IBP Tech Integration Under Way for Tyson

Try merging the computer networks for 14 companies into one system in one year. That’s the challenge facing Gary Cooper, Tyson Foods Inc.’s vice-president of information services.

Tyson made industry history in late 2001 with its $4.7 billion acquisition of IBP Inc. of Dakota Dunes, S.D. That vaulted Tyson from No. 257 on Forbes magazine’s list of the largest U.S. companies to No. 74.

It also caused the Springdale poultry producer’s worldwide employment base to rocket 76 percent, from 68,000 workers worldwide to about 120,000 in 300 offices spread throughout 22 countries. More than 100 of those facilities came with the IBP buyout.

Tyson now controls 27 percent of the United States’ beef market, 23 percent of the chicken market and 18 percent of the pork market, and expects 2002 annual revenue of more than $25 billion.

Cooper is charged with keeping Tyson’s information-technology candle lit. And with the addition of IBP, that includes updating and incorporating a bevy of new systems into one cohesive chain of communications. He called the effort “Tyson Foods’ most complex integration undertaking to date.”

Cooper would not disclose the company’s budget for the IT integration project, but he acknowledged that it is “a seven-figure sum.” He said the total expected cost fluctuates due to various complications and hardware prices.

The technology guru oversees 275 information-systems workers involved with Tyson Foods’ divisions and 200 more former IBP beef techies.

“We’re really focused on what was IBP’s Food Brands division,” Cooper said. “That includes 14 independently operated companies that had never really been consolidated into the IBP architecture. These are primarily value-added protein products, but their technology base is overly fragmented.

“We are hard about getting those 14 independent operating companies into the Tyson system.”

Cooper said the companies within the Food Brands division — which includes The Bruss Co., Winchester Food Processing and DFG Foods — has as many as none to nine IT workers each. But many of the companies have varying technology footprints for their individual plants, making the integration more like bringing twice as many firms on line.

As of early March, Cooper’s team had completed the integration of four former IBP subsidiaries. In April, he plans to tackle the formidable DFG Foods operation in Chicago.

“We have a schedule that will take us through the rest of the year,” Cooper said. “We’re trying to cash in on the technology that’s available. The primary concerns are customer-facing components that must deal with transportation logistics, procurement and etc …

“We’re fortunate to have a lot of good people on Tyson’s business side who are working on the integration with us. Each core functionality is helping with the part of the system that pertains to them.”

There are six additional human resources and payroll functions that Cooper is also bringing online with Tyson. He said the system must quickly get to the point where the majority of Tyson’s business can be conducted electronically.

Cooper said he expects greater efficiencies to come out of the integration that will help the company’s sales teams perform even better. He said one silver lining is that the companies dealt with many of the same customers, so there are already relationships in place that should mitigate nearly all platform compatibility problems.

About 50 percent of IBP’s techies are associated with its Food Brands division. Cooper said with 475 IT workers on staff, the company will continue figuring out how many of them will be needed long term based on their different skill sets.

One component of IBP’s business, its Fresh Meat division, will not have its technology integrated with Tyson’s for now. Cooper said, “that’s a finely tuned business and we’re letting that thing run as it is.”