Management of Sicad South Africa, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sicad Italy, ascribes the company’s success over the past 25 years – as a local manufacturer of high-quality and cost-competitive self-adhesive tapes for the carton sealing and packaging, stationery and DIY sectors – to investing in world-class people, technology and systems.
‘We are a business driven by family values with a management team that is passionate about tape and people, and values employees as assets. This is reflected in a dedicated workforce with a staff turnover of almost zero and an approach that backs them 100% because we know that a happy and content workforce will support our goals and boost our long-term success rate,’ remarks director Robby Burns. ‘During the height of 2020’s Covid pandemic, for instance, we stood together by not retrenching or short paying staff and issuing 13th cheques when sales improved in the final quarter. This speaks volumes about the company, which was guided by a dedicated doctor who examined staff and helped us control the situation alongside optimised protocol measures.’
MD Chris Kruger, who took over in March, is being mentored by Robby. He headed up the operational and technical functions at the Germiston manufacturing facility for six years, and adds that with a strong succession plan in place and a company built on solid foundations, everyone knows what to do. ‘Our flat management team structure enables quick and effective communication as well as responsiveness to situations and opportunities. The exceptionally knowledgeable and highly productive sales team, headed up by Gina Pereira in Johannesburg, Nivesh Sewpersadh in Durban and Vishal Mahadev in Cape Town, embodies the fact that Sicad understands customers’ needs, is easy to deal with and offers a flexible approach,’ Chris asserts. ‘They are backed up by increased stock holding capacity and two extra delivery vehicles that cater for customers who order more frequently and value quick turnaround times.’
Sales manager Gina Pereira continues: ‘We are always striving to expand the Eurocel tape range to meet evolving technology and customer needs. Innovation is backed by on-site customer product training and factory tours for knowledge improvement, as well as international technical support and an in-house laboratory to assist with quality control measures plus customer testing requirements.’