PhilRice/PRIASE

Training in supply chain management for brown rice production

About PhilRice/PRAISE

PRAISE (the PhilRice Agribusiness Incubation Services for Enterprises) is a unit within PhilRice (Philippine Rice Research Institute) that provides research services, warehousing services and supply chain management services. PRAISE was created in support of community development initiatives for marginalized indigenous, smallholder rice farmers. The aim of PRAISE is to take part in developing a critical mass of globally competitive and socially responsive rice farmer entrepreneurs in the grassroots, post war and post disaster areas of the Philippines.

Business case

Recently, a multinational company approached PRAISE to help them start a business on pre-packed unpolished special quality rice. PRAISE usually sells services, and has little experience in managing huge volumes of commodities for national and international distribution. Therefore, PRAISE asked SharePeople to find an expert on logistics and supply chain management in order to help ensuring that the huge volumes of special rice are delivered on the right place at the right time with the right quality. As a key deliverable, PRAISE requested a manual on how to manage the supply chain in a sustainable way. PRAISE found a partner in Els van der Lelij & Leon van Os from Involvation.

Results

Analysis

The two Involvation consultants managed a few workshops to identify the actual request and knowledge needed by PhilRice/PRAISE. It turned out more insight on how to perform business planning was desired, so this topic was added to the project. Next to this, several training sessions were given to enhance supply chain knowledge.

Advice

The experts made contributions not only to the requesting Unit (PRAISE), but to PhilRice as a whole. The deliverables are as follows:

• A guidebook, roughly describing how to perform business planning and how to design and manage
  a supply chain.
• Research and development (R&D) activities should be focused on activities that yield income for PhilRice and make contribution to the Philippine economy. The lecture on product-market combination was expounded further on how PhilRice should phase its R&D efforts and how to decide on the mass production of knowledge products.
• Aside from the basic supply chain management, the experts had provided the idea on how PhilRice should look at the interrelated processes and costs. Example is on the production of farm machineries, in case PhilRice will keep an inventory of machineries, the Institute will be loosing on the opportunity cost of money and technology getting outmoded in case the machineries are not bought immediately.
• PhilRice also learned how each income generation unit should complement each other. Currently each Unit or Division in PhilRice is setting-up its own income generation initiative. Some initiatives are duplicating which confuses customers as well. The team came up with a plan to ensure synergy.
• Equipping the Income Generating Units of PhilRice on performing in depth analysis about a business opportunity, e.g., what it takes to capture the opportunity and sustain the business.

To summarize, the following goals are to be delivered in the next month:

• develop the business plan

• create a time schedule for the Brown Rice production

Impact on the professionals

'Working with SharePeople guarantees that you will be working with people who are willing to learn and are doing their best to develop their country. SharePeople makes a lot of work of the preparation of the project and your trip.' (Els van der Lelij, consultant at Involvation)

Impact on the overseas partner

Hazel Alfon, the Filipina counterpart, stated that she learned the following from the programme:

• In terms of personal skills; knowing how to explain to the client in illustrative and/or quantifiable terms commodity pricing and how the commodity's supply chain will be managed.
• In terms of norms and values; transparency and knowing how to effectively make a compromise with the customer

Follow up

PRAISE is willing to develop the Brown Rice project in a more analytical, business oriented way, based on the theory and skills given. They have to take the next step with their client, the multinational, whilst Involvation is stand by for any additional questions. SharePeople will monitor the events during the coming period of time, and will visit the organisation on its next trip to the Philippines.