Case Studies / Fonterra Australia
SAP BTP / Extension ArchitectureDigitising bulk milk logistics for Fonterra — SAP BTP extensions & SAP UX transformation
Replacing desktop-only, Excel- and paper-based bulk-liquid and finance operations with role-based SAP extension apps and real-time dashboards — 66% more efficient, 80% fewer order reversals and SAP ANZ’s best customer success story of 2021.
Business Challenge
Fonterra — one of the world’s largest dairy producers, responsible for around 30% of global dairy exports — moves more than 80,000 litres of milk a day across Victoria, from farm to plant and between plants.
The existing system was desktop-only and highly complex. Operational data sat in third-party tools, Excel templates and paper forms, with no integration or central repository — making bulk liquid movement and finance operations manual, slow and error-prone.
Transformation Context
Fonterra wanted a simpler, integrated way to run bulk liquid transfers and the finance processes around them — on its SAP landscape rather than more stand-alone tools. I led the SAP UX and extension design, working closely with Fonterra IT, Operations and Finance, and with SAP architects and back-end experts, to deliver an end-to-end solution blueprint in four weeks and a first release within three months.
Enterprise Landscape
- SAP back-end as the system of record for bulk liquid, quality and finance data
- Side-by-side SAP extension apps for transfers, inspections and purchase orders
- SAP Fiori design language across desktop, tablet and mobile
- Real-time dashboards for operations and finance
- Third-party tools, Excel templates and paper forms to be retired
Business Process / Operating Model
A system study and more than ten user interviews across roles mapped how milk actually moved — intake, inspection, transfer, reversal and finance reconciliation — and where manual effort and errors crept in.
- Mapped current journeys, touchpoints and hand-offs end to end
- Identified personas, key tasks and pain points for operations and finance roles
- Collected real artefacts: spreadsheets, paper forms and templates
- Prioritised use cases and defined the MVP scope with the business
Architecture & Solution Decisions
The architecture principle was to keep the SAP core as the system of record and deliver the differentiating workflows as focused extension apps — each simplifying one key task into a one-page experience, all sharing one data model and one design system.
- One-page apps for bulk liquid transfer (including reversals), liquid intake inspection and purchase orders
- Centralised data capture, replacing spreadsheets and paper
- Integration across systems into one unified experience
- An atomic design system and UI pattern playbook for consistent, faster build
SAP S/4HANA / BTP Role
The SAP back-end holds the transactions and master data; the extension layer delivers the role-based apps and dashboards on top — so Fonterra gained a modern, responsive experience without customising the core.
AI Opportunity
AI was not part of this release. By centralising previously scattered operational data and exposing it through real-time dashboards, the solution created the data foundation for future opportunities such as anomaly detection on milk quality results or predictive stock and transfer planning.
Experience Strategy
As the design engagement and UX practice lead, I applied the double-diamond framework — discover, define, develop, deliver — with decisions driven by qualitative and quantitative research with end users.
High-fidelity prototypes of the key screen flows were validated with real users and checked for technical feasibility with SAP architects before build. I then provided UI and system guidelines, sprint-based design delivery and design quality-gate testing through development.
My Leadership & Responsibilities
- Led the SAP UX and extension design engagement and a team of seven
- Set outcome expectations and presented the future vision to Fonterra top management for sign-off
- Co-created with Fonterra Finance and Operations managers and experts
- Aligned the product vision with Fonterra IT’s business goals and roadmap
- Worked with SAP architects and back-end experts to align design with the technical architecture
- Delivered design guidelines and a UI pattern playbook to the development team
Key Decisions and Trade-offs
Business Outcome / Transformation Roadmap
Phase 1 delivered end-to-end digitisation of bulk liquid movement and the milk quality testing process and reporting:
The engagement was recognised as SAP ANZ’s best customer success story of 2021, and I presented the use case at ASUG Melbourne — see Thought leadership below.
Presenting the Fonterra story at ASUG Melbourne.
I presented the Fonterra use case at ASUG Melbourne to around 300 SAP customers at the Melbourne Convention Centre.
The session walked through how the solution was built end to end:
- Process — how bulk liquid movement, quality testing and finance processes were mapped, simplified and digitised.
- Integration — how scattered tools, spreadsheets and paper were brought together around the SAP back-end as a single source of truth.
- Building the extension — how focused, role-based extension apps and a shared design system were designed and delivered alongside the SAP core.
