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SA exporting jobs and importing goods, Lasher Tools warns

25th October 2019

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Human capital is the cornerstone of any successful commercial venture and is the foundation of economies, but South Africa must insist on the fairness and parity of imports to ensure that local businesses are not lost to cheaper and lower-quality imports, says local tool-maker Lasher Tools marketing manager Albert Louw.

Lasher Tools, which celebrated its ninetieth anniversary, took the media and guests on a tour of its factory in Wadeville, where 900 employees produce shovels, wheelbarrows, pickaxes, machetes and spade forks, to highlight the quality of its products and the jobs production sustains.

Emphasising the importance of the quality of productive tools, Louw notes that Lasher is the only local manufacturer with inspection, testing, verification and certification multinational SGS accreditation for its shovels and wheelbarrows.

He highlights the impact of good-quality tools in supporting productivity, even in the case of nonmechanical tools, such as shovels and wheelbarrows.

“A test of our machetes against a common import in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, empirically demonstrated that using our tools helped people to produce 30% more bales of grass in a given time than those using imported machetes. Our machetes also last about 42 times longer than the imported tools.”

Lasher shovels achieved similar productivity levels, he adds, highlighting that the size of imported shovels is about 95 mm × 90 mm, compared with Lasher’s shovels of 110 mm × 100 mm.

“Not only is there less material used in the manufacturing of each competitor shovel and, consequently, less soil moved with each shovel- ful, but our shovels also last nine times longer than the competitor products.

The prices for our shovels, compared with those of the competition, are two to three times higher, but our tools are more durable and more productive.”

This is the value proposition Lasher aims to sustain, he adds.

“Despite unfair competition from improperly declared and intentionally undervalued imports impacting on our market share, we have not instituted any retrenchment proceedings. Instead, we reduced the length and number of work days to ensure that our operations and our people’s jobs are sustained.”

South African Revenue Services commissioner Edward Kieswetter acknowledged this problem at the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations when he stated that getting the correct valuations of cargo was a key challenge.

Lasher – which, Louw adds, is one of the most faked tool labels worldwide, having identified 170 different copied versions of its tools – has won import duties for five designations of imported competing products.

However, Louw emphasises that, beyond unfairly competing and lower-quality imports, the heart of the problem relates to the local retention of human capital and economic capabilities.

“We are exporting our jobs and importing goods that make our remaining local companies less productive. Lasher is a firm believer in supporting local companies, including ensuring the integrity and quality of products and their direct impact on our clients’ businesses.”

Local companies and especially small businesses cannot afford to buy cheap, because of replacement costs, downtime and productivity reduction associated with using poor-quality tools, he adds.

The company sources its steel from local steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal and its polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate from oil major Sasol.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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