A severe shortage of skills in the South African logistics industry is effecting how the country responds to the demands of global logistics. According to Detlev Duve, MD of Dachser South Africa, areas that are critical and short of skills need to be identified and mechanisms need to be devised to develop the necessary skills base to respond to the challenges.

The company is responding to this need by introducing a comprehensive skills development programme.

“We initiated the Dachser Learnership Programme in September 2012. We have a dedicated and knowledgeable staff complement that can assist in educating candidates,” says Duve.

In addition to specific specialist training in the freight and transport industry, the 12-month programme offers computer literacy, telephone and business etiquette skills.

Adds Duve:“Our skills programme covers road, sea and air transport as well as customs; by offering comprehensive experiential training, we can start to close the skills gap and create employable candidates.

“Skills within the logistics sector are rapidly diversifying and all employees need to pursue broader areas of learning to remain competitive. Companies need to train their employees consistently. A solid base of logistics management skills, including the tactical and strategic aspects, is critical for a company to exist within the competitive logistics environment.”

Candidates for the skills programme are sourced through a TETA registered facilitator, such as the SA Maritime. All candidates must have a minimum secondary qualification equal to grade 12.

“We have recruited three learners in Cape Town, two in Durban and five in Johannesburg for training. We hope they will eventually fill positions in the company. In this way, we are looking at development from grass-root level,” states Duve.

“This is our first skills development programme and it will help us assess what we need to change or improve for the next programme. We are proud to say the programme is going very well. We have a close relationship with our candidates and they are succeeding in learning all the necessary skills.”

Dachser will offer post-programme mentorship should the candidates require it, as well as detailed references for all candidates if they elect to proceed with careers in other companies.