SAP Solution integrated by Fujitsu as the basis for improved profitability and sustained growth for South Australian based A$2 billion ASX-listed company
Sydney, Australia — Adelaide Brighton Limited (Adelaide Brighton, ASX:ABC)) has contracted Fujitsu Australia Limited to deliver a multi-million dollar Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution based on SAP software. This solution will replace Adelaide Brighton’s core business applications and a variety of packaged software including AVANTIS and PROTEAN that operate on the AS400 hardware platform. Adelaide Brighton’s successful growth strategies have driven the need for the company to deploy modern technology that is scalable, flexible and responsive to ongoing business requirements and economic demands.
Fujitsu won the project after an intensive four month evaluation process that focused on both comparative demonstrations of the competing ERP software, as well as a rigorous assessment of the implementation methodology, capability and track record of the competing Systems Integrators.
Adelaide Brighton Chief Financial Officer, Andrew Poulter, said “Fujitsu’s willingness to invest time and people over an extended period to understand Adelaide Brighton’s strategy, business requirements, culture and operations provided clear benefits when it came to assessing the proposals.”
“This SAP ERP implementation is about bringing a standard and efficient approach across a range of business processes across our three Divisions; it is not simply about implementing new software,” said Mr Poulter. “Fujitsu demonstrated its understanding of the technicalities of SAP and engaged expert SAP consultants with relevant industry knowledge. More importantly, they have understood the deadlines and the dependencies within the project, the business priorities confronting different parts of our company, realistic implementation costing commitments and where to provide time and coaching for our people to develop confidence with new approaches.
“It was the application of this knowledge by Fujitsu that provided Adelaide Brighton with the confidence that Fujitsu could achieve the implementation results, costs and timing that we expected.”
Fujitsu advocated a best practice delivery approach to the project, based on a leveraged model that enables rapid and flexible deployment of best-in-class processes. This will see a large set of business functions – Plant Maintenance, Inventory, Purchasing and Accounts Payable – deployed in the 2nd quarter 2009, overlapping certain activities to make additional functions – Sales and Finance – available by July 2009.
Various project phases – particularly design, user acceptance testing, training, cutover and go live – will see the joint Fujitsu-Adelaide Brighton implementation team involve many people across Adelaide Brighton’s business in a range of locations. This is particularly challenging due to the complexity of the business. Adelaide Brighton operates in multiple locations across all Australian states and territories and currently employs some 1,550 staff. It provides a range of products –cement, lime, ready mixed concrete and aggregates and concrete masonry products – to the construction and resource sectors via a range of brand names.
The project is already off to a successful start with the formal “blue-print” solution design phase, with a joint project team of almost 20 people currently located in Fujitsu’s Gawler Place offices in Adelaide.
Rod Vawdrey, Fujitsu’s Chief Executive Officer in Australia and New Zealand, said that Adelaide Brighton’s decision to select Fujitsu as implementation partner reflected a growing trend where organisations placed far greater importance on the operational effectiveness achieved through ERP implementations than simply the correct software choice.
“Fujitsu has a strong culture oriented towards achieving our customers’ desired outcomes,” explained Mr Vawdrey, “We’ve seen a number of recent decisions where customers have endorsed this approach in their selection process. It’s extremely pleasing that Adelaide Brighton has valued the commitment of Fujitsu to help it achieve its business outcomes.”
Fujitsu Australia Limited
Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand is a leading service provider of business, information technology and communications solutions. Throughout Australia and New Zealand we partner with our customers to consult, design, build, operate and support business solutions. From strategic consulting to application and infrastructure solutions and services, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand have earned a reputation as the single supplier of choice for leading corporate and government organisations. Fujitsu Australia Limited and Fujitsu New Zealand Limited are wholly owned subsidiaries of Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702). For further information, please visit: au.fujitsu.com or nz.fujitsu.com
About Fujitsu
Fujitsu is a leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 160,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5.3 trillion yen (US$53 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com.
About Adelaide Brighton Limited
Adelaide Brighton Ltd is a leading, integrated construction materials and lime producing company heavily focussed on the growing resources, engineering and infrastructure sectors. With its origins going back to 1882, Adelaide Brighton is a S&P/ASX200 Company with market capitalisation of approximately $2 billion, 1,550 employees and operations in all states and territories of Australia. The principal activities of the Adelaide Brighton Group are the production and marketing of clinker, cement and lime products; ready mixed concrete and aggregates and concrete masonry products. See www.adbri.com.au for further information.
