“We are dealing with unprecedented change in our lives, both in business and our “normal” daily living. We cannot rely solely on lessons learnt from the past because the new challenges present themselves in a new form within communities around the world.” These are the words of Bruce Thoresson, International Logistics Director, Bidvest International Logistics.

“The lockdown in South Africa has been a critical intervention in saving the lives of all South Africans but it has also introduced varying degrees of confusion, uncertainty, fear and increased costs within the supply chain,” he says. “The movement of goods within our country is affected through a complex network which includes ocean carriers and airlines, port and airport authorities, regulatory bodies, logistics service providers, transporters, storage facilities and ancillary financial services. The importers of these goods interact with suppliers overseas and their own customers internally while running their own operations. Similar parties and functions are required to facilitate the export of products from South Africa.

“To press “pause” on these networks is no easy task because there are considerable volumes, long distances, regulations and many different parties involved. It is necessary to understand how any one action will impact on the other elements of the supply chain. Such an action will present various alternatives which must be considered within the framework of the government-imposed regulations that are in play at any given stage. Failure to do this effectively can have a catastrophic impact on a business,” says Thoresson.

The International Logistics (IL) division of Bidvest International Logistics has had to scale its operations to deal with new volume levels which were largely dictated by essential cargo versus non-essential cargo under Level 5 of the Lockdown. “We customs cleared and delivered essential cargo to importers who met the requirements of an Essential Service Provider. The regulations pertaining to non-essential cargo were complicated by many industry bodies, who interpreted the Regulations differently. These interpretations also resulted in a number of shipments being detained by SAPS and the transport drivers being arrested.

“Under Level 4 things have eased to some degree. The constraint that we now face is with congestion at various depots as the economy starts to open up and importers who qualify under Level 4 require their cargo to be delivered from the facilities where they were stored under Level 5. Our IL operations have been working between 40% and 60% capacity across all regions with staff working from home or from our offices. This balance will be retained until volumes and/or Regulations dictate that we change,” he says.

“While the above may appear daunting there are certain requirements that remain consistent in managing supply chains. These include planning, communicating, anticipating, measuring, reacting and operating while caring for the health and welfare of all parties who participate in the supply chain,” explains Thoresson.

“The current situation has led to changes in the lives of our staff including new PPE requirements, sanitizing, social distancing within offices, remote working and meetings, health monitoring, protective screening and social interaction changes.

“Some things that remain unchanged are that the intelligent use of information together with effective decision making are critical in dealing with the challenges that we face. These are not new concepts, but they must often be applied differently in the new norm, in order to continue to act in the best interests of our clients, staff and other stakeholders.

“Going forward we can be certain that the sun will rise, businesses will continue to operate, cargo will continue to flow and we will continue to create the new norm that tomorrow brings,” concludes Thoresson.