Arandis textile making a go of it

WHILE Namibia’s largest textile factory says it is struggling to survive and threatening to close its doors in Windhoek, a much smaller textile operation at Arandis says their business is thriving.

The future of Ramatex is dangling by a thread as the factory and Government remain tight-lipped on negotiations to keep doors open and save around 6 000 jobs. But owners of small textile factory Dantago Clothing are gearing up to expand production.”The contrast is uncanny,” say husband-and-wife team Colin and Belinda Williams, owners of Dantago Clothing.Only recently, the factory secured an export order from South African retail chain Pick ‘n Pay to produce children’s garments.The order will see Dantago Clothing running at full capacity until November.”We are fired-up and ready to expand our workforce beyond the 78 people currently employed so we can quickly gear-up and take on more work,” said Colin Williams.His wife Belinda adds: “It will mean fast-tracking training of newcomers, but we have the industry expertise in-house and capacity to do so.”The Pick ‘n Pay order is the first for Dantago Clothing which in the past produced clothing for Foschini and Pep Stores.Earlier this year, the factory moved ‘up-market’ when it secured its first order for retail group Woolworths.Dantago Clothing works on a cut-make-and-trim basis (CMT) which means the client supplies the fabric and patterns but the manufacturer actually makes the garment, supplies the labour, trimmings and packaging.Local consultancy firm SMEs Compete, which focuses on helping Namibia’s small and medium enterprise (SME) sector grow business and create employment, says small local producers have been successful in catering for niche markets.”It is naïve to believe that local producers of clothing can compete head-on with manufacturers from the Far East and South East Asia,” says SMEs Compete’s Danny Meyer.The owners of Dantago Clothing have bemoaned the fact that they bear the full cost of training staff and say that despite being the largest employer in Arandis, their firm does not benefit from support programmes offered to fledgling industries in the apparel and textile sector.But they say they will continue to expand their client base and are already planning another trip to South Africa to knock on the doors of other clothing retailers.Meanwhile, the future of the Ramatex Textile factory remains uncertain, and the Ministry of Trade’s Investment Centre would not discuss reported foreign interest in the factory when approached by The Namibian this week.Government has turned down an offer by the Malaysian company to buy the factory.Ramatex says its future in Namibia is uncertain because of low productivity and poor income.But owners of small textile factory Dantago Clothing are gearing up to expand production.”The contrast is uncanny,” say husband-and-wife team Colin and Belinda Williams, owners of Dantago Clothing.Only recently, the factory secured an export order from South African retail chain Pick ‘n Pay to produce children’s garments.The order will see Dantago Clothing running at full capacity until November.”We are fired-up and ready to expand our workforce beyond the 78 people currently employed so we can quickly gear-up and take on more work,” said Colin Williams.His wife Belinda adds: “It will mean fast-tracking training of newcomers, but we have the industry expertise in-house and capacity to do so.”The Pick ‘n Pay order is the first for Dantago Clothing which in the past produced clothing for Foschini and Pep Stores.Earlier this year, the factory moved ‘up-market’ when it secured its first order for retail group Woolworths.Dantago Clothing works on a cut-make-and-trim basis (CMT) which means the client supplies the fabric and patterns but the manufacturer actually makes the garment, supplies the labour, trimmings and packaging.Local consultancy firm SMEs Compete, which focuses on helping Namibia’s small and medium enterprise (SME) sector grow business and create employment, says small local producers have been successful in catering for niche markets.”It is naïve to believe that local producers of clothing can compete head-on with manufacturers from the Far East and South East Asia,” says SMEs Compete’s Danny Meyer.The owners of Dantago Clothing have bemoaned the fact that they bear the full cost of training staff and say that despite being the largest employer in Arandis, their firm does not benefit from support programmes offered to fledgling industries in the apparel and textile sector.But they say they will continue to expand their client base and are already planning another trip to South Africa to knock on the doors of other clothing retailers.Meanwhile, the future of the Ramatex Textile factory remains uncertain, and the Ministry of Trade’s Investment Centre would not discuss reported foreign interest in the factory when approached by The Namibian this week.Government has turned down an offer by the Malaysian company to buy the factory.Ramatex says its future in Namibia is uncertain because of low productivity and poor income.