As a large global seafood enterprise and one of New Zealand’s largest fishing companies, holding 20 percent of New Zealand’s fishing quota, Sealord’s systems and processes are its competitive advantage. With more than 1200 staff and a complex seasonal business that has grown and evolved significantly through acquisition and business change over the past three decades, Sealord needed a modern and forward-looking technology platform that would support these changing requirements, offering greater insight into business performance and driving vastly improved operational efficiency. Sealord’s existing core business system, having served the organisation for 20 years, “had come to the end of its life,” Grant Wilson, Sealord’s Business Support Services Manager, says. “We needed to look at our key processes and see how we could get greater efficiency gains. We needed fewer manual transactions, less reliance on spread sheets, and improved reporting,” he explains. With ERP processes critical to every area of its business, Sealord couldn’t afford disruption to ‘business as usual’ throughout the 18-month project to replace a system that had been entrenched at the heart of the enterprise for 20 years. “Sealord also needed an ERP system that would deliver straight away,” Grant explains "And thats exactly what we got". More information: http://www.intergen.co.nz/Our-Work/sealord/

1. Manufacturing & Distribution
case study
The best fish in the sea
Sealord
Dynamics NAV
replaces 20 year-old
ERP system
THE SITUATION
Sealord needed an ERP
system that would deliver
straight away. And that’s
exactly what we got.
Grant Wilson
Business Support Services Manager
Sealord
THE PAIN
As a large global seafood enterprise
and one of New Zealand’s largest
fishing companies, holding 20 percent
of New Zealand’s fishing quota,
Sealord’s systems and processes
are its competitive advantage. With
more than 1200 staff and a complex
seasonal business that has grown
and evolved significantly through
acquisition and business change
over the past three decades, Sealord
needed a modern and forward-looking
technology platform that would
support these changing requirements,
offering greater insight into business
performance and driving vastly
improved operational efficiency.
Sealord’s existing core business system,
having served the organisation for
20 years, “had come to the end of its
life,” Grant Wilson, Sealord’s Business
Support Services Manager, says.
“We needed to look at our key processes
and see how we could get greater
efficiency gains. We needed fewer
manual transactions, less reliance
on spread sheets, and improved
reporting,” he explains.
The aging legacy ERP system had
become difficult to support. It relied
heavily on an ecosystem of manual
systems and processes existing outside
the core platform. “We suffered the ills
of spread sheeting,” Grant says.

2. As well as having to endure labourintensive and imprecise workflows,
there was an opportunity to provide
a broader and more complete view of
the organisation. And its performance
in key areas. The system was outdated
and needed to change.
Together, phase one and two cover all
aspects of Sealord’s operation, from
starting point – the fish quota – to end
point – the customer. The next step, phase
three, will centre on fully leveraging the
sheer volume of data now on hand and
readily available, by working on Business
Intelligence initiatives.
the VISION
As part of its five-year roadmap, Sealord
wanted “real-time inventory tracking
from quota to customer”, and Microsoft
Dynamics NAV was selected as the
“most logical” technology choice to
make this happen.
Sealord’s move to Microsoft Dynamics
NAV came in the second phase of its
technology Base System Replacement
upgrade. Phase one had focused on
enabling real-time production data
capture, supply planning and
production reporting from “the fish
quota to finished goods”, from the
water to the factory. Phase two set
out to focus on the business processes
in play once the fish had reached
the factory, including inventory
management, purchasing, sales,
distribution, financial management,
business unit and group financial
reporting. Phase two functionality was
deployed across the New Zealand Fish,
Aquaculture, New Zealand Marketing
and Sealord Hong Kong and North
America business units, with consolidation
across all units at Group level.
the GAIN
With ERP processes critical to every
area of its business, Sealord couldn’t
afford disruption to ‘business as usual’
throughout the 18-month project
to replace a system that had been
entrenched at the heart of the
enterprise for 20 years. “Sealord also
needed an ERP system that would
deliver straight away,” Grant explains.
“And that’s exactly what we got.”
“We could do most of the things we
needed to from day one – following
more productive work processes,
invoicing customers, managing
inventory and supplier information.
“It’s been a really successful project.
Business has carried on throughout
the implementation without any
hiccups or any disruptions whatsoever
to our customers. This is a massive
achievement, especially when you
consider the complexity and duration
of the project, and the number of
people who interact with the system in
some way,” he says. “And now with their
Consolidation Module in place, there
has been a reduction of time and errors
in the generation of group results.”
The Business Case
As a global enterprise with a
complex seasonal business, Sealord
needed to replace its 20 year-old
legacy ERP system. Visibility of
organisation-wide information,
greater efficiency, reliability and
streamlined processes were key in
the selection of the new platform.
The Business Value
»» Improved business productivity and
greater gains in efficiency, including
fewer manual transactions, less
reliance on spread sheets and
improved reporting
»» No disruption to business as usual
throughout the 18-month project
»» Unprecedented visibility into the
performance of the entire enterprise,
“from quota to customer”
»» A system that delivered from
day one
The Engine Room
»» Microsoft Dynamics NAV
With more than 300 Intergen
staff working across organisations
of all sizes and types, our
offerings include portals, content
and collaboration solutions,
Microsoft Dynamics financial
and relationship management,
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