Funeral home and crematoria operator InvoCare has officially completed its Oracle enterprise resource planning (ERP) software rollout in its Australian funerals business.
In the company’s half year results for 2021, the company stated its Oracle ERP implementation has gone live in the funerals part of its business and has increased flexibility and transparency through automating various procurement process, including invoicing.
The Oracle ERP replaced a collection of systems including Salesforce and Epicor and has been nearing completion since 2019.
By March this year the project - also known as Compass - was still wrapping up its final stages in the memorial parks area of InvoCare’s operations.
With that work is now complete, attention has shifted to ERP replacement in its cemeteries and crematoria division.
Speaking during a half-year results call, chief executive officer Olivier Chretien told investors the company applied a “more disciplined approach to investment projects” while delivering its “significant enhancements” to the ERP project.
The company also detailed a five-year strategic plan which will focus on further digital partnerships and on its “networks, brands and websites.”
“Our new growth platforms pillar focuses on more innovative sources of growth,” Chretien said.
“This included our investment in digital memorialisation ... as well as the pet cremation e-commerce platform, and a greater focus on business-to-business opportunities, including a multi-year community agreement [for the] cemeteries and crematoria [division] as well as national network agreements.”
Over the half, InvoCare invested $4 million into online memorials company Memories as well as the launch of an e-commerce platform for Patch and Purr cremations services.
InvoCare also appointed Jose Perez in April this year to step into the company’s first ever chief information officer position.
InvoCare’s capital expenditure reach $23.5 million over the half, down 16 percent from the prior year and also included $5.8 million spent on shared service centre projects and IT.
Support IT costs increased $1.3 million, due to the impact of capability investments plus a $1 million increase in software license expenses driven by the Oracle ERP rollout and other digital investments.
Its maintenance spend for its digital investments over the half was $5.8 million with just over $3 million dedicated to functionality enhancements of the Oracle ERP.
InvoCare reported a net profit after tax of $43.8 million over its first half, up from $18 million in the corresponding period last year.
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