About Sinclair International

Sinclair provides customers with an unmatched combination of fruit labelling equipment, labels and service - all from a single, reliable source. Sinclair pioneered the development of automatic fruit labelling systems over 25 years ago, and now operates in approximately 50 countries worldwide. Sinclair is wholly dedicated to the global fresh produce sector. Sinclair’s global IT systems are managed from their offices in Norwich, England.

The Challenge

Sinclair implemented JD Edwards in 2004 and it is ‘the key’ software application used for end-to-end processes including; manufacturing, distribution and servicing and spares of their products. The application is used globally from Peru to Canada, Israel to India and China to Honduras.  The business-critical nature of the application demanded a comprehensive support solution with the global capability to support Sinclair’s JD Edwards platform 24 hours per day, seven days a week.  

The bespoke implementation of JD Edwards ensures the application is tailored to Sinclair’s specific requirements so that they gain maximum benefit from the software.  However, this consequently made the remote support from Oracle – the owners of JD Edwards – a challenge.  Oracle was unable to fully appreciate the complexity and detail of the integration and specific business requirements of Sinclair. As JD Edwards is ‘the key’ software application for Sinclair it was clear that the support from Oracle needed to be complemented to plug the gap in expertise, and without increasing the size of the internal team.  Knowledge transfer was also important as Sinclair looked to develop their own skills and experience of JD Edwards to become less reliant on external partners.

These challenging set of requirements demanded a partner with extensive expertise of JD Edwards, the ability to understand Sinclair’s business requirements in detail and have the global capability to support Sinclair around the clock.  As the Sinclair’s IT department is based in the UK it was also important that the successful partner was based in the UK.

The Solution

Sinclair selected Netential for technical support of JD Edwards to complement and enhance their internal capability and existing support from Oracle.  To support JD Edwards effectively Netential initially focused on gaining an intimate understanding how Sinclair had deployed it within their business, and the business requirement. This knowledge, combined with extensive experience of JD Edwards ensures that Netential can identify the route to a solution quickly and resolve any issues fast.

"Netential’s intimate knowledge of our business and JD Edwards means that they immediately understand issues and more importantly deploy solutions fast.” Adam Pryke, Sinclair International

Adam Pryke, IS Manager at Sinclair commented on the partnership: “Netential initially provided technical support for JD Edwards, which is the key software application for Sinclair.  Time is crucial for such a business-critical application. Netential’s intimate knowledge of our business and JD Edwards means that they immediately understand issues and more importantly deploy solutions fast.” Pryke continued: “It is the way that ‘we’ work as much as how we solve the problem. Netential is refreshingly honest, and give straightforward answers to complex questions. We have an upfront relationship which adds real value to what we do.  It is as much about the people as the result. We’re getting invaluable key skills without having to increase the headcount of the team.”

Knowledge transfer from Netential was a top priority for Sinclair as it looked to plug the JD Edwards skills gap in their team.  Sinclair was able to tap into the vast skills, knowledge and experience of Netential to give them the confidence to do the day-to-day management and support of the application by themselves. Netential now provide second line support for complex issues that Sinclair is unable to resolve internally and also manage Sinclair’s relationship with Oracle, including escalations. Netential’s online helpdesk ensures Sinclair is able to log and keep track progress on issues easily.

The Results

Netential has ensured that the JD Edwards application has run smoothly since its deployment in 2004. Crucially Netential has enabled Sinclair to learn about the application and build their knowledge and expertise of time to become more self sufficient.

“Netential have kept the lights on for Sinclair’s key software application for over seven years." Adam Pryke, Sinclair International

Pryke added: “Netential have helped keep the lights on for Sinclair’s key software application for over seven years. They have given Sinclair continuity and confidence during this time.  Due to the mentoring and knowledge transfer the calls are no longer high but they are extremely valuable.”

Sinclair has ambitious plans for the future and they will continue to use Netential’s support and consultancy on when they upgrade JD Edwards from XE to Version 9. There is also an opportunity to for Netential to be involved in business process reengineering, a key future project.