 160 to over 300 people, and taking on the CMTs,” he says.
“When we had 160 people, we were doing around 25,000 units annually. Now, we are doing more than 600,000 units. The growth in product has outpaced the growth in people but our efficiency and productivity has improved. We place a big emphasis on training and development, and also incentivising staff.”
At the same time, K-Way is promoting sustainability by offering repairs to its products. One of the only brands in the country to offer cost-effective repairs in the same factory that manufactured the product originally, this genuine attempt to make products last longer and go further highlights the ambition of the company and its owner to improve sustainability through a philosophy around reduce, reuse, and recycle.
“We do around 1000 repairs each month and if someone stands by the braai and gets a small hole – where they would usually have to throw that jacket away – we will repair it for a small charge. It’s cumbersome for us but it’s really appreciated because it keeps products alive and is much more sustainable,” details Fairlamb.
“We have a store in Cape Town where we have put a repair station in place for people to drop in garments for repairs which can sometimes be done immediately. It’s a great story and a great selling point for our products.
“We actually have different colour patches applied to jackets and people wear them as a badge of honour, proving that they haven’t simply thrown a jacket away just because it had a small rip.”
Fairlamb is a believer in the power and skill in the local industry and is desperate to see further growth of not only K-Way Manufacturers but also of the textile manufacturing sector which has been so important for creating opportunities the Western Cape. “Our internal training school is focused on developing employed and unemployed unskilled youth to uplift and guarantee the future of our industry.
“It never seems to get easier,” he smiles. “Covid knocked everyone a lot and there has been a lot of rethinking and repositioning from everyone. We continue to fight the good fight, and we have been successful.”
How to guarantee further success and keep both customers and retail partners happy for the next 90 years? Fairlamb is looking internally.
“Our focus is on our people – we put them first while delivering a product that stands up to what we say it will,” he concludes.