Case Study Smithfield Foods
Case Study
Smithfield Foods
» We have formed one of the most business-savvy, collaborative global IT teams in the industry where
strong leadership, innovation and willingness to go the extra mile accompany our every achievement «
Mansour Zadeh, Global CIO, Smithfield Foods
The customer
Smithfield Foods is a $13 billion global food company, widely known as the
world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. Also recognized by Fortune
Magazine as one of the most admired food companies, Smithfield Foods’
sustainability program maintains a strong focus on animal care, community
involvement, employee safety, environmental, and food safety and quality.
The challenge
With its global footprint, Smithfield Foods is focused on sustainably
satisfying the rising global demand for food and is uniquely positioned to
deliver a variety of products to fulfil this ambition. Pioneering the expansion
of its core packaged meats business, Smithfield Foods began to consolidate
and streamline their corporate structure, as well as the manufacturing
operations of its pork group to leverage the strength of a unified team
and garner the operational efficiencies a diverse business like Smithfield
Foods demands.
THE CUSTOMER
Country: United States of America
Industry: Food Production
Founded: 1936
Number of employees: 46,000
Website: www.smithfieldfoods.com
CHALLENGE
Smithfield Foods wanted to consolidate and streamline their
structure in order to leverage the strength of a unified team and
enjoy operational efficiencies. With IT functionality on every path
and gate of the business, it was identified as a key enabler.
APPROACH
Fujitsu currently supports the majority of the infrastructure, IT
network, helpdesk, desktop and application management and
hosting services in the United States and Europe. It proved a key
partner in supporting this business objective.
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The new business model focused on enhancing the strength of its individual
operating company model, while rationalizing manufacturing operations
and taking advantage of synergies in key areas such as sales, marketing,
purchasing and information technology. With IT and systems functionality
on every path and gate of the business, IT was keenly identified as the key
enabler of change.
Smithfield Foods’ global CIO, Mansour Zadeh, and his team were ready for
the challenge and in an influential position to help the company drive down
costs and increase revenue and margins. As with any successful program,
Zadeh knew he needed a robust team that could operate in agile, effective
and efficient ways to address the company’s growing business objectives.
Zadeh and his team found an ideal teammate in Fujitsu, where their diverse
CPG industry expertise, strong hosting and outsourcing services and proven
project management were exactly what they needed for the job.
“Gone are the days when CIOs were technology gurus or ERP project
managers,” says Zadeh. “CIOs are now like any other executive. It’s about
envisioning and developing strategy, communicating objectives, inspiring
and motivating staff, transforming culture, and enhancing business value.”
Case Study Smithfield Foods
THE BENEFIT
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
■ New enterprise portal, dashboards and social media tools drive
collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation
■ Cloud and mobile technologies boost marketing and consumer brand
awareness
■ An IT Investment Council fosters regular collaboration between the
finance leadership of Smithfield Foods’, IT and Fujitsu leadership
■ Consumer-focused IT systems, mobile technology and business
intelligence initiatives support supply chain management, trade
promotion, finance, human resources, and marketing activities
■ Fujitsu Managed Services
The solution
Fujitsu was first introduced to Smithfield Foods after the Smithfield Foods
acquisition of Armour-Eckrich Meats in 2006. Over the course of seven years,
Smithfield Foods has expanded the partnership with Fujitsu, which supports
the majority of all of their infrastructure, IT network, helpdesk, desktop and
application management and hosting services in the United States and
Europe. During the course of the relationship, Smithfield Foods has
continued to rely heavily on the Fujitsu global IT team to support key
business strategies and objectives at both the corporate and individual
operating company levels.
Zadeh and his global team were focused on achieving the company’s key
business and operations imperatives through a sophisticated and complex
IT roadmap that went well beyond the technology-driven agendas of
yesterday to affect true business transformation. In a low margin food
industry, the team was determined to pursue technologies that
complemented its established architectural ecosystems and could grow
over time and maintain sufficient service support and user expertise
in the market.
Zadeh’s team played an instrumental role in developing consumer-focused
IT related systems, leading mobile technology and business intelligence
initiatives to support supply chain management, trade promotion, finance,
human resources, and sales and marketing activities.
In addition to upgrading Smithfield Foods’ integrated ERP, the team also
introduced a new enterprise portal, dashboards and social media tools in an
effort to drive collaboration and knowledge sharing and ramp up innovation
efforts for their product research and development, consumer health and
wellness, and taste and convenience marketing platforms. Moreover,
Smithfield Foods also began adopting appropriate cloud and mobile
technologies to boost marketing and consumer brand awareness.
“We believe big data, cloud and smart mobile apps are essential for driving
the future of Smithfield Foods,” continues Zadeh. “So effectively leveraging
these technologies to sell more, drive product development and predict
where the market is headed is, by necessity, core to the strategy. Today’s
technology doesn’t just support the business; it is the business.”
Contact
FUJITSU
Address: 1250 E. Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale,
CA 94085-3470, USA
Phone: 1-800-831-3183
E-mail: AskFujitsu@us.fujitsu.com
Website: us.fujitsu.com
2014-03-19
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The benefit
For Smithfield Foods, the key to successful engagements lies in
collaboration that is firmly rooted in teamwork, transparent dialogue, hard
work and integrity. A key component to achieving its IT goals across diverse
brand portfolios is the IT Investment Council, which fosters regular
collaboration between the finance leadership of Smithfield Foods’ operating
companies, IT and Fujitsu leadership, to specifically discuss new business
opportunities, review key IT-business initiatives and address emerging
technology challenges. Zadeh is also quick to add that Smithfield Foods’
success is more than just working well together. It’s due in large part to the
sheer amount of talent across the organization.
“None of these contributions would be possible without our talented and
tenacious IT teams,” comments Zadeh. “We have formed one of the most
business-savvy, collaborative global IT teams in the industry, where strong
leadership, innovation and willingness to go the extra mile accompany our
every achievement.”
As Smithfield Foods strives to compete and win in an increasingly complex
industry, IT will continue to play a vital role, and Mansour Zadeh and his
team are proud to take on that responsibility.
“People who work with me know that I have high expectations of myself
and the people around me,” says Zadeh. “As a hands-on CIO, I delegate and
expect results. I view the Fujitsu team as an extension of Smithfield Foods,
so my expectations of them are just as high. And they make sure to deliver.”
Conclusion
With a long history of success – and an evolving technology landscape that
shows no signs of slowing down – it seems Smithfield Foods and Fujitsu are
just getting warmed up.
“We have worked hard and invested in building and maintaining this
partnership. Without teamwork, frank dialogue, hard work and integrity,
our relationship with Fujitsu would not have lasted.”
About Fujitsu
Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology
(ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and
services. Over 170,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than
100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the
future of society with our customers. For more information, please see
http://www.fujitsu.com
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