Survey reveals top business objectives of SA’s supply chain industry

The top business objective of South Africa’s supply chain industry is to increase flexibility, agility and responsiveness and to use the supply chain as a competitive advantage.
That’s according to the latest Barloworld Logistics supplychainforesight 2012 survey released in Johannesburg last week.
“The current focus on responsiveness marks a welcome shift to more engagement with actual customer demand and market conditions rather than product and manufacturing schedules,” marketing executive Kate Stubbs told delegates as she unpacked the results of the survey titled South Africa Inc: Growth, Competitiveness and the Africa Question.
“The research also highlighted that South African companies need to understand the threats and opportunities present for industry and the national supply chain in other African markets,” said Stubbs.
supplychainforesight 2012 assesses the competitiveness of both individual companies and the industries they are in. “We are hence provided with a clearer picture of the threats and opportunities faced by South Africa as a nation competing in global supply chains with other nations. This section of the report includes answers on issues such as industry competitiveness in an international landscape, and growth prospects given South Africa’s current infrastructure constraints,” Stubbs said.
The following key questions are addressed:
• How do we use our supply chains to remain profitable and competitive in a world stricken by economic slowdown, rising unemployment and high levels of debt?
• How is your company and your industry dealing with the changing economic landscape with which we are faced?
• In response to the shift in global economic power towards major emerging markets, how is your company leveraging the opportunities in Africa?
supplychainforesight is an independent study that has been sponsored by Barloworld Logistics since 2002 and is conducted by international research specialists, Frost & Sullivan.
The detailed results, which include more information on how industries are organising themselves for competitiveness and growth, are published in full on the Barloworld Logistics website