South Africa, March 23, 2021 — Imperial has been awarded the contract to implement an optimal handset demand, supply planning, and balancing process that is aligned to best practices for mobile telecommunications network provider MTN, the largest mobile network provider in Africa and ninth largest worldwide, with over 270 million subscribers. The scoping phase of the contract commenced at the end of 2020 and full implementation is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2021.
Imperial will utilize One Network’s NEO Platform, a cloud-based supply chain planning and execution platform that enables collaborative demand, supply and logistics management. The platform manages the end-to-end supply chain in real time, from consumers and retailers to raw material suppliers. One Network’s Control Tower solution is ranked a leader by both Gartner and Nucleus Research, and Imperial is the African partner for implementation, hosting and re-selling of the platform.
The Control Tower Solution for Retail will include demand and supply balancing, demand planning, inventory planning, demand forecasting, suggested store ordering, order management, replenishment planning, and last-minute allocation – the system autonomously reallocates short supply to minimize lost sales and maximize customer service. It will also include a command-and-control dashboard featuring real-time data, as well as customizable and interactive charts and reports.
“Creating and implementing this solution for MTN in South Africa aims to improve operational efficiency by driving improved product availability and customer service whilst reducing excess inventory and product obsolescence,” says Cobus Rossouw, Executive Vice President: Digital & IT at Imperial. “Providing a robust, autonomous, analytical capability to manage handset demand and supply means better forecasting and a more comprehensive view of flow of stock through the value chain. The platform drives MTN’s desire to focus on proactive exception management to maximize performance.”
“We are excited to partner with Imperial on this project,” says Philip Besiimire, Chief Regions, Sales and Distribution Officer: MTN, South Africa. “We believe that collaborative demand and supply planning of our handset inventory for retail operations will help us accurately forecast for and manage stock-outs, seasonal demand and other exceptions, thus benefiting our retail stores, channel partners and other parts of our supply chain. This will enable us to provide the best customer service with the optimal amount of inventory going forward.”
About Imperial Logistics
Imperial is an African focused provider of integrated market access and logistics solutions, with a focus on the following key industries — healthcare, consumer, automotive, chemicals, industrial and commodities. Imperial takes its clients and principals’ products to some of the fastest growing and most challenging markets in the world. Ranked among the top 30 global logistics providers and listed on the JSE in South Africa, Imperial seeks out and leverages new technology to deliver innovative, end-to-end solutions. Through its significant African footprint and international expertise, and with the support of its 25,000 people, Imperial’s purpose is connecting Africa and the world — and improving people’s lives with access to quality products and services. For more information, visit www.imperiallogistics.com.About One Network Enterprises
One Network Enterprises (ONE) is the leader in supply chain autonomous planning, control towers, and provider of the Digital Supply Chain Network™. It is the only solution that gives supply chain managers and executives end-to-end visibility and control with one data model and one truth, from raw material to last mile delivery. Powered by NEO, One Network’s machine learning and intelligent agent technology, it enables seamless planning and execution, across inbound supply, outbound order fulfillment, and logistics, matching demand with available supply in real-time. Lead your industry by providing the highest service levels and product quality at the lowest possible cost. Visit: www.onenetwork.com.
