IT has huge role to play in automotive industry

Never underestimate the power of
information technology and what it
can do for a business.
Sydney Ramoorthy, who heads
up new business development at
Core Freight Systems, believes by
correctly leveraging information
technology companies can create
great opportunities for themselves
across the supply chain.
While most industries can benefit
from enhanced IT systems, one
industry where the use of information
technology is making a huge
difference is the automotive industry.
“South Africa competes with many
international vehicle manufacturing
facilities and we need to attract
our fair share of the international
manufacturing allocation that is
available,” says Ramoorthy. “Clearly
improvements in supply chain
efficiency will assist in this. It is
important that South African freight
forwarding and Customs clearing
agents operating in the automotive
industry ensure that they are able to
actively contribute to the required
integration, not only to promote the
competiveness of their individual
clients but also this significant area
of the local economy. This applies
equally to both the imports and
exports trade”.
Ramoorthy says having a system
on hand to facilitate the process is of
extreme importance.
“In addition to promoting the
efficiency within a typical agent’s
internal operations, the Core Freight
application is designed, though the
CoreXchange module, for the cost
effective transfer of data in and out
of the primary application,” says
Ramoorthy.
It thus provides a link between
the agent’s internal operational
system and other pertinent
participants in the overall supply
chain. “This functionality is proven
for clients conducting automotive
business,” says Ramoorthy.
“From the automated import of
suppliers’ invoice data, notice of
exbond releases and generation
of sophisticated costing, output
efficiencies have become apparent,
driving down the cost of processing
and improving the quality and speed
of data availability.”
But, he says, the functionality is
not restricted to interfacing data with
partners with highly sophisticated
automated processes. The use of
Excel provides an ideal start to
“integrating” into the supply chain for
users of the Core Freight application.
“We believe that the lessons
learned though the automotive
industry can be applied to improve
the supply chain efficiency of
individual businesses in South Africa,
and hence the country as a whole,”
he says.