Supply chain costs can be lowered with IT

Supply chain costs are “significant” in Africa and the logistics industry has recognised that systems which address operational accountability and financial controls can boost competitiveness. International supply chain software provider, Core Freight Systems, has noted increased industry interest in the potential to institute better systems to control the forwarding aspect of the mining and minerals sector. “The mining and minerals sector is vital to the economic development of the African continent, providing not only employment and potential skills enhancement but also much needed foreign exchange to all producing countries,” said Sydney Ramoorthy of Core Freight Systems. He says the need for improved systems is not restricted to the South Africanbased operators, although the country’s historical role establishes this as an important leg in the logistics flow, “whether as a conduit for the export of raw materials or the source of equipment in support of mining activity on a project freight basis”. Ramoorthy commented that with the improvement in telecommunications infrastructure across the continent, a ‘hosted solution’ allowed users to easily access the CoreFreight application over the internet. “This means that support and maintenance of sophisticated IT equipment in remote locations is unnecessary, and the information in the system can be accessed real-time by all authorised users irrespective of their physical location,” he said. Multi-currency processing and advanced disbursement control/file profitability analysis is an important element of the system. “Although the primary requirement is the provision of an overall operations support system which delivers comprehensive management control of the business, the ability to provide and interface data with the United Nations-sponsored ASYCUDA system, used by many African revenue authorities, is an additional benefit,” Ramoorthy said. INSERT & CAPTION The need for improved systems is not restricted to the South African-based operators. – Sydney Ramoorthy