Company Profile

Moonrocks is the highly successful brand name used by Gillebri Cotton Co, a privately-owned farm of 800 acres in the St George Irrigation Area in Queensland. Originally a cotton farming and harvesting operation, increasing water restrictions prompted the company to diversify in 1994 and rock melons are now the predominant crop.

With their consistent high quality supply, Moonrocks have a strong following throughout Australia and internationally. In recognition of their achievements, in 2003 they were named Emerging Exporter of the year.

Business Issues

Since switching to rock melons, Moonrocks’ phenomenal growth in business had led to extensive operations throughout the farm, packhouse, cool room and marketing. Moonrocks were confronted with an administrative nightmare which is not uncommon with such growth: a collection of stand-alone software packages that was creaking at the edges and requiring re-entry of data from one system to the next, as well as many supplementary process using Excel spreadsheets.

Moonrocks recognised in Ironbark an innovative software vendor that would satisfy all their needs in a single package, while providing a platform for further investment in IT as their business continued to grow

The Solution

We developed industry-specific modifications to a system which integrates Financials, Supply Chain Management and Mobile Computing.

The packing shed in particular is a critical activity for Moonrocks. It has a direct impact on revenue and also incurs significant cost, given the high labour component. Ironbark ensures that this operation proceeds smoothly and accurately and becomes the basis for complete control over the supply chain and finances.

Using PDAs with barcode scanners, Moonrocks builds up consignments by scanning-out each pallet from the packhouse. The barcode allows full traceability of the rock melons at later stages in distribution. Such tracking is an important element of quality control and is required by the supermarket chains.

Why Choose Ironbark?

Moonrocks have identified their reasons for choosing Ironbark as:

• Flexible Approach
• Seamless Integration of Modules
• User Friendly
• Cost Effectiveness
• Innovative Approach
• Use of Latest Technologies

The Benefits

Moonrocks have achieved a new level of control over every facet of their business. They are able to run that business efficiently and exploit opportunities in the market, instead of incurring administration overhead. With Ironbark, they can also be confident in having an IT partner who will ensure that Moonrocks gain maximum benefit from having an up-to-date system.