The Story of Our Evolution
Chapter 1: Introducing Purple Rain
Purple. Most often associated with rarity, mystery and magic.
Rain. Provides suitable conditions for thriving ecosystems.
Purple Rain was founded on the 25th of May 2008, with the arrival of our first digital printer.
Chapter 2: Embracing Diversity
Are we simply what others want us to be?
Over a decade later,
we continue to pioneer solutions, consistently delivering exceptional solutions to our clients;
through trust, solution-orientation, pride, teamwork and accountability;
on a state-of-the-art platform of materials, capabilities, and reliable partnerships.
In 2018 we weaned off our dependence on a procurement broker to forge direct relationships with our customers.
Embracing diversity, our business is now 100% black, women-owned.
Chapter 3: COVID-19
Are we destined to a fate beyond our control?
Or can we evolve to become... something more?
COVID-19 has exemplified our resilience.
It also gave us a glimpse of what we could achieve together with our community of customers, suppliers, competitors and neighbours.
Chapter 4: The RISE
Arising renewed from the ashes of its predecessor.
Re-build. Inspire. Sustain. Empower.
"The first thing I noticed was your branding. It still stands strong."
The course of events during the July 2021 KZN riots tested us yet again, in ways that we are yet to process. During this life-threatening insurrection, our factory was torched by a violent force, that left us "deeply hurt", "heartbroken", and "devastated".
We watched helplessly as our factory - our home-away-from-home - was destroyed; while trying to stay mentally tough through the sleepless nights, protecting our families.
We had a new Mission: To transform Purple Rain into a force more powerful than before.
We wrestled with the obstacles in our way, even with the threat of those around us spiralling out of control, tearing our systems apart, and threatening to destroy the very fabric of our community. It demanded a greater will and deeper commitment than ever before, to hold on to our 13-year legacy, from our devastated platform of ash.
With an unbelievable response from all our digital equipment suppliers – especially, Signtronic and Kemtek – within a week we restored 90% of our product offerings production lines.
What fueled our momentum?
Our well-tested scalability
13 years of goodwill in trading - strong relationships with (material and equipment) suppliers
Our founder, who we believed, would re-build the business; this time re-engineered with lessons learned
A clean slate allows us to embrace state of the art technology and processes – like the use if of IOT and minimising our carbon footprint.
The encouragement and support of key stakeholders in our success - staff, suppliers, customers, SME partners, community:
"Please let us know if there's anything we can do to assist in anyway."
"We hope to be able to rebuild purple Rain in whichever way possible."
"It can be done."
Do not judge me by my successes,
judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.
Nelson Mandela
Chapter 5: Today
Pioneering solutions for global brands ... and our local community
Today, we celebrate the values that kept us together and drove our actions. No longer words on our walls - we recognise them daily in our actions.
We celebrate our spirit and our ability to re-build a more secure future for ourselves, our families and our community.
We celebrate our customers and suppliers, who took as collateral only our commitment to do our best. Which we delivered!
We're now excited to be working - together with our growing number of collaborators - on new ideas more brilliant than we had imagined.
Technology for Good
Tomorrow
Be part of our Story
Let's write this chapter together ...