Background

In June 2004 Flexi Fleet, a division of Imperial Capital and Leasing acquired the manufacturing works of Clover SA. This division was responsible for the manufacturing of vehicle load bodies for the primary and secondary distribution needs of Clover SA including the manufacture of stainless steel milk tankers and glass re-inforced plastic (GRP) van bodies. Over the next 2 years the manufacturing division known as tanker builders embarked on building mild steel products for specialised uses such as cattle carriers and glass carriers. The business was characterised by mainly tanker manufacturing and a variety of low volume non-standardised mild steel bodies at its manufacturing facility in Heilbron. The manufacturing processes and procedures were largely job-shop driven and on-time delivery was really of secondary importance as 90% of the revenue was from internal clients.


In 2006/2007, under the directorship of John Loxton, a decision was made to remove Flexi Manufacturing from its divisional role with predominantly an internal business orientation, to a national body building player. The question was how and through which business path. During this period the company underwent significant changes in organisational structure, transformation and manufacturing focus and increasingly, mild steel work was sourced from external clients.


During this period, the organisation was rebranded with the new Flexi Manufacturing logo and a new logo was developed. This logo encapsulated the business vision and mission of Flexi Manufacturing and became a symbol of the new business culture of Flexi Manufacturing – Excellence through Innovation!


Flexi Manufacturing has made significant changes to its manufacturing processes, business processes and customer interaction processes.

With 6% market share in the load body manufacturing business in 2007, Flexi Manufacturing has embarked on a systematic tri-helix development plan to capture further 14% over the next 5 years while concurrently, firstly exploring non-conventional manufacturing opportunities in the broader mobility sector. Secondly, an aggressive brand recognition exercise given that the market was not sufficiently educated to the capabilities and products of Flexi Manufacturing. The final part of the tri-helix approach was investment in product engineering and development and developing a strong engineering design and analysis competence as the foundation for new innovation and product development.