Restoring APG Group’s business confidence with accurate insights from its transport management system

Cevo partnered with Australasian Progressive Group (APG Group) to deliver a reliable and sustainable financial reporting solution for its reinforcing steel manufacturer, Mesh & Bar, enabling accurate insights from its Transport Management System (TMS) for the first time. Having inherited a complex and underperforming TMS reporting implemented, Mesh & Bar struggled with data accuracy and a lack of trust in the platform. Drawing on deep expertise in business process and data engineering, Cevo conducted a targeted assessment and delivered a fit-for-purpose solution that restored trust in the data and empowered internal teams to support and maintain the platform with confidence.
98% reduction
In time to insight
Data Insights
Solution
Wholesale
Industry

Customer
Australasian Progressive Group brings together a group of businesses that supports the construction and manufacturing industries across the region. Their portfolio offering specialised products and services to meet the needs of residential and commercial projects. Mesh & Bar is a recognised leader in reinforcing steel and mesh manufacturing, with operations across major cities and regional hubs along the eastern seaboard.
Business challenge
Mesh & Bar relied on its Transport Management System (TMS) dashboard to provide financial insights for operational decision-making and long-term planning. However, the original implementation, delivered by a different partner, produced inconsistent and unreliable financial data, forcing the finance team to rely on manual, time-consuming workarounds.
Over time, this reduced confidence in the platform’s accuracy and created a challenging environment for any remediation effort. Internally, the technical team lacked the specific expertise needed to diagnose the issues or re-engage stakeholders to re-define requirements. Meanwhile, the involvement of multiple stakeholders, differing priorities, and a technology stack that was misaligned with Mesh & Bar’s environment added further complexity.
To move forward, Mesh & Bar needed a trusted partner to assess the existing solution, realign the approach with internal capabilities, and design a fit-for-purpose platform to support accurate, timely financial reporting.
Solution
Cevo was engaged to restore confidence in the TMS by delivering a reliable financial reporting solution aligned with both their business needs and internal technical capabilities. The approach combined technical remediation with a deep focus on stakeholder engagement and long-term maintainability.
I’ve worked with Cevo previously at another organisation and re-engaged them based on the strong relationship and trust built. A senior data consultant I had collaborated with before joined us for a short engagement to reassess and deliver a critical data set and the insights our organisation needed.”
Rebecca Meli
CTO, Australasian Progressive Group

Understanding the business context
Cevo’s engagement began with in-depth discussions with Mesh & Bar’s finance manager and team to understand the manual processes previously used to calculate key financial figures. These sessions involved mapping workflows, identifying data sources and documenting the business logic underpinning their reporting. This step was essential to ensure the new solution would accurately reflect their requirements and could replace manual work with confidence.
Evaluating and retiring the previous technology
A detailed technical assessment of the existing TMS implementation revealed an overly complex and misaligned technology stack that exceeded the internal team’s ability to support or maintain. Cevo confirmed that simplifying the architecture and choosing better-aligned tools would ensure the solution’s long-term viability.
Aligning with internal capabilities
Alongside the technology review, Cevo evaluated the skills and capacity of the internal technical team to ensure the solution would be manageable beyond the engagement. This honest evaluation was essential in designing an approach that aligned with the team’s capabilities and could be sustainably supported long-term.
Simplified and fit-for-purpose solution design
With a clear understanding of Mesh & Bar’s business requirements and technical constraints, Cevo designed a simplified, transparent and maintainable reporting platform.
Rather than over-engineering, the team prioritised fit-for-purpose design principles, which included:
- Transparent data logic that mirrored the finance team’s manual processes
- Easy-to-maintain components using familiar technologies
- Scalable architecture to accommodate future reporting needs
Collaborative development and engagement
Cevo worked closely with the finance team throughout development, holding regular check-ins and feedback loops to ensure alignment. This inclusive, transparent delivery model helped to maintain alignment, manage expectations and create a sense of shared ownership. By actively involving Mesh & Bar’s end users in the development, Cevo not only ensured it met practical needs, but also helped rebuild trust in the TMS and the processes behind it.
Outcomes
Cevo successfully delivered a reliable, sustainable and business-aligned reporting solution that enabled Mesh & Bar to access accurate financial insights from their TMS for the first time. Key outcomes included:
- 95% data accuracy: Reliable insights from the TMS have enabled confident operational and strategic planning, with financial data accuracy improving from just 30% to 95%.
- Operational efficiency gains: Manual data mapping and filtering were fully automated, reduced time-to-insight by 98% and improving process runtime by 95%.
- Restored stakeholder confidence: The delivery of a working and reliable solution, coupled with transparent deliver and meaningful outcomes re-established trust both in the data and Cevo as a partner.
- Internal team enablement: Mesh & Bar’s technical team is now fully equipped to maintain and support the new solution independently.
- Improved business decision-making: With access to reliable financial data, the company’s leadership can make more informed and strategic decisions based on accurate, timely insights from their transport operations.
- Stronger collaboration: Improved communication and alignment between finance and technical teams fostered a collaborative culture that supports ongoing innovation and continuous improvement.
“Through Cevo’s expertise, the environment was reviewed and key business logic was refined. In just a few weeks, the data ingestion and analytics were streamlined and performing as expected. Engaging subject matter experts who are passionate about their craft made a significant difference. In this case, leveraging staff augmentation helped us achieve results quickly and cost-effectively.”
Rebecca Meli
CTO, Australasian Progressive Group

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