Using Microsoft Financing and working with Koorb Consulting,
ABE'S Real Bagels has been able to
deploy flexible and powerful Enterprise Resource
Planning system Microsoft DynamicsAX
when it was needed most, enabling the business to capitalise on
growth opportunities and better manage production and accounting
processes.
ABE'S Real Bagels is a successful New Zealand manufacturer of
fresh bagels and bagel crisps. After starting out in a small
Auckland café the company has rapidly grown into a wholesale
manufacturer employing 45 full time staff with an annual revenue of
$NZD5-10 million. ABE'S has
undergone rapid growth and change
over the past year, entering into the Australian market and winning
a contract to supply over 800 Woolworths supermarkets. With major
changes and significant growth of 30-40% a year
ABE'S urgently needed a new ERP
system.
Taking the bagel market by storm
ABE'S had outgrown its existing
custom-built legacy system and
required greater functionality and flexibility
from an ERP system as well as needing a streamlined and scalable
solution to manage both production and
finances.
Due to a lack of integration between its legacy systems,
the company's existing accounting system had to be updated monthly
with information taken from a manual stock take. This resulted in a
lack of visibility into stock levels and costs throughout the
month.
"We couldn't do some of the stock analysis we wanted to do with
the old system. We had to actually go and look to see how much
flour we were consuming each month, which meant we had to have
standing rather than flexible orders," explains
ABE'S Director Brent
Milburn.
"We really needed a system with real-time stock visibility and
forecasting tools to better manage production schedules to meet
customer demand and improve our service."
Another problem that
ABE'S faced was that its legacy system couldn't work
in multiple currencies. Developing their product offering from
fresh bagels to include bagel crisps also required the management
of more complex planning and production
cycles.
"We'd literally outgrown the system we had and we wanted a
platform that would be able to grow with us. We knew we were going
to require even more functionality from our system in the very near
future so a patch up job just wasn't an option," says Milburn.
A seamless solution
ABE'S evaluated several
ERP systems and chose
Microsoft Dynamics AX for its superior
flexibility, scalability and manufacturing capabilities, and the
knowledge that Microsoft Dynamics AX would integrate
seamlessly with existing systems. The Microsoft Financing package
was the icing on the cake. "The financing rate was very reasonable
and being able to finance the investment in software implementation
against future earnings was a huge plus advantage for us," says
Milburn.
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Koorb Consulting
assisted ABE'S in finding and implementing the right
solution for the company.
"We were impressed from the start with the obvious depth of
understanding Koorb had of our industry," says Milburn. "They
stepped forward with a large pool of experienced consultantsand
developers, specific expertise in FMCG manufacturing, a large
number of current Microsoft Dynamics AX sites and very importantly
- strong site references. It was obvious that partnering with them
would be a low risk option. Once we started working
with them, Koorb matched us up with consultants who had skills to
fit our specific business needs, and crystallised the phrase
"Industry Best Practise" into actual workable
solutions."
Koorb began implementing Microsoft Dynamics AX at the end
of 2007 and the system went live on schedule and on budget in early
April 2008 - just in time to provide the multicurrency
functionality that ABE'S required for its entry into
the Australian market.
To meet ABE'S key needs Microsoft
Dynamics AX had almost everything ABE'S
needed right out of the box, with a look and feel that was
familiar to staff who were already accustomed to using other
Microsoft products. However, Microsoft Dynamics AX
also had the advantage of integrating
easily with existing systems.
Using the Application Integration Framework (AIF) module,
Koorb was easily able to integrate an existing planning system used
to designate van delivery routes and take delivery orders with
Microsoft Dynamics AX.
Financing a future
While Microsoft Dynamics AX was clearly the best technical
solution for ABE'S, the availability of Microsoft
Financing meant that the implementation of Microsoft
Dynamics AX was achievable.
"Being able to finance it against future earnings was a definite
advantage and made a real difference to us. Growing businesses are
quite money intensive, requiring all of the earnings and more to be
input into capital for machinery and working capital, so being able
to finance it was a big plus," says Milburn.
A solution with room for growth
As the business continues to grow and develop,
ABE'S Real Bagels will build further on its
technology solution, taking advantage of the system's multicurrency
and multiwarehouse capabilities and connecting a forecasting
add-in. ABE'S also plan
to upgrade the company's smart phones
to enable mobile integration with Microsoft Dynamics
AX if required.
"Microsoft Dynamics AX has the ability to grow with our
business. With new versions being released regularly, we're pretty
confident that no matter where we go or what we do the system will
be able to cope with our evolving business," says Milburn.
|
Quick Facts:
|
| Workstations: 13 |
Industry: FMCG |
Project Type: ERP implementation |
| Website:
www.bagels.co.nz
|
Customer Size: 70 |
Year: 2007 |
|
Solutions:
MS Dynamics AX 4
MS Windows Server 2008 R2
MS SQL Server 2000
|
Functional areas:
Financials, Fixed Assets, Trade, Logistics, Master Planning,
Production and Business Analysis
Scenario:
Enterprise Resource Planning, Financial reporting, Forecasting
& planning
|
Benefits:
Immediate access to capital with Microsoft Financing
Scalability and flexibility to enable growth
Visibility to make more informed management decisions
Improved stock and production management
Streamlined production processes and financial management
|