Morco Fresh
Morco Fresh is a major national fresh produce supplier with a vast network of growers around Australia. Originally established in 2006, its been operating in its current format for the past six years, and has 230 employees across the country.
Responsible for providing quality fresh food and produce to leading franchises, catering kitchens and the Emirate’s catering division, Morco Fresh has been utilising hammerjack’s Managed Outsource Staff Solution for the past two-and-a-half years. This has enabled them to streamline their financial and accounting processes and position themselves for the future.
Future-Proofing the Business
Prior to engaging hammerjack’s offshore outsourcing solution, Morco Fresh was using onshore personnel for its financial and accounting services. Morco’s Group Financial Controller, Mark Kabbara, realised that the company needed to implement more consistency across the brand and greater efficiency in its internal processes, to increase its competitiveness in the thriving fresh food market sector.
He learnt about hammerjack and its unique outsourcing model through word-of-mouth, and undertook a formal tender process to determine an outsourcing agency that would best support their business needs.
hammerjack offered the best fit for Morco Fresh.
Finding the Best Fit
hammerjack provides Morco Fresh with an offshore staff solution for its financial and accounting services including accounts payable, reconciliations, payroll and Australian Tax Office (ATO) compliance.
hammerjack exceeded against competitors in its guarantees regarding service level delivery, its complete transparency and well-structured internal channels.
Kabbara was particularly impressed with the fact there was no confusion or misunderstandings. All information about the company’s operations and its processes was captured and channelled through the correct mediums.
hammerjack also offered the best fit due to:
- Its dedicated team in The Philippines not being charged by volume.
- Assignment of a Service Delivery Manager – in addition to a regular Account Manager – reporting directly to Morco Fresh.
- Constant communication and updates via daily reports and weekly Skype meetings.
- A unique service model that ensures Morco’s team in the Philippines acts as an extension of the brand, rather than a separate outsource service.
- First-rate change management processes designed to support Morco Fresh at every stage of the transition.
Chief Change Managers
When deciding to engage an offshore outsourcing solution, Kabbara was most concerned about the process of change management, particularly around the issues of communication breakdown.
He also had concerns there may be issues and delays due to the time differences but hammerjack has catered for all of this, and more.
Kabbara has been impressed with hammerjack’s extremely comprehensive change management process. Morco Fresh received Sydney-based support to assist with the transition, and hammerjack operates in accordance with Australian time zones and holidays, so there have been no delays.
hammerjack personnel initially worked side-by-side for around three months with Morco Fresh staff, to ensure they had a thorough understanding of how the business functioned internally. They also offered ongoing support following the engagement of the offshore staff, however this wasn’t needed, as the transition process was so smooth.
Realising Real Results
According to Kabbara, utilising hammerjack has helped to implement a consistent internal structure and elevated payroll performance. It has also identified points of weakness and made improvements on these through enhanced lines of communication and transparency.
Morco Fresh has also realised tangible benefits including:
- Improvements in human resource management.
- Affordability of services.
- Accountability and delivery of Service Level Agreements.
- Employee satisfaction.
- Quality of the working environment that supports Morco’s business ethics and meets its Corporate Social Responsibility objectives.
Support for Growth
Offshore outsourcing via hammerjack’s Managed Outsource Staff Solution has supported and enabled Morco Fresh’s continuing business growth. It has helped Morco Fresh to become a market leader in its field and will continue to empower and enable the business to expand and achieve its objectives.
“ Prior to using hammerjack, we used onshore resources for our accounting and financial needs, but as the business grew, we needed to position Morco Fresh for the future by streamlining our internal structure and processes.
“Utilising hammerjack’s Managed Service Solution enabled us to identify issues within our business and streamline our internal communication processes – elevating payroll performance and enhancing our lines of communication and transparency.
“We now have a dedicated team in the Philippines and we see this as an extension of the brand, rather than a separate outsource service. It doesn’t ever feel like a company providing a service – just an extension of our team. ”