Supply Chain
Imperial Health Sciences’ Supply Chain Academy, which has
become one of Africa’s leading providers of training and
development for people working in the public health supply
chain, reflects Imperial’s commitment to skills development
While the group may not actually acquire
in Africa.
physical assets, he says that clients can rest
It offers programmes - including in-country training - from
assured that Imperial’s African partners will
basic to post graduate level, to ensure that the supply chain
is given the focus it warrants in the healthcare sector in
developing countries.
be “Imperial Enabled”. The term – which the
organisation has trademarked – refers to
partners, sub-contractors and suppliers having
the training and expertise to offer clients the
Imperial’s Pan-African strategy focuses on Nigeria
and Ghana in West Africa and on eight East African
same level of service they could expect from
Imperial.
countries – namely Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda,
Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, South Sudan and
Somalia. Truter elaborates: “In East Africa, Kenya
is our operations base since many multinationals
have African head offices and manufacturing
facilities there. In addition to this, its Port of
With clients like GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), Johnson & Johnson,
Procter & Gamble, Bayer, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and South
African manufacturer Tiger Brands already benefiting from
Imperial’s Africa strategy, Truter’s assertion that it has been
an “easy sell” is well founded.
Mombasa is a gateway to East Africa. In West Africa,
our focus is on acquiring good infrastructure.”
Imperial’s acquisition of Nigerian logistics company MDS
gave the group instant 3PL (third party logistics) capability
in Nigeria and Ghana. Truter stresses, however, that acquisitions are just one element of the organisation’s approach to
building its capabilities in Africa and to customising its experience in outsourced value chain management in order to drive
clients’ competiveness.
This is a journey that began with our clients’
needs, and it is a journey that we are taking
with and for our clients. While the path is
constantly being refined and built on, the
support we have garnered makes it clear that
Imperial is on the right track as we strive to
enable our clients to unlock the full potential
of Africa,” he concludes.
Our strategy is to leverage, partner and acquire
– and not necessarily in that order,” he explains.
“Imperial will leverage its existing experience,
expertise, resources, capabilities and geographic
footprints. Where we need to build on this, we will
partner with other organisations to meet our clients’
needs, or we will acquire the necessary capability.”
october 2014 • logistics in action •
17