IFS, the global enterprise applications company, today announced that it has signed a deal with Ngarda (formerly Ngarda Civil & Mining), the largest Indigenous owned and operated contracting company in Australia. IFS Applications’ functionality and proven track record within mining and civil engineering will support continued growth at Ngarda.
Ngarda provides earth moving, civil engineering and contract mining services to the resources and construction sectors. The Pilbara-based company specialises in drilling and blasting, road construction management, stockpile management and bulk earthworks. Ngarda is diversifying its business into a range of business services with a focus on infrastructure and facilities management.
Ngarda has grown significantly over the past few years working for clients such as Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Woodside. The company’s growth, combined with outdated and complex legacy systems, meant it required a new ERP system that is rich in functionality, intuitive to use, cost-effective and scalable.
The fully integrated project-based ERP system from IFS will focus on Ngarda’s core requirements across project and asset management, finance, HR, document control and distribution. It will also feature remote access to applications for employees out in the field. The IFS system is scalable to cater for the expected future growth of Ngarda.
Ian Sydney, Ngarda’s Chief Financial Officer, believes their decision came down to finding a system which matched the company’s approach to business: “Ngarda is a relatively young, agile company which prides itself on our ability to efficiently and cost effectively deliver large projects for our clients. We required a system that would not only provide us with the functionality we needed, but was easy to use and implement across the organisation.”
After reviewing a number of alternative ERP solutions, Ngarda selected IFS for its ease-of-use and comprehensive suite of project-based applications.
“We were impressed with the experience the IFS team had of working with other project based companies and also the project management, asset management and maintenance capabilities the system provided. Initially we will have approximately 70 people using the new system so it had to be intuitive. After years of using the same processes, there will be a learning curve, but we believe IFS Applications will support our continued growth,” Ian added.
The implementation of IFS Applications is scheduled to start later this month and will support Ngarda by improving its business processes, providing tighter control and visibility over projects.
Rob Stummer, Managing Director at IFS Australia and New Zealand, said: “Ngarda is the second mining, civil and contracting customer we have secured in WA this quarter, which demonstrates that the functionality in IFS Applications combined with our experience of working with companies in the mining, construction and engineering industries is a very powerful combination. Ngarda is just one of an increasing number of project based companies looking for an ERP system which not only helps them keep tight control of their costs and visibility of their projects, but is intuitive to use and we look forward to supporting their continued growth.”
IFS Australia and New Zealand opened its WA offices in late 2010 to help support the increasing demand for integrated, project-based enterprise systems for the oil & gas, construction, engineering and mining industries. In August 2011, IFS signed a deal with Alliance Contracting, a Civil and Mining Contracting Company based in Western Australia.
About IFS
IFS is a public company (OMX STO: IFS) founded in 1983 that develops, supplies, and implements IFS Applications™, a component-based extended ERP suite built on SOA technology. IFS focuses on agile businesses where any of four core processes are strategic: Service & asset management, manufacturing, supply chain and projects. The company has 2,000 customers and is present in more than 50 countries with 2,700 employees in total. Net revenue in 2010 was SKr 2.6 billion.
About Ngarda
Ngarda was established in 2000 as a small contractor in the Pilbara, with one landscaping contract and six people. Their turnover has since grown to more than $150 million a year and with numerous projects, blue chip clients and more than 350 employees. Ngarda clients include Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Woodside. From the outset, NGARDA established a unique company structure that could aspire to a very special vision - improving the lives of Indigenous Australians. This vision – combined with the support of its shareholders, clients, staff, and local Indigenous communities - has resulted in Ngarda becoming the largest Indigenous owned and operated contracting company in Australia.
More information on Ngarda Civil & Mining is available at www.ngarda.com.au