Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
GIANT Bulawayo clothing manufacturer, Carousel, is set to ramp up production, targeting approximately 60 000 units this month in anticipation of the festive season.
Carousel managing director, Mr Manfree Tanyanyiwa (left) explains the increased production at the giant Bulawayo clothing manufacturer factory
As a division of the publicly listed retail clothing group Edgars Stores Limited, Carousel stands as one of Zimbabwe’s leading clothing suppliers, specialising in men’s casual wear, women’s attire — including suits, dresses, blouses, and pants — and children’s casual wear.
The festive season is viewed as one of the profitable time for businesses to boost sales and also strengthen customer loyalty.
During a visit to the Carousel factory in Bulawayo’s Donnington industrial area, last Wednesday, the facility was bustling with activity, employing over 500 staff members.
Production at giant Bulawayo clothing manufacturer, Carousel
This production increase coincides with a recent investment of US$1,2 million in modern machinery, which has already begun to enhance production capabilities and create additional job opportunities.
With some of the new equipment already delivered and installed, Carousel aims to escalate its output from 35 000 to 100 000 units per month by the end of the year.
Production at giant Bulawayo clothing manufacturer, Carousel
In an interview, Carousel managing director, Mr Manfree Tanyanyiwa said for the month of November they were targeting to produce about 60 000 units.
“Our plans for the month of November is to produce something upward of 60 000. Which would imply we are doing about 15 000 per week, which is a major shift from what we used to do.
“A few years ago we were doing nearly 2 000 units a month, so doing 15 000 units a week is quite a big game changer. This has become possible because of the level of automation that we have done as well as the level of employment we have pushed through the factory,” he said.
Production at giant Bulawayo clothing manufacturer, Carousel
“The employment numbers have gone up and we are hoping that we can continue to increase them as the weeks go by. In the short term we are hoping that at some point we will get to our vision of producing a 100 000 units a month especially so during the high summer trend.”
He said they had a very healthy order book to support the levels of production for the last quarter of the year of nearly 150 000 units they want to produce between October, November and December.
Mr Tanyanyiwa said they were happy with the level of support they were getting from the retail chains, while they were hoping and praying that the rains do come.
Production at giant Bulawayo clothing manufacturer, Carousel
“With rains always comes a bit of optimism in the retail space. When the rains are good people are optimistic of a good harvest and the spending power tends to be better,” he added.
“There has also been an announcement around civil servant bonuses that payments will start in November, when there is quite a bit of liquidity in the market it tends to help drive up sales.”
Production at giant Bulawayo clothing manufacturer, Carousel
He said as they ramp up production they were banking on meeting targets and even going beyond ahead of festive season when sales are likely to be high. In terms of the reintroduced Express Chain unit, Mr Tanyanyiwa said they were going to offers less expensive products to cater for the low-end market and position themselves for expansion.
The development comes at a time when the retail clothing sector has been experiencing a resurgence in the market, shrugging off stiff competition from an influx of informal second-hand clothing vendors.
“Express stores have been launched in Harare and are yet to be rolled out throughout the country. The desire is to provide the market with new clothes at competitive prices that can compete with the cheap imports. This is not just affordable clothing but it is new, unlike most that is sold on the informal sector.”
