IBS Australia: IBS delivers supply chain solution to Australian food company

News & Events 2003-10-14

Select Harvests, Australia’s largest almond grower, and a leading player in the processing and marketing of a range of nuts and related products to the retail and industrial markets, has chosen IBS’ ASW supply chain management software to optimise business processes and streamline its vertically integrated business.

In recent years, Select Harvests, a publicly-listed company on the Australian Stock Exchange, has undergone significant growth through the acquisition of businesses, and by diversifying its activities from almond growing - to food processing, marketing, orchard establishment and management.

As Select Harvests expanded, it found that its business software - made up of many disparate systems - provided varying levels of quality and inconsistent quantities of management-critical information. This prompted a review of their current systems’ ability to meet their changing business requirements, which exposed a number of areas in which increased business efficiency and optimisation could be realised. Select Harvests achieved some of these efficiencies by combining two of its plants and its Head Office into a single, state-of-the-art processing facility in Thomastown, Victoria, in 2002.

However, further optimisation could only be gained by implementing an integrated software system capable of supporting the entire group’s business. Select Harvests then conducted a study of business systems on the market, and - following a thorough evaluation that spanned several months - recently selected IBS as its chosen provider for a fully integrated supply chain solution.

According to Select Harvests' Chief Financial Officer, Marcello Mattia, “The decision to go with IBS was based on certain key factors, among them - a strong functional fit, the offer of a fully integrated end-to-end system not requiring any significant bolt-on 3rd party products, flexible reporting and business analytics capabilities built into ASW, and IBS Australia’s commitment of partnership to Select Harvests.”

The comprehensive software includes IBS’ process-oriented solutions for Manufacturing, Distribution, Financials, Warehouse Management and Business Intelligence with powerful reporting tools. Select Harvests will now be armed with transparency in its system that allows for a centralised view of data across all its divisions. For planning purposes, Select Harvests’ management will be able to drill down to transaction level in reports and make strategic decisions based on accurate, real-time financial and operational data using IBS’ ASW Analyser business intelligence application.

“Select Harvests’ implementation of ASW software is expected to play a key role in helping to build closer supplier/retailer relationships and to facilitate the continued organic growth of the company. In an industry where quality and constant supply are important success factors, Select Harvests’ ability to communicate effectively throughout its supply chain will help maximise opportunities to improve competitiveness, distribution, and market share,” says Marcello Mattia, CFO Select Harvests Ltd.

“I believe our proven strength in supply chain management, and the working synergy between the IBS and Select Harvests teams, have positioned us for a strong partnership. IBS is proud to be associated with one of Australia’s leading agri-food companies, and we are committed to deploying the full strength of our solution to the advantage of Select Harvests,” says Staffan Wensing, Managing Director IBS Australia.

The IBS system’s scalability also ensures that Select Harvests’ strategy of growth through acquisition can be easily supported in the future.