The Case Study : Australian Premium Produce

Bentley Beverage Services traditionally provided supplies of Western Australian premium locally produced products (foods and alcoholic drinks) across Australia as a wholesaler. Re-badged as Australian Premium Produce, a period of growth in the last five years has resulted in their market expanding to include products from the other states and territories. As well as the domestic market, products are now shipped globally to retail outlets across Asia and the U.S.A. and Canada. Customer representatives are required to deal with both producers and sales queries as well as scan the marketplace for new products. To enable close relationships with their suppliers it was decided that a customer representative be situated in Perth (head office), Melbourne and Brisbane. Stock is held in warehousing facilities in each state and products shipped on demand. The customer representatives were initially employed on a contract basis whilst the business grew which resulted in a BYOD situation. They are also frequently travelling and require good mobility and data in real time. The business growth has resulted in piecemeal applications, poor processes and is impacting the business. The business owner has hired you as a consultant to advise him on the following aspects in relation to his business and IT arrangements: