Case Studies

ERP system review and roadmap yields value for large-scale agribusiness

Industry: Agribusiness
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When one of Australia’s largest ($4bn turnover per annum) grain cooperatives, wanted certainty its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system would enable its strategy

We completed a system review and prepared a roadmap to achieve alignment while de-risking the critical changes required to unlock value.

The Challenge

Competitive pressures across the grain industry had resulted in our Client looking carefully at ways to drive smart efficiencies through its supply-chain. Quality and aligned systems would be essential for future success. Our Client needed to ensure its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system would support its current strategy and yet remain flexible to address future business scenarios.

 

A range of risks associated with its ERP system meant that ‘doing nothing’ wasn’t an option. The General Manager sponsored a comprehensive review and development of a roadmap for this critical operational system.

 

“Human Sparks was very professional and thorough in all aspects of this project. There was significant complexity to deal with, many stakeholders and considerable ongoing change. Despite this, the review was conducted as originally planned and delivered a high-quality report and roadmap that has been of significant value to the business.”
-Client (Senior Manager)

How we helped

Human Sparks was asked to complete a ‘watertight’ review and prepare a roadmap for the ERP system. Importantly, buy-in from stakeholders was vital.

 

Our approach involved assessing people, process and technology related factors. In a short period of time 80 stakeholders were engaged through structured interviews, workshops and surveys.

 

Our consultants identified a range of high-value recommendations that improved the alignment of the ERP’s capability to business needs while addressing key risks.

 

Value delivered

Human Sparks provided a comprehensive evidence-based review with recommendations and a roadmap for implementing changes.

 

The roadmap was prepared in such a way as to align with existing key priorities, such as harvest periods. The implementation roadmap was de-risked – ensuring adequate controls were in place.

 

During a post-project review, all stakeholders spoken with complimented the integrity and thoroughness Human Sparks demonstrated throughout the review process which led to their confidence in the roadmap recommendations,

 

Our engagement resulted in:

  • Improvements in operational efficiency resulting from improved alignment of the ERP capability with business strategy
  • Reduction in operational risks
  • Reduced system-related costs
  • Improved ERP capability to address specific functional requirements
  • Increases in agility to address changing business scenarios
  • Stakeholders who supported the recommended changes

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