Taronga Zoo upgraded its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to SAP S/4HANA Cloud as part of a digital-first approach for its business operations. By deploying SAP ERP on cloud, the organisation has successfully streamlined and automated its underlying management processes.
Taronga Conservation Society Australia, which operates Taronga Zoo in Sydney along with Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, is an established not-for-profit institution conducting research and conservation work through education. Aside from striving to deliver transformational experiences to guests, Taronga’s strategy is also geared towards modernisation and innovation of processes for its staff. Relying on technology to stay focused on business objectives, the organisation utilised SAP products and services to digitise its operations.
In 2019, Taronga launched a staff experience application called StaX. Built on SAP Cloud Platform, it intends to deliver efficiencies in aspects of finance, human resources, payroll, and procurement. Additionally, the solution aims to simplify the experience of mobile zookeepers and office employees’ labour-intensive and crucial transactions into a simple yet intuitive platform.
Leveraging SAP AppHaus Network’s Design Thinking framework with the help of Melbourne-based implementation partner Bourne Digital, the StaX application has reduced processing times for all key transactions and maximised employees’ time spent in the field. Having transitioned from paper-based processes to digital, Taronga has become a greener organisation. Another benefit gained through the use of the cloud, mobile app was expediting procurement protocols which used to be time-consuming.
During this year’s Mastering SAP OnAir Series, Taronga Conservation Society Australia Head of Information and Digital Technology Mark Kemp joined a presentation where he described the integration of StaX into their new SAP S/4HANA system as a “huge win” and something that has illustrated more value in the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). According to him, TCSA can now relieve some of the administrative workloads on ground staff by linking the purchasing workflow to a technology-first, mobile solution on the S/4HANA database and by streamlining additional form-based workflows.
Taronga Zoo Taps Techwave Consulting to Deploy SAP ERP on Cloud
Moreover, SAP integrator Techwave Consulting worked closely with Taronga Zoo to migrate its on-premises ERP to SAP S/4HANA Cloud in a bid to overhaul its ageing legacy systems and address “arduous” functions for forecasting and budgeting. Integrating critical reference data into SAP Analytics Cloud was also included in the SAP S/4HANA implementation.
Taronga was able to upgrade its on-premises ERP system from SAP ECC 6.0 to S/4HANA across finance and transactional systems with the assistance of Techwave Consulting. The organisation’s budgets were previously created by manually integrating data from S/4HANA Cloud and other legacy systems into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, which was then sent to finance for consolidation, evaluation, and approval, frequently in numerous iterations.
The overhaul, according to Taronga, allowed the finance staff to spend more time doing critical budget analyses rather than completing time-consuming manual consolidations. Detailing more about the SAP upgrade project, Leonard Lek, Finance Manager at Taronga Conservation Society Australia, said in an ARN interview:
“The SAP Analytics Cloud solution provided by Techwave helped streamline the review, approval, and submission of the manpower planning part of Taronga’s budgeting process. There were efficiencies gained in the form of reduced manual consolidations and increased accessibility of employee costs budget data to cost centre managers in an accurate and timely manner.”
Furthermore, the organisation also leveraged SAP SuccessFactors to modernise its performance management platform and enhance data traceability. Taronga’s StaX application would also connect with the SAP HR solution to help employees complete HR-based tasks.
