Barloworld Supply Chain Software helps identify $1bn saving for Egyptian Government

Barloworld Supply Chain Software’s CAST product has helped identify a supply chain saving of $1 billion USD for the Government of Egypt, which is the biggest ever saving recorded in a Barloworld SCS project.

Government of Egypt (GoE) operates a food subsidy program across the country.  As a staple part of the Egyptian diet, Balady bread is considered the most important item in the program.  With Egypt’s population of 78 million people and a land area four times the size of the UK, the GoE faced a number of challenges within the Balady bread supply chain, and requested the WFP (World Food Programme) to undertake a study (funded by the Dutch Embassy in Cairo) to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the system. 

The WFP selected its global partner, TNT Express, to help develop a supply chain solution. TNT then approached Barloworld Supply Chain Software (SCS) to assist.

Barloworld SCS supplied the CAST software and training as well as additional support in building and optimising the models.

The CAST supply chain modelling software, developed by Barloworld SCS is a powerful, PC based application used for global supply chain modelling, network design and optimisation.  CAST is used to evaluate and identify the ‘preferred’ or optimal supply chain configuration and to calculate the total cost to market, leading to cost savings and service improvements.

The main project objective was to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the existing supply chain of wheat flour for the subsidised Balady bread and propose a new efficient system to be piloted in one or two governorates as a best practice model.

Barloworld SCS provided the CAST software as well as additional training and support. Several other international experts were also involved, to help identify further improvement areas throughout the baking and milling processes.

The total annual cost savings calculated are in excess of $1 billionUSD, which includes the savings achieved through using ‘super bakeries’ and eliminating losses in the supply chain, reducing the total amount of wheat required.

Chief Operating Officer at Barloworld SCS, Ewan French, says: “The project, which was carried out by TNT for the Egyptian Government, was very successful and has helped to identify savings in excess of $1 billion USD, which is a first for a CAST project.”  He goes on to explain that further work is required in order to realise the savings identified in the modelling exercise.

Following the success of the modelling exercise, TNT has purchased Barloworld SCS CAST software to deploy on other supply chain projects.