CBH is a grain handling cooperative in Australia that handles over 10 million tonnes of grain annually. It implemented SAP R/3 in 1998 to manage its complex logistics operations across multiple sites. This helped increase efficiency but also increased IT workload. CBH upgraded to mySAP ERP to gain additional functionalities like CRM, SCM, and SRM. The upgrade improved processing speeds by 90%, reduced transaction times from over 45 minutes to under 5 minutes, and allowed for automated reporting and online approval to speed decision making.

1. SAP AT CO OPERATIVE BULK
HANDLING LTD. (CBH)
Case Study:2

2. The Company
• Co-operative Bulk Handling Limited (CBH), Perth,
Australia.
• Company website: http://www.cbh.com.au/
• Co-operative bulk handling ltd. (CBH) based in Perth,
Western Australia, stores, transports and markets more
than 10 million tonnes of grain annually, some 40
percent of Australia’s total production.
• CBH is controlled over by 5700 grower shareholders,
and exports around 95 percent of the grain tonnage it
produces to more than 20 countries.

3. The Problem/Situation
• Strategic diversification through corporate
acquisitions, development of enhanced
services for growers and closer integration
with world markets lead to considerable
increases in workload for the IT infrastructure.
• In parallel with these changes, senior
management took the opportunity to review
business processes, looking in particular for
efficiencies and cost savings.

4. • With almost 200 grain receive points, twelve
administration offices, four ports and 19 million
tonnes of total storage capacity, managing the
logistics alone is a complex business.
• The company turned to automation whenever
possible to increase efficiency and productivity, to
help control staff costs and enhance its ability to
respond quickly to customers’ needs.

5. The Solution and Implementation
• From 1998, CBH adopted SAP R/3
applications for up to 900 users to run the
business, combined with specific grainhandling and administrative systems at
multiple sites.
• Since practically all operations touched SAP
applications at some point, the company
settled on SAP software as one of the strategic
foundations for CBH.

6. • The IT team reviewed the
–
–
–
–
total cost of ownership
new functionality
workload requirements
design of new IT infrastructure
• Goals:
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increasing processing efficiency .
response times improvements
automate workflow processes.
speed up the internal information flow

7. From Legacy to New ERP
• Attracted by the advanced functionality in my
SAP ERP software, CBH turned to mySAP ERP.
• Functionalities in mySAP ERP are:
– PLM (Project Lifecycle Management)
– CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
– SCM (Supply chain Management)
– SRM (Supplier relationship Management)

8. SAP R/3 in 1998 at CBH
Now,
mySAP ERP at CBH

9. • Since R/3 was running on AS/400, the initial
challenge was to migrate to the Windows
environment.
• The company now runs or plans to run
financials, controlling, human resources,
payroll, maintenance, procurement, sales and
distribution, and project management
applications.

10. The Benefits
• Processing speed raised by about 90%.
• Transactions that took more than 45 minute to run could be
completed in less than 5 minutes .
• With my SAP ERP, CBH has the potential to take advantage
of :
– automated report generation and delivery.
– with on-screen acceptance and approval.
• Improvement in maintenance program and production
planning.
• Now, managers can see the status, approve necessary
actions and make informed decisions without the delays .
• The new system also lowered system administration
workload and costs.