Mackay Farming Group Australia’s largest producer of bananas, has selected Oracle’s Fusion Cloud Applications to support its continuous improvement program and its mission to deliver consistently high-quality produce to Australians year-round. Mackay’s will use Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM to manage its growing workforce and Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP to optimise supply chain and financial management efficiency.

The 4th generation family business is on an ambitious growth and diversification trajectory and needed to move to a cloud platform that could support its expansion.

“We currently distribute more than 2,600,000 cases of bananas around Australia every year, and we are preparing for higher volumes and diversified cropping over the next two to five years as we increase production of avocados, papayas and other crops,” said Alex Hutton, CEO, Mackay’s. “The group has expanded its footprint through the acquisition of additional farm properties, and we are also establishing new crops on existing farm properties. We needed a solution that would be simple to use and maintain but would be capable of handling the volume of transactions we are expecting.”

As these new crops, come to maturity, Mackay’s will be increasing its headcount to more than 900, representing a 50% increase on its existing workforce. Oracle’s Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) application will support Mackays’ employee processes, including on-boarding seasonal employees and managing the rigorous occupational health and safety training required for workers operating heavy machinery and traditional tools like machetes.

“We had previously outsourced labour hire to an agency and managed applications using a variety of applications, but as our workforce grew that was becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to manage across multiple sites. We needed a solution that would allow us to insource these processes to better manage our growth and add self-service capabilities for our employees,” added Hutton.

With Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, Mackay’s will have the visibility over inventory levels it needs to better plan production and pricing strategies moving forward, including the management of fixed assets and logistics.

“Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications is the world’s most complete cloud applications suite. Engineered to work together, these applications will allow Mackay’s to benefit from the latest advances in technology while delivering a modern user experience its’ employees. The means the team at Mackay’s will be able to quickly and effectively respond to the unpredictable market and environmental conditions that can sometimes impact agricultural business,” said, John Leonard, general manager ERP & HCM, Oracle ANZ.

The implementation of the first stage is being managed by KPMG Australia. Linda Chai, Partner, KPMG Enterprise, said “Mackay’s is an iconic Australian business with great fundamentals. But like many in the agricultural sector, the business doesn’t employ a huge IT team, so it was crucial we helped them find a simple solution that they could use effectively. Oracle’s true SaaS applications means the team at Mackay’s will benefit from quarterly updates and won’t have to worry about upgrading and maintaining their systems.”