remembering
the past
part 2
Colin Anderson
I was very proud of Plumblink. It, and every person that worked for the company meant the world to me - we worked together to make it a true success.
Fond Times
I was very proud of Plumblink. It, and every person that worked for the company meant the world to me - we worked together to make it a true success. We were a very happy crowd right until the end when I left.
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The Industry
During the years in which I worked with the group, we provided plumbing supplies to every large building from Pietersburg to Cape Town. We were the biggest, and the company is still the biggest supplier in the country. We worked on contracts such as schools and apartment blocks. We were the only supplier that knew what to do when it came to big projects. In the building industry, it is a very difficult to supply plumbing to large projects such as hospitals and schools. If you don’t know what you are doing, you are heading for problems. Even when it comes to supplying for houses; if the plumbing is not done correctly, you will have big problems. Supplying the right material is very important, and it is very important to ensure you are leading the pack by sourcing new products worldwide and finding new technology.
Greatest Achievement
Plumbing is not the easiest business to be in. My greatest achievement is changing people’s thinking to work together for the
100 year anniversary
company - to become the biggest and best plumbing supplier countrywide; to keep up with the latest trends in the world; and, to be able to serve the plumbing industry with whatever, whenever and wherever. We had to know when to stock and destock and we needed to keep in touch with the manufacturers, because they play a big part in the business. We had to produce a constant ‘on time’ delivery. Our biggest problem was product knowledge. When clients ordered from us, it was phoned through to a person who, at that time, had no product knowledge and, therefore, it was essential to implement extensive product training. Products constantly changed, and it was important to keep them up-to-date on the latest products. From a suppliers view, supplying on credit, was, also, a problem. Changes also occur within the sector and, it is was great, as long as it is was managed. To this philosophy, I was CEO of Plumblink for six wonderful years.
Best of Luck
I would like to congratulate Plumblink on reaching a wonderful milestone. Here’s to the next hundred years. I was very pleased that I was part of the structure that finally became Plumblink.