Growing Veggies, Growing an Empire

Situation

Growing from a small produce market to a large company with stores across Western Australia, Spudshed’s traditional, fragmented IT network reduced productivity and put their supply chain at risk. It became clear that they needed to provide technology that would confine downtime, delays and complexity to the past.

The disruptors.

Spudshed exists to provide affordable, fresh produce for the people of Perth. Brothers Tony and Vince Galati are a household name in WA. Starting out as a market garden in the 1960s, The Galati family has sprouted to a holding of 1,000 hectares, and ownership of 10 farms and 25 sites across the state.

Through hard work, a few risks and the guts to do things their way, the brothers and their sons are now custodians of nine thriving Spudshed stores. “If you spoke to my Dad, we’d be opening a store in every bloody town in WA,” Frank Galati said. “But we’re probably just looking at opening one store a year if we can keep to that limit. Wherever a good opportunity arises, we’re always willing to take it.”

They might be all about farming and produce, but communications and data are a crucial part of Spudshed’s business. From farms to stores, and at every point along the way, the group transmit a huge amount of data. Their remote offices were suffering at the hands of antiquated technology that operated at dial-up speeds and experienced frequent downtime.

Upturning tradition.

In the past, Spudshed did business in a reactive way. This meant ad hoc manual administration, and all kinds of different IT systems and networks. They needed help to take the ‘work’ out of networking, to upgrade their IT infrastructure and search for solutions to ongoing challenges with their bandwidth, network speed and security.

Downtime has always been a looming challenge for the Spudshed’s business model. Supplying more than a retail solution, they deliver directly from farm gate to customer’s basket, which means that network outages and dropouts can immediately bring their entire supply chain to a standstill. As realtime analytics and cloud applications moved into the mainstream, it became clear they would need new technology that could keep them ahead of their competition.

Solution

Spudshed quickly realised that traditional WAN technology would not help them maintain an edge over their competition. Macquarie Telecom SD-WAN, powered by VMware SD-WAN™, was rolled out across 25 sites in Western Australia.

The SD-WAN rollout replaced single, expensive MPLS access with a mix of fibre, NBN and 4G links. Every site employs a minimum of two links, always including a 4G backup connection to keep their stores connected even if the land based link is down. Some sites are configured with high-redundancy provided by three links: two separate NBN links and a 4G wireless connection.

By using two separate access links at some of their key premises, Spudshed benefits from the speed and network redundancy that Macquarie Telecom MultiPath technology delivers. Multi-Path sends each data packet across the fastest link at any given moment, to directly combat the limitations of single-link traditional networks and deliver a high-speed data pipe that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

Results

Macquarie Telecom SD-WAN has allowed Spudshed to part ways with slow speeds and inconsistent data connections, while introducing remote site management that’s simple to use. As they continue to open new stores, SD-WAN’s fast, straight forward site rollouts mean they are connected from the day they open their doors.

Innovating for the customer.

In response to the limitations of traditional networks, Spudshed and Macquarie Telecom refused to accept the status quo. The immediate benefits of instant remote site configuration and a fast, consistent connection around the clock, have already made an impact on productivity.

Both innovators in their respective industries, Macquarie Telecom and Spudshed make perfect partners. As the #SoUnTelco, Macquarie Telecom delivers all the things that a traditional telco can’t. Widely known for their quality customer service, they consider their clients to be part of the family. Spudshed shares these sentiments and throws all its energy into understanding who its customers are and exactly what they want.

The story continues.

Spudshed aims to give their customers what they want, right when they want it, by opening more stores and increasing their farming operations. They’re doing everything they can to facilitate access to quality, locally-grown fresh produce at a reasonable price.

As they grow, they need a telecommunications provider who can connect their sites fast, without the usual hurdles and delays.

Industry interrupter Macquarie Telecom delivers WAN technology that confines slow rollouts, excessive downtime, and inconsistent network performance to the past. Knowing that their telco is an enabler, not a liability, Tony and his brothers can dream big and seize opportunities fast without having their vision held back by technology that makes everything harder.