Material handling company CFAO Equipment South Africa has seen an increased interest from females that wish to enter the materials handling sector, which is largely perceived to be a male-dominated industry.

This perspective, says CFAO Equipment SA CFO Tammy Rosse, is “slowly changing”, as is evidenced by increasing interest in the company’s apprentice programme, which is aimed at developing and upskilling young talent, male and female alike.

Rosse was appointed CFO in April this year, after joining the company in 2015.

The most recent significant appointment, however, was that of the company’s parts manager in the Johannesburg-branch, which saw an African female manager appointed to the position as of August 1.

This, Rosse says, is indicative of “constant progression and focus in the recruitment process”, in spite of a slow uptake in the industry.

She explains that more than one-third (36%) of all managers in the company are female. This is a 22% improvement since 2017.

“We also have a lot of female technicians in the workforce, and they are highly skilled at what they do.”

With over 1 076 employees, CFAO Equipment SA enjoys a national presence via its four regional offices, including Johannesburg, Durban, Gqeberha and Cape Town.

This is further bolstered by an expansive dealer network in Southern Africa, comprising 11 sub-branches and 13 Toyota Material Handling dealers, with the farthest being in Mauritius and Madagascar.

CFAO Equipment South Africa forms part of the CFAO South Africa Group which also comprises CFAO Holdings South Africa and three other business entities, namely Toyota Tsusho Africa, CFAO Motors South Africa as well as Africa Mobility Solutions.

In a move to expand across Africa, CFAO Equipment South Africa intends to reposition its brand through an increase in stakeholder collaboration and integration, driving the recent rebranding and improved communication with Toyota Tsusho Africa (TTAF), in Japan, the company’s main stakeholder.

Owing to this relationship between the two companies, Rosse says the CFAO Group’s influence and footprint across Africa has assisted it in growing economies of scale within industrial equipment environments.

The continued support of growth, she adds, will provide further opportunities to open their doors to include more African females, especially.

These opportunities, says Toyota Industrial Equipment national sales manager Vuyokazi Bangazi, are being further expanded on following the group’s strong performance in 2021, following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Toyota Material Handling forms part of CFAO Equipment South Africa, which forms part of the larger CFAO South Africa Group.

“In 2020, there was low activity owing to Covid-19, which means that a lot of businesses ordered replacement stock in 2021 to ensure that they were ready for the expected post-pandemic demand,” she notes.

Leading up to 2025, the company intends to grow sales by 116%. Bangazi says CFAO Equipment SA intends to reach this by improving products, skills and sales expertise, as well as focus on assisting customers in Africa to “understand the broader range of our products and how they offer total solutions”.

In addition to this, Bangazi says the company will be focusing on leveraging the sale potential of the materials handling and logistics market and ensure that the company “enters the various African markets at the right times”.

“We also view this as an opportunity to improve on our internal processes and increase coverage on the continent,” she says, adding that the company intends to implement digital transformation strategies to further these objectives.

“Transformation and diversity is a key element of the strategy’s success, and we will therefore be focusing on improving broad- based black economic empowerment across our teams to ensure the right levels of diversity,” Bangazi elaborates.

Key to this, she adds, would be to employ the “right people” to ensure the team is highly skilled to drive the strategy moving forward.

Bangazi holds 19 years of experience within the materials handling industry, and has attained many achievements as a female in what is often deemed a “male-dominated” industry.

Waste Management

In addition to its materials handling capabilities, 600SA national sales manager Sonia Pretorius believes “the time is right” to advance the company’s waste management capabilities.

As a “proud” distributor of Orakci waste compactors, and thanks to an extensive relationship with the manufacturer, 600SA has been able to develop a South African-purposed waste compactor that has been designed to be user-friendly and low maintenance, and can met the challenges of the local industry.

“Government is embarking on new waste management legislations that promote sustainable initiatives in the industry, one of which is the upliftment of waste pickers – a job that contributes immensely to the recycling process,” she comments.

Pretorius has previously been acknowledged for cementing client relationships, stimulating new business and strategically securing accounts in these highly competitive sectors. She joined 600SA in 2011 as a sales manager and was promoted to national sales manager in 2020.

600SA also forms part of CFAO Equipment SA.