EGYPT – Egypt has embarked on digitizing its wheat supply chain and implement governance systems on the country’s strategic stock as part of the national digital transformation plan.
The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade represented by the Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage (EHCSS), has partnered with multinational technology corporation, IBM and Egypt based integrator of technological systems, ACME SAICO to automate 22 wheat silos across the country.
The storage units will be powered by IBM’s AI-powered automation software in a hybrid cloud environment.
“We are proud to be part of this strategic project that supports the country’s digital transformation journey.
“By offering IBM’s AI and hybrid cloud approach, we’re supporting Egypt to help them achieve its strategy for sustainable development as part of the country’s 2030 Vision,” said Wael Abdoush, General Manager, IBM Egypt.
Using IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation and IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, the new solution will allow full automation and governance of all the steps of shipping, transport, storage, and supply of the wheat silos.
Through this advanced technology, the automated platform is engineered to collect data from different sensors that are embedded in the silos.
These sensors will send near real-time quantitative analytics of the wheat supply and stock status to the main platform at the Ministry of Supply.
Thus, the EHCSS will be able to monitor and store all information related to the incoming shipments to maintain quality standards, report accurate views of the stock in silos, as well as address leakage in wheat silos extensively.
The system also designed to help to better manage the communication and coordination between different storage points, and mills.
“We are committed to expanding the wheat silos’ automation across the country. The automation enables us to instantly monitor the wheat stock through a digital platform, providing the needed visibility to secure the supply chain.
“The platform, powered by IBM technology, ensures efficiency, stock protection, in addition to addressing logistical redundancies. This project is part of Egypt’s digital transformation strategy to upgrade services ‘level and performance across all fields,” stated H.E. Dr. Ali El-Moselhi, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade.
Earlier this year, the launch of the pilot model for the first automated wheat silo took place in Banha, Qualyubia Governorate.
Following the success of the pilot, the Ministry decided to expand automation to 22 silos before the end of this year.
All silos will be monitored from the Ministry headquarters and the General Authority for Supply Commodities through IBM Cognos Analytics with Watson connected to the automation platform in use.
Dr. Khaled Derbala, CEO of ACME SAICO added, “We are honoured to be part of this national achievement. After months of studying the nature of the food industry, we were able to create a robust and agile system to ensure more governance that doesn’t affect the flow of business.
“The Ministry was able to see the links between implementing their strategic plans and the tailored digital system we created with IBM.”
As part of the sustainable development strategy of Egypt’s vision for 2030, the government is planning to automate 400 silos adding them to the wheat supply chain monitoring system.
The project will come in handy given that Egypt is a net importer of most grains.
According to a recent Gain report by USDA, the country is set to import 13.2 MMT of wheat in 2020/21.
This is aimed to meet the local demand of 20.4 MMT, partially offset by local production of 9 MMT.
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