K-WAY

Cape Town is home to manufacturers of one of the world’s most popular outdoor apparel brands, K-Way.

The factory in Ottery is the manufacturing arm of Cape Union Mart, Africa’s biggest outdoor retailer and a Cape Town institution since 1933. Around 1980 Arthur Krawitz, the second-generation leader of the business, decided it needed to secure its own sources of local supply and in 1981 it acquired the Hepworths manufacturing operation, which later became K-Way.

“We’re proudly Cape Town,” says K-Way general manager Bobby Fairlamb. “This city is one of the best places in the world for garment manufacturing. It’s the clothing manufacturing hub of Africa. The skill and dexterity of the people in this industry is impeccable.”

The K-Way factory shop is staffed by about 200 people, aged between 18 and 55. The men and women on the production line, says Fairlamb, are the company’s most valuable asset. “They’ve built this brand.”

But things haven’t always been smooth sailing. “During the late 1990s, there was a trend in the industry that started hurting clothing manufacturers,” says Fairlamb. “Retailers started looking outside the borders for better product. Because we were in closed environment, our innovation and ability to make good products was stifled. People looked to China and got product at better prices. Our industry took a hammering.”

The tide turned in 2005, however, a year after Fairlamb joined K-Way. The company adopted a “lean” manufacturing programme, introduced to the industry by professor Mike Morris, director of Policy Research in International Services and Manufacturing at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT’s) School of Economics.

“The lean idea was a game-changer,” Fairlamb says. “We did a number of study tours and saw industries that had implemented it thriving. There are three aspects to ‘lean’ manufacturing: firstly, culture – to make people feel valued and know that their input is appreciated; secondly, innovation – to continuously improve, and thirdly, reducing waste. These are all easy concepts to speak about, but it was quite a journey to get to where we are today.

“We were fortunate at the time as the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) was offering incentives to the industry to improve infrastructure, upgrade machinery and training to implement lean manufacturing. The City of Cape Town was also very involved, assisting us throughout the process.”

Clothing and textiles is Cape Town’s strongest manufacturing comparative advantage industry. The industry continues to be a major employer in the Cape Town economy, employing 30 521 individuals – the second largest employer within the manufacturing sector.