IMPERIAL LOGISTICS
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Imperial Logistics focus supply chain
South Africa Magazine talks to IMPERIAL Logistics’ Chief Integration Officer Cobus Rossouw. By Ian Armitage
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MPERIAL Logistics is a global logistics and supply chain management leader. To quote its website it “moves business and industry through innovation, inspiration and foresight”. Through its established southern African and international divisions, this logistics giant provides fundamental logistics and end-to-end supply chain management solutions to blue chip customers in almost every industry in several countries. Chief Integration Officer Cobus Rossouw says the company is performing well, looking to expand and has an ongoing commitment to the African supply chain community. It is also committed to growing and developing the industry’s skills and body of knowledge. “IMPERIAL Logistics positions itself as an extension of our own customer’s business, building its customer’s brand alongside its own,” he explains. “In southern Africa we are a multi-branded business, comprising specialist operating companies including Imperial Cargo, Imperial Distribution, TFD, Tanker Services, Volition, CIC, Freightmax, e-Logics, The Cold Chain, Broco, Cargo Africa amongst others.” IMPERIAL Logistics International comprises four operating units - Panopa Logistik, neska, IMPERIAL Shipping, Lehnkering and Brouwer Shipping. Rossouw sees logistics as a “growth enabler”. “I believe integrated supply chain management could be
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Imperial Logistics focus supply chain
leveraged to achieve overall organisational transformation. While integrated supply chain management is not often considered as an enabler for change management, it can be a catalyst for organisational transformation. “Most supply chain professionals focus on the improvement of the supply chains of the organisation, or at most, the value chains in which the organisation operates. Few professionals consider their potential impact towards the overall transformation of the organisation.” IMPERIAL Logistics is unquestionably the market leader and things are going very well for the JSE-listed firm which announced increased revenue and operating profit for the six months ending 31 December 2011. Rossouw is naturally delighted. “Logistics in Africa is a key area of growth.”
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The African logistics operations recorded revenue of R8.3 billion and operating profit of R512 million in the six months ending December 2011. “We achieved growth despite a challenging trading environment. We have certainly confirmed our leadership position as a logistics service and supply chain management outsource provider,” Rossouw explains. “Excitingly our relationships with our clients have expanded to include not only the traditional transport and warehousing execution, but also logistics planning and integrated supply chain management. We are becoming a more fundamental part of our clients’ operations and business - and we are helping them succeed.” He says that IMPERIAL Logistics has implemented various internal initiatives to ensure that clients can benefit from the broad spectrum of services offered by the company.
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Imperial Logistics focus supply chain
“As our clients’ supply chains mature, IMPERIAL Logistics has provided integrated solutions to address their challenges – we are a comprehensive service provider. “We have also made exciting progress with the standardisation of information technology and this allows us to spread best practice between operations, to offer clients leading-edge solutions and to remove cost of duplication.” Various strategic growth initiatives remain core to IMPERIAL Logistics, he says. This includes the “expansion of African operations”, comprehensive involvement in “intermodal logistics” and specific focus on skills development, sustainability and transformation. “Those are very important to our business going forward.” IMPERIAL Logistics’ commitment to addressing the skills gap in South Africa’s supply chain industry was recognised at the Association for Operations Management of Southern Africa’s (SAPICS) Supply Chain Education Excellence Awards. “We won that for our Fast Forward skills development initiative,” says Rossouw. “It was named the top Corporate Supply Chain Education Programme of the Year and we faced strong competition from other industry players that included Barloworld Logistics, UTI and Value Logistics.” Fast Forward, he says, takes a practical approach to growing the industry’s skills base by providing a framework of supply chain and logistics education and professional development for current and aspiring supply chain professionals. 6
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I believe integrated supply chain management could be leveraged to achieve overall organisational transformation
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Imperial Logistics focus supply chain
“The Fast Forward initiative operates across various levels - from facilitating workplace entry to in-house supply chain management programmes, tertiary education support and industry collaboration and research.” The workplace entry element of the programme is facilitated through the IMPERIAL Logistics’ Graduate Development Programme, which offers a chance to gain “hands-on experience” throughout all areas of the logistics and supply chain management industry. “We have a number of in-house supply chain management development initiatives,” Rossouw adds. 10
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Fast Forward also includes a partnership with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). Rossouw says that is aimed at “elevating the visibility of supply chain management in and between firms” to help “drive improvement” and make supply chain management a career of choice. “Why are we doing all of this? Well the first aim is to develop priority skills, which have become scarce - industrial engineers, for example. Our goals are aligned with Government objectives and ,through Fast Forward, we are actively pursuing developmental outcomes for our economy, our industry and our people.”
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He is optimistic about the firm’s future. “There is tremendous potential for us going forward in Africa and we are pursuing growth. “For a long time people looked at Africa and getting into Africa by using southern Africa as a springboard and that remains an important way to get products to consumers in Africa and to get products and resources out of Africa. The most important change that we are actively driving is that you can’t achieve access to Africa only through South Africa. You have to develop the corridors and points of entry on the coasts as well – places like Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is important to invest. 12
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We have also made exciting progress with the standardisation of information technology
We are actively involved in strengthening our position, either by acquisition or organically, developing new capabilities.” IMPERIAL Logistics, which entered the South African logistics and transport market in 1975, has traditionally pursued acquisition as a means of expanding the Logistics business into Africa. One recent example is the acquisition of Namibian firm CIC – a group that has facilities in Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa. To learn more visit www.imperiallogistics.co.za.
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Imperial Logistics focus supply chain
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