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LOCAL heavy duty and industrial equipment manufacturer Arthur Garden Engineering has increased capacity utilisation to 50 percent following its acquisition from starafricacorporation by a consortium of local businessmen.The deal was finalised in February this year and the new investors quickly injected life into the ailing company.
Since its revival, Arthur Garden has struck a deal with United States of America based manufacturer of filters known as Donaldson.
The company has also struck a deal with Drum City, manufacturers of agriculture and construction equipment trading under the Sonalika brand.
This will see the company supplying farm implements such as disc harrows, ploughs and construction equipment from Drum City.
In an interview with the Herald Business yesterday, Arthur Garden Engineering managing director Mr Clerk Mpofu said they had managed to bring the company back to life and is already exporting agricultural implements.
“When we took over the company, it was down and what was only left was the name.
“Now we have raised this capacity to the extent that we are now able to service our clients without any hitches,” said Mr Mpofu
The company is currently exporting graders and filters to Zambia and Mozambique.
“We manufacture tow graders used by local authorities to maintain roads, farmers and the District Development Fund for road maintenance,” said Mr Mpofu.
Arthur Garden Engineering designs and manufactures material handling equipment which include all types of conveyors, mixers, storage tanks and anything else requiring product knowledge, sound design and professional manufacturing, fabrication, machining and installation.
The company is involved in the designing and manufacturing of material handling equipment and other equipment for agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing and food processing industry.
“So far we have managed to strike a deal with Trojan Mine to do some engineering work at their mines,” said Mr Mpofu.
Mr Mpofu said Zambia is driving the export market.
“We have managed to attract clientele from Zambia and Mozambique but interest from Zambia for our products is encouraging. We are currently manufacturing tow graders for the Zambian market,”
The company is working on introducing other products to its product range before the end of the year.
The company is renowned for its expertise and boasts of over 50 years in fabricating and machining various plant and equipment for the above mentioned sectors.
The experience dates back as far as 1877 when Jeffrey Manufacturing Company was established in Columbus, Ohio United States of America , specializing in material handling and processing equipment.
In the 1960s it later became Arthur Garden & Company and in 1991 it was acquired by the Group.
Arthur Garden Engineering is also involved in heavy engineering fabrication, building hardware manufacturing which include window frames and door frames.
Online Reporter