Armadillo Concepts

Source: Manufacturing Digital

Date :03/07/2008 16:57:50

Safe and sound

Written by Fiona Nicolson and Produced by Rahim Ali

Armadillo is a Spanish word meaning “little armoured one”. These animals are well known for their tough, protective shell. And like its namesake, the Gauteng-based company Armadillo Concepts has a reputation for keeping things safe. The difference is that their “shells” protect the contents of cars and homes.

The company, which has its roots in South Africa, where its product line is conceptualised, has two main products, both created from a similar concept. The Armadillo is a secure and weather resistant roll-top cover for open vehicles, such as pick up trucks. It has been developed specifically to close the load bin area on the back of the vehicle, in essence creating additional and safe storage and creating a “boot” for the vehicle.

The original concept has also been adapted to create aluminium roller shutters, as a security feature for homes.

Better than expected

Both products are proving extremely popular. “Last year, we exceeded our expected turnover by R6million,” says managing director Lola Robertson. “We’re consistently exceeding all of our targets,” she adds.

The Armadillo product is selling particularly well, with Robertson explaining that sales all of Armadillo products are increasing by as much as 30-40 percent, year on year. She adds that its biggest market is the UK, where it has been very pleasantly surprised by the level of demand there: “It was way beyond our expectations,” she says.

The roller shutters are being snapped up too: “We only acquired the brand a few years ago, but the shutters are already selling even better than we anticipated,” says Robertson. “In the first quarter of this year alone, demand has risen by 22 percent.”

Robertson believes the secret of the company’s success lies in delivering the best product possible: “Quality is our guiding principle,” she says. “It is ingrained in everything we do. It is what drives us, gives the company its competitive edge and maintains our position in the global marketplace.”

Global expansion

The global marketplace is one of the company’s current considerations, as the next step is to enter additional international markets: “We are in the process of setting up a distributor in New Zealand,” Robertson explains. “We already have a presence in Australia, but the New Zealand market is completely new to us.”

The plan is to start small. “Our initial goal is simply to achieve a foothold, of even just one percent of the market,” explains Robertson, who has the US market in her sights too: “We are looking to launch in the US within the next two to five years.”

New international markets are also in the pipeline for the roller blinds, currently available only in the company’s home market of South Africa. “A company in Greece has recently demonstrated an interest and we believe this could be our first export customer,” says Robertson.

The Armadillo team

Behind every successful company and product there is a strong team and Armadillo Concepts is no exception. It relies on a highly skilled workforce to maintain its position in the market. “Our product is assembled manually, so our people are our main asset,” explains Robertson.

Armadillo Concepts employs a total of 89 permanent staff and another 12 who work for the company on a temporary basis. However, it has experienced the same labour market difficulties as many other companies in South Africa. “We came up with a plan to manage the labour shortage situation,” says Robertson. “We decided to ‘up-skill’ our assembly line staff, which means that all of them can now handle any task within the entire process. The result is that whenever we are short staffed we can keep productivity losses to a minimum.”

Competitive advantage

It’s not just the assembly line staff that makes a significant contribution towards the achievements of Armadillo Concepts. Another of its strengths is that it has “a particularly good research and development team”, Robertson explains. “Product diversification is key to the ongoing progress of the company, so the knowledge and experience of our R&D team is vital in identifying alternative applications for our products,” she adds. “Broadening our product range further is an area we intend to focus on in the year ahead.”

And it has already made a start. The team has created an alternative application in the form of an automated swimming pool cover, which allows for a pool to be covered with a light aluminium surface when not in use. This keeps the water clean and reduces water evaporation. “The product is in development at the moment and a couple of pool covers are being trialled,” Robertson says. “We expect to begin marketing towards the end of the year, once the testing is complete, and we have had the chance to make any necessary adjustments arising from the development process.”

Leadership

A good team is nothing without the right leader and Robertson is well-placed to understand the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. She joined Armadillo’s procurement department in 2000 and before long was promoted to procurement manager. She subsequently moved up through the ranks, as the company grew, before being promoted to the position of managing director in 2006. The result is an in-depth knowledge of the workings of Armadillo Concepts, gained from the ground up.

The future

Robertson recognises that there are significant corporate challenges to be overcome, as she outlines her view of the immediate future for the company: “We are anticipating a drop in demand for Armadillo products, because of the rise in petrol prices,” she explains. “Instead of spending money on enhancing their pickups, people are downsizing to smaller cars instead, to save money.”

However as one roller door closes, another one opens: “We expect the huge increase in demand for our roller shutters to continue, as people seek to protect their homes, so we will concentrate on maximising the potential of this product.”