Life-Space Group’s digital rebuild for modern manufacturing

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Walk through any modern factory and you’ll find robots packing products, sensors tracking conditions and an assortment of machines quietly humming away. But look past the production line and a different picture often emerges – one where finance teams remain in spreadsheets, compliance sits in silos and decision-makers struggle to get a real-time picture of the business.

The truth is, while the front line of manufacturing has evolved rapidly, many of the systems behind it have not. And that disconnect is increasingly acting as a brake on growth.

For Australia’s mid-sized manufacturers, the next wave of innovation won’t come from the shop floor alone. It’ll come from a quieter kind of transformation. One where the systems that tie the business together – finance, supply chain, planning and compliance – work as a united front.

As business system specialists working closely with ANZ manufacturers, Annexa routinely speaks with leaders across mid-sized manufacturing, and a familiar story emerges. The business has grown, operations have expanded but the core systems haven’t kept up. It’s not unusual to find MYOB or Xero still in place for finance, spreadsheets driving demand planning and standalone tools for inventory or compliance stitched together over time.

On the surface, it works. But those using the systems see firsthand that as complexity increases, cracks appear. These tools weren’t built to handle multi-entity reporting, detailed traceability or fast-moving compliance frameworks. Teams inevitably end up relying on workarounds, double-handling and disconnected data. Over time, it becomes harder to forecast accurately, trace ingredients or components across the supply chain or spot emerging risks before they escalate.

Why the next phase of innovation starts with the back end

When people talk about manufacturing innovation, the spotlight usually falls on robotics, AI or smart machines. But in many of the most forward-thinking businesses we work with, the real transformation is happening behind the scenes.

It happens when they shift from legacy systems to integrated platforms. From reactive planning to real-time insight. From chasing compliance to embedding it.

Life-Space Group, best known for its flagship probiotics and children’s health brands, has a similar story. The business had expanded rapidly across markets and product lines. But as growth accelerated, so did the complexity behind the scenes — prompting the team to modernise its core systems across finance, inventory, compliance and planning to better support that growth.

Upcoming Webinar | July 30, 11am | Want a closer look at how Life-Space Group’s systems came together? 

Join Life-Space Group and Annexa for a 45-minute webinar unpacking the tech decisions, architecture and lessons behind this transformation.

Register for webinar >

What changes when your systems change
With the deployment of cloud ERP platform NetSuite, Life-Space Group both replaced outdated tools and redefined how the business runs.

In finance, real-time consolidation across entities gave leaders clarity they’d never had, transforming end-of-month bottlenecks into near-instant visibility. Inventory gained full lot-level traceability locally and across international warehouses – a crucial step in meeting TGA standards and export requirements. Approval workflows, once routed through inboxes and spreadsheets, were brought into the system, supporting cleaner audit trails. Even packaging saw change, with QR codes on individual units helping fight counterfeiting and build consumer trust.

See the architecture behind the transformation
In this upcoming webinar, Stanley Chiang – Head of Operations at Life-Space Group – joins Ananda Iyer, Head of Customer Success at Annexa to walk through the transformation from the inside. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at the decisions that shaped the project, the challenges that surfaced and the structure now powering finance, inventory and compliance across the business.

Expect a rare, open conversation with the people who’ve done the work. Attendees will walk away with deep practical insight into what it really takes to modernise the back end in manufacturing.

Register now – 30 July, 11am AEST

Register for the webinar >

Pictures: supplied