Bananas giant Mackay's enlists KPMG for Oracle implementation
Queensland-based producer of bananas and other farming products Mackay’s Group has turned to cloud technology as a base for expansion and diversification – choosing Oracle as its supplier of choice and KPMG as implementation partner.
Mackay’s is a farm produce giant in Australia – distributing more than 2.5 million cases of bananas around the country each year. The family company was started in 1945, and is now looking to start a new chapter in a cloud-powered modern era.
“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,” explained Mackay’s CEO Alex 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.”
All this expansion required an upgrade of the IT facilitating the company’s operations. “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,” said Hutton.
Enter Oracle’s Fusion suite of digital business applications, and KPMG’s in-depth digital transformation expertise. The two firms work together at a global stage – having together delivered over 200 Oracle Cloud deployments worldwide – and the combined proposition fits Mackay’s needs nicely.
Cloud deployment
Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) acts as a single source of truth for all human resource data – from “hire to retire” according to Oracle – enabling better, quicker and people-led decision making. For Mackay’s, such a tool for simplify the on-boarding of new employees – of which there will be many.
The company expects a 50% jump in its headcount as a result of the new expansion drive, taking the total staff past 900. “We had previously outsourced labour hire to an agency and managed applications using a variety of applications, but as our workforce grew that was becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to manage across multiple sites,” explained Hutton.
An advanced HCM tool paves the way for quick training and management of a large, internal team. Beyond HCM, Mackay’s is planning to use Oracle’s Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning solution – which enables streamlining across all business functions to cut costs, boost efficiency and reinvent business models.
Mackay’s’ diversification plans – coupled with pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions – will likely throw up all kinds of complexities across logistics, finance, production and other key business functions. Strong ERP capabilities will help ease this transition period.
Oracle’s general manager for ERP and HCM in the ANZ region John Leonard said that “the world’s most complete cloud applications suite” will help Mackay’s “quickly and effectively respond to the unpredictable market and environmental conditions that can sometimes impact agricultural business.”
KPMG has been on board since the planning phase, and will now continue as implementation partner. “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,” noted Linda Chai, partner at KPMG Enterprise in Australia.
