Archer full capacity op by March 2016

04 Oct, 2015 - 01:10 0 Views
Archer full capacity op by March 2016

The Sunday News

textile

Roberta Katunga, Senior Business Reporter
LEADING Bulawayo textile company, Archer Clothing is set to develop a wide range of leather products over the next six months after opening a leather factory amid revelations that refurbishment of the last three production areas will be complete by January next year.

In response to e-mailed questions, Paramount Garments group financial director Jeremy Youmans said Archer Clothing would reach full operational capacity by March next year with a staff complement of 850 workers. Paramount Garments, a Harare firm now owns Archer Clothing. The company employs 631 workers.

“We have started a leather factory there as well as making leather work gloves and we will be building this up and developing a wide range of leather products. After completion of the production areas refurbishments, we will be operating at full capacity,” said Mr Youmans.

He said the main factory upgrades were now complete and that the textile company (Paramount) would be extending its ISO 9001 Quality Assurance certification to Archer over the next six months.

“Ever since Paramount garments took over Archer clothing we are happy with the progress we have made. So far so good,” he said.

Mr Youmans said in addition to increased production next year, six new lines would be added for the Archer and Salty leisurewear ranges. He said they were hopeful of maintaining their level of orders.

“We are looking to sell these ranges around the region utilising our current distribution set up. However, the ongoing devaluation of the Rand and Euro against the US Dollar is extremely concerning and if there is no correction, we will have to look at more and more ways to cut costs to remain competitive. Obviously, cost cutting is harder and harder to do, the more you do of it. We aim to focus on producing quality goods, under our own brands, which are readily available and well serviced, to mitigate against market pressures on price,” he said.

The company is exporting mainly work wear to South Africa which was Archer’s biggest market this year, a position that was previously held by Germany.

Archer is also exporting to other countries in the region that include Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi as well as Germany internationally.

Recently power company, Zesa announced a new load shedding schedule that will see the supply of electricity being cut off for about 18 hours during the worst times, a situation that has led to manufacturers losing an estimated 20 percent of production time daily.

On the issue of increased power cuts, Mr Youmans said Archer had a standby generator which could fully power the factory.

“We are exploring switching over to solar power as a more sustainable solution,” he said adding that this was, however, still in its infancy at this stage.

Archer Clothing, which was placed under judicial management in 2010, slipped out of the mire this year when the High Court approved its purchase by Paramount Garments after a protracted standoff among creditors divided on its future direction.

Paramount has set aside $5 million to recapitalise the company over five years.

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