Published on the 02/10/2024 | Written by Heather Wright
Benefits already accruing for kiwifruit co-op…
Zespri International says it has saved 15,000 hours in productivity, and NZ$2.2 million, as well as avoiding $1 million in infrastructure costs over six years, through the first phase of its SAP S/4Hana digital core upgrade.
As reported by iStart in July, the kiwifruit co-op has now begun tranche 2 work on the NZ$160 million project, dubbed Horizon, and is expecting to see the real benefits from the work now underway.
“We’ve created a robust, clean core that can scale for success, fuel our data-driven ambitions and unlock the full potential of our customer, grower and staff ecosystem.”
The Horizon project, which kicked off in 2021, covers modernisation of essential processes and systems across finance, supply and demand planning, sales, supply chain, quality management and grower community-focused solutions, with the project a ‘critical component’ of Zespri’s digital strategy.
It went live with S/4Hana cloud private edition and SAP Integrated Business Planning in 2022. SAP Business Technology Platform capabilities, including Analytics Cloud, Integration Suite and a range of partner solutions, are also included in the implementation.
The second phase is focused on data for improved decision making and simplification and modernisation, with Zespri implementing SAP’s Sustainability Control Tower to record, report and act on ESG data, and AI-powered quality control software from Clarifruit.
The Clarifruit implementation includes a mobile app and AI engine designed specifically for the fruit and vegetable sector. Zespri says the app has modernised quality control processes, achieving a five percent improvement in the quality and efficiency of the supply chain, enhancing inspection productivity by 25 percent and ensuring each piece of fruit meets rigorous standards.
Dave Scullin, Zespri chief digital officer, says the next phase will see greater focus on data to improve decision making, simplify operations, modernise with innovation and provide higher returns to Zespri’s grower community.
A focus on a ‘clean core’ – cloud based ERP infrastructure which separates core applications from custom modifications – has enabled a recent ‘seamless’ upgrade of its SAP S/4Hana platform which would previously have required significantly more resource, Zespri says.
“Our Horizon transformation program is designed to amplify and enhance our business capabilities and create a seamless, user-friendly experience across our operations,” Scullin says.
“By deepening our use of SAP Rise and S/4Hana, we’ve created a robust, clean core that can scale for success, fuel our data-driven ambitions and unlock the full potential of our customer, grower and staff ecosystem.”
Zespri’s reports show more than $143 million had been spent on the project by earlier this year, with a much reduced spend of $20.4 million in 2023/34 – less than half the $50.2 million spend from 2022/23.
The organisation has been using the Celonis Process Intelligence platform to provide insights into the efficiencies and operations for improvements in business processes delivered via the transformation program.
Scullin has previously said Celonis is a key enabler of the tranche 2 work, enabling Zespri to measure the performance of processes running in the ECC environment to its performance in S/4Hana.
