Plumbing Africa Plumblink's first hundred stores | Page 7

store size. “In tandem, we developed a
warehousing and logistics capability to
supply stock on an automated ordering
basis. It’s a simple but highly effective IT
system and is improving the efficiency
of our operation,” explains McFarlane.
He attributes the simple effectiveness of
its IT system as having underpinned the
group’s phenomenal growth in recent years.
Branch managers can also do ‘remote
sales’, placing an order with the regional
distribution centre, arranging delivery directly
from the DC to the customer with his branch
credited with the sale. This avoids double or
triple handling of product and speeds up the
delivery process for the client.
The system offers reporting statistics on
a daily, weekly and monthly basis, giving
management an excellent dashboard
of what is happening in the business in
virtual real time. McFarlane says, “Our
measurement has driven the performance
which has come out of the company.”
A further evolution of the model was for
Plumblink to supplement its range with its
own Plumline product range, sourcing it both
locally and abroad. McFarlane says there are
still many more geographic areas where the
group can expand or where, like Rosebank,
it has not yet found suitable premises. A
handful of stores still require upgrades.
It has simplified its regional structure,
reducing its regions from nine to four:
Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-
Natal and the rest of the country combined
as Inland.
of the past three years: Gary Chandler,
Luvuyo Mgidlana and McFarlane himself.
“These awards are, in reality, team
awards rather than the individual’s alone.
Our success comes from the loyalty of
our customers; from the support of our
suppliers who assist us when times are
tough and of course, most importantly,
our staff, whom we’ve promoted from
within as a rule. The Exco team have now
been together a long time and a great
understanding has evolved between us.”
McFarlane says the company is earning
enough profit to fund an expansion rate of
10 to 12 new stores a year, especially with
Bidvest backing it, and before it, Ethos,
when that rate of expansion had also been
the norm for the company.
New opportunities
There is now an exceptional and stable
executive committee, says McFarlane, and
in Bidvest it has a holding company which
recognises ability. Three of its Exco have
won Bidvest’s Group’s ‘Outstanding Person
and Contribution of the Year’ award in each
The contracts side of the business
has come under extreme pressure,
common with the rest of the formal
construction industry, which is in the midst
of a contraction with many contract-
sector projects in distress, cancelled
There are several prerequisites to a site:
it must be easily accessible, and critically
must have dedicated parking directly
in front of the store as plumbers can’t
shoulder geysers and pipes through a
parking lot. This latter point is the major
reason Plumblink has struggled to find
appropriate premises in some built-up
areas such as Rosebank.
Head office team.
www.plumblink.co.za
Plumblink - Proudly Bidvest
Your local plumbing store
5