HEB Construction chose Boomi to enable the delivery of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) modernisation project that ensures global alignment with its parent company, bolstered local governance, and established a re-use philosophy.
The company is a major construction player with 1,500 employees in New Zealand.
Founded in 1975, HEB delivers road, rail, marine, land, and urban development projects nationwide. In 2015, it was acquired by VINCI Construction.
In 2022, HEB started the adoption of its parent company’s ERP project, marking the first deployment outside of the European Union.
While the ERP platform typically replaces all in-country systems, this was unsuitable for HEB due to the maturity of existing local technology investments and the regulatory frameworks under which it operates.
“With New Zealand’s regulatory and functional requirements contrasting previously-deployed markets, it became clear (that) a ‘digital transplant’ wouldn’t be suitable – HEB required a different approach,” said Mircel van der Walt, Enterprise Architect at HEB Construction.
“Instead, my team considered a hybrid integration approach,” said Van der Walt. “This decision was driven not only by the necessity for a compliant governance system, but also by our imperative to uphold our existing expertise in local systems like HR. To ensure the new ERP would thrive in this unfamiliar environment, we realised HEB could only gain trust by innovating around a stable core.”
HEB implemented Boomi’s integration platform as a service (iPaaS) to establish hub and spoke integration patterns between its local applications, including payroll, timesheet, inventory management, and equipment maintenance systems.
Adopting the ERP’s data structure as its data standard, HEB mirrored its local patterns with the global ERP stack to form hub-to-hub connectivity. This approach established seamless communication between both companies and established re-usable integration patterns.
HEB also implemented Boomi Master Data Hub (MDH) to deepen collaboration and precision. With MDH, HEB can comprehensively manage its digital assets through three abstracted layers: people, projects, and equipment.
“This is a true representation of local innovation born out of a global company’s recognition for unique requirements needed in-region,” said Nathan Gower, Boomi senior director for enterprise in APAC.
“HEB used Boomi to create a crossbreed of top performing systems, and by doing so, established a mutual understanding that there are no camps – rather, both organisations used their respective systems and tools to create an integrated outcome serving a common goal,” said Gower.
