Distributor: Recession Increases Price Pressure
FEATURE
Master distributor UPL Socket Screws (Pty) Ltd. in Johannesburg
“The competition has become more price intense since the recession,” Daneel Herselman observed of the current South African fastener industry.
Herselman, general manager of the Boltfast seven-branch distributorship based in Cape Town, finds more competition with smaller, new distributors opening. “It has a quick impact on the market with their low operating cost,” Herselman said in an interview with GlobalFastenerNews.com at the Cape Town headquarters. “But they can’t always maintain those lower prices.”
Boltfast seeks to “provide solutions, not just a quick buck,” Herselman added.
A key to Boltfast’s success has been “expertise and focus on services. We have stock available with one stop shipping.”
Many South African distributors “fear keeping too much stock,” Herselman finds.
• Boltfast’s fasteners primarily come from Taiwan or China. There are a limited amount from Europe and the United States.
Today two-thirds of Boltfast sales are to end users, including manufacturing, mining, boating and marine OEMs. Boltfast’s specialties include stainless steel fasteners.
• South Africa has imposed anti-dumping duties on bolts, nuts and set screws, Herselman noted.
Founded in 1983, Boltfast has grown to a distributorship with seven branches in South Africa.
Boltfast was acquired by a publicly held agriculture-based company, Overberg Agri Ltd., in 2007
.
Herselman came to Boltfast from Overberg. He started as Boltfast’s finance manager in 2007 and last year became general manager. Web: BoltFast.co.za ©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com
• Subscribers may read the full Boltfast story from the FIN interview with Daneel Herselman by clicking here.
• Nonsubscribers may purchase the full Africa fasteners article – including interviews with a manufacturer, master distributor and a distributor – by clicking on Article Store.
• Visit FIN PHOTOS for photos of the three fastener companies.
Related Stories:
There are no comments at the moment, do you want to add one?
Write a comment