Vikela adds muscle in Cape Town

THE SECURITY seal business involves a whole lot more than simply selling an item – product education is also paramount, says Mandy Backstrom, new Cape Town branch manager for Vikela Aluvin, marketer of a wide range of associated products in the country. The former Gautenger who comes with a sales background frankly admits she has much to learn about this new industry in which she finds herself but is giving it her best shot, as they say. Based at Vikela Aluvin’s offices in Racecourse Road, Milnerton, she has been marketing the merits of the company’s wide product range of more than 80 items. “What I have realised in the short time I have been with Vikela Aluvin is that shipping and the marine industry have not been satisfactorily penetrated from a security seal perspective, a priority for me,” says Backstrom. As to how securityconscious business is in South Africa, she believes many smaller companies are “not quite there yet” but beginning to take note of vital security requirements. “It’s not just about us selling a box of seals but implementing a sealing system, and educating the customer about the merits of a product and how it can work for him or her. It’s all about mitigating loss at the end of the day.” Backstrom believes there is still a large amount of security seal business to be had in the Western Cape and she is out to achieve just that. In business for more than 50 years, Vikela Aluvin is a broad-based BEE company, effectively 39% black-owned, with its head office and manufacturing facility located in Germiston, Gauteng. The company’s manufacturing is done in line with the its international partners’ quality standards, which include ISO9001 and ISO17712, while also ensuring it remains at the forefront of global security sealing trends, among them initiatives such as C-TPAT and ISMA.