Moving to greener (digital) pastures: The digital transformation story of an Australian dairy business

Let’s go all the way back to 2015 when a renowned Australian dairy brand embarked on a journey to unleash the potential of its Infor M3 CloudSuite. In Australia, dairy is no duck soup. It’s the nation’s third-largest rural industry and a key sector of the agricultural economy. To be the cream of the crop means exploring strategies that would rapidly gain popularity and, in time, revolutionize how a traditional industry operated.

Eager to pioneer this revolution, the dairy giant turned its attention towards Digital Transformation. Tapping into the expertise of Fortude, including the UiPath-based RPA solution suggested, the business’ finance related processes experienced a 90% reduction in cycle time with a 99% accuracy rate.

How did this journey unfold? Let’s find out.

The Food and Beverage (F&B) industry, both in Australia and globally, grapples with a series of complex challenges. The situation was no different for our customer, who faced numerous challenges, including:

• A massive inflow of data ranging from consumer preferences to supply chain information;
• The need to adhere to socially responsible and sustainable Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices;
• Having to navigate new technology, including the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence;
• Integrating customer insights and behavioral analysis for better business decisions;
• Unavailability of processes and technology for proper planning and forecasting;
• Inefficient processes;
• Adapting company processes and culture to an evolving business environment.

As you can imagine, this left no room for trial and error.

In this context, the business initiated its plans to venture on a digital transformation journey by adopting Infor M3 on a single-tenant cloud. This move laid the foundation for a transformation that would drive the business to become a USD 2.5 billion powerhouse.

They were early adopters, embracing technology as and when it became available. And despite their remarkable growth, they didn’t need to significantly increase their IT headcount; a testament to the power of automation they were about to experience.

Starting with 600 users in 2015, and growing to over 1,500 users today, the company has tripled its turnover through acquisitions, diversification and organic growth. So, how did it all come to be?

Remember we said there was no room for trial and error? This is how Fortude’s expertise helped the manufacturer gain its competitive advantage. Not only is Fortude an Infor M3 and CloudSuite implementation partner, too (for over a decade, our parent company, Brandix, has been a user of Infor M3). The dairy manufacturer leveraged Fortude’s many value propositions, including:

• Industry knowledge: Due to Fortude’s expansive portfolio of F&B customers, deep knowledge of the industry, and understanding of the industry’s unique challenges and trends, the manufacturer was able to tap into this expertise.
• Solution experience: With a track record of successful implementations, Fortude had the functional as well as technical know-how required to guide the company.
• Infor-certified consultants: The right talent with the right vision was at their disposal.
• A user’s perspective: Fortude’s own experience as an Infor M3 user meant that they had an “insider understanding” of the systems and features they were implementing.

Battle-tested and ready, Fortude led the manufacturer in their transformation journey through the framework of:

• Engage: Get to know the client and the problem space.
• Discover: Identify the digital landscape and its maturity and alignment with business.
• Roadmap: Develop a prudent plan to reach optimal results from digital investments.
• Rollout: Deliver well-planned digital initiatives and realize benefits.
• Sustain: Continue to refine and maintain digital maturity.

The Infor M3 implementation was complemented by Fortude’s Application Managed Services team, Fortest, Fortude’s automation regression testing tool, as well Robotic Process Automation. The combination of these strategies and tools used for the digital transformation project continues to drive savings of USD 1 Million Per Annum for the manufacturer.

The Ui-Path based RPA solution implemented by Fortude helped boost the efficiency of the inventory reconciliation process. But that’s not all.

• Reconciliation processing time was reduced from 3-4 hours to 10-20 minutes.
• All users were able to perform reconciliation tasks without the help of an expert.
• The finance department was able to schedule and execute reconciliation tasks daily.
• The burdens of month-end processes were eliminated by early and frequent identification of value discrepancies.
• Reconciliation reports were automatically emailed to the identified recipients daily.
• After the inventory value discrepancies were corrected, a new reconciliation process for the current date was run using the UiPath Orchestrator.
• And the company was able to upgrade Infor M3 without disrupting business processes.

Moreover,

• Purchase Order (PO) creation in Sharepoint was fully automated.
• PO creation time was reduced to 10 minutes per order.
• Approval processes were improved using automated email workflows to get manager approval.
• PO data was gathered using API calls and document reading using OCR.

Fortude continues to provide level 1 and 2 application support, helping ensure that the business remains functional 24×7. Users don’t have to worry about keeping the lights on, and can instead focus on value-adding strategic activities.

The Australian dairy company supported by Fortude didn’t only embrace change, it became an industry leader that exemplified what is possible when vision and innovation converge. This story is a testament to the transformative power of technology and a guide for those envisioning their own journey to success.

Fortude’s digital transformation practice will support you throughout your entire transformation journey—from delivering a digital strategy and ensuring excellence in implementation, to setting up robust governance procedures and frameworks. Ready to get started? Talk to us to begin your journey with our complimentary pulse assessment that will help evaluate your current digital landscape and uncover focus areas that require immediate attention: https://fortude.wpenginepowered.com/services/digital-transformation-services/