If you didn’t hear anything about the supplier expo that was hosted in Cape Town recently, then you’re in luck because Business Tech Africa attended it.
This was the annual supplier expo hosted by The Building Company which is a mother company to Buco and Timbercity. Long story short, it’s a hardware lover’s paradise.
The event was hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in the heart of a very windy Cape Town. Attended by over 300 exhibitors, the two-day event saw suppliers engaging and competing head-to-head all in a bid to outdo the next. But this was healthy competition. Everyone knew their products really well. Let’s see who was there.
Guy Lawson, Director at Excelsior Paints said they were attending the expo to show people what they do and mostly to inform the public about the history of the company as well as the products they offer.
“It’s always been a family-owned business. It was founded in 1937 by Walter Rauner who was a German immigrant, this was just before World War 2. He came over and founded a company called Excelsior Paints. It grew over the years, and he got a partner in 1974 who bought the company. My father joined in 1994. From one family it went to a second family to a third family. We manufacture decorative and industrial paints; we supply throughout South Africa. We are based in Johannesburg, Industria West.”
Lawson then explained their range of selected paints that were being showcased at the expo.
“We have specialized care for metal paints. There are products specializing in all your metal care. Then we have a wood care range, that’s to protect all your wood, and you can see all the marketing material that comes with it. These are some of the specialized products that we offer. The big ones are your decorative paints which are used for painting roofs and your walls”, said Lawson.
Their Satin Roof Acrylic paint was showcased and it being a decorative paint, has a life expectancy of 12 years. It comes in a wide variety of colours. Lawson said this product was one they are actively promoting. Another product they had on display was their Weatherflex fine textured flexible coating paint which would normally be used for exterior walls. This product has a 12-year life expectancy also, just like the roof paint.
“We also have another specialty which is the cement and stone, paving and stone sealer. It’s clear and can be used for your decorative painting. We do a wide variety of products, including epoxy floor paints, stoep enamel, roof paints, we do automotive paints, quick drying enamels. We have about 2 000 products that we manufacture.”
When asked what his highlights for the expo were, Lawson said they are there excited to go head-to-head with their competitors.
“The perception is that people normally know one or two of the large paint companies. We want to show that we can stand toe to toe with our rivals that are also big international companies even though we are not so well known. We also want to showcase that we can offer quality products at affordable prices where the retailer can make margin and the consumer gets a reasonable selling price. We offer value for money, especially in this trying economic time.”
Another company that made its way to the expo was Copper Tubing Africa. Their business scope is the selling of steel pipes, steel products, pipes, plates, building materials, profiles, stainless steel materials, non-ferrous metal materials, and mechanical parts.
Mike Steenkamp (Branch Controller Port Elizabeth) and Gary Laing (Operations Executive), were the chosen representatives present at the expo who explained why they were at the expo and how their products are made.
“So, the core of our business is copper. We take pride in copper, it’s what we do, it’s what we are. It’s the main part of our business. Everyone who knows CTA knows copper, so we try and emphasize that here at the expo”, said Steenkamp.
“Copper has two main sizes which are your 15mm and 22mm are the ones that you find in every household. Should be in every household. Your mains that come from the street uses it so that water can run through it, into your taps in your home, into your bathroom as well. Every household needs copper.”
“We are actually a manufacturing business. We buy raw copper, we melt it down, and we produce the desired product. We manufacture the highest-grade copper tubing for use in domestic, refrigeration, industrial and medical applications. We have a factory based in Johannesburg which produces copper, and we have branches in Durban, PE, and Cape Town. We have a good footprint. We are very happy to have Buco and The Building Company on board.
Chief Information Officer at The Building Company, Nabeela Essa, said she was excited to showcase a new invention called the 2so App (pronounced Thuso App) to the suppliers and delegates at the expo.
“The 2so App is a mobile application that we developed on behalf of our customers. It is aimed at small to medium contractors. On the 2so app, you can schedule work, manage projects, purchase, see all the pricing, you can even have a cash collection feature on the app if you don’t have an account. What’s very exciting on the app is that you can quote your customers so as a contractor, I can fill in pricing from the Buco catalogue, put a mark up on it, add your own logo and send to customer as contractor,” said Essa.
“The app was the brainchild of the internal team at The Building Company. We worked with a company called The Autonomy, they did the coding for us. It’s all about helping our customers be better and more successful because if our customers are successful then we will be successful too.”
Essa said they started developing the app two years ago, adding that it took that long because of how tough it is to launch technology solutions in the building space.
“I think sometimes people would just see what you mean when you talk about the concept and being able to see it in action is very rewarding. I’m very excited about it because we are showcasing it to everyone today.”
“As a painter on the app for example, I can quote my customer on a paint job, and get pricing from Buco and automatically place an order for the materials all at the click of a button.”
When coming to the name, Essa said the app was named in an effort to get people to work together.
“Marketing helped come up with the name, it’s about working together. We played on the two there with the number two, so it’s called the 2so app.”
“I think people who are not here are missing out on a lot of great products and a lot of great solutions, 2so being one of those solutions. There are a lot of technologically advanced solutions here and I think people in the building industry should start looking at things differently and start thinking about things differently which I think the industry is lacking a bit in that area,” concluded Essa.
The annual supplier expo was a one-of-a-kind opportunity to introduce new and existing technologies into the building industry.
