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Of all the sectors that have been disrupted by technology, logistics and supply chains would have to be one of the most heavily affected. Technology has allowed for complete control over inventories, margins and visibility into complex and fluid environments. But this carries with it some risk, because business processes are hard to change in a busy and dynamic environment… especially when those processes have become ingrained over decades.
In a transformative 14-month project, Wild Tech facilitated a significant digital overhaul for the wholesaler Uncle Bills, helping the company move from a legacy non-digital system filled with manual processes to a state-of-the-art digital-first environment.
Uncle Bills is a leader in Australian wholesale, distribution and logistics. It is a company that is unique for its global product development, sourcing, and logistics capabilities, and has world-leading consolidation facilities in China. With offices and showrooms in Australia, New Zealand, and China, and local offices in other markets including the UK, Canada, and the USA, Uncle Bills has a highly decentralised and global operation across everyday essentials, sports and lifestyle items, and festive decorations.
Critically, the company also emphasise ethical, responsible, and sustainable practices across their business and supply chain, ensuring high standards of product quality and compliance.
Due to the growth and future plans of the company, a transformation and platform modernisation program was essential. Given the complexity of the Uncle Bills business, this ambitious endeavour needed to be meticulously scoped, planned, and executed so that the newly transformed environment wouldn’t impact on Uncle Bills’ unique business processes that had been developed and refined over almost three decades.
Uncle Bills was starting to face disruption due to its legacy systems. The company understood the need to evolve its platforms as other distributors have been embracing the digital opportunity, however, the company’s legacy was not just in technology: the business processes, which had been working well for them and their sales teams, had become closely intertwined with the legacy technology.
This is what drew it to Wild Tech in the first instance. “We felt Wild Tech really wanted to understand all aspects of the business,” Uncle Bills’ Head of Legal and Corporate Responsibility, Edward Gallagher said. “We do have a complicated business because we satisfy everyone – we don’t just warehouse, and we sell our products in whatever currency and at any port the customer needs.
“It’s difficult for anyone to fully get the impact that has on our systems but Wild Tech were committed to it.”
Overall, the company’s challenges included:
Most importantly, however, was that while the company understood the need to transform, Uncle Bills had been hesitant to do that because it needed to find a solution that wasn’t going to disrupt operations or current ways of working.
Wild Tech embarked on a comprehensive 14-month digital transformation project to address these challenges. The solution involved several key components:
1. Comprehensive Scoping
Wild Tech understood early on that if it was going to be able to deliver for Uncle Bills, it needed to really understand the company. “One of the key steps we took was an unusually meticulous scoping process, where the team delved deep into understanding Uncle Bills’ unique business model, ensuring that the solution preserved their intellectual property while addressing their evolving needs.” Wild Tech General Manager, Mid-Market, James Schwarz said.
2. Implementing NetSuite ERP
Wild Tech and Uncle Bills landed on NetSuite as the base technology and core ERP system that was going to be able to deliver to the overall business objectives. This implementation included:
3. Custom Development
To meet Uncle Bills’ unique needs, a standard NetSuite implementation would not be enough, Schwarz said. “Integrating these disparate systems into a cohesive ERP solution required careful planning and execution, with the team leveraging NetSuite as the core ERP system and developing tailored integrations for marketplaces, printed documentation, and warehousing,” he said. One particular example involved a custom coding job that was required to keep the printing of key documents the same as from the legacy system. This was not a native feature of NetSuite and required recruiting a developer for a two-month project of its own to achieve.
4. Change Management and Stakeholder Engagement
This was a major change after decades on an existing system, and so Wild Tech implemented robust change management strategies, ensuring smooth adoption of the new system across the organisation.
To help ensure the success of the project, key stakeholders were identified, and continuous communication was maintained from Wild Tech to the Uncle Bills team through regular meetings, progress reports, and town hall sessions.
The digital transformation project delivered significant outcomes and benefits for Uncle Bills:
Tangible Return on Investment
Increased Profitability: Enhanced visibility into margins led to a notable increase in profitability, with Uncle Bills now generating five per cent better margin on every job quoted.
Operational Efficiency: Automating the quoting process and reducing reliance on key personnel allowed the company to hire and onboard new staff efficiently, saving tens of thousands of dollars each year per employee.
Cost Savings
Re-directed headcount to higher-value activities: The move to automated systems replaced manual, spreadsheet-based processes, allowing for the company to focus its headcount on higher-value activities.
Eliminated Stock Take Costs: Transitioning to warehouse cycle counts eliminated the need for regular stock takes, saving both time and money from the staff that previously needed to undertake these regularly.
Improved Business Processes
The benefit here was two-fold:
“NetSuite’s adaptable platform empowers us to generate real-time reports, providing valuable insights into critical areas of our business such as sales, finance, and inventory,” Gallagher said.
“Consolidating from six disparate systems into a unified platform has significantly minimised redundant data entry, streamlined processes, and diminished our dependency on multiple systems for updates prior to completing tasks.”
The project was completed essentially within the expected time frame. Wild Tech worked on the transformation over 14 months, from July 2022 to April 2023. The ability to stay on track despite encountering challenges that required additional development or resourcing was particularly impressive.
“Since going live, we’ve encountered minimal issues, with a high adoption rate of NetSuite among all stakeholders. Thanks to the exceptional support from the Wild Tech team, the transition has been remarkably smooth,” Gallagher said.
Wild Tech’s digital transformation project for Uncle Bills highlights the importance of approaching transformation flexibly. The project would never have been a success if the pressure was placed on Uncle Bills to change fundamental operational processes that had been part of the company for decades.
So instead Wild Tech was able to align the business behind a single vision for IT, and then tailor the solution so that it did not disrupt what was already working for the client.
Now Uncle Bills has a thoroughly modern and dynamic IT environment, and can take full advantage of the digital opportunities ahead.
