Bega – Optimised Operations and Enhanced Performance

Optimised operations and enhanced performance (upward of 30%) were key outcomes for Bega Group post the large-scale integration of their legacy SAP environment to the AWS cloud.

Client Challenge: Maintaining supply chain and operational efficiency while improving business processes after a large acquisition.

Solution: A large-scale integration of a legacy SAP environment onto AWS Cloud

Results: No disruption to supply chain while gaining improved stability across the environment and 30% increase in performance

About Bega Group:

ASX-listed Bega Group is home to many trusted Australian food brands and it continues to grow, most recently with the addition of Lion Dairy and Drinks – its largest acquisition yet.

Bega Group has over 4,000 passionate employees, and more than 100 dairy farmers who help Bega strive to become The Great Australian Food Company. Having the largest cold chain network in Australia, Bega services customers across Australia and more than 50 countries around the world.

How to eat an elephant – post acquisition

The acquisition of Lion Dairy and Drinks not only added some of Australia’s favourite food brands to its portfolio, but also brought an additional 31 manufacturing sites to Bega’s production capabilities. Given the scope and complexity of its newly expanded operations, managing Bega’s supply chain while merging companies was no small feat.

Keeping customer focus and operational excellence at the fore throughout a large-scale integration

Above all else, Bega is committed to its customers, and seamless round-the-clock operations are non-negotiable. As Zack Chisholm, CIO of Bega Cheese Limited, says, “The cows never stop producing milk.”

The 24/7 nature of Bega’s business meant that at every step of the large-scale integration of its legacy SAP environment onto the AWS Cloud, Bega needed to remain always on.

Every order needed to be processed seamlessly, every milk tanker needed to be on time, and there could be no interruption of service to customers or consumer – all while also responding to the disruptions posed by Covid.

With a large SAP environment that was heavily integrated with more than 200 legacy applications, the technology transformation was a significant undertaking. With this in mind, Bega chose the ’lift and shift’ approach, migrating, integrating and modernising all its systems in the cloud. With the help of Capgemini, working in collaboration with partners AWS and SAP, Bega was able to move its on-premises data centre to the AWS Cloud without any disruption to business as usual.

Working together to achieve results

This nine-month program, completed on-time and on-budget, ensured the smooth divestment of critical systems from Lion. It included a 16 terabyte SAP ECC system, 18 terabyte BW system, SAP APO two SAP CRM platforms and the SAP Process Orchestration (PO) system – all successfully integrated into the Bega IT landscape and AWS environment. Bega IT landscape and AWS environment.

Reflecting on the importance of an uninterrupted supply chain, Zack says, “We knew the program was a success when we had feedback from our customers that they didn’t really notice that the transition was happening.” Beyond maintaining customers’ trust in the supply chain, Bega also saw “increased stability across the environment and a significant improvement in the performance of the system…upwards of 30%,” Zack says.

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