AfriSam recently opened its Supplier Development Centre in support of the company’s Enterprise Development Programme, which has been implemented as part of a transformation drive in the country, especially in areas where the company operates.
The aim of the Supplier Development Programme is to identify black-owned Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) close to the company’s operations and provide these entrepreneurs with the necessary support and development for them to grow their business and ultimately be included in AfriSam’s database of registered vendors.
To date, AfriSam’s Enterprise Development team has held SMME campaigns and open days with communities around the company’s Lichtenburg, Roodekrans, Roodepoort and Eikenhof operations. More communities will be included as the programme is rolled out to other provinces in the future.
Situated on a property adjacent to AfriSam’s Roodepoort Cement operation, the Business Development Centre will also provide SMMEs with a facility where they have access to computers that have already been set up with an accounting package, to enable them to manage their statements and invoices to their customers.
The Centre for Supplier Development, a company focusing on SMME development, has been appointed to provide entrepreneurs from identified communities with training and development that will capacitate them to a level where they can do business with AfriSam and other companies.
In Lichtenburg, Motswiri Consulting has been appointed to a similar task of identifying and developing entrepreneurs from local communities around the Dudfield operations, and upskill them to a level where they operate efficient and sustainable businesses.
Of the entrepreneurs that will be identified and developed in Gauteng and Lichtenburg, a short list of suppliers will be enrolled in an accelerated development programme, with the aim of ensuring that they are ready to do business with AfriSam.
“This is a wonderful example of how AfriSam lives its values of People and Planet and making a sustainable difference to the communities where we operate. Well done to the Enterprise Development team for making this happen and AfriSam looks forward to contributing towards the sustainable growth of these businesses,” says Calie Ehrke, AfriSam’s supply chain manager.
Top suppliers honoured
The company recently honoured its top suppliers at the 8th annual Suppliers’ Awards, an event which has become the highlight of the industry to those providing excellent service to AfriSam throughout the year.
Suppliers play a critical role in AfriSam’s business and are seen more as strategic business partners in the company’s long-term growth plans than just providers of goods and services. The awards aim to thank and reward them for their superior performance, reliability and quality – principals which are encouraged and practiced by AfriSam in efforts to remain the customer of choice for its suppliers.
This year 13 winners were acknowledged as suppliers to AfriSam’s different business units and regions according to specific categories and then rated against criteria considered critical to the company’s business imperatives.
“Every supplier of AfriSam forms a critical part of the day-to-day operation of our business and is regarded by AfriSam as strategic business partners to ensure the future growth and success of our company. We utilise the Suppliers Awards function to recognise those suppliers who have excelled in their service delivery to AfriSam,” says Ehrke.
AfriSam has over 3 000 vendors and each one plays an important role in the successful running of the business. This makes the competition tougher every year as suppliers strive to enhance their product and service delivery. “We consider a range of criteria that vary from total spend to B-BBEE status, from safety records to quality of service or product, from contribution to our brand to pricing policies and future market trends, to mention just a few,” adds Ehrke.
Among those honoured at this year’s prestigious ceremony were: Linde Materials Handling (Pty) Ltd for Most Improved Key Supplier of the Year, with Insimbi Alloys Suppliers (Pty) Ltd taking the much coveted Key Supplier of the Year award.
BEE Supplier of the year award went to Saflog Consulting Services (Pty) Ltd, and Ilca Trading (Pty) Ltd took the SME/QSE Supplier of the Year crown.
Cement transporter, Klipstone Transport (Pty) Ltd, dominated the Transporter category by receiving a special award for improving its BEE status by 51% over the last year. The company also took home the cement-branded Transporter of the Year Award.
Other winners in the Transporter category for branded cement fleets included Long Distance Dedicated Contracts (Swaziland) for the Safety award; Unitrans Freight (Pty) Ltd for Corporate Identity, and Cargo Carriers (Bloemfontein) for Service Delivery. Third-party Transporter of the Year was awarded to Interfreight Vervoer, with Patrick John Borman taking the Readymix Transporter of the Year.
AfriSam internal teams were also recognised for their hard work, with the Gauteng Procurement team taking the Best Improvement award, and Accounts Payable team winning the award for Above Average Performance within AfriSam.
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