While Kenya has identified the leather industry as among those to push its manufacturing sector, it is struggling to stem export and smuggling of raw hides and skins. 6 Feb 2018
When you think 'IoT', is your first thought newly affordable, available sensors being added to products after they've been manufactured? If it is, well I believe 2018 will change that perception as IoT takes a decisive step forward in its evolution. 5 Feb 2018
Textile company Mungo, founded 35 years ago by master weaver Stuart Holding, opened a new mill in November at the historic homestead of Old Nick Village in Plettenberg Bay. The Mungo Mill is the company's new thriving hub of production, comprising its design, weaving and CMT departments. 31 Jan 2018
In a world where disposable, mass-produced goods of dubious quality are wreaking havoc on the environment, there is a growing place for luxury goods that don't need to be constantly repurchased because of their unfortunate build quality. 22 Jan 2018
The manufacturing industry's role in the South African economy has seen a long and sustained decline: from contributing nearly a quarter of GDP in the 1980s, the sector added a mere 13% to the country's GDP in 2016. Job creation has also not materialised: after 400,000 jobs were lost following the 2008 global financial crisis, the sector failed to recover and today employs 300,000 people fewer than in 2008. 19 Jan 2018
SA's manufacturing output grew 1.7% in November from the same month in 2016, beating the economists' consensus of 0.45%, Statistics SA reported on Thursday. 12 Jan 2018
Despite the Absa purchasing managers' index (PMI) spending six months in contractionary territory, the Manufacturing Circle is adamant that manufacturing is SA's greatest opportunity for job-rich growth. 5 Dec 2017
The Manufacturing Circle has launched its 'Map to a Million New Jobs in a Decade', a plan containing constructive and actionable steps to create an environment in which manufacturing in South Africa can thrive and jobs can be created. 27 Nov 2017
Concrete sunglasses have for the first time been made available for commercial retail. The designer behind the range is South African architect Handre de la Rey, who was named the 2017 PPC Imaginarium Awards Industrial Design Category Winner for the eyewear, titled CS Project. 20 Nov 2017
For a short while, some time around 2014, it looked as if the clothing, textile, footwear & leather (CTFL) sector was beginning to recover after almost 20 years of crippling pressure from East Asian imports. 20 Nov 2017
Toymaker Mattel is celebrating Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad by creating and selling a Barbie doll in her likeness. Muhammad emerged on the world stage for her swordsmanship and accolades as the first American Olympian to compete while wearing a hijab. 14 Nov 2017
Chris Weylandt
In the afternoon on day two of the Johannesburg version of Business of Design, Chris Weylandt, founder and CEO of Weylandts, the contemporary furniture and décor chain store, explained his tactics to competing or rather leading in the retail game. 20 Oct 2017
When Tameron Haralambous asked her husband Peter to build a changing table for their nursery, she had no idea it would set them on the path to becoming award-winning furniture designers. 12 Oct 2017
South African factory managers were slightly less pessimistic in September than in August, with the monthly Absa sponsored purchasing managers index (PMI) rising to 44.9 points from 44. 4 Oct 2017
In today's on-demand retail landscape, manufacturers are undergoing massive changes to meet customers ever-increasing expectations. It's the new reality manufacturers face and those that don't integrate automation and smart technologies over the next few years risk becoming irrelevant. 8 Sep 2017
NEWSWATCH: Iconic Danish toymaker Lego is set to shed 1,400 jobs - 8% of its 18,200 global workforce - after suffering its worst financial performance in over a decade. 6 Sep 2017
Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), in conjunction with Economic Development Tourism & Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) and the Coastal TVET College in Hammarsdale, has completed its R2 million SMME programme with nine youth-owned rural co-operatives in KwaZulu-Natal. 23 Aug 2017
Manufacturing production increased in the second quarter of the year - indicating SA may be heading out of recession. 14 Aug 2017
Ellies CEO Wayne Samson. Image credit: Russell Roberts via Business Day
The 2017 financial year was "one of the toughest if not the toughest" in the history of Ellies Holdings, according to CEO Wayne Samson. 1 Aug 2017
Digital transformation, as we've come to realise, means something different in every industry. In manufacturing, the term can be broad-reaching, encompassing everything from automation and robotics, to fully-fledged ‘smart factories', all the way to the reinvention of the entire sector - captured in the ‘Industry 4.0' concept. 27 Jul 2017
Let's do Biz