It`s no secret that South Africa is behind the rest of the world in terms of productivity and standards. Ironically, the Y2K problem and the resultant remediation projects to make enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems Y2K-compliant, offered South African industrialists an ideal opportunity to turn the situation around by introducing timeous SAPICS training to broaden and improve the knowledge and skills of ERP users.
This is the view of Elize Ackerman, a director of CS Education Solutions, a division of JSE-listed CS Holdings. CS Holdings was recently selected as the exclusive SAPICS Education Outsourcing Partner by SAPICS (The South African Production & Inventory Control Society). As a result CS Holdings has taken over full responsibility for the provision and re-sale of SAPICS-approved Supply Chain Management courses in Africa through CS Education Solutions. Ackerman says business skills training across the board is absolutely essential for South Africa to survive as an industrial player. Specifically in the field of industry, where billions of Rand have been invested in ERP systems, business skills training is the key to raising productivity and standards and could be of beneficial influence to the industry.
"It`s ironic that the Y2K issue should present industry with a prime opportunity to use business skills training as a strategy to raise productivity and standards," says Ackerman. This is because the Y2K problem has compelled certain companies to upgrade their ERP systems. Some organisations have implemented vanilla versions of new systems in rapid implementation projects to meet the Y2K deadline. An additional factor influencing the situation is that in many cases the Y2K solution was not an upgrade but a total replacement of legacy systems.
"The rapid implementation strategy has left the aspect of customisation in order to enhance efficiencies and deliver competitive edge to be tackled later," says Ackerman. "Right now, companies need to train staff to use the newly upgraded systems. However, further down the line, they`ll be looking to those same staff for suggestions as to how to implement the system for better results.
"In both instances, the broader-based knowledge perspective to be gained in SAPICS courses offers companies a more effective training solution for achieving their desired outcomes in the customisation process," says Ackerman.
This is because SAPICS training gives people working in supply chain management a fundamental understanding of all the factors influencing the processes in the supply chain.
"People who understand their role and use of the system within the broader perspective of the total operation are more likely to begin to formulate more efficient ways of operating the system. The more they know about the processes flowing to and from their own input point the easier it is for them to identify time-wasters such as duplications, and obstacles causing bottlenecks.
"At the end of the day, the users of the system need to be empowered to help the company make the best use of the system. The only way to do this is to increase their knowledge of how the ERP system works. This can only be done effectively by allowing them to understand the fundamental principles that have formed the core premises on which the ERP systems vendors have based their development. And as these underlying principles are essentially the principles of supply chain management, SAPICS Education offers the best option for companies to raise their staff`s expertise.
"The more staff know the more creative they will become in using the system. And it is essentially that creativity that is required when the time comes to tackle an ERP implementation or re-engineering process," says Ackerman.
The fact is, says Ackerman, now that companies know that their systems are Y2K compliant, for the most part, many of these companies are just at the beginning of a long process towards achieving global competitiveness. In many cases new systems represent a replacement of outdated technology and many companies are only just coming up to ERP speed for the first time. With the legacy of poor or non-existent training dogging the South African economy, I would venture to say, SAPICS training is essential to any company that has intentions of either remaining or becoming industry-competitive in the new millennium.
SAPICS training, based as it is on the international standard set by APICS, offers the only real solution to raise the skills level of employees in the industrial sector.
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