Application of smart value chain logistics for the small-medium brick manufacturing enterprises of Thohoyandou Town, South Africa

Abstract

The study investigated the smart value chain logistics system application within the domain of the brick-making sector of Thohoyandou town, South Africa. The investigation has revealed new ways of re-imagining the operation of process inventory for produced and finished brick products from the supply chain to the distribution centers within rural towns through the utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platforms applied within the Small-Medium Brick Logistics enterprises. The Small-Medium Brick Enterprises (SMBEs) of Thohoyandou town consist of unlicensed small-scale enterprises and medium-scale enterprises. Little formal documented information was known about these enterprises in terms of the operational mode, production procedures, transportation, and socio-economic impacts on the host communities. The study aimed to demonstrate the application of the Smart Value Chain Logistics approach that could be applied to improve the transportation process in Small-Medium Brick Manufacturing Enterprises in Thohoyandou Town. The main objective was to recommend a smart value chain logistics framework. To analyze the value chain system that seeks to support the Small-Medium Brick Manufacturing Enterprises’ development in the brick-making sector of Thohoyandou town. The study analysis was conducted, where the sample size of the brick manufacturing enterprises in Thohoyandou town was 7 with (100%) responses. The sample size of the key informants from the local municipality and district municipality within the transport and housing departments was 5 with (100%) responses that were analyzed using the SPSS spatial analytical tool. The total sample size of all key respondents was 12. The research methodology selected for the study was the mixed method approach using qualitative and quantitative analysis approaches. The results revealed that the application of the smart value chain logistics framework approach could be adopted to improve the brick-making enterprise’s transport logistics in terms of operational efficiency, and effectiveness of the manufacturing activities.