During their latest operational tour across Australasia, Emydex CEO David McMahon and General Manager – Australasia Shane Hayes visited two Silver Fern Farms (SFF) beef processing plants in New Zealand: Te Aroha and Pacific (Hastings).
The visits reinforced the strong partnership between Emydex and New Zealand’s leading red meat processor and highlighted the continued evolution of digital transformation across the SFF network.
Strengthening a Proven Partnership
Silver Fern Farms has been working with Emydex since 2020 to modernise production management, traceability and data visibility across its beef plants.
With both Te Aroha and Pacific live on Emydex, all six SFF beef primary butchery sites are now either completed or in the final stages of rollout.
David McMahon commented:
“These visits reaffirm the strength of our collaboration with SFF and highlight the real impact that digital transformation can have on plant performance, visibility and decision-making across the network.”
Insights From the Plant Floor
The visits allowed the Emydex team to observe production flows, terminal usage and operator interactions directly on the factory floor. This hands-on engagement ensures that future improvements, refinements and upcoming deployments can be aligned with the operational reality of each site.
Shane Hayes added:
“It was great to meet the plant teams in Te Aroha and Pacific and see firsthand how they’re using Emydex day-to-day. Their feedback is essential as we continue to improve and scale the solution across new species and plants.”
The Emydex team would also like to acknowledge the support received during the visits. Special thanks to Jeff Hulena for travelling to shadow both plant tours, and to Dylan Marsh for accompanying the Pacific visit. We also appreciate the time and insights shared by plant managers Namu Searancke-Henderson at Te Aroha and Cory Hogg at Pacific, who hosted the team on site.
Go-Lives at Pacific and Te Aroha
Both plants have successfully gone live on Emydex MES as part of Silver Fern Farms’ multi-year digital transformation programme, supported by strong collaboration between SFF and Emydex teams.
Pacific (Hastings)
The Pacific site completed its transition from a legacy CRS system to Emydex through a structured deployment, including a custom liveweight solution tailored to the site’s requirements and the rollout of SFF BI V2, providing enhanced data insights.
SFF’s Chief Transformation Officer, Matt Ballard, praised the progress, describing the milestone as a significant step forward for the beef network.
Te Aroha
Te Aroha was the fourth SFF beef primary butchery site to adopt Emydex MES, a deployment that has since proven highly stable and effective across all plant operations.
Its long-term performance continues to demonstrate the adaptability of the Emydex platform to different operational layouts and species-specific workflows.
Looking Ahead
With the beef network nearing completion, the next phase will focus on expansion into venison and lamb, continuous improvement initiatives and further standardisation across the SFF group.
The New Zealand plant visits strengthen collaboration and ensure both teams remain aligned as SFF advances its long-term digital transformation journey.
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