Advisory company Deloitte has launched a supply-chain academy in response to a shortage of skills in this field, according to Engineering News. In a statement, it said that, as early as 2002, studies of supply chain opportunities for improvement highlighted that sourcing and procurement was seen as the area of focus for many organizations.

In 2006, sourcing is still seen as important. This is perhaps additionally driven in South Africa by some of the unusual nature of the local market, it said.

However, locally there is a skills shortage, and a need to procure from accredited black owned organizations. As a result, the company launched the Supply Chain Academy, which seeks to combine traditional learning with business improvement through enhanced sourcing.

The academy will work on two models. The first involves companies who are interested in training their own new recruits or even junior staff by sending them to the Academy for four to six months of intensive instruction. The second entails Deloitte recruiting individuals on behalf of interested organizations.

They will receive a salary during training, paid for by Deloitte, and work on an organization's behalf that then has the option to hire them after their completion of the program.