Greystones Cargo Systems has repositioned its business under new leadership, seeking new partnerships in Africa as it readies to expand its services and markets.
“We’ve made great strides since Themba Ngcobo was appointed as the CEO at Greystones Cargo, having achieved a black economic empowerment (BEE) level 2 rating for the second consecutive year in 2016 – when we had nothing in place at all in 2014,” said chief operations officer of the company, William van Zyl.
He told FTW Online that now that the organisation had been repositioned – which culminated in the launch of a new website at the end of last year – the executive team was focused on upping operational efficiencies.
“We are moving away from offering only a discharging, loading and handling service to a broader logistics service, building on the growing demand in the marketplace for fewer hand-overs along the supply chain,” Van Zyl pointed out.
According to him there are instances where additional logistics services can be added to help existing customers streamline their own supply chain operations. “If we can cut out an additional handover or two in the process for them, thus decreasing the number of parties involved, we not only eliminate risk but increase cost-efficiencies as well,” commented Van Zyl.
Business development manager of Greystones Cargo, Hans Modipane, added that the company would start building new logistics specialisations into business offerings. “When we see a skills gap, we’ll procure a specialist,” he said.
Modipane said he was also undertaking several trips to Africa to source and establish new “on-the-ground” partnerships as part of the company’s plan to expand on the continent.
“We know there are challenges related to breaking into Africa but there are also huge opportunities and we believe we can overcome the obstacles if we have the right partners in place,” he said.
