‘Stop moaning about infrastructure

In his perspective of the logistics profession in SA, Cobus Rossouw, MD of Volition Consulting Services, headlined four key points. In recent times, the rising fuel cost has been increasing pressure on transport cost, he told FTW, and unfortunately hiding many of the gains that have been made with logistics improvements. “The most recent state of logistics proves how the inventory holdings have been reduced,” Rossouw said, “largely due to logistics and supply chain management efforts. “Logistic managers – within principals or with service providers – have developed excellent mechanisms to optimise return loads and vehicle utilisation within a very complex geography and long-distance product flows.” Another local factor is that inadequate infrastructure – both in development and maintenance – is compromising logistics effectiveness. “But too much time is wasted moaning about this,” Rossouw said, “and too little time spent on finding ways to change the logistics aspects under the direct control of logistics professionals.” These, he added, could include shifting to night-time operations – avoiding peak-time traffic and dealing with security issues. “If Woolworths and Imperial’s Fast & Fresh can do it, why are so many others only thinking about it,” Rossouw said. “Increasing off-loading turn-around time, especially at retail back-doors, seems to be the cancer of logistics inefficiency – and not only the retailers are to blame.” The skills shortage is also a bugbear for the logistics profession. “It represents a strategic threat to the future of SA,” said Rossouw. “But most human resources (HR) officers are continuing to worry about claiming skills development levies (SDLs) back and not training their people.” And, while the government training regime is complex and inefficient, he points out that it’s based on a simple concept. “Complete a workplace skills plan, stick to it and you are able to claim back,” he said. Lots of training is available in the logistics and supply chain environment, according to Rossouw, but, at the same time, lots of training at all levels is still required. “The impact on organisations is huge,” he said, “and will become even worse. Companies that have not started training may be extinct soon.” Also, although Rossouw reckons that logistics service providers are maturing fast, and offering more comprehensive services, he also stressed that they unfortunately continued to over-sell their capabilities. “We have some fantastic service providers with really professional offerings, doing really spectacular things to improve customer service and reduce logistics cost,” he said. “But often, the commercial nature of the relationship compromises the matter – and the principals are partly to blame for this. “As with information technology (IT), there is still some smoke and mirrors. Buyers (principals) should carefully review case study evidence of success.”