Tramping company on the right track to success

One of Macpac's biggest customers is the famous Cotswold Outdoor store in London, but global marketing success has brought its own problems for the New Zealand-based firm which is battling to keep manufacturing at home, writes Rod Oram.

Manufacturing on this side of the world and selling profitably on the other is a problem Macpac, the maker of tramping clothing and equipment, cracked a while back. But remaining competitive demands strict discipline and ceaseless innovation.

"Our vision is to be a local supplier - but 18,000 kilometres away," says managing director Bruce McIntyre.

The company achieves that by putting a lot of effort into highly efficient manufacture in Christchurch and into honing its global distribution system.

One of its biggest customers, for example, is the famous Cotswold Outdoor store in west London. Its orders, sent to Christchurch by freephone fax or email, are rapidly dispatched by air freight with the goods clearing UK customs while airborne.

Despite competition from UK-based companies, "Cotswold say we're one of their top suppliers," Mr McIntyre says.
Being New Zealand-based is also a key part of Macpac's success. The "great outdoor culture and climate variations" make it an ideal developing and testing ground for its products. Moreover, the country's image abroad adds credibility to Macpac's brand and reputation.

But one of the toughest challenges for the company is keeping its manufacturing in New Zealand. Virtually all of its US and European competitors have turned themselves into design and marketing companies by outsourcing manufacture to plants in countries such as China.

Although they have reduced their costs, they have also increased the risk of disappointing their customers on quality and dependability, Mr McIntyre believes. That in turn has reinforced the quality of Macpac in discerning customers' minds.

He admits, though, that the best competitors have developed the management techniques and relationships with foreign subcontractors to ensure high product quality is sustained.

He is holding out against the pressure to follow suit.
"I made a commitment in the mid-1980s to manufacture in New Zealand as long as possible. It's so easy to go off-shore but it's bloody hard work to stay here. Our quality and flexibility are the weapons we have against cheap labour."