The Client
Located in the Upper Midwest, a flooring supplier that’s been in business since 1951 needed to update their financial and operational systems. Specializing in high-quality carpeting, the company provides flooring equipment and services to residential and business customers primarily for public events such as auto shows, trade shows, conferences and conventions. It also maintains two warehouses in the Southeast and Mountain West.
The Problem
For several years, this flooring firm had been using Microsoft Dynamics SL to track financials and operational costs, accounts receivable and accounts payable. Although Microsoft Dynamics SL is a very comprehensive ERP software program, there were several expensive modules such as project accounting that the company was either not using or performing tasks manually that could be done automatically. It also didn’t have the inventory module in Microsoft Dynamics SL and it kept inventory information in an entirely separate custom database.
This created a host of reporting and compatibility issues that prevented the client from generating the management and financial reports, particularly as it related to recording relevant inventory data and creating invoices.
Bottom line: Critical accounting processes that could be accomplished relatively quickly with most current ERP solutions took much longer to perform with the firm’s existing legacy software program, which was a 2011 version. Also, because much of what employees were doing was handled manually, there was a greater possibility of inaccuracies in reporting.
The Solution
Recognizing that its current way of doing things wasn’t working, the flooring distributor reached out to us at The TM Group. After explaining the inefficiencies and frustrations it was experiencing as well as its goals – chief among them being to increase the visibility into all their work processes – we recommended Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as a potential alternative to upgrading dynamics SL and purchasing several add-on modules.
We recommended this particular SaaS solution for a few reasons. One of which was the fact that the distributor had already been using a Microsoft Dynamics product. While Business Central has similar features and capabilities as SL, there is actually more functionality bundled into the base product. Also, given it’s a cloud-based program it is available everywhere and is more safe and secure than their current on-premises solution. The user interface of the two are also very similar, so the learning curve for users was minimal.
Another advantage of Business Central is that its fully customizable and scalable. It comes in two editions, Essentials and Premium. Given the needs and goals for this mid-western flooring vendor, we recommended the implementation of the following modules:
- Inventory Management
- Sales Order Management
- Project Management
- Purchase Order Management
- Receivables Management
- Payables Management
- General Ledger
- Financial Reporting
The Result
Much of the client’s time and energy is spent at auto shows, managing multiple booths – often at the same event. The hope with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was to set up a solution so data recording at each booth could be centralized, rather than compiled piecemeal. To do this, The TM Group configured a “show code,” so multiple projects could all be tied together by assignment. This made exporting raw data much easier and more targeted, obtaining only the data relevant to the booth and customers in question. What it can now do in seconds, previously required several hours using Microsoft Dynamics SL.
Additionally, Business Central helped transform laborious, error-prone financial accounting processes into tasks that were much faster and more precise. Previously, financial reports were derived from data exports to Microsoft Excel and all logging was done manually. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central allowed this client to harness the power of BI so reports could be generated automatically.
Whether you have Microsoft Dynamics and want to get more out of it, or you’ve heard of the product and wondered if the solution could help you better manage your company, turn to The TM Group. Since our founding, we’ve helped hundreds of organizations in many industries implement Microsoft solutions that best fit their goals and mission-critical work processes. Contact us today online or visit us at one of our three offices, two in Michigan and one in South Bend, Indiana.
Please feel free to download some or all of our e-books as well. They’re free and can help you learn more about ERP software and why it is such a powerful tool for businesses large and small.
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