LESCO’s Apollo range assembly tailored to support skills of existing workforce

With 25 years of manufacturing to its name, LESCO Manufacturing continues to innovate while providing work opportunities for differently abled job seekers.

The company made a considerable investment in new tooling and injection moulding machinery, while accommodating the skills of its existing workforce, to locally produce the Apollo range of switches and sockets. At 6.9 mm, the range offers the slimmest profile available to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) market.

It took over two years of research and development to design the necessary components and a more efficient assembly process that accommodated the abilities of the company’s existing labour force to deliver an upmarket range that is “super affordable” without sacrificing on quality, LESCO Manufacturing CEO Jonathan Shapiro tells Engineering News.

“Our business has created employment opportunities for people living with disabilities for the last 25 years. About 40% of the workforce in our factory has a disability, and it's a big reason why many customers want to deal with us.”

Shapiro’s grandfather, Natie Shapiro, established Switch King in 1958, and LESCO Manufacturing was founded in 1999 by his father David Shapiro. The company consolidated its manufacturing capacity in March last year, a month before launching the Apollo range. Previously manufacturing in three separate locations, the family owned company now occupies a single facility in City Deep, Johannesburg, that is about three times larger than its previous premises in the same area. The new building is also equipped with roof-top solar to reduce LESCO Manufacturing’s dependency on the national grid and limit shutdowns.

The company produces a couple million units across its product ranges every year, depending on demand.

To support the production of the Apollo range and increase its capacity, the company invested in the development and design of new tooling and procured additional injection moulding machines.

Shapiro says the company is unaware of any other range of switches and sockets made locally.

“The main motivation for developing this range was to give the market a very upmarket-looking range of switches and sockets in multiple colours at an affordable price.”

The Apollo range of switches and sockets provides quality assurance through a ten-year warranty. The range not only displays the logo of the national buy local campaign Proudly South African but also bares the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) mark of approval, as it is SANS-164-1 and SANS-146-2 compliant.

“Each product is put through rigorous testing in accordance with SABS specifications. From impact testing to glo-wire testing, our products can withstand the most arduous of tests and are reliable and dependable,” explains Shapiro.

The Apollo range offers reinforced rivets that connect the base to the cover, ultra-strong clips that connect the cover to the base and a frame clip that connects the frame to the base. In terms of wiring capacity, the socket terminals can accommodate 3 mm x 2.5 mm stranded house wire conductors.

The Apollo range features a choice of three colours – Contemporary White, Edgy Sapphire Black and Elegant Gold – in a matt finish. However, being locally manufactured, the range offers the flexibility of being painted in custom colours, notes Shapiro.

The Apollo range also includes touch-sensitive markings to assist people who are visually impaired.

The range is already LESCO Manufacturing’s most popular offering after being on the market for just over a year and is available at over 1 000 major do-it-yourself stores across South Africa, he adds. The company has also employed six new sales representatives in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg to promote its existing product portfolio as well as a pipeline of new products under development.

“We also export all our products to other countries within the SADC Free Trade Area which benefit from duty-free imports of South African manufactured products thanks to the SADC Protocol on Trade.”

This is in addition to interest from overseas customers which want to work with LESCO Manufacturing to design, develop and export products to various regions which supports Shapiro’s long-term plan for the business.