Photo: Roy Miller and Magesh Morgan
Established in 1986 by Roy Miller, Miller Methods started out with just one injection moulding machine, a Klockner Maurer, in a small space at Millers Heavy Friction, 240 Main Street in Johannesburg, Roy’s brother’s brake company. Within a year the company had grown so much they moved to larger premises in 12th Road, Kew. In 2014 Miller Methods outgrew their premises once again and moved to the larger state-of-the-art premises it currently occupies in 10th Road, Kew.
Miller Methods now provides a wide range of products for itself and clients, including Coco-Cola, Tiger Brands, Massmart, Effecto, Gardena, Checkers, Mass stores, Homemark, Cadac, Consol Glass, Pick ‘n Pay, Spar, Nandos and Steers, to name a few.
All products are manufactured on-site, where the company provides total end-to-end solutions, from industrial design and product formulation to injection moulding and packaging (including pad printing and screen printing). The wide range of injection moulded products manufactured, range from the original Vuvuzela, garden tools, ice trays and earplugs, to pool cleaners, mechanical housings and promotional and packaging bottles. In 2010 the company’s Vuvuzela sold close to 4 million units during the Soccer World Cup that year!
Magesh Morgan joined Roy Miller in 1991 as general manager, during a time when the company was growing in leaps and bounds with jobs including manufacturing Ster Kenikor’s first promotional ‘Jurassic Park’ bottle. This success led to Miller Methods manufacturing more bottles for Ster Kinekor, among them ‘Spiderman’ and ‘Babe’, and later, the ‘Bart Simpson’ squeeze bottle and ‘Galactic Packs’ for and Steers.
Other integral members of the Miller Methods team are Farai Mapenzauswa (HR manager), Ernest Nyambi (factory manager) who joined the company in Main Street, 29 years ago, Mishak Khoza (head of Redtop), Jabu Dwanes (storeroom manager), Alvira Morton (front of house), Tresa Madibana (assembly & packaging) and Louis Avenant (Toolroom).
The Miller Methods toolroom which opened in 1992 is at the heart of its operations. It comprises six CNC machines, three CNC lathes, three spark eroders, five milling machines and a wire sparker. With state-of-the-art measuring equipment, all Miller Methods’ projects are driven by concurrent CAD software Cimatron from design to finish.
The Redtop flycatcher is a brand leader and is sold actively to 28 countries around the world, earning Miller Methods numerous export awards; it is even purchased by the American military, beating the numerous fly traps manufactured in the USA. Everything is manufactured inhouse from extruders to do the bags to the injection mouldings. The fly bait, which took five years to perfect, is also manufactured and packed on the premises.
In 2006 Miller Methods started a joint venture with Andre Nepper to develop and manufacture a range of natural, non-toxic formulations, including the popular non-toxic insect repellant, ‘Onguard’, which is safe for children to use, as well as the recently added Activ O2 skin care range of creams, soap and balm with an ozone generator for home use, moulded and assembled inhouse with imported electronics,
“As a proud South African manufacturer we believe in creating employment and furthering the opportunities for formerly disadvantaged groups, a commitment that is reflected in our Level 1 BBBEE status,” said Roy Miller.
“At Miller Methods we believe in the highest standards of integrity, accountability and ethical business conduct with a genuine desire to make the world a better place. It’s the way we do business; it’s the way we’ve always done business,” he added.
www.millermethods.co.za