Discovering Customer problems and why they do what they do? As a young man growing up in the Northern Cape I learnt early on that by observing customers you can learn a lot regarding what problems they have. It just so happened that a friend of my father was manufacturing leather belts. At the time I thought it wise to …
This paper was first delivered and presented on the 12 – 14 June 2016 at the 38th Annual SAPICS Conference & Exhibition where after it was republished by transportworldafrica.co.za on 16 June 2016. The article can be downloaded here from TransportworldAfrica.co.za. History of BBBEE & Preferential Procurement Supplier Diversity as we know it today has its roots in the Civil …
Having recently adopted a baby girl I have once again had the privilege of watching the development process taking place first hand. First teeth come with sleepless nights and grabbing something out of reach comes with painful face plants. It has reminded me of the old maxim that the magic of life is in the journey as much as in …
With all the discussion about Enterprise and Supplier Development Risk, many in South Africa have missed one of the biggest areas that will soon be affecting their BBBEE score. BBBEE in South Africa is driven through the procurement process. In this process most of the discussion in the past was around a company’s BBBEE Level Status. In the amended codes …
You press the tin can as hard as you can to your ear. Can you hear anything? It’s rather muffled. You cannot contain your excitement. Did you hear it right? “I need to go and ask them” you think and you run as fast as your little feet can carry you to the other end of the wire. Nope, you …
Supplier Development is about empowering front line employees It is front line employees who make a company successful. Nike has recently emphasized this in their supplier development initiatives. According to executives at Nike “the culture of empowerment that is core to making lean really work…requires…management [to] understand that the worker is the closest to the process and to the act of manufacturing and therefore …
A tool for managing change Many companies believe BBBEE is unique. BBBEE is indeed unique in various aspects but the process of Black Empowerment & Localisation is not unique. Various international companies have sought to increase local purchasing and as a result also develop suppliers. Our Local Supplier Development Tool is here to change all that. The International Finance Corporation has (some time ago) …
Is it a bird, is it a plane – no it’s the Entrepreneurial Man! And so is the reaction of many of us to what an Entrepreneur is. Someone who defies the gravity of a salary. Someone who is a loner, works longer hours than humanly possible and in their spare time goes on a holiday to outer space. Our …
Many companies in South Africa are grappling with the question about what the difference between Enterprise Development and Supplier Development (ESD) is. Has anything changed? Is the only difference really in when the development is applied, pre and post transaction? Enterprise Development companies that have competed in the 3% NPAT space before are arguing that nothing has changed and that …
In the spirit of the holiday season let’s have a bit of fun. In a previous post we wrote about standardisation and 5S as the foundation for supplier development. During the holidays I took my kids to watch Big Hero 6. It was a lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone with kids. Always attentive to continuos …
Standardisation as a pillar of economic growth Even though the roots of Supplier Development lie in Lean Improvement the role of standardisation has been significantly overlooked in most Supplier Development practises. In the cases where it has been emphasised it has mostly been done as a record keeping function without embedding it in the operations of the company being developed. To many …
In a previous discussion we mentioned the various different metrics in your supplier development process. During this discussion we will explain the rationale for why you should separate these metrics. Conflicting areas of growth As a large company you have specific areas that you view as core to the organisation. On average your supply chain needs would be largely related to …
Are you in the loan business to the SA Government? Do you own a small business? Are you doing business with Government? If you are there is a 87% chance that you have not been paid in 30 days? This my dear small business owner, turns you into a bank. Hopefully you are charging interest to your customer and, considering that …
Deciding on which metrics to use in your supplier development process is critical to the success of the process. Essentially there will be three different types of Metrics that you will use. You will use programme management metrics that will firstly measure the SROI and Diversity outcomes of the programme. You will also measure the growth and sustainability of the individual …
Have we made it? Enterprise Development has gained momentum in South Africa over the past few years. Many in South Africa are still debating if the economy is feeling the impact of this. Some of the reasons behind this are that many companies have gone about outsourcing their current operations, with very little economic value add. In the frenzy to …
