Suntory Oceania has completed the $30 million IT transformation at its recently opened $400 million Swanbank factory in Ipswich, Queensland, which has been in the works for over three years.
The company stated the IT transformation was a foundational piece in building the region’s fourth-largest multi-beverage group, rising from the merging of Suntory’s alcohol and non-alcohol segments of its Australian and New Zealand businesses.
Suntory’s extensive portfolio includes 40 major brands that are constantly innovating for the Australian market, including premium Japanese whiskies, Suntory -196 RTD, Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Canadian Club, V Energy, Maximus and Suntory BOSS Coffee.
In just two years, Suntory Oceania’s Digital & IT and Route to Market team reimagined the delivery of a future-ready digital ecosystem integrating SAP S/4 HANA. This was achieved alongside the construction of a new manufacturing and distribution facility to enable the transition to become a multi-beverage business, and a 40 per cent increase in workforce.
The investment became a strategic enabler for upgrades across the business, including dynamic pricing, near-real-time integration with manufacturing systems, and a CRM system that provides a true single view of the customer. The company stated these enhancements ensured Suntory Oceania’s digital capability matched its commercial vision.
The new Queensland facility can produce 20 million cases annually at start up with the capacity to scale in the future. Automation enables the facility to produce and store two full pallets each minute, which is a significant uplift in production efficiency and scalability which positions the new Suntory Oceania facility among the most advanced beverage manufacturing sites in the region.
Suntory Oceania Digital & IT director, Matt Dixon, said: “We weren’t just building systems, we were laying the digital foundation for the business to scale, innovate and lead. It was a transformation of how we think, work, and grow as a business”.
The IT transformation project was executed with each step building on the last to minimise risk and grow capability in line with the facilities’ build schedule. Four major IT streams operated in parallel, and the production releases were achieved with no major outages or need for rollback.
The completed systems enabled 95 per cent delivery in full on time (DIFOT) from day one, delivered in collaboration with over 100 partners including Accenture and DXC Technology. Key innovations implemented during the two-year project included;
- CRM as a single source of customer truth across sales, customer support and customer self-service
- upgraded sales hub application
- upgraded online store to cater for the addition of new alcoholic portfolio and the need for license checking
- 34 separate interfaces between SAP, EWM and a host of operational technology systems to automate the manufacturing process, including one of the world’s first implementation of a shuttle between RoRo docks and production lines
- SAP integrated business planning to sense demand, trigger automated orders from suppliers, and complete detailed production planning and scheduling
- SAP ACDOCA to allow for fully flexible use of Universal Journal
- Automated Alcohol Tax System to track customs, excise, and ad-valorem duties.
Suntory Oceania stated the implemented systems have streamlined operations, reduced logistics costs, and improved speed to market.
