Roland Naidoo . . . ‘Our
systems are now all Diginet linked throughout the country.’
WHEN RAILROAD Africa’s Roland Naidoo says ‘RATS to you’, he is taking a positive step towards helping a client in his business ventures. RATS (Railroad Africa’s Tracking System) has played a significant role in cost cutting to clients’ benefit, he says.
“The key word in the IT business nowadays appears to be ‘dashboard’, and it has become the key to our business,” he says. “When I sit down in my office each morning, I am instantly able to see on my ‘dashboard’ how many new files have been opened the previous day, how many new transactions have been started, how all the branches stand in relation to sales targets and, most important of all, are we making money?
“The term RATS fits so well into what we have achieved that we often wonder how we worked without it in the past. It is something we never had, yet it makes our working life so simple. Now we are also able to see, at any given time, exactly what is happening along the supply chain with container movements. Our systems are now all Diginet linked throughout the country and we are currently working on hooking them up with clients. Spoornet and Portnet will then be hooked in as well.
“The key aspect to our business is that the system gives us full control over our clients’ cargo. We can locate a container at any point in the supply chain, which means we can now get them turned around in the free period at City Deep, which enables us to control costs. The system also pinpoints any grey areas where costs are mounting.
“Statistics emerging from it are definitely helping us manage our business, and it also enables us to manage more positively our owner-driver vehicle fleet. We can now present them with an invoice instead of the other way around, which helps us know exactly what we are having to pay out at any given time.
“What technology has achieved for us is truly remarkable.”
