SCCI Business Awards 2017 - Penlac voted best manufacturing firm for second year running |14 December 2017
For the second consecutive year, the paint manufacturing company, Penlac Co. Ltd, has been voted by business members of the SCCI from the private sector as the best manufacturing industry in Seychelles.
The SCCI Business Awards gala event was held at Eden Bleu Hotel on Saturday December 9. The award was presented to the company’s chief executive Gafoor Yakub and his team of five staff, each representing a specific department within the company.
The Minister for Investment, Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation, Wallace Cosgrow, and the SCCI interim chairman Oliver Bastienne, did the honours of presenting the award to Penlac.
When asked why Penlac deserves such a win for the second year running, one of the Penlac participants at the awards ceremony, Christopher Roucou from the colour mixing department, was quick to say that “compared to other manufacturing industries, Penlac has a very determined workforce. Penlac has a good mix of young and older staff whose performance and high labour productivity have helped increase our production and meet the increasing demand for our Penlac paint products”.
Adding to this comment, the production supervisor, Ericson Bellard, said that “in my view the company deserves to win because it is one of the few companies that offer ‘free’ technical advice, guidance and application tips to its customers both before and after sales”.
Mr Bellard said “we often go on site visits to assess the situation and provide customers with lasting solutions to their painting woes or problems”.
The laboratory technician, Eddy Sinon, who also attended the awards ceremony on Saturday, joined in the discussion and said “Penlac has been consistent and maintained high standards. We conduct quality control tests on all batches of paint that we produce. We are able to offer our customers with a customised solution to their painting requirements”.
Elaborating on that customised part, Mr Sinon said that “our company can match or reproduce any colour that a customer wishes to order, as long as he/she provides us with a sample of it. That is one of the reasons why we deserve to win the award”.
Another factor that may have led to the company being awarded best manufacturing is the fact that it has not only maintained its high quality and consistency, it has kept its product prices stable.
Mr Yakub said “Everyone knows the cost of fuel and certain raw materials used in the paint industry have gone up in recent years, plus our exchange rate has been depreciating against the US Dollar, making imports more expensive. But we, at Penlac, have been careful not to increase our selling prices for the last 7 years since 2010. We have managed to survive by providing a stable, steady price to our loyal customers, and in doing so we have benefited by the marked increase in the volume of our sales.”
Penlac of course faces stiff competition from imported paints from abroad but the management claims it has maintained, if not increased, its market share.
Penlac prides itself on having been able to adjust the chemical formulae of its products to cater for the local climatic conditions and high humidity, unlike most of the foreign imported brands that are being manufactured to suit dry or drier climatic conditions which imply that some products may not be suitable for the Seychelles climate.
“That is why it is important for the Seychelles authorities to exercise better surveillance of imported goods rather than the current laissez-faire attitude when it comes to maintaining adequate standards and quality,” says Mr Yakub.
Contributed