Kimberley Clothing
| Business Location: | Urban |
| Province | Northern Cape |
| Branch: | Frances Baard |
| Business Start Date: | 1999-02-09 |
| Busniess Type: | cc |
Business Dynamics and Challenges
Business Activities:
The business has design capabilities, a cutting room, high-quality sublimation printing machines, and
embroidery machines. This installed capability positions the business as a one-stop shop for schools,
sports organizations, government institutions, and universities for sportswear and workwear types of
garments. The business has a healthy customer base and generates income, but it has not enjoyed a
positive cash flow setting for the past five years.
Challenges/Needs:
Like many others, Kimberley Clothing was not spared from operational challenges. Amongst others, the
business did not use scientific methods such as throughput accounting and pricing and costing were done
using historical data. Additionally, the cost basis has not been amended on inflation in the last 5 years.
Some key challenges which affected operational efficiency were, low employee productivity due to
elevated levels of waste in the operation (time waste, double handling, long travel distances for garments,
zig-zag flow in the factory, etc.). Secondly, the enterprise used an inaccurate product costing system
leading to under-recovery of direct labour cost and factory overheads. Lastly, poor workplace organization
standards led to workplace waste like, time lost looking for items, and time wasted tracking order progress
manually through the factory.
Intervention Insights and Results
Intervention Details:
The Business Advisor assessed company operations and recommended a series of interventions which
would assist the business. The following interventions are recommended to improve the profitability of the
business:
✓ Improved product costing methodology, the accurate costing of labour, material, and factory
based on good accounting practices like throughput accounting. The use of throughput
accounting principles, where all the factory’s efficiencies and performance are considered must
be used to determine unit cost.
✓ Standard processing time the factory manning model and the fixed cost base are not being used
in product costing now.
✓ Productivity enhancement through capacity building, awareness creation, and driving waste
elimination initiatives like workplace organization (5S), activity sampling, and quality
improvement.
✓ Flow improvement through layout review.
✓ Goal Alignment and Visual Performance management to enable effective organization
communication channels
would assist the business. The following interventions are recommended to improve the profitability of the
business:
✓ Improved product costing methodology, the accurate costing of labour, material, and factory
based on good accounting practices like throughput accounting. The use of throughput
accounting principles, where all the factory’s efficiencies and performance are considered must
be used to determine unit cost.
✓ Standard processing time the factory manning model and the fixed cost base are not being used
in product costing now.
✓ Productivity enhancement through capacity building, awareness creation, and driving waste
elimination initiatives like workplace organization (5S), activity sampling, and quality
improvement.
✓ Flow improvement through layout review.
✓ Goal Alignment and Visual Performance management to enable effective organization
communication channels
Outcome Details:
The Productivity SA Business Turnaround and Recovery (BT&R) Programme in partnership with Sedfa has
been hugely successful in improving Kimberley Clothing’s turnover from R 9 526 024.00 in 2022-2023 to
R10 996 164.40 in 2024- 2025, which is a 13.34 % revenue increase.
The business recorded a net profit of R 717 449.00 in 2022/23 financial year and R 1 042 497,20 in 2024/25
financial year. The business employed 31 people in 2022/23 financial year and has since created 1 job
opportunity, thus bringing the total number of employees to 32 including the owner.
been hugely successful in improving Kimberley Clothing’s turnover from R 9 526 024.00 in 2022-2023 to
R10 996 164.40 in 2024- 2025, which is a 13.34 % revenue increase.
The business recorded a net profit of R 717 449.00 in 2022/23 financial year and R 1 042 497,20 in 2024/25
financial year. The business employed 31 people in 2022/23 financial year and has since created 1 job
opportunity, thus bringing the total number of employees to 32 including the owner.
Client Feedback
Client Comments:
‘As Kimberley Clothing we are grateful for the support received from both Sedfa and Productivity SA. The
positive results are there for all to see’.
positive results are there for all to see’.
