A combination of logistics
and procurement knowhow
is linking Copperbelt
mines to local suppliers
of goods and engineering services.
“When we first arrived in the
Copperbelt we found it was quicker
for a mine in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) to source
components from Johannesburg
than from neighbouring Zambia,”
says Mike French, who has opened
a Nucleus Mining Logistics office in
Kitwe.
Johannesburg-based Nucleus
works with the full supply chain –
procuring on behalf of its clients;
working with suppliers in order
to optimise the use of resources;
and providing warehousing and
inventory management, distribution
and customer relationship
management and segmentation.
These systems are helping
Zambian-based suppliers to
increase their market share with
mines that want to raise their levels
of local procurement.
French brings with him the
experience of working the supply
chains of major mining houses and
providing back office and logistics
support services through Nucleus.
What he found when arriving
in Kitwe was that, while many
Copperbelt suppliers and agents
have the ability to service the
mines, they do not understand the
procedures that need to be followed
in order to be included in the supply
chain.
Nucleus has been working with
the suppliers in the Copperbelt and
has seen local procurement volumes
grow steadily.
Nucleus has developed an
information system which manages
the procurement process from the
mine to the supplier and back.
“One of the problems we
identified was that every supplier
had its own systems, most of
which did not talk to the mine’s
procurement system.”
Further delays were caused
by each supplier having its own
transport company and clearing
house. Goods would therefore arrive
piecemeal rather than as a single
load.
Shipments bound for the DRC
are now consolidated in a Nucleus
warehouse, which is handling
around 9000 tons of general mining
supplies such as pumps, bearings
and repaired components.
Nucleus Zambia has two
10-ton trucks for deliveries and
collection, and two one-ton bakkies
for urgent loads.
“The company also has direct
investment in or access to more
than 150 triaxles and superlinks,”
he says.
It takes responsibility for ensuring
that the right components are
loaded, and for the clearing and
forwarding.
There is a strong base on which to
work, believes French.
The engineering services in
Kitwe are “of world standard. The
engineering companies are investing
in new machinery. For example, one
recently installed a US$1.1 million
CNC machine,” he says.
Other mines in the region are
watching the rollout with interest
as it will serve as a model for local
procurement, says French.
INSERT
Shipments bound for the
DRC are now consolidated
in a Nucleus Warehouse.
CAPTION
The Nucleus systems are helping Zambian-based suppliers to increase their market
share with mines that want to raise their levels of local procurement.
