AFRISAM SUPPLIES NEW BLACK-OWNED, MARKET-SHAKING MALVILOX TILE PLANT
AfriSam has partnered with black-owned roofing solutions company Malvilox as its cement supplier for the new tile making operation in Chamdor
Technology, transformation and a niche opportunity have been brought together in the recent launch of black-owned roofing solutions company Malvilox, which looks set to become a success story in the Department of Trade and Industry’s Black Industrialist Programme.
Having set up its factory in Chamdor, Krugersdorp in Gauteng, Malvilox has installed cutting-edge technology to manufacture concrete roof tiles in one stream of the business, and lightweight steel trusses in a second stream. Together, these elements make up an innovative roofing system for affordable housing projects – with 18 months of future orders already secured – as well as other segments of the building industry.
The face of this pioneering initiative and economic transformation is Alwyn Cronje’ senior, who has over 30 years’ experience in the building sector and specifically in the building materials manufacturing sector. Malvilox’s executive chairman and managing director is serial entrepreneur and change activist Xolani Qubeka, who has more than 25 years’ corporate business experience. He is the founder and former chief executive officer of the Small Business Development Institute (SBDI) as well as founder and chief executive of the Black Business Council (BBC).
Cutting edge technology has been installed at Malvilox’s Chamdor factory where concrete roof tiles are being produced using cement from AfriSam
In collaboration with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the DTI, Malvilox raised R80 million for the establishment of its factory and infrastructure, which will employ some 75 people and create a cost effective contribution to tackling the country’s housing backlog.
The project has been many years in planning, with the first presentations made to the IDC in 2014. After intense scrutiny of the business case and a full due diligence study, including a detailed market assessment, the first IDC funding approval came through in 2016 with subsequent support by the DTI BI Programme. The production site was occupied in late 2017 and preparations have been proceeding apace.
Sharing Malvilox’s empowerment philosophy and South Africa-focus, AfriSam has partnered with this new venture as its cement supplier for the tile making operation. With its 100 tonne cement silo erected outside the Chamdor factory, AfriSam will bulk deliver about three times a week to meet the operation’s requirements. Conveniently, the AfriSam Roodepoort plant is just a few minutes down the road, and each tonne of cement will allow the production of 1 000 tiles.
AfriSam is the chosen cement partner for black-owned roofing solution company Malvilox
“It is an exciting opportunity for AfriSam as a wholly South African business and proud Level 4 Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment company to partner with a home-grown innovator like Malvilox,” says AfriSam key accounts manager Vincent Erasmus. “We collaborated closely during the planning and establishment phases of this facility, and look forward to taking our partnership forward as this exciting business grows and evolves.”
Malvilox’s roofing package will initially serve mainly the demands of Gauteng’s mega-cities, where affordable housing must be rolled out rapidly to keep up with the province’s high levels of urban migration. The province is South Africa’s largest market for roof tiles, demanding some 500 000 tiles a day from producers. The scope for growth in concrete roof tiles is still substantial, as only 26% of roof covering comprises concrete roof tiles with most of the coverage provided by sheeting and other roof covering material.
The Malvilox production line will produce a new and improved design concrete roof tile which is lighter, but as strong
The factory is strategically located in terms of mega-city developments currently underway in the south and west of Johannesburg, mainly Carletonville, Daggafontein and Vereeniging. This means production for the next ten years will probably be focused within a 100 kilometre radius. Within the next five years, there is also considerable expansion planned for Mogale City, which will represent another 20 000 living units.
The development of the Malvilox facility comes at an opportune time, as procurement regulations for building sites are required to have 30% black supplier input, a philosophy that also made AfriSam the obvious choice when the company was choosing its cement supplier.
The attractiveness of the tile option is clear, as it is cheaper than sheeting when compared in square metres of coverage. The challenge had been to overcome the cost of the structure – the trusses – and this has now been achieved.
Malvilox’s package offering represents both a cost and a time saving, while providing local content in both the manufacturing and the assembly of the components.
The high-tech, digitally driven Framecad equipment produces the lightweight steel trusses and battens according to each specified design, pre-punched and cut to various component sizes producing strong trusses delivered in kit form that can be quickly and easily assembled on site. A 45 square metre RDP house requires only eight of these trusses. Weighing just 28 kilograms each, the trusses are easier to lift and place than the conventional timber truss.
AfriSam’s role in the Malvilox project was to ensure the optimal cement specification for the tile factory
The strength of the trusses – which can be locally assembled on site using high tech screws – allows them to easily bear the load of the 600 or more concrete tiles that are required on each RDP house, giving each unit a solid and attractive roofing structure. To promote worksite efficiency, the roofing system – both trusses and tiles – can be installed on an RDP house by four people in as little as an hour.
AfriSam’s role in the project included working with Malvilox to ensure the optimal cement specification for the tile factory. The production line produces a new and improved design concrete roof tile which is lighter, but equally as strong. The reduced weight facilitates more economical transportation and easier handling on site, and the tiles will carry the SABS mark ensuring customers of consistent quality.
The world-renowned Protile system makes up the backbone of the tile factory’s production facility, and was installed by local agents Jessop & Associates. The tile production plant includes the cement silo, sand hoppers and conveyors that feed an automated roof tile extrusion machine. Specialised cable conveyors transport the tiles to racks, which are moved to high tech insulated heated curing chambers for approximately eight hours before the concrete tile can be removed from the pallet, then strapped and stacked.
The world renowned Protile system makes up the backbone of Malvilox’s tile factory’s production facility
Looking to the future, the Malvilox model can potentially be applied in other markets, and scaled according to the demands of those markets. The company expects to roll out a national footprint as there may well be interest in smaller centres around the country where mega-cities are planned. Indeed, relative to the Chamdor plant, Malvilox is planning to demonstrate that even smaller, more affordable plants like this could be established elsewhere in South Africa – significantly fragmenting the current market and creating access for new entrants to the construction sector.
For further information please contact:
Maxine Nel, AFRISAM
TEL : +27 011 670 5893
EMAIL : maxine.nel@za.afrisam.com
www.afrisam.com
