SOUTH AFRICA’S annual in-depth survey on the supply chain industry – supplychainforesight – is about to launch. An initiative of Barloworld Logistics, it will focus on standards and benchmarks for the SA supply chain in the context of accelerating globalisation. It will also offer an in-depth analysis of supply chains both upstream and downstream across industries. In the 2006 World Competitiveness Scoreboard, South Africa’s performance in areas such as economics, government and business efficiency, and national infrastructure rates 11th out of 25 countries sharing a comparative GDP and population demographic. “In this microcosm we don’t fare too badly," says Gerhard Sagat of TerraNova Research, which is conducting the survey. "Concern abounds however at our rating of 44th out of the total 61 nations surveyed. “Among the areas in which we rate lowest in global competitiveness are skills, labour and productivity, allied to a shortage of general and technological infrastructure. Given that the globalisation phenomenon is now a given, with offshoring and low-cost centres of production around the world turning countries like China and India into new economic powerhouses, the most burning question South Africa needs to ask is: how do we become more globally competitive?”
