Buderim Ginger Reaps
Sweet Rewards of ERP Project
Buderim Ginger's decision to implement Intentia Application Suite to better support its growing business has resulted in significant new process, resource and customer service efficiencies across its operations.
BUSINESS BENEFITS
Since rolling out Intentia Application Suite across its global operations, Buderim Ginger has greatly increased visibility and integrity of company data, achieved more timely and reliable reporting, improved inventory and forecasting processes, and ultimately, enhanced customer services.
Buderim Ginger is a global producer and supplier of over 60 percent of the world's processed confectionary ginger products to a variety of consumer and commercial customers.
"We process thousands of tons of ginger each year that end up as confectionary, crystallized fruit, jams, drinks, sauces or as ingredients for other food products. Each stage, from manufacturing through to distribution and point of sale, needs to be carefully monitored and controlled to ensure maximum productivity and client satisfaction," says Adam Cunningham, financial accountant at Buderim Ginger.
"However, as the business grew, we faced an increasing problem," he explains. "We were operating on a range of disparate information systems across the organization. We had a myriad of spreadsheets and applications that made simple requirements (such as running reports or checking stock availability) labor-intensive tasks. As a growing business, we knew the existing system would not support our strategic objectives moving forward."
Buderim Ginger made a major decision to implement a system that would work transparently and collaboratively across all its geographies and various business functions.
"One key benefit since the rollout of the Intentia solution has been increased control and accuracy of inventory management. Managing stock issues, such as fill rates, forecasting and replenishment can be a tricky business—greater transparency across all those functions gives us more immediate, reliable information on stock trends and activities," Cunningham continues.
Because the system is now integrated with other areas of the business, such as manufacturing and finance, it also helps maintain the company's data integrity across the board, while at the same time eliminating the need for time consuming re-keying of data.
"Increased visibility and real-time availability of information has also given us the means to better support customer service initiatives," adds Cunningham. "We can quickly extract the information and get much faster answers to any number of operational queries at the touch of a button, such as the ability to give customers—wherever they are in the world—an immediate response to queries on stock availability or delivery timeframes."
Another key benefit Buderim Ginger has achieved is the ability to centrally compile financial data from its global subsidiaries and run management reports much faster and more accurately than was previously possible. This not only saves valuable administrative time, but also supports timely, informed management decision making.
THE COMPANY
Buderim Ginger has been the world's pre-eminent producer of processed confectionary ginger for over 60 years. The company is headquartered in Queensland, Australia where it is home to The Ginger Factory, Queensland's award-winning tourist attraction.
Buderim Ginger has the capacity to process around 4,000 tons of raw ginger per year. It supplies over 60 percent of the world's sugar processed ginger.
Buderim Ginger has several subsidiary operations globally with core manufacturing and distribution operations based in Australia and Fiji and additional sales and distribution outlets based in the UK and the US.
THE IMPLEMENTATION
Buderim Ginger initiated its project with Lawson in early 2003, going live with the system across Australia and the UK in September 2003 prior to going live in Fiji in January 2004. Plans for its US operations are still in progress.
The global project was led by Buderim Ginger's Australian operations, which took responsibility for configuration, setup and training for its overseas offices, in close collaboration with other regional heads.
"Generally the implementation went smoothly once we had set realistic resourcing, subsidiary office needs and timeframe parameters. We had a small team of our own people working closely with Intentia consultants to ensure that the system was deployed with as little disruption to the business as possible," Cunningham comments.
The system runs on robust IBM eServer i5 technology.
WHY INTENTIA?
"In comparison to other products, we felt that Intentia Application Suite was more progressive and able to cope with industry processes that are key to our business sector," Cunningham explains.
"We were also impressed with Intentia's experience in the food and beverage industry and the knowledge of its people. Because of their expertise and history in this sector, areas such as dealing with supermarket retail chains and the nuances involved are all familiar to them, which made it much easier for us," he adds.
FUTURE PLANS
"The initial phase has been focused on consolidation and change management. We're largely through that period now and are getting to a point where we can look at fully leveraging the additional functionality available to us in the system and, through that, achieving even further efficiencies," Cunningham explains.
For example, one area of interest to Buderim Ginger is the traceability capabilities in Intentia Application Suite. Traceability is a growing issue for many food and beverage companies, where issues such as emerging regulatory frameworks are beginning to make real-time product life cycle tracking capabilities a necessity.
"Knowing that the system has those capabilities gives us the confidence that we can meet any future needs," Cunningham concludes.
ABOUT THE SOLUTION
Hardware: IBM eServer i5 Series
Database: DB2/400
Operating system: OS/400
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