SUVO Strategic Minerals (ASX: SUV) is a key mining operation in Australia. Since 1972 it has operated the only Hydrous Kaolin mine in Australia, producing a substance that is key in industrial applications as broad as ceramics, paints, pharmaceuticals, paper and rubber.
As SUVO Minerals has undergone growth, the company’s leadership recognised the need for an integrated digital platform to streamline its processes, eliminate task repetition, and scale.
“We use a blending formula to produce certain products and the resources required of that is quite complicated,” Hanno van der Merwe, the COO of SUVO Strategic Minerals, said.
The company subsequently identified a project to modernise the ERP system as a key business transformation objective, which in turn led the company to Wild Tech.
SUVO Minerals faced significant challenges in the production of kaolin, as it is a material that requires precise management through significant variability. SUVO Minerals’ facility, originally built in 1972, was running on outdated systems held together by makeshift solutions. “We had an outdated ERP system, the old system was a DOS-based system that was running on the backend of Lotus 1-2-3. That system was rolled out a long time ago and we no longer had any support for it. – Tobie Coetzee, Systems Engineer at SUVO Strategic Minerals, said.
The existing QIS manufacturing model was especially problematic, allowing only one user to log in at a time, causing frequent system crashes and operational delays. The system was custom-made for the DOS operating system and poorly emulated for Microsoft, and there was no support available – the creator of it had actually passed away.
“The QIS database was falling apart, unable to support multiple users or provide reliable access to critical lab, production, and logistics data. This created significant inefficiencies, with team members having to manually coordinate their usage of the system,” van der Merwe said.
Wild Tech initiated a comprehensive discovery session, during which the team assessed SUVO’s needs and proposed the implementation of Oracle NetSuite as a cost-effective and scalable solution. Despite SUVO’s initial consideration of SAP, Wild Tech’s detailed proposal highlighted the advantages of NetSuite, particularly in replacing the failing QIS system.
“The culture that Wild Tech provided meets our culture as well, and that means we could work together as a team moving this project forward,” van der Merwe said.
The project required hands-on involvement from Wild Tech’s Adelaide office, which served as the main service contact, supported by its national team. SUVO’s team of 15, including lab and production leads and sales staff, transitioned to NetSuite with deep support from Wild Tech for tickets and through proactive collaboration. The team had to adapt quickly, as the move from the familiar but failing QIS to the more robust and integrated NetSuite needed to be rapid and without disruption to normal operations.
The transition to NetSuite brought significant and immediate improvements. “The system that was implemented can grow with SUVO,” van der Merwe said. “The future growth of SUVO is robust now because of the NetSuite-Wild Tech solution.”
These benefits included:
Following this successful migration of a critical system, SUVO Minerals continues to work with Wild Tech under a Master Services Agreement (MSA), ensuring ongoing support and customisation to meet its evolving needs. With a digitally empowered future in sight, SUVO is poised to achieve greater operational efficiency and scalability, backed by Wild Tech’s expertise and the robust capabilities of Oracle NetSuite.
Through a strategic partnership with Wild Tech, SUVO Strategic Minerals has successfully navigated its digital transformation, overcoming significant operational challenges and setting the stage for continued growth and innovation in an increasingly digital, innovation-first mining sector.
