Northern Textile Mills Ltd. Fluffing up the towel business

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1 Fluffing up the towel business

2 Fluffing up the towel business Northern Textile Mills is the leading manufacturer of luxury towels in Southern Africa and the company has gone from strength to strength thanks to its speedy service and foresight of its founder Written by: Sheree Hanna Produced by: John Holliman >>> Periodically upgrading production lines to take advantage of the latest manufacturing technology has played a large part in promoting Northern Textile Mills as the number one towel manufacturer in Southern Africa. Since the business started in 1990, founder and Managing Director Mukesh Josh has ensured that the production process has benefited from the very latest machinery available, and this year the company is phasing in the factory s upgrade. We are making quite a major investment; spending about one million euros on new equipment from Europe and a further US$400,000 on new equipment from India, he said. We have always upgraded every five years, but this time it will only be three years since we last put in new lines as we are looking to increase our capacity. Range of towels The company, known as Nortex, started with just over 30 employees and now employs 500 people at its manufacturing headquarters in Francistown, Botswana. It 2 3

3 Fluffing up the towel business manufactures a wide range of high quality towels, including those used in homes and hotels to beach and baby towels. Josh, who is a Chartered Textile Technologist, started the business with his own savings, supplemented by financing from the Botswana Development Corporation and the International Finance Corporation. At that time Botswana had low skills and a high unemployment rate and the government was offering subsidies for training unskilled people. It was also seeking foreign investors and so I decided to start my business here, said Josh. Originally from India, Josh now has more than 36 years of experience in the textile industry and Nortex today boasts an annual turnover of US$18million. A knitting machine In an industry that has stiff competition from other towel manufacturers, Nortex has won its solid reputation by putting the customer s needs first and ensuring that deliveries are made on time. Josh said: We have a 97 percent strike rate. We deliver on time and that is why we have more customers coming to us because we can give them high quality products that are delivered right when they want them. Some of our competitors have failed to do this. Systematically at the top To help stay ahead of competitors, Nortex boasts its own tailored ERP system which has been developed by Josh himself. This technology is helping with our delivery service and assisting us to keep our costs down. I have personally developed the system which is not available on the open market. It is a fantastic system, he said. Being in a strong position to offer a top quality level of service has reaped the rewards for Nortex which boasts an impressive list of customers including Edgars, Sheet Street, Coca-Cola and Mr Price Group. In total, the company has more than 200 customers serving all the We are making quite a major investment and spending about 1 million on new equipment from Europe and a further US$400,000 on new equipment from India. Mukesh Josh, Managing Director major five-star, deluxe hotel groups including the Legacy, Holiday Inn and Southern Sun Hotel groups as well as a wide range of retailers from large chains to small independents. Sporting coup Another coup for the company has been the manufacture of sports towels where it has even had one of its designs patented in South Africa. We have designed a special towel for use in the gym with a small pocket in it which means the person using it has somewhere to place a locker key or a cell phone, explained Josh. Building strong relationships with customers is top of the company s priority list and it manages to do so through a network of sales and distribution offices. Nortex currently has six sales hubs situated in the major South African cities including Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban and similar set ups in the neighbouring countries of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mauritius. Our sales guys, under the leadership of our sales director David Eyres, are in constant touch with our customers, who can go online to see what stock is available Sizing process in action 4 5

4 Northern Textile Mills Ltd Fluffing up the towel business STATISTICS Guaranteeing Customer Satisfaction The largest manufacturer of soda ash (sodium carbonate) and salt (sodium chloride) in Southern Africa. We guarantee customer satisfaction, growth in stakeholder value and organisational excellence - and commit to the sustainable development of all our resources. Industry: Textiles T: F: M: / E: marketing@botash.bw Founded: 1990 Headquarters: Francistown, Botswana Rolling out the towels and what the response times for orders are, said Josh. Both David and I regularly travel to meet our customers too. Looking after its employees and the wider community is a responsibility the company takes very seriously. It helps employees financially by paying for dependents school and funeral fees, as well as offering a small loans service. It supports a variety of sports including sponsoring the local football team and running its own cricket team. It also gives support to the children of AIDS victims and runs initiatives which look after the elderly. 6 Water recovery Josh is also proud of the company s strong policy on sustainable issues and says Nortex is the only textile company in Southern Africa which recovers 90 percent of all the water it uses. Botswana is known for its water shortages so we endeavour to use only 10 percent of fresh water for our processing purposes. We also recycle salt used in the dyeing process and use environmentallyfriendly paper packaging, he said. We receive no government subsidies and we are doing it voluntarily although it costs the business about US$625,000 a year just in the water recovery alone. Five years ago, Josh divested his business interests and set up a small cement manufacturing company about 50km away from Francistown. He is in the process of expanding that business, which currently employs 150 people with a US$5 million investment in increasing its capacity. Now Josh is looking towards expanding the export side of the towel business by reaching out to Africa s northern countries. He said: Most of our business is done in South Africa, but now we are looking further afield at countries like Nigeria and Ghana. Key People/Titles: Mukesh Josh, Managing Director; David Eyres, Sales Director Products: Household, institutional and beach towels Revenue: 18 million USD Employees: 500 Website: Visit us online: 7

5 Nortex (Pty) Ltd P.O.Box 1508 Francistown Botswana Tel: (267) Fax: (267) Powered by: FIND OUT MORE >>