GEC NEWS WIREProcurement in the agriculture business can be complex as it requires compliance with strict regulations that are put in place to safeguard consumer health and environmental safety. And for a global agriculture business with operations in several countries this can be even more of a challenge. Facing this, Al Dahra, a multinational agribusiness specialising in farming and trading, serving more than 45 markets around the world, will implement SAP Ariba in its efforts to digitise and centralise procurement to drive greater efficiency, cost savings and compliance to fuel its growth.
Al Dahra is a prominent multinational vendor in agribusiness, specialising in the cultivation, production and trading of animal feed and essential food commodities and end-to-end supply chain management. Serving a large customer base spanning the government and commercial sectors, Al Dahra has a widespread geographic footprint, with a workforce of 5,000 employees, operating in over 20 countries and catering to more than 45 markets, with a leading position in Asia and the Middle East.
The group manages and operates a land bank in excess of 400 thousand acres of land with 1,200 pivots and a fleet comprising more than 2,000 farming assets. In addition, the company owns and manages 15 state-of-the-art forage processing and baling facilities and has the capacity to produce and supply 3 million metric tons of alfalfa and grasses annually, catering for the needs of the dairy and cattle industries.
It is also a player in the production, packaging, marketing and distribution of grains, operating 3 rice mills and 2 flour mills with the capacity to produce 500,000 tons of flour and 500,000 tons of rice, annually. It further owns and operates a grains hub strategically located at the Fujairah port in UAE with 20 silos and more than 300,000 metric tons storage capacity. Al Dahra has also made considerable investments within the logistics and supply chain sector. It moves about 2 million metric tons, annually and ships 175 thousand TEUs.
By connecting to the Ariba Network and the cloud-based applications for sourcing and procurement delivered on it, Al Dahra will transform its procurement operation in its efforts to achieve various goals:
- Reduce expenses by at least 15% within a year
- Centralise and standardise procurement across its global operations
- Optimise its cost structure to benefit from economies of scale
- Drive greater efficiency with faster end-to-end transaction cycles
- Improve strategic sourcing for core products
- Ensure transparency and compliance across our business
“Our business is all about the availability, accessibility and affordability of animal feed and food products in key global markets,” said Khadim Al Darei, Vice Chairman and Co-Founder, Al Dahra. “Having expanded our global footprint significantly through acquisition, we know we need to standardise on one system for procurement to continue to drive maximum value for our customers. SAP Ariba’s business network and cloud-based solutions for managing our spend from end-to-end proved to be the best-in-class solution we were looking for.”
“Technology and digital business networks have fundamentally changed what is possible for global businesses like Al Dahra,” said Mohammed Al Khotani, Head of SAP Ariba, Middle East and North Africa. “This kind of digital transformation enables businesses to form and foster stronger relationships with their business partners in order to optimise value for customers.”
Key takeaways
Strategy
Procurement in the agriculture business can be complex as it requires compliance with regulations.
Execution
By connecting to the Ariba Network for sourcing and procurement Al Dahra will transform procurement.
Cost
Al Dahra will implement SAP Ariba in its efforts to digitise and centralise procurement to drive cost savings and compliance.
People
This kind of digital transformation enables businesses to form stronger relationships with business partners to optimise value for customers.
