Africa needs logistics IT solutions to grow

In order to adapt to rapid changes in the economies of African countries such as Zambia, logistics companies will need broad information technology (IT) systems that coordinate all their business processes, according to Jessica Schneiderman, marketing representative at CompuClearing. “There is a need to look at the future of our continent and decide where we want to be in the next few years and how we are going to get to that next stage,” she says. “Logistics companies will need to focus on their own productivity in order to continue adapting to the massive changes we have seen over the past few decades”. One of the biggest changes is the rapid roll-out of connectivity. In many African countries slow speeds, lack of access and poor line quality have prevented logistics companies from modernising their systems. Improved connectivity in Zambia and the introduction of paperless clearing has meant that logistics companies have to change from labour-intensive to data-intensive processes, says Schneiderman. CompuClearing, together with WiseTech Global, provides solutions to help logistics companies to organise and integrate all aspects of the business. Visibility throughout along with automated and productive processes ensure that nothing is missed or needs to be recaptured. “CompuClearing already provides integration into Asycuda World and there has been a new development within CargoWise One to support the Asycuda World Manifest Data Stream,” she says. INSERT & CAPTION Logistics companies have to change from labourintensive to data-intensive processes. – Jessica Schneiderman