SA can ensure competitive edge in 'global village' using ICT
Integrated information and communications technology (ICT) and increased industry-wide collaboration have emerged as key to mitigating South Africa's supply chain challenges and ensuring the nation maintains competitiveness in a "global village".
Stakeholders in South Africa's supply chain industry "have no choice" but to identify and address key issues or face being "left behind", South African Shippers Council (SASC) executive director Dr Beverley Waugh said on Thursday.
Speaking at a T-Systems-sponsored Transport Forum, in Midrand, she said high costs, infrastructure bottlenecks, supply chain inefficiencies, skills and education, bottlenecks in customs and admininstration processes at borders, workforce health, crime, security and corruption, besides others, remained South Africa’s biggest obstacles in global competitiveness.
A survey undertaken by the SASC found that infrastructure quality, increasing costs and operational inefficiencies were among the top concerns in South Africa.
Saha International Southern Africa CEO Neil Frost warned that, if South Africa failed to improve its competitiveness, it would become an importer as opposed to an exporter and would end up as a consumer and not a supplier.
There was a critical need to lower the cost of doing business and boost efficiencies and service levels, with industry collaborating for innovative, flexible and integrated solutions.
Connectivity, information platforms and improved communications flow were able to address many of the challenges, Waugh commented.
T-Systems solution architect Tony Willis said at no point in time had there been "so many technologies" merging simultaneously, adding that leveraging ICT through the latest generation technologies could achieve all South Africa’s ambitions of improved collaboration in supply chain.
ICT could increase supply chain visibility and eliminate system failures, as well as lower costs and – therefore, the financial impact on business.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation