Sellagence growth perfect for Oracle

By ADAM GIFFORD

Gillette distributor Sellagence has bought Oracle financial and distribution system to help it manage growth.

"We were using Fourth Shift, which was fine for Gillette, but we needed something to cope with a dramatic increase in the size of the business," said executive chairman Kerry Gleeson.

Gleeson, a former Gillette manager, formed Sellagence when Gillette decided to quit its direct presence in New Zealand. Gillette turned over about $60 million a year from shaving and dental products and batteries under the Gillette, Wilkinson Sword, Braun, Oral-B and Duracell brands.

Gleeson said that by using its existing channels to move other brands, Sellagence expects it can quickly build a $250 million business.

The company has the local distribution for confectionery manufacturer Ferrero Brands, which owns Tic Tac, Nutella, Rocher and Kinder Surprise.

It dropped previous distributor Hansells because of a new global policy to work with specialist distributors who are not themselves manufacturers, said Ferrero Australasian sales director Rudy Sequeira.

Gleeson said Sellagence chose the Oracle E-Business Suite over tier two products Navision Exapta and Epicor.

"Oracle allows us to do more complex structuring of trade terms and discounts without modification.

"We didn't want to take on a product where we needed to get specialist code written."

Sellagence is using two implementation partners. Mi Services, which has particular expertise in supply chain, is leading the project, and Asparona has been brought in to implement the financials module.