Welding keeps Mujunga busy, happy

Top quality and delivery gets a fabricator in customers’ doors. If a company cannot produce good products on time, it will have a tough time growing let alone sustaining itself. The market has become just too competitive for mediocre performance.

A recent wave has seen people scramble to get into the fabrication business but many do not pay attention to details. This has consequently made customers to show preference to foreign suppliers who are reliant on automated modern equipment like laser cutting which give quality assurance.

James Mujunga, founder and director of Ssemuyobe Metal Fabrication in Kigombya, Mukono Town Council, is all too familiar with the complexity of modern welding. And when he launched his company in 2003, he vowed to keep things simple. The result: satisfied customers.

Uncertain beginnings
Mujunga took a huge leap of faith launching his business in 2003 following the death of his father in 2002. Since the early 1970s, his father Charles Ssemuyobe ran a metal workshop, Kigombya Cycle Mart, which manufactured bicycle frames, seats, handlebars, carriers and stands, among others. It introduced Mujunga to his future.

 In 1989, Mujunga started learning on the job without pay until 1991 when his father started tipping him. His first earning was Shs70,000 in 1990, a six-month’s pay which he used to buy iron sheets for his first two-roomed house while in Senior One at Bishop’s SS Mukono.

“As a young boy, I liked working with the heavy equipment that could help tone my chest and arm muscles,” he recalls.

His father enjoyed a lot of success, manufacturing bicycle parts and later making parts for bowsaws as well as rakes and spades until the company ran its final race with the emergence of boda-bodas.

“The demand shrunk and we had to find another way of keeping in business,” Mujunga says.

Mujunga, who graduated from Kanyanya Technical Institute, an offshoot of St. Joseph’s Technical Institute, with a certificate in electrical installations, attended two classes as he had an interest in welding too.

After his studies in 1996, he pursued a short course in feeder roads maintenance. But after failing to secure contracts with Mukono District, sub-contracts landed him in financial distress forcing him out.

“As a young man, I wanted to be independent from my dad. But things did not go as expected which forced me to return to his workshop,” Mujunga explains.
In 1998, he joined the booming coffee business as a middleman until 2002. This helped him raise capital that saw him return to the workshop.

Alone, he laid his cards on the table changing his father’s franchise into a fabrication business. As the appointed heir, the fifth-born of his father, endured a rough start draining most of his savings to get the business off the ground.

Without any welding knowledge, he was somehow stuck with the machines until he went to one Bob Ssemwanga’s workshop in Wantoni, a stone’s throw  from Kigombya, who offered him an opportunity to learn. Just a few days later, he felt he was ready to go. But there was a spot of bother.

“I had no customers,” Mujunga recalls. “I just believed it could work out.”
So those early days were not easy. He could take months without buyers.

“Our first month we never sold anything,” he said, “but we kept the faith.”
An opportunity struck when a friend returning from abroad wanted his house in Bweyogerere fixed. He took an employee from Ssemwanga’s workshop and together they did the job.

“It was the most fulfilling job I have ever done. I was an amateur but the client was very satisfied. Since then people started believing in my work,” he adds.
Mujunga says that fabrication shops suffered partly because of the abundance of wood.

“By then, wood was cheap and many people preferred wooden doors or windows and only the rich could opt for metallic options,” he says.

Mujunga managed to stay afloat by letting his nine-man workforce wear many hats. Welders acted as sales managers.

“When I started, I wanted to run this business like a family farm. You never had one person dedicated to eggs, another to milking cows. Everybody should do what needs to be done.” This enables Mujunga to maintain a very small labour force.

He has not upgraded in his training but copies ideas from others. “When you feel challenged by some project, you take a photo and try out the idea. Sometimes you consult with others. This is how I learned how to make folding doors,” he says.

He still has to fight perceptions as many people think it is work for the academically weak students.

“There are many workshops and this shows that they are making money,” he says.

 Real work
On a typical busy day, Ssemuyobe Metal Fabrication’s shop looks surprisingly empty—not much raw stock, work-in-progress, or finished goods, save a few remnants.
“We don’t make anything to stock. Everything is made to order. And nothing is cut until we can do something with it and send it out.”

The day of my visit, Mujunga had just come back from inspecting the finished work of the fabrication work at Seeta High School, Kigombya Branch, which earned him Shs39m.

 His team was also putting final touches on material to be delivered at another storeyed building in Mbalala Town, along Jinja Road and another in Mukono opposite Global Junior School.

He says it is a rewarding job that has seen him do work for high profile people. The rewards have seen him diversify into real estate, events management, transport, hardware shops and rentals through Ssemuyobe Investments. 

Mujunga also doubles as the chairman of LCI Kigombya Zone as well as the proprietor of Voice of Kigombya, a community radio.

On average, it takes less than seven days for jobs to be completed. That is an average, though. 

A few projects take several weeks, and quite a few domestic orders take a matter of days. But Mujunga is saddened by the shrinking quality of raw materials.
“The raw materials are quite expensive and we have to go for the premium materials which makes our prices high,” he explains.

Most of the work in metal fabrication is by referrals and Mujunga says this calls for character.

“Clients should be able to trust you. This calls for patience and passion rather than simply getting their money,” he cautions.

As Mujunga explained, customers do not care about what you do. But they do care about a delivery that meets or exceeds quality requirements.

Machinery
Mujunga explains that starting a fabrication business is not capital intensive.
In his case of arc welding, where consumable wire electrode is fed through a welding torch, he says that every fabrication shop needs safety gear to prevent from getting burned or blinded, overalls, and work shoes. The welder (also known as welding machine) is one of the most important components one must purchase. The lowest priced can be purchased at Shs300,000.

Other key components are measuring tools. The most common measuring tools you will need in your metalworking arsenal are tape measures, metal rulers, calipers, metal T-squares, and a marking tool of some kind. Clamps and grips to firmly hold parts together.

Mujunga adds that cutting machines should also be bought depending on three options: affordability, speed, and quality. Cutting materials include the hacksaw, angle grinders and sawzalls. The most appropriate can be obtained from as low as Shs400,000.

“With about Shs1m, one can set up a workshop. The idea is to find the most essential tools and continue investing as the company grows,” Mujunga says.

He stresses that welding and fabrication is rife with demand variation. To get big contracts, he has chosen to sub-contract with big companies to be able to earn more clients.

Finding steel
Finding steel is easy. It’s pretty much everywhere around us. Mujunga says one should be able to source steel from hardware stores and steel distributors. 

He advises caution though when welding recycled materials. “Galvanised steel is dangerous because it has toxic gas fumes and can make one sick,” he notes.
Attention should also be paid to hot rolled or cold rolled steel. 

Hot rolled steel, he says, is often used for making structural components, such as I beams. He adds that cold rolled steel is easy to work with because of less friction during its processing.

But he is concerned with the low standards of some steel makers which compromises quality while also raising product prices. “One should be more concerned about the materials. Apart from your skill, you need good raw materials which you add some value to.”

Plans
Mujunga’s product range includes gates, doors, windows, collapsing doors, balcony fences, and other accessories like curtain railings, lamp holders, beds and steel chairs.

His workshop employs nine people including two of his children and five workers retained from his father’s workshop. He also offers free training to youth in the area. Up to 20 trainees go through his hands annually. Three of them, he says, have established their own workshops in Lugazi and Seeta.

Mujunga has plans to grow, just not in the typical way. In the future, he sees the company opening more fabrication centres in different areas of the country. Today, he has two other workshops in Bulenga along Kampala-Mityana Highway and in Mbalala.

“We want to grow,” Mujunga adds. “But we want a model that is sustainable.” He added that once stability is realised in Mukono and Bulenga, “that will help us to start looking at other locations.”

How to build a successful metal fabrication business

Metal fabrication has its roots in the very beginnings of human civilisation. Humans used to use metals as decorations and ornaments. Metals have now become one of the main elements used in construction and machinery.

 Metal fabrication was the primary source of crafting tools that ensured the survival and flourishing of mining communities as well as modern industries. Consequently, many people are running into metal fabrication business although few survive the cutthroat competition.  According to James Mujunga, who has operated Ssemuyobe Metal Fabricators in Mukono since 2003, it turns out the business is manageable.

 Nuts and bolts
First of all, metal fabrication is not capital intensive with a few basic tools and little expertise necessary. The common element between almost all metal fabrication businesses are safety equipment - gloves, boots, helmets, aprons, and goggles. Mujunga explains that the easier part is starting. “Because you only need a welder, a grinder and a torch. This can cost less than Shs1m,” he reasons. But to run a successful company, he says there are other key issues to put into mind. 

Valuable service
Providing value to the customers is the masterstroke to a successful business, according to Mujunga. “It is easy to pull off a sale but keeping the customers is vital. He explains that successful sales in the business are mostly by referrals. This calls for trust between you and the referred prospect.

Sub-contracts
From Mujunga’s experience, well established companies will take most of the fat bids in local government. The key to breaking through is by partnering with the giants in the market and taking sub-contracts. He says that this means keeping healthy networking with local contractors. He adds that although one may miss out on the fat offer, he can still be able to sell something by sub-contracting. 

“Most companies don’t have the capacity to supply everything and that is why they outsource,” he says. To be a sub-contractor, a company should be licensed. The challenge with sub-contracting lies with offering too much work for too little money. 

Mujunga mentions that some contractors make late payments, which could affect operations.
He adds that one can start looking for extra markets by offering services to local businesses at discounted prices to help them become more familiar with you.

Work ethic
Most of the work in metal fabrication is manual. Mujunga explains that this therefore means building a culture around people with a virtuous work ethic and willingness to learn. 

For instance, at his shop, five of the nine employees have been with him since 2003. “You need to work with people who are team members and care about the company’s customers and their work.  Offering internship opportunities, he says, is a great way to train your own workers. 

Instead of hiring experienced fabricators, one can take on a few young and rising talents to help them understand the basics, in addition to offering them jobs afterwards.

One-stop shop
According to Mujunga, there is no limit to what can be manufactured at a fabrication shop. Although he says one must start small, it is important to be involved in broad applications and consumer products. Mujunga says that the choice of what one can make will largely depend on prominent businesses in the area that demand steel structures.