From Leggings & T-Shirts to Masks: How we really made a transition from Athleisure to PPE in the Lockdown

From Leggings & T-Shirts to Masks for the people: How we really made a transition from Athleisure to PPE in the Lockdown

I walked into Dischem today. I was on a hunt for some very scarce Siberian Pine Nut oil. Although I?did find the bottle of oil following a very laborious search, what I unexpectedly came across was far more delightful than the precious elixir. My walk down the pharmacy aisle brought a flashback of a less casual time in my day-to-day work. I came across this pack of custom 5-Ply masks on the shelves; a product that Dischem commissioned to be custom-made by my team at Supafit Brand a year ago. Although only a handful of these products were on the shelves in the Sandton store I visited, the project saw the rollout of 2 million of these masks; a significant feat for a burgeoning Athleisure clothing company that was agile enough to pivot to PPE in early 2020.

First view of complete & packaged 5-Ply Masks for Dischem

Shortly after a wave of lockdown restrictions beginning in March 2020, my office had already made headway in research and development into cost-effective PPE for the local market. As early as January 2020, we had already received a growing number of calls from eager private and government clients in the search for surgical masks, among other items. Within a short timeframe, word quickly spread within industry circles that Supafit Brand had made the swift move to become a credible custom PPE supplier to frontline workers across Southern Africa. Among the patrons that caught wind of our great strides was a sourcing team tied to Dischem. This is a candid flashback of how this retail product came to life.

THE PHONE CALL THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

On a busy factory morning in April 2020, I received a call from a chief buyer/supplier to Dischem. After a very brief and phone call, we were on our way to our second non-Athleisure project since making our pivot to PPE production in early March 2020. The early Monday morning phone call went something like this:

“Hi, Louis are you guys busy at the factory? We have 2 million masks that need to be worked on. I know you and your guys have been busy working since early. We need you to come to the office to discuss the project. We need to start tomorrow…”

After the call, I made a snap decision and obliged. A resounding yes! What ensued was really a life-changing and ground-breaking project. Particularly for a young black-owned Athleisure outfit barely in its fourth year of operation. Over the next two days and a rapid-fire sequence of client meetings, I was tasked with the following:

1. Run a functionality audit of the current supply of imported surgical masks (from China);
2. Review and report on defects and limitations of imported stock;
3. Repurpose existing import stock into a new product;
4. Design a new breathable, lightweight but functional mask made for young and old;
5. Design the retail packaging for the product;
6. Source the packaging for the final retail product;
7. Produce samples for presentation to the client (within 2 working days);
8. Procure all the fabrics and other inputs requires;
9. Set up a brand new factory to execute the project (once sample approved and contract signed);
10. Assemble a new production and finishing team to execute the above.

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK

The deadline for this project was set for November 2020. There was a heightened sense of urgency for this project. Among other reasons for this pressure, the demand for consumer masks was at an all-time high: nationally schools were re-opening, and some non-essential work also resumed. Moreover, the government had recently published new technical regulations for suitable cloth masks to be worn by the public. We were caught in the unfolding of all these factors. From the client requirements, this implied an expected weekly production output of approximately 20,000 units of mask produced and packed. Was I nervous? Affirmative. Had I managed anything at this scale? Certainly, not. However, unshakable self-confidence, a Richard Branson-Esque ‘screw it let’s do it’, mentality, and a close-knit support structure enabled the Supafit Brand team to execute. Within a week from that initial phone call, what followed was:

• Design and sampling work of the mask;
• Procuring new factory equipment;
• Recruiting new staff;
• Designing a new factory workspace;
• Project management planning;
• Budget planning and legal administration.

Albeit after much much design and iterations, disagreement and improvisation and a slew of back and forth meetings, we finally received client approval. We got the deal.

Over the next week, we set up a new operation. Gladly I had first-hand factory establishment experience, having set up 3 operations prior. With the help of a dedicated team, we established an entirely new factory operation with brand new sewing and cutting machinery, fittings and furniture. With fruitful and long-standing relationships with suppliers, much of this process was project managed skillfully and swiftly over a few calls and emails. The sheer challenge of executing all of this high-value work under the more stringent lockdown operating environment was daunting but an opportunity for Supafit Brand to excel. Moreover, while our earlier lockdown projects were for private and government hospital-level consumption, the retail nature of this project brought on new demands and opportunities for our young factory operation.

True to my industrialist nature, I ensued and ensured that most of the tools, machinery and resources that we needed to employ would be locally sourced, and manufactured within South Africa. The practical approach our team took on included the hiring of:

• A local carpentry and shopfitting team to design and install all the cutting, sorting and packing tables and other furniture;
• A local electrician to source, design and fit all the custom components required to wire the new factory;
• A local labour force, with youths, largely coming from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and areas around Johannesburg;
• A local fabric supplier, who in the main was able to provide locally sourced polyester fabric to be used in the masks;
• A black-owned medical supplies company to do the fumigation and sanitization of our new workspace, and maintain the overall hygiene of our staff and the products produced.

These steps allowed us to create local employment and facilitate a COVID-proof business ecosystem early in from the project, even before the first mask was manufactured and delivered. Within a two week timeframe from inception, I managed the ordering of brand new machinery, and the procurement of all our fabrics and finalizing leases for the new factory space. Moreover, our early achievements included the employment of 20 full-time staff and an additional 15 part-time finishing, quality control and support workers. This is in addition to the delivery and logistics team, that was responsible for getting the product from our facility to the client warehouse. With all of the above in place, by the end of the 1st month of production, we delivered 20,000 units of our custom-make masks weekly.

NEW ROLES & REDEFINED INDUSTRIAL GOALS

As we got the project underway and began delivering the masks weekly, as seen in the image below, the teething problems gradually ameliorated and a new factory was up and running. I quickly settled into a new role as a fully-fledged PPE and Athleisure factory creative director

During this delivery period, we were met with various growth challenges and setbacks on one hand, as well as triumphs and opportunities on the other. At a personal and professional level, the inception, production and delivery of this project, (which I am grateful to see in various Dischem stores nationwide) brought more growth in a short space of time than I could have garnered elsewhere during this period. Although most of the in-depth experiences would be too lengthy to fully detail in this brief piece, I had the pleasure of sharing the process and story as it unfolded. I had the pleasure of sharing my experiences and insights candidly with one of the fastest-growing South African urban culture podcasts titled?The Dojo.?For more candid and first-hand details on this project and my entrepreneurial experience during what The Dojo titled the ‘COVID Economy’, check out my insert at The Dojo on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, here:

Spotify:?https://bit.ly/thedojointerview

Apple Podcasts:?https://bit.ly/thedojocovid