What challenges did Farmlands Co-operative face before AI implementation?

Operating with seven separate ERP and POS systems leading to inefficiencies. Fragmentation in digital and organizational culture after a merger. High operational costs and slow response to industry changes. Limited eCommerce capability, put to the test during the COVID-19 lockdown.

What was the impact of the AI solution?

Reduced the number of SKUs by 50% and overall inventory by 4%. Quadrupled online sales in the first week of the new eCommerce platform during the lockdown. Enhanced supply chain visibility and reduced cash tied up in inventory. Increased sales staff effectiveness through unified customer insights.

Source

Microsoft

Farmlands unifies operations with digital transformation initiative

Use case typeWorkflow automationUpdated Jun 13, 2026

Farmlands Co-operative, a leading rural industry company in New Zealand, underwent a transformative digital change to address fragmented operations and multiple legacy ERP systems. The business embarked on Project Braveheart, consolidating seven disparate ERP platforms into a single Microsoft Dynamics 365 instance. The company leveraged Microsoft Power Platform and Azure Cloud for improved scalability, data security, and operational agility. The initiative led to organization-wide integration across finance, HR, eCommerce, point-of-sale, and supply chain, ensuring unified data and processes. Farmlands introduced a rapid-response digital culture, including fast eCommerce deployment during the COVID-19 lockdown, increasing online sales by fourfold in a single week. Business-wide outcomes included consolidated national inventory, improved supply chain visibility, real-time insights, reduced SKUs, and increased sales and customer satisfaction. Farmlands is now equipped for further innovation, with artificial intelligence and automation on the agenda, following its successful digital backbone realignment.

Organization: Farmlands Co-operative
Industry: Agriculture
Location: New Zealand

Reported outcomes

−50%

quantified impactOther quantified impact

−4%quantified impact

Strategic outcomes

New product / capabilityLaunched click-and-collect eCommerce capabilityScale & capacityUnified operations on a single ERP platformBetter decisions & insightEnabled company-wide real-time insightsCustomer experience & trustIncreased sales effectiveness through unified customer insights

Primary read

Use case focus

Showing 3 of 3

1Unified ERP and Operations Platform in Agriculture
2Cloud-Enabled Supply Chain Optimization
3Rapid eCommerce Transformation with ERP Integration

Operating with seven separate ERP and POS systems leading to inefficiencies.
Fragmentation in digital and organizational culture after a merger.
High operational costs and slow response to industry changes.
Limited eCommerce capability, put to the test during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Consolidated all ERP instances into Microsoft Dynamics 365 to unify business processes.
Leveraged Microsoft Power Platform and Azure Cloud for data, security, and system agility.
Implemented a rapid eCommerce solution, enabling 'click-and-collect' functionality within three weeks.
Ensured company-wide access to real-time transactional and operational insights.

Technologies

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Microsoft Power Platform Azure Cloud

Reduced the number of SKUs by 50% and overall inventory by 4%.
Quadrupled online sales in the first week of the new eCommerce platform during the lockdown.
Enhanced supply chain visibility and reduced cash tied up in inventory.
Increased sales staff effectiveness through unified customer insights.

Architecture

All core ERP, POS, and business operations were migrated from seven platforms to a single Microsoft Dynamics 365 solution. Integrations span finance, HR, eCommerce, and supply chain, supported by Azure Cloud for scalability and Power Platform for workflow automation.

Sources & evidence1

Groundedness: Unavailable

Primary source

AI-generated summary. Verify important details with the linked sources before relying on this case.

Explore related AI use cases

Customer evidence