In a recent ceremony, liner and cover manufacturer Power Plastics beat off some strong competition when they walked away with an award from Pretoria Portland Cement Company Ltd Coastal Division (PPC) for Best Supplier in the Small Enterprise category at an event recognising outstanding service within PPC’s supply chain.
“We are thrilled to have received this accolade from such a large industrial player and feel it is a tremendous achievement for an SME such as Power Plastics. It is also a good measure of our market position as well as our agility and capacity to win such a large first-time contract with tight timelines and still exceed expectations,” says Caryn Formby, director of Power Plastics.
The contract on which the award was based was for an order of 2700 branded PVC pallet covers for the protection of PPC’s cement in transit and to provide enhanced visibility of goods in-store. The turnaround time was demanding at 14 weeks.
When judging the awards, PPC uses stringent criteria that include general work ethic, BEE status, the administrative and sales functions associated with the contract, the ability to innovate and apply niche skills to the demands of the order, the quality of end products as well as pre-order samples and the supplier’s national footprint. The overall willingness to go the extra mile in ensuring complete satisfaction is a crucial factor too.
“These awards pay tribute to the fact that our suppliers are critical to our own success in delivering superior products. It is a rigorous and highly competitive environment out there and we need to be able to depend on our suppliers. Excellent relationships within a trusted network go a long way towards survival in this economic climate and Power Plastics is an exemplary example of this,” says Ginger Singh, Area Manager for PPC.
“On winning the contract, we impressed upon our production team the magnitude and importance of the order for Power Plastics, got their buy-in and immediately went into overdrive, laid on extra shifts and knuckled down to business,” says Formby.
“What particularly impressed us was how Power Plastics, despite being a SME, didn’t shy away from this massive order. They stared it in the eye and if they were intimidated, they certainly didn’t show it!” says Singh.
While PPC is a major industrial enterprise, the organisation will favour and support smaller players where they are aligned to PPC’s policies on local empowerment and skills development.
“We invited similar plastics suppliers to pitch for the contract but they felt they simply could not meet our demands on quality, quantity and turnaround times. Would PPC use Power Plastics again? Absolutely!” says Singh.
Specialising in the manufacturer of covers and liners, Power Plastics’ production facility is geared to both long- and short-term production runs. Other covers and liners include fumigation sheets, container liners for goods in transit, dam liners, branded scaffold sheeting and thermal covers.
“Completing this order took drive and motivation and was a good example of what can be achieved with strong team work. Kudos to our production team – I’m always extremely proud of them and the award merely validates the scope of our people and their skills sets,” concludes Formby.
