At an event hosted by the South African Excellence Movement in Johannesburg last week, attendees from all spheres of the manufacturing industry were given key tools to assist them to operate more efficiently as well as to gain insight to leverage available tools and knowledge to boost their competitive edge in the industry. Members of the South African Excellence Movement include Rifle-Shot Performance Holdings (RSPH), MAPTM (Manufacturing Accelerator Programme), the CSIR, JCCI, SAQI, CGF, IBM, Madala & Associates.
Every manufacturer attending the event was given an overview of the RoadMapTM specifically designed to assist with making their business a profitable one that would ultimately benefit the manufacturing community. Speakers included Ian Huntly (co-founder and CEO of RSPH), Martin Sanne (director of Material Sciences and Manufacturing at CSIR) and Shane Radford (IBM African business development executive) whose various topics examined the historical, current and innovative future landscape of manufacturing, as well as the tools one needs to either enter into the manufacturing field or expand with emphasis being placed on all and any legal implications that require consideration.
Huntly suggested manufacturers are all aware of the skills shortage associated with artisans (compared to their international counterparts), but can we begin to perceive of the skills shortage when it comes to the people actually managing the business and the changes required to make a company world-class?
"One of the most compelling reasons for any manufacturer to get on board this journey is that B-BBEE laws will eventually exclude you from the market. The picture we should have in our minds is one of a growing B-BBEE company, supplying SOCs and OEMs and exporting - a vibrant, thriving business that is able to export because it meets and exceeds international standards," said Naidoo.
SA Manufacturers are simply not prepared for international competitiveness and with re-shoring in multiple countries becoming a threat for export opportunities, local manufacturers have to be well-equipped to deal with this. In addition, being a director is an onerous task given the consequences for non-compliance and the financial and social implications when things go wrong.
Organisations involved in the South African Excellence Movement are large entities, however small manufacturers need to be aware that all of these companies are affordably accessible to them. IBM, for example, is often viewed as a global company however it is very committed to helping smaller companies in South Africa grow by linking them with larger companies to expand their supply chains and empower the smaller companies who support them. CSIR too has been actively working on methodologies to help small companies implement the latest technology and guide them through the process so they don't collapse.
Huntly also noted that another perceived "dark cloud" is the one of quality and governance. "Running an empirically ethical business is no longer a compassion-based choice, it is law. Furthermore, running a "clean" requires clean and accurate data, and sadly this has been missing in most of our engagements." he said. "King IV is the de-facto standard, and non-compliance can result in catastrophic consequences," he concluded.
Rifle-Shot Performance Holdings (RSPH) is a distributor, reseller and implementer of leading operational management software systems for large and medium businesses. More than that, it is a consultant and software vendor that is pioneering the integration of operational systems for enabling exceptional performance in the manufacturing industry. Some of RSPH'S most notable partners include ESKOM, SASOL, TRONOX and Evapco.
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