in Small Business
Issue No. 1 - July/August 2001
Pinz Pty Ltd
Agility and Quality
Pinz Pty Ltd is a family business established in 1983 to manufacture fashions in leather, chiefly leather jackets.
The present manager, David Snoad, wasn’t in the firm initially; before ‘coming home’ he worked as a McDonalds store manager, learning “a lot about time management”. David joined Pinz in 1994 when the business was struggling against the leather fashion slump. Coats that once fetched $500 had halved in price, so the Snoads changed course. Buying out a partner, they began to phase out leather fashion and closed a dedicated retail outlet.
Pinz is still in the sewing game, but has moved up to the industrial league. Customised spa covers are bread and butter work, along with PVC blinds and outdoor fabric structures for cafes. David has automated the design and production processes, installing a computer—controlled platen for cutting fabric and developing spreadsheets for calculating cutting distances and angles. It used to take about 45 minutes to measure up a large area for cutting and another 15 minutes to do the work; now, calculation is almost instant and cutting takes five minutes.
“We have become just—in—time manufacturers,” David says. From receipt of a custom order for a spa cover, Pinz can design, build and deliver a product in 1—2 days.
Of late, one of Pinz’ more interesting customers has been the world—leading, SA—based land mine disposal contractor, Minelab. Pinz outperformed...
