Reliable rural connectivity unlocking real-time logistics for a major produce supplier
Agriculture · Gatton, Lockyer Valley · 40 staff, 3 sheds, 200ha
The Challenge
A Lockyer Valley produce business supplying major supermarkets was hamstrung by terrible connectivity — NBN Fixed Wireless that dropped out in heavy rain, and 4G on the back paddocks that needed someone to walk to a specific spot to send a photo. Their packing shed scanners couldn't talk to head office, daily produce despatch reports were being driven on a USB stick, and a recent supermarket compliance change required real-time temperature logging from cool rooms.
What We Did
We deployed enterprise 5G with external high-gain antenna as the primary link, with the existing Fixed Wireless reconfigured as automatic failover. Mesh Wi-Fi was rolled out across all three sheds with hardened outdoor-rated access points, the cool rooms received IoT temperature sensors that report continuously to a cloud dashboard with SMS alerts, and every device — including the scanners and tablets in the packing shed — is now centrally managed and monitored. Total project came in well under budget thanks to a NSW/QLD digital connectivity grant we identified during the discovery phase.
"We were the last farm in our valley still using paper despatch dockets. Now we're running cool room compliance reports while sitting in the ute. Our supermarket compliance team have started asking us how we did it."