CGR Agencies is a proudly South African manufacturer of band saw blades for the wood, metal and meat cutting industries. It is one of the few saw blade manufacturers in the Southern hemisphere and a major automotive equipment, precision measuring tools, and power and hand tools supplier.
Christopher George Rawkins founded CGR Agencies over 30 years ago to represent international and local companies and earn commission by selling their products. He ran the business from a house in Plumstead, Cape Town.
Expansion drive
CGR started to import measuring equipment from the East and gradually extended this side of the business. In 1995 the company outgrew the house in Plumstead and purchased a small factory in Observatory, Cape Town.
The move was a catalyst for market expansion to meet increasing demand. CGR established a branch office in Johannesburg and appointed agents in other South African cities.
Welding centres
The first big step into the cutting industry came in 1998 when CGR was appointed sole agent for Simonds Industries. Simonds is an American manufacturer and global supplier of metal and wood cutting products. A condition of the sole agency agreement was for CGR to establish welding centres and enter the local band saw market.
The next significant milestone for CGR Agencies was purchasing an entire Swiss blade manufacturing plant and shipping it to South Africa in eight 40ft containers. This bold acquisition necessitated moving the company’s head office and factory to bigger premises in Paarden Eiland, an industrial suburb adjacent to the Cape Town port.
With the purchase of the Swiss factory, CGR became a proudly South African local manufacturer of band saw blades. While imports for various industries have grown steadily, CGR focuses on its core business in the cutting industry.
Fenes partnership
Five years ago, CGR teamed up with Fenes, a Polish manufacturing company with a reputation for designing and producing quality products for over 40 years.
Duncan Rawkins of CGR Agencies says the two companies are a perfect match because they share a customer-centric business ethos.
“Fenes is a highly supportive overseas principal, which has resulted in exponential sales growth even during a pandemic.
Customer-centric
“The support and technical expertise we receive from Fenes are passed on to our customers to build long-standing business relationships. We assist our customers by ensuring that their businesses run more efficiently to achieve maximum productivity with minimum waste or expense,” explains Rawkins.
Fenes manufactures several products for the wood industry, including horizontal bandsaws, saw blade sharpening and setting machines, CBN wheels, and other saw doctoring and tooling accessories.
The Fenes plant in Poland applies stringent quality control measures. Everything is double-checked for a high standard of artisanship to provide peace of mind for their customers worldwide.
“CGR carries an extensive range of high-quality Fenes narrow-kerf blading at unrivalled pricing points,” says Rawkins. The company supplies 35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 65mm, and 75mm blades. It also stocks a special Grom 35mm blade for cutting hardwoods and a full range of Fenes bi-metal blades.
CGR has invested heavily in its welding centres to equip them with the latest Ideal welding machines to guarantee the welds on all bandsaw blades. “We weld thousands of blades a month, so the financial commitment to invest in the welding centres bears fruit,” remarks Rawkins.
Contact CGR Agencies
Written by: Joy Crane
Source: WoodBiz Africa Magazine
