Union Transport launches first Supply Chain Management centre

31 Mar 2000 - By Staff reporter

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Tiger Wessels . . .
developing specific
supply chain solutions to meet customer needs.

IT SAVED Dow Corning US$5-million in a year, and Ashanti US$500 000 in the first six months.
It's the buzz word in the freight industry, and it's the trump card at Union Transport, which this week launched the first Supply Chain Management (SCM) Solution Centre in Africa.
Based in Bedfordview Johannesburg, the Centre encapsulates Union Transport's Supply Chain vision, as chairman Tiger Wessels told FTW in Johannesburg last week.
The focus at Union Transport is on developing specific supply chain solutions to meet customer or industry segment needs.
An important element of this is the integration of software with the client's in-house systems.
And while in the past the company developed transaction-related IT solutions, the focus has now shifted to planning and optimising the whole supply chain, which is where the real competition lies, according to Wessels.
While IT development previously took place in-house, Union Transport has now gone the alliance route and joined forces with the Dallas-based i2 global service provider, adding intelligent eBusiness software to its already established U-Trac, Internet-based global track-and-trace system.
The Johannesburg SCM will be followed by similar centres in Los Angeles, UK, Sydney, Dusseldorf, New York and Singapore or Hong Kong.
It's a huge step into next-generation logistics and a long way from where the industry started.
Supply chain logistics is designed ultimately to squeeze the client's inventory so that he doesn't end up with dead stock. And in a business climate where product quality is generally high, intelligent supply chain solutions will provide the competitive edge.
The products offered by Union Transport can accurately assess how supply and demand will be met, and are able to take into account the effect of a promotion, for example.
It's clearly a high-end solution, based as it is on critical mass, but once the systems have been developed additional products are likely to be made available to smaller companies offering slightly less functionality.