Phil Cameron (SAP NZ)
New Zealand kiwifruit giant Zespri will become one of the first SAP customers globally to use the company's S/4HANA private cloud edition and its related "business transformation as a service" package.
The overall solution forms a key part of the recently announced "Rise with SAP" offering that will help Zespri standardise and automate processes across the organisation.
The project will also underpin Zespri's four-year "Horizon" transformation programme to digitise operations, become more efficient and increase sales.
The cooperative marketer based in Mount Maunganui has signed a multi-year deal for SAP to support its global supply chain process transformation, including a move to SAP S/4HANA private cloud edition.
Seven years ago, the kiwifruit cooperative completed a then world-leading migration of SAP to Azure, delivered by Datacom, touted at the time as the world's largest migration of a production SAP installation to Microsoft's cloud.
Azure is still in the frame in the new migration as its SAP private cloud will remain in Microsoft's cloud.
The new deal also includes the implementation of several SAP digital supply chain applications including SAP global trade services, SAP integrated business planning (IBP) and the SAP logistics business network.
Zespri will also deploy SAP analytics cloud, the SAP cloud platform, and SAP endorsed partner solutions from OpenText, Tricentis, and Celonis.
The kiwifruit industry is growing strongly, recording global sales of $3.1 billion in 2020 with supply of kiwifruit forecast to surge from 164 million trays in 2020 to around 280 million trays by 2030.
Dave Scullin, Zespri’s chief digital officer, said: Zespri’s Horizon programme will transform the way the company operates, replacing legacy systems and processes that were designed 20 years ago, before the significant growth experienced in recent years.
"Our new SAP environment will transform the systems and processes across our business, from finance and supply chain to grower enablement and engagement, sales, and business planning," Scullin said.
Zespri needed mature processes and systems to fuel its next stage of growth, he said. Adopting SAP’s standardised core platforms will be transformational in itself, while also letting the cooperative leverage the vendor's roadmap to adopt "innovation at speed".
Credit: Divina Paredes The shift follows the announcement of SAP’s new concierge service, Rise with SAP, to what it calls the "intelligent enterprise".
Rise with SAP offers software, infrastructure and technical operations under one contract with SAP S/4HANA private cloud edition a key component.
“Moving to the cloud has been a key strategic decision for us, providing greater flexibility, scalability, and faster innovation cycles," Scullin said.
"We know SAP’s private cloud capabilities have matured significantly in recent years, particularly in the form of customer flexibility, service level security and automation, which makes the new SAP S/4HANA private cloud edition best for our business long-term."
This would allow Zespri to focus on our process and systems transformation, knowing that its underlying infrastructure and computing platforms were secure, stable, and available.
Phil Cameron, managing director, SAP New Zealand, said the new SAP S/4HANA private cloud edition will deliver fast time to value, enabling Zespri to seize new business opportunities and respond to changes with speed and agility.
“The events of the last year have underlined the importance of resiliency and the ability to rapidly adapt, which are key benefits of moving to the cloud," Cameron said.
"By moving to SAP S/4HANA private cloud edition, Zespri will also be able to capitalise quickly on emerging technologies that are embedded into the platform, to help drive automation, increased profitability, and enable further growth."
The implementation will be conducted by a consortium of partners including Deloitte NZ in partnership with ZAG, now part of Accenture after a reported A$45 million acquisition.
The first digital core build phase, focused on finance and supply chain processes, was due to begin in February before progressing to integrated business planning and sales enablement.
