State health departments could soon improve their service delivery, as global healthcare supply chain leaders DSV partner with integrated healthcare experts Sanofi to roll out training workshops for South Africa’s state-run medicine depots.

The training focuses on Total Quality Management (TQM) in Supply Chain within the state depots – a methodology aiming to achieve sustainable successes in operational practices through proven continuous improvement techniques. 

“We were excited to be asked by the state to share our logistics knowledge gained over the past 23 years, and have begun the process of hosting a number of training workshops across the country,” said DSV South Africa’s Operations Director, Ralton Moses.

“Besides the knowledge-sharing, the time spent with supply chain professionals in the depots is incredibly valuable in helping build relationships and developing a better understanding of the challenges faced by state officials, as well as the requirements to be met to work with them.”

Moses is also a director of SAPICS, the professional knowledge-based association for the supply chain community.

The training is expected to have a considerable impact on improving the distribution of medicines; already, 64 delegates have been trained on basic Lean and Six Sigma principles.

DSV’s expertise in supply chain management will  be showcased at the upcoming annual SAPICS conference for supply chain professionals in Cape Town from 4-7 June, where Customs Manager Graeme Lennie will present a talk on ‘Customs: What They Did ‘Not’ Teach You?’

“It is often surprising that few people in the logistics profession have sufficient knowledge about customs administration,” said Lennie. “It’s an area of business which – if not managed properly – can have a significant impact on the success of a company’s supply chain operations.”

Inventory optimisation is the focus of another DSV presentation at SAPICS, when DSV’s Head of Inventory Optimisation, Jamie Wates, will give delegates insight into how collaboration and visibility were addressed in a case study on Fiat Chrysler Automotive SA.

SAPICS delegates from the healthcare sector will also appreciate the opportunity of a site visit – one of a number on the conference programme – to the R200-million CiplaMed building. This 16,500 m2 operating facility represents the state of the art in its field, and is fully compliant with Good Distribution and Warehousing Practices as defined by the World Health Organisation and the Medicines Control Council of South Africa.

Short workshops on the first and second days of the SAPICS conference will provide valuable capacity-building opportunities to delegates at no extra charge. There will also be longer, in-depth workshops on day three, included in the conference registration fee.

Visit www.conference.sapics.org for more information on SAPICS 2017 and to view packages available.