Daniel Hall, vice president of sales and marketing at Magic Software SA, says supply chain efficiency has become a competitive necessity, especially when it comes to integrating technology and processes at all levels of the supply chain, including raw material suppliers, manufacturers, distribution and the end customer. Integration improves both the speed and the quality of the information flowing through the supply chain, and allows for just-in-time manufacturing and procurement, reducing production costs and stocking requirements.

"Integrating supply chains is old hat to most of the larger enterprises in South Africa," says Hall. "Smaller companies, however, are generally not up to speed, probably due to the perceived costs and complexity of integration. They tend to do what is necessary to meet their larger customers' technical requirements and little else."

But while integration of supply chains has been and is a crucial business process for the reasons above, the advent of functional mobility over the past year or two in South Africa is causing many companies to re-examine their integration strategies. Mobile technology has the potential to take integration to the next level, extending supply chain optimization to unheard of levels of efficiency and productivity.

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