FUJITSU SPECIAL FEATURE Supporting Food Demands and Driving Business Growth Mansour Zadeh, Global CIO, Smithfield Foods, Inc. Smithfield Foods, Inc., Supporting Food Demands and Driving Business Growth Special Feature 1
ADVERTISEMENT How have thousands of companies handled the complexity of cloud? They worked with Fujitsu to deliver real business outcomes. At Fujitsu, we understand that each cloud journey is as unique as the business outcomes you desire. And that transitioning to the cloud is a complex process. Building on our 30-year heritage in robust IT hardware and services, the strongest cloud portfolio in the industry and the experience we have gained delivering over 2,000 cloud projects worldwide, we can bring you the right cloud solution bundled with the right supporting services and legacy integration strategy. It s time for a new approach. It s time for Fujitsu Cloud. Find out what Fujitsu Cloud can do for you at: http://www.fujitsu.com/global/solutions/cloud/ Symantec Global Strategic Partner Copyright 2013 Fujitsu America, Inc. All rights reserved. Fujitsu, the Fujitsu logo, and shaping tomorrow with you are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. shaping tomorrow with you
Management Message Information technology is increasingly playing a larger role in helping organizations make better informed business decisions. More than ever, businesses are translating business needs into technology solutions. Successful alignment of IT and the business strategy result in reduced risks associated with business and technology change, increased ROI and improved coordination across the enterprise. The contribution of IT to the general welfare of the business is evidenced at Smithfield Foods, the world s largest pork producer and processor based in the US and a key customer of ours for several years now. Recently ranked by FORTUNE as one of the World s Most Admired Companies, Smithfield Foods relies heavily on its global IT team to support consumer brand awareness initiatives and maintain superior operations and quality assurance, as well as help drive key business initiatives. We were delighted to be able to sit down with Mansour Zadeh, CIO of Smithfield Foods, to discuss the role IT plays in shaping Smithfield Foods future. Mansour talks about how Smithfield Foods IT teams are closely engaged in supporting and implementing key business strategies and objectives, both at the corporate and individual operating company levels. I invite you to read more about Smithfield Foods and Mansour s plans to become more agile, efficient and data driven as a result of the alignment of their business and IT strategy and to learn more about how Fujitsu can work with you to align your technology with business objectives to deliver maximum value to your organization. Bob Pryor President and CEO Fujitsu America, Inc. Smithfield Foods, Inc., Supporting Food Demands and Driving Business Growth Special Feature 3
Supporting Food Demands and Driving Business Growth Name: Mansour Zadeh Position: Global CIO Challenge: Satisfying the rising demand for food in a sustainable manner and maintaining synergy that IT enables across the brand portfolios Photography: Paul Harrison Smithfield Foods is a $13 billion global food company, widely known as the world s largest pork processor and hog producer. Also recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the most admired food companies, Smithfield Foods sustainability program maintains a strong focus on animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental, and food safety and quality. 4 Fujitsu America, Inc.
Meeting Global Demand With its global footprint, Smithfield Foods is focused on sustainably satisfying the rising global demand for food and is uniquely positioned to deliver a variety of products to fulfill this ambition. Pioneering the expansion of its core packaged meats business, Smithfield Foods began to consolidate and streamline their corporate structure, as well as the manufacturing operations of its pork group to leverage the strength of a unified team and garner the operational efficiencies a diverse business like Smithfield Foods demands. Their new business model focused on enhancing the strength of its individual operating company model, while rationalizing manufacturing operations and taking advantage of synergies in key areas such as sales, marketing, purchasing and information technology. With IT and systems functionality on every path and gate of the business, IT was keenly identified as the key enabler of change. Smithfield Foods global CIO, Mansour Zadeh, and his team were ready for the challenge and in an influential position to help the company drive down costs and increase revenue and margins. As with any successful program, Zadeh knew he needed a robust team that could operate in agile, effective and efficient ways to address the company s growing business objectives. Zadeh and his team found an ideal teammate in Fujitsu, where their diverse CPG industry expertise, strong hosting and outsourcing services and proven project management were exactly what they needed for the job. Fujitsu was first introduced to Smithfield Foods after the Smithfield Foods acquisition of Armour-Eckrich Meats in 2006. Over the course of seven years, Smithfield Foods has expanded the partnership with Fujitsu, which supports the majority of all of their infrastructure, IT network, helpdesk, desktop and application management and hosting services in the United States and in Europe. During the course of the relationship, Smithfield Foods has continued to rely heavily on the Fujitsu global IT team to support key business strategies and objectives at both the corporate and individual operating company levels. IT: Enablers of Business Transformation Gone are the days when CIOs were technology gurus or ERP project managers, says Zadeh. CIOs are now like any other executive. It s about envisioning and developing strategy, communicating objectives, inspiring and motivating staff, transforming culture, and enhancing business value. However, Mr. Zadeh is a firm believer that success is a two-way street where IT plays a critical role in developing business strategy, and business leaders must fully participate in helping meet IT s objectives. Zadeh and his global team were closely engaged from the very onset, achieving the company s key business and operations imperatives through a sophisticated and complex IT roadmap that went well beyond the technology-driven agendas of yesterday to affect true business transformation. In a low margin food industry, the team was determined to pursue technologies that complemented its established architectural ecosystems and could grow over time and maintain sufficient service support and user expertise in the market. Smithfield Foods, Inc., Supporting Food Demands and Driving Business Growth Special Feature 5
Collaboration is King To Mansour Zadeh, the key to successful engagements lies in collaboration that is firmly rooted in teamwork, transparent dialogue, hard work and integrity. A key component to achieving their IT goals across diverse brand portfolios is the IT Investment Council, which fosters regular collaboration between the finance leadership of Smithfield Foods operating companies, IT and Fujitsu leadership, to specifically discuss new business opportunities, review key IT-business initiatives and address emerging technology challenges. Zadeh is also quick to add that Smithfield Foods success is more than just working well together. It s due in large part to the sheer amount of talent across the organization. None of these contributions would be possible without our talented and tenacious IT teams, says Zadeh. We have formed one of the most business-savvy, collaborative global IT teams in the industry, he says, where strong leadership, innovation and willingness to go the extra mile accompany our every achievement. Without teamwork, frank dialogue, hard work and integrity, our partnership with Fujitsu would not have lasted this long. As part of their work, Zadeh s team played an instrumental role in developing consumer-focused IT related systems, leading mobile technology and business intelligence initiatives to support supply chain management, trade promotion, finance, human resources, and sales and marketing activities. In addition to upgrading Smithfield Foods integrated ERP, the team also introduced a new enterprise portal, dashboards and social media tools in an effort to drive collaboration and knowledge sharing and amp up innovation efforts for their product research and development, consumer health and wellness, and taste and convenience marketing platforms. In addition, Smithfield Foods also began adopting appropriate cloud and mobile technologies to boost marketing and consumer brand awareness. We believe big data, cloud and smart mobile apps are essential for driving the future of Smithfield Foods, says Zadeh. So effectively leveraging these technologies to sell more, drive product development and predict where the market is headed is, by necessity, core to the strategy. Today s technology doesn t just support the business; it is the business, he says. Zadeh just came back from a long trip to India where he visited Fujitsu s IT teams. It was a pleasure to spend time with them, and I appreciate all their hard work, collaborative spirit and work tenacity, Zadeh says. Creating an IT legacy As Smithfield Foods strives to compete and win in an increasingly complex industry, IT will continue to play a vital role, and Mansour Zadeh and his team are proud to take on that responsibility. People who work with me know that I have high expectations of myself and the people around me, says Zadeh. As a hands-on CIO, I delegate and expect results. And he also expects great things from Fujitsu. He says, I view the Fujitsu team as an extension of Smithfield Foods, so my expectations of them are just as high. And they make sure to deliver. Zadeh also shares Fujitsu s commitment to developing long-term relationships, saying, We have worked hard and invested in building and maintaining this partnership. Without teamwork, frank dialogue, hard work and integrity, our relationship with Fujitsu would not have lasted. With a long history of success and an evolving technology landscape that shows no signs of slowing down it seems Smithfield Foods and Fujitsu are just getting warmed up. 6 Fujitsu America, Inc.
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About Fujitsu America Fujitsu America, Inc., is a leading ICT solutions provider for organizations in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. Fujitsu enables clients to meet their business objectives through integrated offerings and solutions, including consulting, systems integration, managed services, outsourcing and cloud services for infrastructure, platforms and applications; data center and field services; and server, storage, software and mobile/tablet technologies. For more information, please visit: http://solutions.us.fujitsu.com/ and http://twitter.com/fujitsuamerica Fujitsu and the Fujitsu logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited in the United States and other countries. Smithfield is a trademark or registered trademark of SF Investments, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. The statements provided herein are for informational purposes only and may be amended or altered by Fujitsu America, Inc. without notice or liability. Product description data represents Fujitsu design objectives and is provided for comparative purposes; actual results may vary based on a variety of factors. Specifications are subject to change without notice. Copyright 2013 Fujitsu America, Inc. All rights reserved. FPC58-6785-01 07/13. 13.0753 FUJITSU AMERICA, INC. Address: 1250 East Arques Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94085-3470, U.S.A. Telephone: 800 831 3183 or 408 746 6000 Website: http://solutions.us.fujitsu.com Contact Form: http://solutions.us.fujitsu.com/contact Have a question? Email us at: AskFujitsu@us.fujitsu.com 8 Fujitsu America, Inc.