at a glance
Smithbridge Group traded complexity for clarity by unifying finance, workforce and operations – and unlocking group-wide insights with NetSuite Analytics Warehouse.
- QuickBooks
- SunSystems
- Various SunSystems companion products
- Spreadsheets
- Manual timesheets
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Integrated finance, workforce and operations data
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Replaced fragmented Microsoft Business Intelligence with NetSuite's Analytics Warehouse precision
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Enabled self-serve reporting for finance and operations
the client
About Smithbridge Group
Smithbridge Group is a construction and engineering business with deep roots across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Through its subsidiaries – including Universal Cranes, Universal Cranes NZ and Smithbridge Guam – the group provides high-quality construction services and equipment to contractors across the region. Founded in 1964, the business has grown to over 850 employees, 500 units of equipment, and has expanded its service offering to crane hire, transport solutions, engineering, civil and marine construction, aggregate and construction materials, ready mix concrete and precast concrete.
A key aspect of NetSuite has been the standardisation of the information. The ability to look across the group and slice and dice the information to compare businesses, divisions within businesses and provide accurate information to our board has really been important.Shane YoungChief Financial Officer, Smithbridge Group
the challenge
Cracks in the foundation
Smithbridge Group had outgrown its patchwork of legacy systems. Spanning multiple entities and regions, the group was juggling everything from payroll to resource allocation across a maze of disconnected tools – Visual Dispatch, SunSystems and multiple companion product, Quickbooks, spreadsheets, manual timesheets and standalone BI platforms. The cracks were showing. Processes were inconsistent, data lived in siloes and leadership lacked the visibility to make confident, group-wide decisions.
As part of a long-term business applications strategy, Smithbridge Group engaged Annexa to implement NetSuite – bringing finance, operations and project data onto a single cloud platform. But that was only step one. With time and attendance data in UKG, resource allocation in Visual Dispatch and finance in NetSuite, the real challenge was turning all that information into something usable.
“We were looking for a solution that could bring together data from NetSuite and our other core systems – mainly UKG for time and attendance and Visual Dispatch for resource allocation – into a single source of truth,” said Shane Young, CFO at Smithbridge.
Enter NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW). For a business that spans 20 subsidiaries across Australia, New Zealand and Guam, Smithbridge Group didn’t just want cleaner dashboards. They wanted self-serve reporting, fewer consultant dependencies and a faster path from data to decision.
the results
Integration meets insight
After consolidating operations onto NetSuite with Annexa, Smithbridge Group brought finance, operations and project data into one place – eliminating the duplication, delays and guesswork that came with disconnected systems.
But the real step-change came with NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW). By pulling data from UKG, Visual Dispatch and NetSuite into a unified reporting environment, Smithbridge Group now has real-time access to group-wide insights – without the swivel-chair reporting or static dashboards.
The impact on finance has been immediate. “Previously, an accountant would spend hours producing a report and their eyes would roll as five minutes into the meeting someone asked for something different,” said Shane Young, CFO. “Whereas now they sit down with the managers, they’re helping them access the information… and they’re developing better information.”
With labour making up nearly half of Smithbridge Group’s operating costs, being able to analyse workforce data alongside asset utilisation and financial performance is critical. NSAW is giving the group clear visibility into where labour spend is going – and how it’s performing – at both subsidiary and group level.
“It’s really about providing management with accurate, timely information,” said Young. “But also delivering it in a way that’s easily digestible.”
As adoption grows, NSAW is laying the foundation for smarter, faster decisions – across every layer of the business.
We’ve used BI tools before, but one of the key drivers this time was empowering our teams - especially finance - to build their own reports without relying on consultants.Shane YoungChief Financial Officer, Smithbridge Group