OK, the company
name Markweld doesn’t quite add up when one is making sheets and
blankets. “Well, we used to do metal fabrication… now we do textile
manufacturing…the principle is the same it’s just the material that
is different.” Any inclination to scoff at what might seem to be
extreme reaching fades when listening to earnest Vipul Patel talk
quietly, but with evident pride, about his family factory in Lumumba
Road. “Everything comes from Zambia…from the cotton seed to the
finished blanket or sheet!”
I had difficulty
understanding Vipul’s father, Ishwar, a Gujarat Indian who has been
in Zambia since 1971 (especially when getting directions over a
cellphone) but there was no mistaking his enthusiasm either when it
came to what the family had achieved with Markweld. In just over two
years, the Patels have taken a textile factory that had been
standing idle for twelve years (ex United Fabrics), repaired the
machinery and started manufacturing; supplying hospitals, retail
outlets, government stores and ministries with sheets, and business
is booming. “This is just the beginning!”
With
export-quality yarn supplied from the Copperbelt, the Patels are
currently manufacturing sheets, kitchen towels and baby blankets but
plan to expand further into uniforms (an eye on military contracts)
and curtains. And touring the factory floor with Vipul looking at
the rows and rows of heavy machinery; ”We employ over 50 people here
and like to train our workers to multitask so that we don’t have
people standing idle during the different phases of manufacturing.
In fact we’ve had problems with some of the textile workers that we
have employed with previous experience as they were accustomed to
specialising in one aspect of the manufacturing process only…a
change of mindset. We even encourage the knowledge of machine
maintenance! We keep the floor open so that people can learn more.”
Vipul’s younger
brother, Brijesh, is studying Textile Technology…all part of a grand
plan to have a smooth running and highly productive factory that
will be able to export to neighbouring countries in the foreseeable
future. I can believe it, these folk aren’t shy to work and it
shows.
April
2007
With
export-quality yarn supplied from the Copperbelt, the Patels are
currently manufacturing sheets, kitchen towels and baby blankets but
plan to expand further into uniforms (an eye on military contracts)
and curtains. And touring the factory floor with Vipul looking at
the rows and rows of heavy machinery; ”We employ over 50 people here
and like to train our workers to multitask so that we don’t have
people standing idle during the different phases of manufacturing.
In fact we’ve had problems with some of the textile workers that we
have employed with previous experience as they were accustomed to
specialising in one aspect of the manufacturing process only…a
change of mindset. We even encourage the knowledge of machine
maintenance! We keep the floor open so that people can learn more.”