Page 14 - 05 Cotton SA March 2015

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SASTAC - continued from p 12 translating the aforementioned, the product
and supply chain governance requirements,
note (a brief introduction to the planned into production facility and infrastructure
initiative), identifying potential production requirements, and mapping these
and manufacturing partners and gaining a requirements for each level of value adding.
thorough understanding of the marketing At this stage of the programme development
strategies and product requirements (grade, process, it was possible to determine the
quality, quantities, etc.).
various types of funding required. When
The next step was to develop the standards developing new innovative business models,
to govern production and market offerings it is important to engage with potential
in line with SASTAC’s focus on sustainability. funding partners and pinpoint conditional
This included an assessment of the existing requirements for funding, as the traditional
standards for identity cotton programmes finance mechanisms are not aligned with the
such as BCI, as well as workshops with supply requirements of the ISCP.
chain stakeholders to adapt these standards to Phase 3: Assess Feasibility and Compile
local conditions.
Programme Plan
Based on the aforementioned product Once we had a thorough understanding of
requirements, SASTAC identified the fibre the product and manufacturing requirements,
producers and manufacturers that recorded it was important to confirm the volume and
similar product profiles in the past, connected price indicators per product and develop
with these producers and manufacturers to:
a real-time financial model for the supply
Present the programme concept, chain. This consisted of meetings with the
ISCP participants to determine the product
• Determine their ability and willingness to specifications and target pricing, reverse
participate in the programme, engineering the supply chain from Mr Price
to farm level to determine the volume, cost
• Assess the available capacity and infra- and price requirements for each level of value
structure, and adding, and finally developing a real-time
supply chain financial model.
• Identify the most suitable programme
participants. The next step was to compile a consolidated
programme plan, covering each level of
The Mr Price ISCP aims at supplying knitwear production and trade, and to present this to the
(T-shirts) and toweling products with 100% ISCP stakeholders to gain their commitment
local cotton fibre content into the local market. through signing an MOU. This presented the
platform to formally engage with potential
Phase 2: Design the Supply Chain funding partners, present the consolidated

Based on the end-use product requirements plan and compile funding applications.
of Mr Price, the second phase aims to translate Phase 4: Prepare for Programme Imple-
these into fibre requirements, yarn and fabric mentation
and then to map the supply chain from farmer
to retail in terms of location and production During this phase the focus was on
capability. Such translation is illustrated for 5 preparing the supply chain for programme
million T-Shirts in the table below. start-up. It was important to consider the
practical implications of integrating the
The mapping entails a description of the ISCP production with existing production
participants at each level of value adding schedules, conducting production trials, and
within the proposed supply chain, and implementing the supply chain management
resulted in the following ISCP participants:
and traceability systems.
• Farming: Cotton produced by 41 farmers in This phase also provided the platform to
the Marblehall, Hartswater and Marydale formalize the business agreements within the
areas
supply chain. Based on the agreed ISCP plan,
• Ginning: Loskop Cotton, Vaalharts Cotton Mr Price committed to taking up the cotton the supply chains to produce the knitwear
and Noord Kaap Katoenpluismeule fibre at the agreed volume and price, through
issuing a Promissory Note. This enabled Prilla and toweling products. The implementation
• Spinning: Prilla 2000 2000 to select the fibre volumes and grades is triggered by the Purchase Orders placed by
according to its spinning requirements. The Mr Price with Powerhouse Clothing and Colibri
• Knitwear Manufacturing: Powerhouse Selection Certificates and Purchase Orders Toweling. These orders are very specific in
Clothing formed the basis for the subsequent contracts terms of the product attributes such as design,
with Loskop, Vaalharts and NKKP cotton gins. sizes, volumes, etc. per SKU.
• Toweling Manufacturing: Colibri Toweling
Phase 5: Implement Programme Powerhouse and Colibri in turn translate
Working closely with the ISCP participants, the these orders into yarn requirements and issue
next step was to determine the production The Mr Price ISCP is now in this phase, and purchase orders to Prilla. Based on the yarn
facilities and infrastructure requirements the aim is to start the production that will see orders, Prilla will schedule its production and
for each link in the supply chain through the secured cotton fibre being pulled through fibre drawdown from the Gins accordingly.

Katoen SA Cotton 1414 January-March 2015