The self-serving 20th century is over, and as the world learns from past mistakes, a new vigour has emerged around sustainability - both economical and environmental. In the midst of this global rethink, much greater focus is being given to corporate governance. Companies make up economies which make up the world, so a focus on sustainability at this level is vital.
Corporate governance in South Africa is measured by the King III report - a guideline published by the King Committee, headed up by Professor Mervyn King. This report places a much greater responsibility on the officers and directors of a company and demands sustainability reporting on the manner in which a company affects the communities in which it trades - both positively and negatively. The report focuses on the “three Ps”, namely people, planet and profit.
Modern farming practices are under scrutiny the world over. In an industry where “time to market” is everything, factory farming techniques have become the norm. In the case of live stock, these techniques rely on confinement and high stocking density of animals in an effort to produce the highest output at the lowest possible cost. Unfortunately, these modern methods also require antibiotics and pesticides to mitigate the spread of disease and pestilence exacerbated by these crowded conditions.
SYSPRO believes there is a happy middle ground between providing healthy, sustaining food to the consumer and being profitable. The company has been providing award-winning ERP software to the supply chain of the food industry for over three decades, and believes that “time to market” deadlines can easily be achieved through operational efficiencies. “In our view, the food chain is a fundamental step in the evolution of sustainability, from the correct fertilisation of the soil, to delivering food to people's palates,” says Meryl Malcomess, SYSPRO's marketing director. “One of SYSPRO's key focus areas is on sustainability from soil to palate.”
SYSPRO provides a comprehensive ERP solution solving the challenges of quality and perishability coupled with the demands for faster inventory and delivery. Sophisticated inventory capabilities allows for optimum management of operations, while maintaining a strong focus on the environment - in line with King III.
In South Africa, a shining example of this is Tuinroete Agri. Originally established as an agricultural co-op, this now fully fledged company continues to serve the communities in the Southern Cape and Langkloof. The company's products and services range from agricultural products to home-baked goods, and recently expanded its retail operations to include liquor stores, paint outlets, and filling stations. SYSPRO rose to the challenge, providing an ERP solution with the highly specific functionality required to accommodate the organisation's 53 000 stock items across 70 warehouses handling 5 000 transactions a day. Tuinroete Agri was also the flagship SYSPRO 6.1 site in South Africa, becoming the first in the country to experience the power of SYSPRO's latest ERP solution.
Further afield, similar success stories prevail. The Githunguri Dairy co-op in Kenya was first formed in 1961 to help the smallholder dairy farmers of Githunguri market their milk. Today, it collects about 105 000 litres of milk a day from a membership of 12 000 small farmers and has an annual turnover of over one billion Kenyan shillings. SYSPRO provided the co-op an ERP solution to efficiently manage their supply chain and control their more than 33 retail outlets, improving procurement efficiency, transaction speeds and responsiveness to customers' demands.
The unprecedented success of the co-op has not gone unnoticed. They were recently visited by South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, accompanied by his Kenyan counterpart, with the intention of learning more about the key to successful co-operatives.
So the key to tasty, healthy, affordable food is all in the efficiencies of its supply. The next time you sit down to a mouth-watering dish - don't compliment the chef, but rather SYSPRO for helping deliver your meal from the soil to your palate.
Since its inception in 1978, SYSPRO has been delivering state-of-the-art business solutions to some of the world's leading companies. As a global leader in the production of world-class ERP software, the company now caters to the specialised needs of 14 500 licensed companies in more than 60 countries worldwide. SYSPRO is marketed globally through regional territory distribution centres and a global reseller network in the US, Canada, Africa, Asia Pacific, Australia and the UK.
SYSPRO is a fully integrated business software solution that provides complete control over the planning and management of all facets of business, including accounting, manufacturing and distribution operations in a variety of industries. For additional information on SYSPRO, go to http://www.syspro.com.
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