As an importer, exporter, local manufacturer and regional distributor of a variety of engines, generators and filtration systems for end customers (including mining houses) and consumers, Cummins South Africa’s supply chain and logistics model is continuously evolving, says Ged Mackell, supply chain director for Cummins Africa Middle East. He told FTW that the company had made “significant investments” in South Africa over the past five years, seeing it as the hub into the southern African region. “Improving the level of logistics maturity is a journey and not an event. Critical success factors are ongoing training and operational change management to establish and sustain new routines to leverage the benefits of our investments,” Mackell said. New investments include a 20 000-sqm Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) in Johannesburg, with Mackell explaining that this has helped cut down on logistics costs. “Prior to the establishment of the RDC, we often had to send products out via airfreight – subject to high airfreight rates,” he commented. Mackell added that Cummins South Africa was also focused on improving its demand planning capability, in collaboration with its customers to further cut down on logistics costs and improve efficiency. “The regional logistics model is aligned to the global model but it is evolving into a more centralised planning model coupled with multilevel inventory optimisation,” he said. According to Mackell, Cummins’ business in the southern African region is mainly focused on distribution, importing about 90% of sales into the region. Engines and generators are sourced from the Cummins global manufacturing network – including India, China and the United Kingdom. In South Africa, Cummins has a filtration manufacturing plant for coolants and air filters which was recently upgraded. Furthermore, the company has a Master Rebuild Centre in Johannesburg for high horsepower engines which mainly supports mining customers across the region. The locally produced filtration systems and rebuilt engines are now exported into southern Africa from the RDC via road. “Both outbound and inbound transport is outsourced to third party logistics operators (3PLs), which includes warehouse storage for engines and generator sets,” Mackell explained. “However, since there are 30 000 unique parts handled through the global logistics network , there was a need for a sophisticated materials planning and warehouse management system, which Cummins developed in-house. “We believe this exclusive, integrated supply chain management system gives us a competitive advantage as we get our products to market faster and can more effectively anticipate our clients’ needs,” said Mackell.
Improving the level of logistics maturity is a journey and not an event. – Ged Mackell
The Cummins QSK 95
is one of their biggest
engines to date.
