Kerry EAS Logistics Partners with Nutanix to Transform Business Operations and Enhance Competitiveness 

INDUSTRY

Logistics and Transportation

BENEFITS

• Improved business connectivity efficiency from 3 months to 1 week, maximizing competitiveness 
• Reduced CAPEX substantially resulting in savings of 90% on datacenter footprint  
• Reduced IT management workloads while doubling efficiency in operations and maintenance 
  

SOLUTION

Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

• Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS 
• Nutanix AHV  
• Nutanix Prism Pro management software 
  

APPLICATIONS

• Core logistics management system  
• KBMS (Knowledge base management system)  
• WMS (Warehouse management system) 
• UAT (User Acceptance Testing) (MySQL) 

BUSINESS BENEFITS

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Kerry EAS Logistics Ltd. (KEAS) is a leader in third party logistics, freight services, warehouse operations, and supply chain solutions. To support its multiple business lines, each with different IT requirements spanning different regions, the organization requires multiple unique infrastructure frameworks. 

However, these siloed environments were complex, and difficult to manage and maintain. KEAS needed to consolidate its multiple frameworks onto a single, manageable platform. To bring everything together, the firm deployed the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Solution. This integrated private cloud datacenter provides the agility the organization needs to respond to business changes, and better align its technology to support its goals—all on a single platform. 

CHALLENGE

Fierce market competition makes strategic IT transformation imperative 

Competition is fierce in the logistics industry, and KEAS found that traditional IT business priorities focusing on efficiency and cost savings were not enough to keep pace with rapid changes. “The IT department is essential for creating core competitiveness,” said Chenny Xu, Director of Information Technology at KEAS. “The company that runs faster than others and seizes new technology can make breakthroughs in the marketplace, winning more business opportunities and becoming a market leader in the future.” 

Difficulties managing multiple infrastructure frameworks 

Each of the organization’s business lines created complex IT needs. Its infrastructure supported everything from international freight forwarding to warehousing, transportation, and express delivery, each with sophisticated operation management requirements. These business operations were supported by a wide variety of servers, which were challenging for IT to operate and maintain. KEAS was looking for a solution to help centralize management of its disparate resources and transform its IT infrastructure to improve its competitiveness. 

SOLUTION

After implementing this project, Nutanix has assisted KEAS in conglomerating four sets of different-sized IT infrastructure facilities deployed in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Alibaba Cloud respectively, and migrating them to a new datacenter in Shanghai. In the meantime, all important enterprise applications including core logistic system have been migrated to the Nutanix enterprise cloud platform, achieving one-click management on such important applications by Nutanix Prism Pro management center. The implementation of the project has proved that the deployment of Nutanix Enterprise Cloud is not only fast and simple, but also highly flexible with excellent extendibility, laying a solid foundation for KEAS to carry out strategic transformation and upgrade on its IT system. 

CUSTOMER OUTCOME

To address its challenges, Kerry EAS Logistics consolidated its four separate cloud and on-premises IT infrastructures to a new datacenter in Shanghai. Deployment and implementation of the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud was fast and simple, providing a flexible, scalable foundation to power the firm’s strategic transformation. 

Improved business connectivity efficiency from 3 months to 1 week 

The simplified IT infrastructure enables KEAS to onboard business applications for new customers even faster than before—a capability that competitors cannot match. For example, using its previous infrastructure, data coupling between the firm’s systems and customer systems for warehousing operations took two to three months. Today, the same tasks can be accomplished within a week using the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud solution. 

Nutanix also provides greater infrastructure flexibility for system docking. KEAS can expand its infrastructure and complete middleware installation to support interface docking within a single day. “Nutanix has helped Kerry EAS Logistics tear down barriers in overall complexity and implementation cycles, achieving technology-driven renovation on operational procedures in a very short period of time, and helping us establish a new competitive edge,” said Chenny. “I believe this is the greatest value of this project.” 

Reduced CAPEX substantially, savings of 90% on datacenter footprint 

To quantify its benefits, KEAS performed an ROI study as part of its proof-of-concept stage. The study showed that consolidating its four separate data centers onto a single site would deliver a 90 percent reduction in spatial footprint. The Nutanix solution’s ability to flexibly add nodes enables the firm to gradually scale expenses, rather than making large one-off infrastructure investments to meet emergency requests from its lines of business. 

Reduced IT management workloads, doubling efficiency in operations and maintenance 

Operational efficiency has reportedly doubled, thanks to easier maintenance and more efficient workflow processes. Nutanix provides preventive functions and self-healing capabilities that have significantly reduced system administrator maintenance workloads. 

NEXT STEPS

With its Nutanix solution in place, KEAS is now planning to consolidate all of its system applications onto the efficient, expandable platform. “As far as I’m concerned, Nutanix is very capable to provide essential technology products for KEAS’ system upgrade and technology iteration,” said Chenny Xu, Director of Information Technology, Kerry EAS Logistics Ltd. “I am confident that our continuing cooperation will usher in a brighter future.”