JOY ORLEK SOUTH AFRICAN businesses are searching for new ways to deal with the increased volumes and complexities of their supply chains. They are also beginning to seriously re-evaluate the nature of their supplier and customer relationships in order to cope with the challenges presented by rapid and compound growth on the one hand and globalisation on the other. These were some of the key findings of the Barloworld-sponsored supplychainforesight survey, the results of which were released in Johannesburg last week. Clearly most industries were caught unawares by the sustained economic growth SA has experienced over the last few years, and this has placed supply chains under increasing pressure to deliver. At the same time emerging markets have begun to raise their profiles and to find markets within which they can compete with the developed world. This puts additional pressure on SA supply chains to enable competitive advantage quickly before opportunity is lost. “Collaboration has to go quickly from being a challenge to a reality if we are to compete more effectively,” the survey states. The fact that 48% of logistics service providers believe there is a fair amount of collaboration between suppliers and customers is a good start.
