Established in 1974, Mathias
International Ltd is a private company with the reputation as one
of the world's foremost food commodity trading organisations.
Although based in Auckland they have offices around the
world.
Their team of professional marketers, suppliers and
traders are backed by an experienced and
talented logistics and financial team that together
provide a comprehensive service to their
customers. The company handles fresh and frozen meat
and poultry, seafood, fruit, vegetables and other exotic
meats, all of which they buy and sell across 60 countries
worldwide.
A meaty solution
Up until 2009 Mathias used a selection of software solutions to
run the business. With a
high dependency on spread sheets there was plenty of potential for
problems to occur as the deployed solutions were
stretched beyond their intended use.
These solutions were hosted in New Zealand
and Australia causing frustration for local
staff as they struggled to use the solutions across the
network.
The decision in 2009 to implement Microsoft Dynamics AX with
Koorb Consulting offered the company what they
recognised as a 'true benefit' - a
solution which was genuinely designed to run across a
network.
Stars of the show
The key benefits of, and main attraction of the Microsoft
Dynamics AX solution for Mathias however, were
around the Business Intelligence (BI) and
reporting functionality, specifically Role Centres and online
analytical processing (OLAP) sales
cube.
Role Centres are default home pages that provide an overview of
information that is specific to the user's role, such
as a task list, activities, frequently used
links, and key business intelligence information.
An OLAP (Online analytical processing) cube allows near
instantaneous reporting on large amounts of information -
manipulating and analysing it from multiple perspectives, then
presenting it in a meaningful fashion.
Leading role
Craig Koetsier-Bakker, Management/Financial Accountant for
Mathias, is especially enthusiastic about the Role Centres. "The
Role Centres would probably be the most critical part
of AX we can say we've got true benefit out of.
Along with the sales cube it was a key motivator for us in
selecting this specific business
solution."
Previously if a user wanted information it had to be downloaded
and imported into Excel, massaged into context then disseminated
appropriately. With Role Centres, this information is now
directly in front of the trader every time they log in, and is
completely current. Via an OLAP sales cube the trader can view
the latest debtors reports with a single click., ensuring
constant visibility and awareness of debtors, and therefore a
positive impact on cash flow, with minimal
effort.
Craig commented: "Now there is no excuse for our traders to not
know our debtors' status on a day-to-day basis. The
Role Centres and cubes also allow them to see how many sales orders
they've got still open in the system, what's been sent away for
shipment, what sales orders are going to ship
in the next seven days, or which specific sales that are well below
our expected profitability benchmarks. The sales cubes are
displayed graphically the trader can
tell at a glance, for example, if there are either too many
debts outstanding or too many deals at a low
margin."
"This sort of visibility is very effective; and as a result the
debtors are under better control."
The Role Centres are also used to share documents with all
expense claim forms, travel forms and annual leave forms are
available with one click directly from the Role Centre.
Information is also shared with traders using the announcement
box to let others know what product they have access to which may
be of interest to others. This visibility extends throughout the
company, as dependent on role, a total overview of all sales or
debtors can be seen from a single vantage point. Alerts can be set
up to notify traders and administration alike if a sale falls below
an acceptable margin.
With just four hours training by Koorb, Craig was able to set up
their Role Centres in-house. "Now we can easily build a
basic role centre that's informative and useful
within a few hours. I still want to achieve more using the sales
cube, and that will take me a bit longer, but once again it still
can be done in-house. It makes us quite
independent."
Sales cubes
Mathias is looking to make full use of the sales cube now they
have a handle on the Role Centres.
The sales cube built by Koorb's BI team contains information
from November 2009 onwards rather than all legacy
data (although this can easily be done).
However as this current data progressively grows over a longer
period the value of the sales cube will also grow incrementally.
The upcoming move to Excel 2010 and its more sophisticated pivot
tables will enhance the functionality further.
"There's a huge benefit for the company in having visibility
across our sales, customers and suppliers. Over
the long term the sales cube is going to
become a considerable asset to the company,"
said Craig.
From frustration to fantastic
Other BI development around reporting has taken the preparation
of the weekly sales and margin reports down from four hours to half
an hour. "The biggest frustration for us previously was
that all our time was spent on working out the
figures, rather than actually looking at the figures and making
sure they're right. Now our time is spent
far more effectively and in the right area. The report just creates
itself. That illustrates the sort of
practical benefit the company is getting from investing in
BI."
A team effort
In conjunction with Koorb and Microsoft Dynamics AX,
Mathias International has become more efficient,
achieved visibility company-wide and
taken the large steps towards empowering themselves though taking
ownership of the functionality enabled through their BI
solutions.
"Koorb's BI team have been great," said Craig. "They've
done everything we've asked of them, and done it
well. The training they have provided has been fantastic and
they've always been there to support me,
even for the smallest query."
|
Quick Facts:
|
| Workstations: 17 |
Industry: Commodity Trading |
Project Type: ERP implementation &
BI |
| Website:
www.mathias.co.nz
|
Customer Size: Medium |
Year: 2009 |
|
Solutions:
MS
Dynamics AX 2009
MS
Windows Server 2003
MS SQL
Server 2005
MS SQL
Reporting Server 2005
MS SQL
Analysis Server 2005
MS Dynamics
FRx Reporter
Atlas XL - Globe
Software
|
Functional areas:
Financials, Fixed Assets (licensed but not used), Trade &
Logistics and Business Analysis
Scenario:
Enterprise Resource Planning, Financial Reporting,
Forecasting
|
Benefits:
Visibility across sales, customers and suppliers
Improved management of debtors resulting in positive impact on
cash flow
Easy sharing of documents and information across the network
Alerts to highlight critical profitability levels on deals
Streamlined reporting
Self-management
|