Achilles – one of the world’s biggest supply chain risk management companies – has appointed a South African procurement and supply chain management consultancy to provide cultural and regional insights, and support its ambitious growth plans in the region.

Achilles works on behalf of almost 800 buyers, scrutinising the information of almost 90,000 of their suppliers to identify and mitigate risks. The company has a significant presence in South Africa – with customers in a wide range of industries, including finance, FMCG, mining and cement, oil and gas and transport. 

Now, Achilles has formed a new partnership with Bespoke Sourcing Solutions, a procurement and supply chain advisory and knowledge development provider based in Johannesburg, and led by procurement and supply chain management expert Andrew Hillman.

Under the new partnership, Achilles and Bespoke will pool their expertise to provide the highest possible standards in transparency, ethics, diversity and sustainability in both their operations. Achilles also aims to extend the use of its common platforms, which reduce the time and cost of procurement activities. The platforms also offer a standardised route of entry for South African suppliers looking to do business with global suppliers.

Gareth Palmer, Achilles Regional Director in Africa, said: “We’re pleased to form this new partnership, which will combine Achilles’ expertise in working on behalf of global customers, with the specialist cultural and regional knowledge of Bespoke.”

“Achilles sees South Africa as a country full of opportunities and this agreement will help ensure that we expand in a way that benefits both parties, as well as the South African economy.”

Andrew Hillman, Managing Director of Bespoke, added: “Supplier relationship management is a cornerstone of procurement, with supplier qualification, evaluation and appraisal as a key component of this function. In the South African context, where supplier development has become an essential part of procurement to support competitive supplier development programmes and the newly promulgated BB-BEE regulations, it is now especially imperative for suppliers to be properly ‘on boarded’ and for the supplier relationship to be effectively  managed ” 

“Bespoke is both proud and excited about the new partnership with Achilles, and we look forward to working with Achilles furthering professional supplier relationship management in Southern African territories.”

Managing Director of Bespoke, Andrew Hillman, brings more than 25 years’ experience in procurement and supply chain management, including a term as CPO of Pfizer South Africa and Director of an international study centre for the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply in South Africa. He has also held senior procurement and sourcing roles with a number of multinational organisations.

Achilles creates and manages a global network of collaborative industry communities, allowing trading partners to share high quality, structured, real-time data. Using cloud-based technology, we act as an independent partner providing validated data and insightful analytics to enable buyers to manage risk, and suppliers to increase market reach in their sector