The DTI may release the revised BEE Codes as early as July 2013, and many of the principles that we were exposed to in the draft version will be retained. “Other than that, we are in the dark, once again…” says Bruce Rowe of Mpowered Business Solutions in this month’s SmartProcurement.
If organisations are going to continue driving a process of measurable transformation they should start understanding the principles that were included in the draft BEE Codes, advises Rowe.
“I expect the formula / definition of a “value adding supplier” will change, to make it a tad more relevant and aligned to the principles of existing industrial policy (such as local content).”
And organisations must start identifying enterprise development beneficiaries that are, either currently, or will be in the future become, suppliers to their organisations as we expect the principle of supplier and enterprise development will remain firmly in place, says Rowe.
The only real issues that we should all fear with the draft Codes are the three priority elements (with minimum thresholds to be met) and a revision to the point’s thresholds that define your organisation’s compliance levels. “It is the opinion of most that increasing these thresholds to the extent proposed will be counter-productive to transformation. We will wait and see…”
The paperless verification dream
Many companies would like to automate the verification process. Clients that have implemented BEE IT systems would like to see an automatic push of underlying data and evidence directly to their verification agency.
It is fairly simple to engage in a paperless verification of the Preferential Procurement scorecard; and there is no longer a requirement to print out every supplier BEE scorecard certificate.
Fortunately, there appears to be a shift in thinking amongst some forward-thinking rating agencies that see value in managing this process electronically; looking for process efficiencies and cost reduction as the market becomes increasingly competitive.
Some IT providers have already forged alliances with some of the more established rating agencies.
Therefore, when going to tender, engage rating agencies based on which back-end IT systems they use; and to what extent the verification preparation process can be managed electronically, concludes Rowe.
