New generation of students set to transform the supply chain industry

THE DEPARTMENT of Transport and Supply Chain Management at the University of Johannesburg has 4 000 students in training of whom 80% are black and more than 30% are women. ¡°We have a new generation of students, and huge demands for students who have completed their courses at high levels of competence, irrespective of race or gender considerations,¡± says deputy chairperson of the department, Professor Gerrie Prinsloo. ¡°Our philosophy is that we are supplying people. We are an applied science enabling the economic development of techniques and principles in this important sphere of the economy.¡± The department offers curricular courses, mainly national diploma courses, BTech and BCom degrees and post graduate degrees, as well as extra-curricular informal courses that are industry-based. Of the student body
1 800 students are in formal university curricular courses while 2 200 students are registered for informal courses. Prinsloo says the ratio of black to white students in curricular courses in his department is 70:30 with higher ratios in the informal courses. Although males dominate, large numbers of students are women ¨C in the curricular courses the ratio is 65:35 and in informal courses 60:40. He said women students tended to qualify in financial management, human resources, planning and IT fields and were better equipped at management levels. The department employs 30 staff of whom 10 are highly trained academics, mainly transport economists or logistics managers from industry. According to Prinsloo there are not many highly trained, competent people involved in training in the transport and logistics field. Road transport registers big employment gains STATISTICS SOUTH Africa's labour force survey reveals some interesting employment trends. From March 2001 to March 2006 mining employment dropped from 560 000 to 400 000.
Big gainers were: ¡ñ manufacturing from 1.3
to 1.5 million ¡ñ retail/wholesale trade from 1.4 to 1.9 million ¡ñ financial and other services from 0.9 to 1.1 million ¡ñ (government) services from 1.7 to 2 million ¡ñ Construction from
350 000 to 450 000 Transport dropped from 425 000 to 415 000, but huge gains in private road transport may have been matched with further reductions at Transnet.