Defusing the Youth Unemployment Time Bomb

How about creating our own supply chains?

The frightening numbers

We are sitting on a youth unemployment time bomb With a world population of 7.36 bn, over 24% (1.76 bn) is aged between 15 and 29. Most live in developing countries and are unemployable due to lack of skills. In Africa these numbers represent an opportunity, not a threat.

Youth unemployment- threat or opportunity?

The overlooked obvious revealed

Particularly where South Africa is concerned, the logistics industry is well placed to light a fire of radical, constructive change in very much the same way as Clem Sunter’s “High Road – Low Road” addresses to business were able to in the ‘80s.

We recognise that a primary cause of youth unemployment is a lack of skills.

We also acknowledge that South Africa is not about to become a world leader in information technology (or for that many any industry which requires high levels of technological input) anytime soon. Our focus should rather be on developing or reviving primary industries where there is potential which for various reasons is not being fully realised.

3^rd and 4^th party logistics providers add value to the businesses of buyers and sellers of goods by ensuring that these goods are moved from supplier to buyer at the right place, right time and at a viable cost. As such this is a derivative industry which traditionally relies on the existence of buyers and sellers in local and international markets in order to provide their services. In other words 3^rd and 4^th party logistics providers rely on the presence of established supply chains before they can offer their services.

This is where out of the box thinking is indicated. Any visit to a downtown supermarket will show how much fruit and vegetables are imported either from elsewhere in Africa or further afield, but not South Africa. Not 15 years ago this country was a net exporter of these products.

By contrast, the Kenyan cut flower industry started growing in the 1970’s. The country’s horticultural sector currently ranks as one of the economy's fastest growing industries, the third largest foreign exchange earner after tourism and tea, a trend that saw the industry rise to approximately 40% of export earnings over the past ten years with export volumes reaching 220,000 tonnes in 2014. Imagine what that has done for the Kenyan logistics industry.

An important factor in the success of any project involving agriculture is the realisation that, relatively speaking, farming is the easy part: what is important is total control of the supply chain from the time the crop is harvested until it is sold to the consumer.

This is where the opportunity presents itself: due to various factors there is a surplus of arable land in South Africa where those who own that land are unable, through a lack of resources and business expertise, to produce crops which are marketable. By partnering with such landowners the logistics provider is able to use his network of local and overseas contacts to establish markets for products which could be produced by the farm owners in question and then establish viable businesses along that supply chain in order to serve the markets which have been established.

In developing such projects a key factor in ensuring their sustainability is training: the development not only of the means of production (the farm and the downstream processing facilities) but also the competence to manage those supply chains.

From concept to cash: how much of the supply chain does the 3- 4PL own?

It has been said that there is money to be made in unsettled times. By developing their own supply chains, 3^rd and 4^th party logistics providers create their own opportunities while providing real solutions to the youth unemployment time bomb.

The question is- how many 3 and 4PLs are up to this challenge?

Has this sparked some creative ideas? Please share

What other economically sustainable solutions come to your mind?

Please join the discussions on www.charlesrdey.blogspot.com.

Key to Business Sustainability – Beating the Commoditisation Trap

Transforming your ticket to the game into business sustainability

These days the ability to provide a 3^rd party logistics service (freight management, freight forwarding, contract logistics etc.) is simply a ticket to the game: it may open doors, but it puts the business in the commodity space, where the lowest price wins.

Leveraging the whole picture for sustainability

If the people in your organisation have the tools to speak the language of Supply Chain Management and to offer solutions across the whole supply chains of your customers then you are adding huge value: monetising that value is what will sustain your business.

To attain such an objective implies radical changes at a strategic level: sustainable 3^rd party logistics providers have the ability to collaborate with others in building end to end solutions and the ability to integrate systems so that the implementation of such solutions is seamless and transparent down to the last nut and bolt in every transaction.

It is the people within your organisation who must be empowered to make all of this happen and in this context it is those responsible for training who are the critical change agents in such a transformation.

From the training manager’s point of view, for such a transformation to be successful, it needs to take place at all levels. The whole of your company needs to have an awareness of supply chain management terminology and its role in your customers’ respective supply chains, people at operation level need to have certain foundational competencies in the different aspects of supply chain collaboration and integration, those at supervisory and operations management level need to be proficient in these areas whilst those at, or aspiring to be, senior managers need to be experts.

To bring your company to these levels is not cheap and the secret to cost effective training interventions lies in establishing firstly the specific competencies required and then what is already available within your organisation.

Just as the 3^rd party logistics provider needs to use consultative selling techniques to find out exactly what the customer wants and to tailor solutions to meet those needs, so you need a training provider to work with you in mapping your organisation’s competency needs and how these should be met. Such solutions must be structured to meet individual needs down to study unit level and to make use of the best blend of face to face and elearning methodologies. For honing the sword of your company’s ability to stand out in the crowd, at least some of these solutions will need to be developed and delivered in house.  

For successful training programme development and maximum delivery impact it is essential that those responsible for training act as the bridge between your organisation’s departments its training providers.

For the person who will act as this connection, these are some tactics for building the bridge to your business units:

Obtain copies of annual reports, strategy documents, team meeting minutes or notes, and any other documents that can give you a sense of what is important to the business.

Participate in team and/ or strategic meetings and invite line managers or supervisors to join you for meals;

Show an interest in the business and their challenges by asking questions which will help you understand their language and speak it.

Above all, ensure that the impact of your training programmes is evaluated, both immediately and some time after delivery and that the data so obtained is used to continually improve your and your training provider’s programmes.

The key to building bridges is to first establish each individual’s needs in relation to the organisation’s strategy. Training interventions need to be prioritised in terms of the needs of the business, not your training department.

How does your company rate as a provider of solutions as opposed to a deliverer of services?

Does your whole company speak the language of supply chain management or is there still much work to be done?

Is the lack of skills a constraint to your company’s growth? If so, how can you address this?

Would you classify your company as a mover of cargo or a manager of inventory whilst at rest or in motion? Are you comfortable with this?

Your input will be much valued. Please join the discussion 

Sustaining the Future through Corporate Professionalism

Few businesses have developed a sufficient understanding of how dependent their competitiveness is on the creation of skills in the organisation. In general, businesses rely on the spot market for skills, rather than cultivating skills pipelines to ensure sustainable competitiveness. 

The 360^o Success Formula

With the continued emergence of new technologies and ever evolving customer needs, the sustainable supply chain management organisation recognises that the skills required to succeed tomorrow are not the same as the skills required to succeed today. It was once possible to establish skills benchmarks based on the success of the past, but today we must anticipate the benchmarks of the future to plan people development proactively.

Sustainable success calls for a general skills framework to promote balanced development so that, at every stage of his or her career, the individual is building a blend of technical, business, and leadership skills. The key question to be answered is which specific skills within that framework are most critical?

In today’s environment the answer lies in regularly re-assessing skills needs against market demands. In this context it is most instructive to take the skills needs identified in different sections of this year’s supplychainforesight survey and to classify them according to the three different types of skills listed above:

supplychainforesight skills needs	Type
Identifying and managing change	Leadership
Growth and expansion into new markets	Business
Enhancement of services and products	Technical
Predicting customer demand	Business
Integration of technology	Technical
Improving the flow of business intelligence	Technical
Improving service levels to customers	Business
Lowering procurement costs and reducing order lead times	Technical
Outsourcing functions for cost and service improvement	Business
Improving relations with customers, suppliers and service providers	Leadership

This indicates that the organisation needs to focus away from instances where people are missing skills they need for their current function and towards opportunities to develop skills they will need for their next role.

The formula for enhanced professionalism

Enhanced professionalism is a process, not an event and it has four key components:

Expectations and attitudes: Whilst on the one hand it is up to each individual to recognise that their marketability relies on lifelong learning, the responsibility lies on the organisation to make recommendations for a career that sets the standard for creating a development plan.

Education and training: That key ingredient of formal learning that supports current skill sets and accelerates future development. Match care must be taken to ensure that what is being offered is in fact what is needed. In very, very few instances will an off the shelf, formal training programme cover the exact needs of every learner: some tailoring will be required by the organisation (that’s what gives you your competitive edge, dummy!).

Mentoring: Career relationships that foster individual development

Workbased experiences: There is just no substitute. But, you say, if we are training for the future and not the now, how do we ensure that this happens? There are four steps:

1. Identify “superheroes” who already demonstrate the desired skill. Build your experiential solution(s) around the key differentiators that separate these “superheroes” from the rest.

2. Share with other organisations to find out if they have faced a similar skills gap and the lessons they learnt in addressing it.

3. Having identified an experiential solution, run a pilot to evaluate its effectiveness, adjust as necessary, and gather a group of advocates (participants and their leaders) who will promote the value of the solution with their peers.

How equipped is your organisation to capitalise on the opportunities which these times of uncertainty bring?

Are you confident that you have sufficient skills reservoirs which are the muscles that power organisational flexibility?

Please join the discussion.