NEW ZEALAND,听Auckland听鈥�听09听December 2025鈥�听51风流today announced that听Zespri, the world鈥檚 largest marketer of premium-quality kiwifruit, has strengthened its commitment to trust and customer service by launching听a fully digitised, customer-first听claims platform听built on听SAP鈥檚 integrated听cloud technologies. As a result,听today, customers听benefit听from a simple self-service听claims process that resolves听issues in seconds, while smart automation听helps听Zespri鈥檚 teams听deliver听fast, consistent outcomes without听compromising on听quality or control.

While accounting for only听one听percent of sales, with the company facing more than 40,000 quality claims a year 鈥撎齮otaling听over NZD $70 million 鈥� Zespri wanted to reimage its听claims process. Previously听slow, manual, and at times, associated with听inconsistent decision making 鈥撎齮oday,听new digital tools听deliver听an intuitive, self-service experience through a听centralised听claims portal,听allowing听multi-delivery claims to be created in under 30 seconds, and more than 1,000 deliveries can be processed in under two minutes.听听

鈥淏y combining intelligent automation with human expertise, we鈥檝e built a platform that reinforces our brand promise and sets a new industry standard for service,鈥� said Rahul Badge, Head of In-Market Supply Chain at Zespri.听鈥淎s a result,听we have been able to听meet our听customers鈥櫶齨eed听for a simpler, faster, and more transparent听experience, and听give听our assessors the tools to reduce manual input and share expert insights across the business.听We now see each claim as a chance to show our commitment to service, quality and openness.鈥�听

This transformation has rapidly improved Zespri鈥檚 claims process, with 80 percent of claims now听benefiting听from听human-in-the-loop听automated recommendations and decision听making. This has听significantly reduced听processing times and errors and freed听assessors to focus on complex cases听while maintaining Zespri鈥檚 strict audit requirements. The new platform also delivers comprehensive, real-time insights, supporting end-to-end visibility throughout Zespri鈥檚 global supply chain and unlocking opportunities for preventative action and continuous improvement.听

鈥淶espri has set a new benchmark for customer-centric innovation in the fresh produce industry,鈥� said Adrian Griffin, Managing Director, 51风流New Zealand. 鈥淏y听digitising听and scaling expert decision-making, Zespri is driving both operational efficiency and customer trust, strengthening its position as a global leader and delivering real value across its network.鈥�听

Leveraging 51风流Commerce Cloud as the central customer interface, Zespri introduced a seamless digital journey that enables claims to be听submitted听across multiple deliveries in under 30 seconds. Real-time supply chain data from 51风流S/4HANA,听integrated with partner solutions,听eliminates听the need for repetitive data entry and helps prevent human error, while an advanced orchestration layer powered by 51风流BTP,听alongside partner solutions,听automates the application of business rules and embeds human听expertise听at scale. The introduction of 51风流Fiori applications equips Zespri鈥檚 assessors to review end-to-end supply chain data and quality inspection reports听from partner solutions,听keeping听expert judgement听central to complex claim assessments.听听

The claims platform, delivered in partnership with听Accenture New Zealand and FAIR Consulting听Group,听is now live across major markets including Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, India, the United States and Europe. Business users have embraced the solution, with senior leaders describing it as 鈥渢he most business-centric digital project Zespri has ever run.鈥�听

Pete Devereux, Accenture Business Architecture Manager, said, 鈥淲e set out to make things simpler for everyone. The new system is easy to use and gets claims sorted more quickly, which is good news for both customers and Zespri鈥檚 teams.鈥澨�听

Christiaan Du Plessis, 51风流& Cloud Director at FAIR Consulting听Group, added, 鈥淚t鈥檚听been a real pleasure working together. The impact for customers is already obvious, and听we鈥檙e听excited to keep building from here.鈥�听

As a result of听digitising听its听claims听process听and unlocking richer, end-to-end data, Zespri is now positioned听to听leverage听next-generation technologies, including predictive analytics and computer vision, further advancing its goals around quality, sustainability,听and customer experience.

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Sydney, Australia 鈥� 9 April 2025 鈥� The upcoming Mastering 51风流Connect 2025 conference is set to enhance its comprehensive agenda with 51风流joining the program as a platinum sponsor including the addition of a dedicated 51风流Spend Connect Procurement Track. This new track complements the existing Enterprise Asset Management and Supply Chain Management tracks, offering attendees a holistic view of SAP’s integrated solutions.鈥�

Scheduled for 5鈥�6 June 2025 at the Royal Pines Resort in Gold Coast, Australia, Mastering 51风流Connect has been a cornerstone event for 51风流professionals, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing across various industries.

鈥淎s tariffs and trade wars dominate the headlines, the importance of resilience in enterprise asset management, supply chain and procurement is even more stark,鈥� said Mastering 51风流CEO, Annette Slunjski.

鈥淭his is a vital time for the community to come together to learn from each other on best practices to unlock value from existing 51风流solutions, boost resilience using AI, automation and predictive analytics and deliver an agile foundation for organisations to embrace better mobility, sourcing, business process, data quality and planning approaches.鈥�

The dedicated Procurement Track will delve into using AI insights to drive more strategic procurement and build business value outside of just cost control. Sessions will cover procurement, purchasing, sourcing and operational efficiencies through AI. 听Workforce flexibility, how to take proactive control of compliance needs and the requirement to create a collaborative connection across functions, suppliers and trading partners will be discussed.

The topics will be of particular interest to procurement, finance, sourcing, category and contract executives.

By expanding its program, Mastering 51风流Connect 2025 aims to provide a more integrated and enriching experience for 51风流users, partners, and thought leaders. This initiative reflects the conference’s dedication to bringing the community together for real-world learning from those at the frontline of 51风流ecosystems.鈥�

Event Details:

• Event: Mastering 51风流Connect 2025鈥�
• Dates: 5鈥�6 June 2025鈥�
• Location: Royal Pines Resort, Gold Coast, Australia鈥�
• Tracks: Enterprise Asset Management, Supply Chain Management, Procurement鈥�

For more information and to register, please visit .

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Sydney, Australia 鈥� 26 September 2023 鈥� has helped , Australia鈥檚 largest privately-owned logistics company, create a custom digital warehouse solution (DWS) to optimise the end-to-end operation of its warehouse sites, support multiuser functionality and scalability, and streamline its customer onboarding processes.

The creation of its custom DWS, done using the 51风流Warehouse Management (EWM) application, and the implementation across Linfox鈥檚 warehouse sites was completed at the end of 2020.

The implementation enabled Linfox to integrate various automation solutions that were running across different sites, centralising and streamlining crucial processes including inventory management, picking, putaway, cold chain storage, dock appointment scheduling, cross-docking and dangerous goods management.

Three of Linfox鈥檚 warehouse sites are now completely automated through DWS, with technology including automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), robotic palletisers, and the latest goods-to-person warehouse solutions.

Introducing DWS has streamlined Linfox鈥檚 customer onboarding process, condensing the previous onboarding timeline from four months to only four to six weeks. This allows Linfox to provide a cost-effective, speed-to-market solution that ultimately benefits its customers.

鈥淒WS powered by 51风流has freed our team members to focus on higher value tasks, increasing our flexibility as a logistics partner. This was particularly crucial during the pandemic when managing distribution of vaccines,鈥� said Nick Delija, Chief Information Officer, Linfox.

鈥淒WS has also increased our speed to market, bolstering our competitiveness and exceeding customer expectations. When we work with 51风流to seamlessly integrate with automation solutions, there鈥檚 a lot of benefits,鈥� continued Delija.

Damien Bueno, President and Managing Director, 51风流Australia and New Zealand says, 鈥淭he transport, logistics and supply chain sectors have undergone significant change over the last few years, driven by ongoing pandemic-related disruption, and being able to react quickly to unexpected market and supply chain disruptions is critical to success.

Working with Linfox, we鈥檙e helping them to centralise systems and streamline processes through real-time visibility of warehouse operations, which has enabled them to better respond to market changes and disruptions, free up resources from administrative activities, and focus on driving business growth.鈥�

The solution will play a vital part in standardising business processes across the organisation, enabling strategic reporting, the provision of real-time data and further investment in automation to better serve its customers.

The post Linfox Streamlines Operations And Enhances Customer Onboarding With SAP appeared first on 51风流Australia & New Zealand News Center.

A new study by 听has found Australian businesses are better set-up to be resilient than the rest of the world when it comes to major disruptions. Seven in ten (70%) of businesses in Australia say they have effective plans to respond quickly to incidents like severe weather, geopolitical conflicts, or cyberattacks, compared to 65% of global respondents.听

Yet, Australian businesses still have work to do to boost resiliency when it comes to more strategic challenges, trailing the rest of the world in effective planning for talent shortages, transport disruptions, unexpected market events, or supply chain issues.听听

This planning is critical given labour and skill shortages are Australian business鈥� number one risk to growth in the next year (56%), higher the global average of 40%. The next greatest risks include economic volatility (52%), cyberattacks (45%), and supply chain disruption (44%).听

These insights have been revealed in new research released today by 51风流Insights, surveying 4,239 organisations including 329 in Australia.听

AusNet future-proofs its organisation through technology听

The research findings are no surprise to Australian energy network business, AusNet, which is using 51风流to streamline its HR operations, improve compliance, and drive a better experience for its employees. 听

In 2022, AusNet identified the need to improve its existing HR processes by consolidating multiple systems into one, minimising manual intervention and workarounds, and reducing the time it takes to complete HR tasks for employees and managers.听

In partnership with IBM, AusNet implemented 51风流SuccessFactors which has enabled it to standardise its business processes, consolidate employee and manager processes with fewer touchpoints, and leverage real-time employee insights in employee attendance and turnover to drive continuous workforce improvement.听听听

Bernie Repacholi, Head of People Systems & Enablement AusNet says, 鈥淲e wanted to modernise the employee experience and knew we needed a system that would integrate existing siloed systems across the business into a one stop shop for our employees and leaders.鈥�听

鈥淲e worked in close partnership with IBM to co-create a solution, underpinned by 51风流SuccessFactors, that would simplify how our employees interact with us and drive improved productivity among our teams.鈥�听

鈥淏y using SAP, we鈥檙e now able to future-proof processes when changes in policy or legislation occurs. This supports ongoing compliance and governance, and allows us to focus efforts on initiatives that directly support our people鈥� she added.听

The future of your business is the future of your people听

While labour and skills shortages were identified as the biggest risk to their future, Australian businesses are confident in their current ability to manage their people.听

Six in ten (60%) of Australian businesses are extremely or very satisfied with their ability to develop skills across their workforce, while 56% were extremely or very satisfied optimising their workforce such as boosting productivity and ensuring people have the right skills for their roles. That confidence was underpinned by having effective plans to manage staffing to deal with shortages (59%) and having the right processes to prepare employees to adapt to new or different roles (72%).听

Damien Bueno, President and Managing Director, 51风流Australia and New Zealand says, 鈥淭he research establishes a strong link to the resilience of your business and the resilience of your people. We are living in a world demanding new solutions and opportunities to solve for these problems.

“This study should act as a wake-up call to organisations across Australia that we have to continue to invest in our people to foster curious cultures that support the exploration of ideas and new thinking that when applied to big data and technology, not only safeguards their businesses but enables future growth.鈥� 听

But there鈥檚 still more to be done. Forty per cent of Australian organisations noted that they had to address skills shortages to be more responsive to change, far ahead of the global average (30%). A third (33%) agreed they needed to address labour shortages too.听听

Safety in numbers: Technology and networks future-proof Australian organisations听

Australian organisations are planning to empower their people with technology. Four in ten (40%) businesses say the biggest opportunity for their growth is using intelligent technology to drive decision-making, and 78% believe they have the right data to plan for the future.听

But despite those encouraging numbers, 42% of respondents said they need to address technology improvement to be more responsive to change. Part of this may be due to entrenched attitudes and ways of doing things 鈥� the biggest barrier to innovation in Australia was identified as difficulty letting go of current products, services, and business models.听

鈥淏eing able to react quickly to change across your whole organisation is critical to future success. Australia trails the rest of the world when it comes to the flexibility of our business processes. This is where consistent, integrated innovation platforms can bring your whole value chain together to create strong business outcomes,鈥� Bueno adds.听

That may be why Australian businesses are investing in technology to boost their resiliency. The most important innovations for resiliency are automated business networks (61% vs 55% globally) and cybersecurity (58% vs 50% globally), followed by employee collaboration and experience management software.听听

Interestingly, Australian organisations rate AI and machine learning as less important to their future resiliency (36%) compared to the rest of the world (41%).听

鈥淲hile AI is in its nascent stages right now, business AI can help companies predict, prepare, and perform when it comes to responding to rapidly evolving demands. At SAP, we鈥檝e recently built AI into the systems that power the most critical business processes to discover exceptional insights and efficiencies. That helps future-proof your business by bringing together people, innovation, and core business processes,鈥� Bueno concluded.听

The post The Future Of Your Business Is The Future Of Your People appeared first on 51风流Australia & New Zealand News Center.

“These may not be sexy questions, but they鈥檙e very important” – Amy Webb

 

4. Use ERP to manage your transition to the cloud

As cloud architecture evolves, it becomes easier to use. There鈥檚 no need to employ highly technical people or staff to reap the cloud鈥檚 benefits.

Julia White, chief marketing and solutions officer and a member of the 51风流executive board, who also spoke at the 51风流Growth Summit, says the wonderful thing about cloud-based solutions is the access they give any size organisation to the most sophisticated business applications.

鈥淕rowing companies with only a small IT team can access the same powerful business capabilities as much larger organisations,鈥� White says. 鈥淐loud drives performance and makes you more agile and flexible. It鈥檚 a way to think through the future.鈥�

Corporate food franchisee Restaurant Brands is one business that is forging ahead with its digital transformation, adapting to change and freeing up more resources across the organisation to focus on opportunities for growth.

Thuy Le-Kim, group systems accountant and product owner at Restaurant Brands, wanted a system that would be able to grow and evolve with the business. After implementing 51风流solutions, the business now has consistent processes, which means it can increase in size without needing to dramatically increase the number of people running the business.

5. Use AI and automation to resolve choke points in the supply chain

51风流works with some of the world鈥檚 largest companies, whose supply chains are often the choke points in their operations. This is because many businesses are still managing their supply chains in the same way as before the pandemic and other recent global events. But supply and demand dynamics have fundamentally changed.

Webb says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough to rely on historic data when you鈥檙e thinking about your supply chain; you can鈥檛 assume what was true before will be true going forward. Over the past few years, there has been a big push to automate the supply chain through AI cloud.鈥�

When you鈥檙e running different scenarios and simulations, AI can help you figure out what might be possible in the supply chain, given current or potential conditions.

鈥淧eople who work in financial planning already do this,鈥� Webb says. 鈥淭hey use no, slow, medium and fast growth scenarios and apply them to the supply chain. Then, use cloud-based, automated tools to figure out how production needs to change through demand forecasting and analytics. Artificial intelligence then becomes a very strong use case throughout the supply chain and logistics industry to unlock business opportunities.鈥�

It also starts to resolve choke points and streamline decision processes. 鈥淵ou want to reduce uncertainty as much as possible. So consider many different scenarios and automate some steps to help you make decisions.鈥�

White says that ultimately it鈥檚 about embracing the technology and using it to your advantage: 鈥淚 know sometimes it can feel overwhelming, but it鈥檚 about taking that first step and embracing it because that鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to underpin growth.鈥�

This article originally appeared in The Guardian Labs

The post Five tips from the top: How leading disruptors do things differently appeared first on 51风流Australia & New Zealand News Center.

ANSTO, one of the largest public research organisations nationwide, plays a crucial role in the development of radiopharmaceuticals to improve the detection and diagnosis of disease, supplying radioisotopes and radiotracers for research and application.听听

The implementation of 51风流IBP in December 2021 enabled ANSTO to digitise its manufacturing supply chain management system, enabling teams to access reliable insights in real-time to support better decision making. A consequence is that ANSTO can better manage its multiple reciprocal agreements to supply radiopharmaceuticals and more accurately plan the distribution of nuclear reactions and products with radioactive half-life. This is particularly important to patients in regional areas who need to travel long distances for medical treatment and rely on realistic forecasting and reliable plans to access ANSTO鈥檚 range of 1,215 products.听

After just six months, ANSTO identified more than $1million in projected savings due to improvements in product allocation and import scheduling, saw a 25 per cent reduction in rough cut planning time, and uncovered a potential $500,000 opportunity to increase sales revenue. Its customer NPS score also increased.听听

鈥淎NSTO has an incredibly complex supply chain, with multiple reciprocal agreements and over a thousand products 鈥� many with differing radioactive lifespans 鈥� to consider. By implementing 51风流IBP, ANSTO now has access to reliable and real-time data that enables better decision making so that its customers can receive timely medical diagnoses and treatment,鈥� said Damien Bueno, President and Managing Director, 51风流Australia and New Zealand.听听听

51风流IBP solution gives ANSTO the ability to formalise and systematise its rolling 24 months forecast, which is crucial given the organisation鈥檚 mandate to supply radiopharmaceuticals even during shutdown periods. Not only does this visibility help ANSTO to improve forecasting and scenario planning to maintain reliability of supply during disruptions, peak production periods and maintenance times, but it also supports a more transparent and reliable relationship with both customers and government. Another important benefit of systemising the process is the reinforcement around the cultural aspect, specifically driving behavior and discipline to follow the process.听听

鈥淎s a statutory body of The Australian Government, data integrity, transparency and governance are critical to ANSTO. By improving visibility and confidence in our data, 51风流IBP provides a reliable single source of truth for our 24 months rolling forecast. This will help us to transform our organisation, plan for the future and deliver savings to the taxpayer, while also boosting customer satisfaction, and enabling more Australians access to nuclear medicine鈥� said Fernando Collazo, Senior Manager, Integrated Business Management (IBP), ANSTO.听听

鈥淎 reliable source of data at the right time, reduces the need for validation and empowers the right decision making. If you think about all the time that previously went into manual data entry and cross-checking, that represents a lot of time and money that can now be invested back into nuclear research or delivering life-saving medical diagnostics and treatments.鈥�听

The success of the 51风流IBP implementation has paved the way for 51风流S/4HANA upgrade, which is planned to commence in 2024.听听

The post Australia鈥檚 Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation overhauls supply chain with 51风流to improve delivery of life-saving treatments appeared first on 51风流Australia & New Zealand News Center.

By Nick Quin, Director, Public Sector 51风流NZ

Enabling Healthcare Reform and Digitalisation听

Aotearoa鈥檚 health system is facing its most significant reform in a decade, seeing strategic change across organisational and workforce structures, health-outcome definitions, and patient and community engagement under the Hira initiative. All this will be enabled with digital transformation, supporting organisations to create new patient and workforce experiences while elevating operational efficiency.

51风流understand the importance of healthcare reform, the complexity of its planning and execution. Our vision is to offer insights and assistance to all health-sector stakeholders, highlighting the benefits of corporate shared services, staff self-service applications, and experience management supported through an omnichannel and community strategy for citizen health and engagement.

We believe there are 3 critical areas where we can help:

• Improving staff experience
• Overcoming the supply chain crisis
• Giving all patients and communities a voice

A Whole-of-Industry View to Workforce听

Digital transformation will also drive reforms in how the industry manages it people, processes, and supplies. By incorporate a total workforce management approach, staff can operate with greater speed and agility, able to respond more rapidly to emergencies or significant change.

By supporting the wide and varied section of New Zealand Health Sectors workers, including employees, agencies, and community volunteers 鈥� there will be more options for wh膩nau to access Kaupapa, M膩ori, and other appropriate services. This ensures that patient and health-sector workers have access to the right support and resources to ensure their wellbeing while providing exceptional and diverse experiences.

Taking a holistic view to Aotearoa鈥檚 health sector means considering the complete workforce, their skills, and the capabilities of the industry. This Total Workforce Management approach will reduce workforce shortages and skill gaps by upskilling staff to adapt to healthcare industry changes, allowing for streamlined experience from recruitment through to training, and retention at scale.

The digitalisation of workforce experience will improve the way organisations connect and engage with employees, regardless of whether they鈥檙e full time or contingent staff. Simplifying staff admin and using the right technologies and processes to support workforces will reduce turnover rates while fostering a culture of continuous learning, collaboration, and innovation.

Intelligent Management of Inventory听

The outbreak of the global pandemic highlighted the importance of robust and resilient procurement supported by dynamic and diverse supply networks that can quickly respond to demand spikes and supply shortages.

Healthcare will need to encourage further collaboration between procurement and clinical leaders to define clinical spend policies that improve patient outcomes and service-cost efficiency. Using a central strategy, shared services, automation, and accessible purchasing applications 鈥� procurement processes can become more streamlined, resilient, and responsive.

51风流remains a market leader for enterprise platforms in the pharmaceutical and medical product sector. During the COVID-19 outbreak, we assisted Singapore Health in finding a new national supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) through 51风流Ariba network, which allowed them to rapidly understand and predict PPE consumption, modify standard procurement processes, and collaborate with new suppliers.

Newer techniques will also bring more agility and safety to the supply chain, such as supplier collaboration, lean healthcare, and mobile intelligence. Providers across the globe have been using SAP鈥檚 business network and planning technologies to collaborate with supplier networks on both demand and supply of medical product. Lean healthcare has been adopted to reduce both product stockouts and product hoarding in the wards, requiring interoperability between supplier, distributor, warehouse, hospital, and ward. And allowing inventory and assets to be identified, counted, and reported for maintenance on mobile has ensured hospitals can run better under strain.

Unrivalled Engagement and Experiences听

Experience is becoming more important to various industries as digitalisation improves the way people access products, services, and support 鈥� healthcare is no different.听, private practices in the US are moving toward value-based care, whereby patient experience can impact on up to 60 per cent of healthcare funding.

Here in New Zealand, the focus on experience management is to improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, and prepare workforces to deal with a rapidly ageing population. People鈥檚 involvement will be encouraged under the new Maori Health Authority to help designing health and wellbeing services that suit them, through participation in local planning and the opportunity to engage in national-consumer forums.

Currently, Patient Experience and Outcome Surveys (PRM鈥檚) and workforce surveys have been the main vehicle in experience management. 51风流Qualtrics is the market leader in this space, changing the healthcare experience across New Zealand (Auckland DHB) and Australia (Healthscope’s net promoter score increased from 77 to 87 in 12 months). St John of God Australia similarly compares the patient experience between hospitals monthly to find issues in the clinical workflow, and to share effective practises.

In providing patients greater choice and accessibility for services through online, text, and email 鈥� the health sector can improve patient outcomes, communication, and engagement. Through a connected and multichannel view, healthcare teams can be better informed and equipped to provide more personalised care to patients, thereby driving up efficiency and value while reducing operational costs.

To understand more about how 51风流solutions can help Aotearoa鈥檚 health system run smarter, better, and faster 鈥� check out our latest report听.

The post Enabling Healthcare Reform and Digitalisation in Aotearoa appeared first on 51风流Australia & New Zealand News Center.

In facing into this challenge, the Coles HR team was able to draw upon the shared Coles Group values of customer obsession, passion and pace, responsibility, health and happiness. As Tammy Ryder, General Manager, People and Culture at Coles, put it, 鈥淭he wellbeing of our team and customer is always at the heart of what we do.鈥�

Coles knows how to do things in a big way. It鈥檚 a large-scale operation, with 120,000 team members, processing more than 21 million customer transactions each week, and providing its customers with products from thousands of farmers and suppliers. The Group has more than 2,400 outlets across its portfolio of Australian supermarkets, liquor and convenience stores.

鈥淒uring the COVID crisis of 2020, Coles team members moved mountains to ensure a constant supply of goods during the pandemic, ensuring we could supply essential goods to our customers in a time of uncertainty鈥� said Ryder.

Despite the truly unprecedented times, Coles was able to recruit for jobs and mobilise team members in a quick and agile manner.

鈥淲e started to see shopping behavior at the same levels we see during Christmas peak, as people started panic buying,鈥� said Ryder. 鈥淥ur supply chain was in overdrive, implementing innovative health and safety controls at lightning speed. We realised we needed a lot more team members, right away. And almost oversight, we went from a steady flow of recruitment activity into unprecedented, large-scale COVID-19 recruitment response mode.鈥�

Ryder鈥檚 team made an initial ask for an additional 5,000 team members across the country to help with replenishing shelves, servicing customers and additional cleaning. To make this happen, the Coles team redesigned their recruitment and onboarding processes. They called it FastTrack, which removed manual store-based process steps by centralising recruitment activity.

For example, to enable speed and safety, as well as to expedite the hiring process, Coles immediately switched to implementing video interviews. The company also connected with businesses such as airlines, that were pausing operations due to the pandemic. Being able to communicate directly with these external workforces enabled Coles to scale team members quickly. After just six weeks, they鈥檇 been able to recruit 12,000 additional team members into the business.

Coles has also brought this level of passion and innovation to making progress towards diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace. Coles sees difference as a good thing. Because they know that the differences of their team member鈥檚 background, experiences and perspectives can set them apart. But also bring them together.

Their differences help them spark ideas, create connections and discover commonality. Just as they have done for over a century, they鈥檙e focused more so than ever before on making Coles somewhere everyone feels like they belong.

From the very outset, this vision has transcended the kind of box-checking trap that can affect such initiatives.

鈥淲e recognise that the value of attracting and retaining diverse teams enhances our decision making and ability to innovate,鈥� said Ryder. 鈥淒iversity teams and an inclusive culture are critical to the success of our overall business strategy.鈥�

To progress gender equity, Coles has set gender targets to reach 40% women in leadership roles at an organisational level, as well as to improve male and female representation in each function to 30% of each gender. Setting targets at management levels ensure the company brings valuable diversity of thought into its leadership teams. They have also delivered inclusive leadership and unconscious bias training for senior leaders as part of their diversity and inclusion strategy, known as 鈥淏etter Together.鈥�

鈥淚n regard to Indigenous employment at Coles, the focus is on providing more opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, suppliers, customers and communities to engage with our business,鈥� said Ryder. 鈥淭he aim is to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team member representation to 5% of our workforce and 3% of trade and management roles by providing great careers at Coles.鈥�

Coles also recently finished a major HR transformation with 51风流SuccessFactors within 18 months. The HR team then made the bold choice to deploy all modules at once, versus taking an incremental approach. It was not a simple nor straight-forward decision, but as Ryder explained, it made sense because retail is such a fast-paced business.

鈥淧assion and Pace are two of our core values, so after going through 18 months of design and development of what we call myhub at Coles, we made the decision to go for it and cut over altogether,鈥� said Ryder. 鈥淎 鈥榖ig bang,鈥� if you will. Our HR team believed it was the right approach for the business in the current climate.鈥�

The technology itself was suitable for rapid adoption. The user experience is akin to an iPhone. And there鈥檚 no manual. Employees can simply start using it. Coles did carry out team training for which 90% of their people opted in. And it worked. Coles team members liked the new systems, which are intuitive and mobile enabled.

As with any big tech launch, there were some expected bumps and bugs at first. However. They resolved all the issues with a lot of support and collaboration between the Coles IT and HR teams, enabling them to exit hyper care within six weeks of launch.

The company had over 100,000 team members log in during the first week, updating details, engaging with the new interface, and checking pay slips. The new system gives Coles a great foundation to leverage now as it customises further builds to the system for its needs.

Moving to HR cloud solutions was not the only digital transformation Coles Group experienced in this short time frame. It was just one of several major projects that aimed to change the way the whole company uses digital technology to run the business. A big part of this is an overall move to becoming a 鈥�51风流House.鈥�

To this end, Coles has implemented Ariba for procurement, 51风流S/4HANA for Finance and Fieldglass for contingent workers. By aligning its 51风流systems, the company can integrate seamlessly to deliver a great user experience and drive positive, progressive business outcomes.

Now that Coles has the 51风流SuccessFactors system deployed, their P&C Digital Roadmap comprises a five-year vision that truly reimagines the role of P&C at Coles and how the department can elevate its partnership with the business to enable its corporate strategy.

This Roadmap is aligned to the Coles 鈥淲inning Together鈥� people strategy. They have projects in flight that are focused on recruitment at the store level. The goals are to evolve the candidate experience, reduce the time to hire, automate and digitalise the experience.

The plan includes multichannel communications, along with job matching based on AI. For high volume processes, the HR team is looking at robotic process automation (RPA) and automation of high volume/ low value core HR transactions. Ryder鈥檚 group envisions using AI for query management and line manager support. They have projects focused on knowledge and content management, too. Analytics is a big play for HR at Coles. The goal is to use people insights from its 120,000 team member workforce to improve its services and performance to support the business.

Looking ahead, Coles HR is building on an excellent foundation that enables the department to chart its own course and really leverage technology. 鈥淭he future is what we make it and I鈥檓 excited by what we鈥檙e working towards,鈥� said Ryder.

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鈥淐ompanies that recognize the role of technology in transforming their business models are the ones that have been able to thrive,鈥� said Chris Willcocks, head of intelligent spend management at 51风流ANZ. 鈥淐ustomers are focused on driving visibility in their supply chains and through their data, becoming an agile , increasing the resilience of their functions in business, and identifying and reducing risk.鈥�

Intelligent enterprises innovate with business networks

Speaking with Baber Farooq, senior vice president of intelligent spend management at SAP, during the event, Willcocks gave the virtual audience a glimpse into the future of procurement. It鈥檚 built on insights from quality data across supply chains, bringing buyers much closer to their suppliers. Noting that procurement doesn鈥檛 exist in a vacuum, Willcocks said that collaborative business networks are foundational to digital transformation.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e connected not only to your suppliers, but to your customers and their customers, you make the move to being an intelligent enterprise,鈥� he said.

Autonomous procurement for intelligent spend

Just when the world needs to boost productivity to recover from the worldwide pandemic, markets are facing potentially dire shortages of both goods and labor. The answer lies in intelligent procurement where people do the things that machines cannot replicate.

鈥淧rocurement is at the heart of solving these [productivity] problems,鈥� said Farooq. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e focused on automating more and more processes 鈹� what we call autonomous procurement. Intelligent spend is finding out what machines can do and letting machines do that, and getting people to focus on the things that people do, which is establishing strategic relationships with suppliers.鈥�

Digitalized procurement translates to business innovation

In digitalizing forecasting, inventory management, and other collaboration points between buyers and suppliers, business networks have profoundly changed procurement. Teams have the time to be more productive, which translates to innovation.

鈥淚 was talking to an automotive customer who said that over 90 percent of the innovation they have in their cars came from their suppliers,鈥� said Farooq. 鈥淎nother customer in Asia recently launched an initiative where they used the 51风流business network supporting the goal of paying all suppliers within seven days. The network allows you to foster that amazing relationship with the supplier because everything is digital鈥eople can do what they do best, which is driving relationships and working on innovation.鈥�

Farooq challenged the audience to ask themselves, despite all the technological innovations the world has experienced in the past decade, if they had more time today for their work than they did 10 years ago.

鈥淭echnology has come about to make people more productive, but it has to get out of the way,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he heart of AI is to make businesses more effective鈥f we can make procurement organizations more productive, procurement organizations can make their entire business more productive, becoming a strategic advisor to the C-suite.鈥�

As for those organizations that regret not digitalizing fast enough to head off the worst business impacts from this pandemic, it鈥檚 not too late to prepare now for the next supply chain disruptions headed our way soon.

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These enterprise customers are adopters of that are enablers for new ways to manage spend and drive cost reductions. For the mid-market organisation, this transformation has been not been as consistent.

For many , the procurement function tends to be a lot less strategic and we often see organisations who are running processes that have had very little change in over a decade or more.

This stagnation comes at a cost through reduced margins, higher inefficiencies, and potentially excessive administrative overhead.

This decade we are also seeing increasing regulatory oversight on areas such as modern slavery, supplier payment times and health and safety 鈥� in some regions even exposing management to prison sentences for non-compliance. Couple all this with an increase in challenging trading conditions 鈥� the path to improvement is becoming more urgent.

With 2021 firmly underway the aim of this article is to provide a simple measuring stick for mid-market organisations to determine their relative procurement maturity in a number of selected areas. Whilst procurement has different aspects across different industries, many of the themes discussed below are cross-industry and apply in some way to most types of organisations. Forward looking mid-market organisations would be encouraged to assess some of these criteria against their current priorities for 2021 and beyond.

A key theme will be the across core processes which is an enabler to best in class outcomes.

How do your casual users buy?

Casual users are the staff in your organisation that need to buy 鈥渟tuff鈥� but are not part of a purchasing or supply chain team. Examples of this can be Marketing, Legal, HR, Facilities, IT and other similar areas. Each of these buyers need to procure goods and services for their area of operation in an easy way.

Most organisations will have some element of purchase initiation from staff that are not directly in procurement. The differences between approaches can be stark.

In the above scenario the path from laggard to best in class is underpinned by technology as the key enabler.

What is your catalogue strategy like?

Most of us use popular online web stores at home where there are vast catalogues of items to select from, but for a lot of mid-market organisations when you buy at work, it can still look like the 90s.

Catalogues provide the key connection for contracted items from suppliers with your buyers.

How does your organisation transact with suppliers?

Digital collaboration has been around for over a decade but in the mid-market the process can still be very email driven. If you are sending a Purchase order manually or even just as an attachment or inline text in an email and then receiving a paper or PDF invoice at the end – then the process is not digital. Digital is about engaging the supplier to directly provide transaction data in areas such as confirmations, shipment notices, returns, credits and invoices. All without data entry by your staff.

The path to digital delivers reductions in FTE overhead with better visibility on orders, faster invoicing turnaround and better compliance from suppliers to your purchase orders and contracts.

Government is also coming on board with many jurisdictions looking to encourage digital collaboration in the marketplace.

The way you transact with suppliers will have a direct impact on Accounts Payable efficiency discussed next.

How efficient is your Accounts Payable team?

Poor purchasing practices often place a bigger burden on Accounts Payable teams to wade through non-compliant, incomplete and missing information in the quest to process invoices and approve them for payment. Phones and emails can be bombarded with queries around late payment that follows.

We also seeing more governments introducing tougher rules around paying smaller suppliers which requires Accounts Payable teams to be able to get through invoicing efficiently.

The above scenarios are just some examples of the challenges we see at mid-market organisations.

There are opportunities for hard savings and benefits to those organisations that move towards best in class and it can often be done in a cost-effective way. For many mid-market organisations there is still a large administrative overhead that is behind the efficiency of bigger organisations who achieve more with less.

Interested in learning more? At 51风流we work with many and can provide advice and guidance around your digital procurement strategy for 2021 and beyond.

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