KAZ keep on truckin' with Linfox
KAZ keep on truckin' with Linfox
The increased infrastructure gained through transport company Linfox's acquisition of the Mayne Logistics and Armaguard businesses has had a positive spin for IT outsourcing company KAZ, which has secured the deal to managed the increased IT infrastructure.
The first large-scale project under this new contract has been the successful migration of Linfox's IT systems from several locations including a data centre in Sydney to KAZ's Melbourne data centre. The project involved the re-creation and consolidation of systems into one place to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency.
Linfox is one of Australia's largest privately owned companies with almost 9,000 employees and a turnover in excess of $1.2 billion. The company's operations are vast. Linfox operates 5,000 fleet vehicles, more than 750 armoured vehicles and manages more than 1,000,000 square metres of warehousing space to provide warehousing, transportation and supply chain management solutions to many of South East Asia's and Australia's largest organisations.
In February 2003, Linfox acquired the Mayne Logistics and Armaguard businesses, which saw Linfox double its size to become one of Australasia's largest logistics and transport operators. Linfox were immediately faced with the challenge of amalgamating around 200 sites throughout Australia and Asia Pacific region and consolidating over 200 different IT application systems.
A project of this scope would normally require a system downtime of between 24 and 48 hours. This was not an option for Linfox due to the precisely scheduled logistical requirements of their customers. To minimise downtime, Linfox and KAZ reconstructed or created mirror images of the systems, switching to these identical systems while some of the equipment was relocated. In the end, total downtime was four hours, which, according to KAZ, is a testimony to the two months of planning and six weeks of implementation that went in to this complex project.
Dean Matthews, Executive General Manager of IT for Linfox, said, "The solution KAZ offered us was flexible and cost effective. KAZ delivered within the scope, budget and turned a high risk proposition into reality through excellent project management, attention to detail and a total commitment to the challenging nature of this project."
Peter Kazacos, Managing Director, KAZ Group Limited adds, "Our proven track record in successfully executing system consolidations was the key factor in Linfox selecting KAZ to execute this project.
"The partnership between Linfox and KAZ has been a successful one, with KAZ handling the company’s critical IT requirements for a number of years. We look forward to continuing this partnership in the future."
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