Credit: Mackay's
Professional services firm KPMG is to deploy new Oracle tech for banana producer Mackay Farming Group in a move designed to streamline its existing systems.
Involved with the first stage of implementation, KPMG is set to provide Mackay’s with Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications, which includes Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM), to support employee processes, and Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, to optimise its supply chain.
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM includes capabilities to help with on-boarding seasonal employees and managing occupational health and safety training for heavy machinery and tools such as machetes.
The introduction of the HCM application is also set to replace an external agency that previously handled the farmer's labour hire, as well as application management across a range of applications.
However, Mackay’s growing workforce led to the process becoming more expensive and difficult to manage over multiple sites. In fact, the farmer claims it plans to increase its headcount by more than 50 per cent, to more than 900 workers.
“We needed a solution that would allow us to insource these processes to better manage our growth and add self-service capabilities for our employees,” said Mackay’s CEO Alex Hutton.
Meanwhile, Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP will provide information on inventory levels required to plan production and pricing strategies, which includes the management of fixed assets and logistics.
“We currently distribute more than 2,600,000 cases of bananas around Australia every year, and we are preparing for higher volumes and diversified cropping over the next two to five years as we increase production of avocados, papayas and other crops,” said Hutton.
“The group has expanded its footprint through the acquisition of additional farm properties, and we are also establishing new crops on existing farm properties. We needed a solution that would be simple to use and maintain but would be capable of handling the volume of transactions we are expecting.”
Linda Chai, partner at KPMG Enterprise, said due to the size of Mackay’s IT team, the Oracle products were a good fit.
“Mackay’s is an iconic Australian business with great fundamentals. But like many in the agricultural sector, the business doesn’t employ a huge IT team, so it was crucial we helped them find a simple solution that they could use effectively," she added.
“Oracle’s true SaaS [software-as-a-service] applications means the team at Mackay’s will benefit from quarterly updates and won’t have to worry about upgrading and maintaining their systems.”
