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FREDD wins Gold at National Logistics Achiever Awards
05 November 2009
Demonstrating the power of collaboration to make a supply chain more efficient, key stakeholders in the Southern African sugarcane-growing industry recently won the coveted Gold Award in the 21st Logistics Achiever Awards, the finals of which were held in Johannesburg on October 15th.
The award-winning entry was submitted by a multi-organisational team that includes the South African Cane Growers Association, TSB Sugar, Tongaat Hulett, Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation, Agtrix, Sumit Solutions and the South African Sugar Research Institute, together with specialist supply chain efficiency consultancy, Crickmay & Associates.
Adjudicating the Awards were representatives from leading logistics and supply chain organisations, including the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, the Road Freight Association, the South African Institute of Industrial Engineers, the South African Roundtable of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and the Theory of Constraints International Certification Organisation.
“Entries are scored on a number of criteria including: leadership and innovation; quality management; customer satisfaction; business results; operational improvements; sustainability; collaboration; information management; people management; environmental sensitivity; impact on society; and, the caliber of the submission, ending in an overall rating which may include bonus points,” explains Saxton.
Vying for top honours against stiff competition, the entry involved detailing the success of an ICT-based vehicle scheduling system, known as FREDD, which is now fully operational within the local sugar industry at four sugar mills owned by three of Southern Africa’s top sugar corporations.
“FREDD has had a phenomenal impact on both the South African and Swaziland sugar industry supply chains and is now the main technology platform driving supply chain efficiency improvement in the sugar industry, ” says Peter Lyne, Programme Manager, South African Sugar Research Institute.
“FREDD has developed a definite personality amongst local farmers and hauliers,” Giles says. “Using a standard personal computer linked to the internet, FREDD communicates with every sugarcane truck’s onboard computer, all of which are fitted with a GPS and GSM modem. FREDD constantly monitors the progress of all vehicles while they’re travelling or loading, effectively reducing standing times at mill yards by nearly 70 percent.”
Apart from impressive fuel savings due to reduced vehicle idling at the respective mills, FREDD has set new productivity benchmarks within the sugar industry, including cost savings for growers and hauliers from the reduced mill turn-around times in excess of R12.7 million at one mill alone. For the mill owner, savings associated with the reduction in mill stops are estimated to be in excess of R14.7 million per annum, Giles says.
For Andrew Crickmay, Managing Director, Crickmay and Associates, “winning the Gold Award helps recognise the efforts of a number of different
organisations and individuals who, from as early as 2001, at great personal risk, have brought about the necessary change of mindset within the sugarcane growing industry that has enabled FREDD to be the winner he is.”
FREDD now ensures optimised scheduling of trucks from plantation to mill resulting in massive cost savings to the sugar industry.
