2006, Volume 9, Paper 68
ISSN: 2209-6612
Evaluating the Potential of VineAccess to Improve Supply Chain Efficiency in Australian Viticulture and Perennial Horticulture
Glenn Ronan – Principal Strategy Consultant, Primary Industries and Resources, S.A
Stephen Blacketer – Managing Director, Morton Blacketer Pty Ltd, S.A
Lyndal Sterenberg – Marketing & Business Development Manager, Morton Blacketer Pty Ltd
Abstract
Several years ago some leading winemakers in the Australian wine industry became alert to the need for a more efficient information and communication system to aid management of their supply chains in the sourcing of wine grapes and the satisfaction of retail requirements. Pressures for change included the increasing competitiveness of the international market, reflected in concentrating industry supply chains, and increasing food safety compliance requirements.
An innovative and integrated information and communication system, VineAccess, was developed in South Australia for Australian and international wineries in response to these pressures. Part of the evaluation of VineAccess included a survey of some of Australia’s leading wineries about the production and transaction cost savings in the 2004-05 vintage following adoption of the system. Winemakers indicated that the ICT-based system led to substantial savings compared to the traditional system of transacting business between winemakers and winegrape growers in the Australian wine industry as well as satisfying food safety requirements more efficiently. A benefit:cost ratio of 7.3, imputed from the survey, extrapolates to about $4 million per annum for the Australian industry. The potential for the existing modules in VineAccess to evolve and dovetail with other ICT systems in the chain suggests that the imputed benefits may be quickly eclipsed when considered in the whole-of-chain context of global competitors in an international market.
The paper concludes with a preliminary observation about the potential for development and application of VineAccess by other names in in other perennial horticulture industries. The embedding of ICT into wine and agri-food supply chains is also a promising source for intelligence about chain performance and international competitiveness for industry organizations and governments.
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