Advances in digital tools are opening the door for Australian growers to reduce export costs and minimise the risk of shipments being rejected, as the industry looks for practical ways to manage rising compliance demands.
For Result Group, the focus has been on simplifying the systems growers use, particularly those handling export documentation and traceability requirements. According to Result Group general manager Michael Dossor, better-designed tools can remove a significant administrative burden while improving accuracy.
© Result Group
"Giving them an easy tool that they could actually work with and use and not be a burden to their business and not having them come back into their home office and have to sit there for hours inputting data is super important," he says.
Export compliance has become increasingly complex in recent years, with stricter requirements around documentation, traceability, and reporting. Errors at any stage can lead to costly delays or, in some cases, rejected shipments.
Dossor says one of the key challenges is not a lack of data, but how that data is captured and transferred through the supply chain.
"If we can give growers a tool that enables them to capture information and automatically upload that to a system, that becomes super important in reducing risks and the potential of shipments being rejected," he says.
© Result Group
The company has worked closely with industry bodies, including the Australian Table Grape Association, to develop integrated systems that bring multiple processes into a single platform. These systems are designed to handle everything from on-farm data capture through to export documentation, reducing duplication and the risk of manual errors.
For growers, particularly those less comfortable with technology, having an all-in-one system can make a significant difference.
"Growers may find the bureaucracy involved in export forbidding," Dossor says. "If you give them five different systems to work with, it becomes a barrier. If you give them one system that does everything they need, it becomes something they can actually adopt."
This has implications not only for efficiency but also for market access. As export requirements become more demanding, simpler systems may help more growers participate in international trade.
"It can open doors," Dossor says. "If the process is too hard, some growers just won't engage with export. But if it's streamlined and manageable, it becomes a viable option."
Alongside system development, Result Packaging has also updated its digital interface, including a redesigned website aimed at making its tools more accessible and easier to navigate. The changes reflect a broader shift towards usability and practical application in the field. Dossor says the key is ensuring that technology supports growers rather than adding to their workload.
"It's about making sure the system works for them, not the other way around," he says.
© Result Group
Bringing traceability, packaging, and labelling into one system allows data to flow directly from compliance platforms through to printers, removing the need for multiple disconnected tools. Dossor says the integration is enabled through Loftware, which acts as middleware between traceability systems and labelling hardware. "With the use of our Loftware platform, we can talk to our printers," he says, noting that it can connect not just to their own equipment but to other printers as well. This creates a single platform that gives growers visibility across the entire packhouse, from data capture through to final labelling.
"Because what unintentionally happens is you get into a situation where the equipment guy is saying to the software guy the software's not working, or the equipment's not working, and it ends up getting into a to and fro — we don't go down that path, we sort that out and we solve that problem."
For more information:
Valentyna Skyba
Result Group
Tel: +61 3 9706 4474
www.resultgroup.com.au
[email protected]
