Pride Mzarabani
HARARE – AXIA Corporation says its Restapedic bedding business can lift output to 10,000 beds a month without major spending on machinery, as it targets average production of 7,000 beds a month in F27.
Group chief executive Ray Rambanapasi told FinX that Restapedic’s existing factory can already make 8,000 to 9,000 beds a month, and that running extra shifts could take it to 10,000.
“The facility that is there is good enough to take us to eight, nine. We believe if we are to do shifts, it can take us to 10,000 beds a month from a production capacity point of view,” he said.
The F27 target is up from about 5,500 beds a month in F26. Rambanapasi said hitting it would need no new machinery or equipment. The main requirement is working capital to buy and stock raw materials.
“So the only investment that will be required is working capital in terms of buying the raw materials to fund that,” he said.
Restapedic sold 65,264 beds in F26, up 24%, while revenue rose 30%.
The bigger constraint is timber. Shortages have pushed the company to import some of its timber and look for new suppliers. Rambanapasi said local supply has improved since the end of August, but Restapedic will keep building alternative sources to protect production.
That puts the pressure on working capital and raw material supply rather than the factory. With the plant running well below capacity, Restapedic can grow volumes by using what it already has, provided it can fund the stock and keep timber coming in.
