National Productivity SA Award for K-Way

K-Way athlete AJ Calitz.

"There is an important lesson to be learned from this," said Philip Krawitz, Executive Chairman of Cape Union Mart. He's the third generation of Krawitz' to captain the Cape Union Mart ship.

"For many years K-Way ran at a loss, but, instead of retrenching people or closing the factory, we felt we had an obligation to keep our people in jobs. We appointed Bobby Fairlamb to lead our manufacturing strategy, we acquired the best capital equipment and we invested heavily in training and upskilling our people. The lesson is that if you put people before profit, the people will reward you and the profit will come!"

Spectacular results

Krawitz said that for his company the results have been spectacular.

"Not only is K-Way a star profit generator in the Cape Union Mart Group, but this year we will produce some 500,000 'home sewn' garments, which our customers are snapping up in our 90 stores across South Africa, Namibia and Botswana," Krawitz added.

"Just visit a rugby stadium, go for a walk in the park, arrive at an airport or hike a trail and you are guaranteed to see someone wearing a K-Way garment."

Productivity SA's Productivity Awards, which have been granted annually since the mid-1970s, recognise the efforts of organisations in corporate and public sectors to increase productivity through better management and improved allocation of resources.

For news and products from K-Way, go to www.capeunionmart.co.za.