A landscaping specialty product manufacturer, distributor and retailer decided to reevaluate its infrastructure after acquiring a business that used Microsoft Dynamics GP manufacturing. The company sold products from its showroom, online and through its catalog. Its customers were a mixture of consumers and wholesale retailers. The organization provides unique products and services for its many customers.
When introduced to Microsoft Dynamics GP, company managers realized they needed a better solution to keep up with growth. The business partnered with The TM Group to bring its financials up to date, gain better visibility over customer information and create routines for manufacturing.
The issues
The company utilized a basic software solution to track the pipelines of its marketing and sales. Accountants for the business worked with QuickBooks to manage financials. Existing systems proved inadequate for the expanding business and employees fell behind on data reporting.
When the company acquired a separate Oklahoma business, the landscaping product specialist discovered Microsoft Dynamics GP’s ability to streamline processes. The organization wanted to profit from the software asset acquisition but made some mistakes in early implementation.
The business attempted to set up Microsoft Dynamics GP manufacturing on their own. Initial operations kept getting kicked back by the system because settings were installed incorrectly. Managers realized they needed a better solution and a partner experienced with Microsoft Dynamics GP manufacturing.
An employee with the business worked with The TM Group through a previous company and praised the ERP consultant‘s ability to help businesses adopt new tools. The operations manager reached out to the The TM Group on the employee’s recommendation and because we were a local company with a history of implementation success.
The solution
The TM Group helped the company perform a reimplementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP manufacturing. First, the ERP consultant had to go through data in QuickBooks and other existing programs to find which information was correct and what needed integration into the new solution. Next, the company described what it wanted from expanded functionality and The TM Group introduced new services.
The business was seasonal. As a yard product manufacturer and supplier, winter provided time for complete infrastructure reassessment. Utilizing The TM Group’s experience, the company kept its existing records, such as accounts payables and receivable, and prepared data for Microsoft Dynamics GP integration. The business had to slightly adjust setups and prepare the entries for the new year.
With proper settings, Microsoft Dynamics integrated data from QuickBooks and the existing ERP system to create streamlined and efficient purchasing, manufacturing and inventory procedures. The business gained centralized visibility of numerous suppliers and customers coming in through online purchases, call center orders and in-person meetings.
Unique performance
Once The TM Group finished helping the company prepare data and bring financials up to date, it implemented features and modules for expanded ERP implementation performance. The company wanted to save time through automation. Luckily, The TM Group had Microsoft Dynamics GP manufacturing consultants on staff and could advise the organization on how to create ERP routines for financial reporting during production. The automated processes prevented accountants from falling behind.
The TM Group advisors trained the company’s employees on a variety of features, including SmartLists. Workers received instruction on how to utilize SmartLists to search through existing data on vendors and customers. Existing SmartLists features served most of their basic needs, but employees also learned how to create custom SmartLists through SmartList Builder.
During the entire implementation process, The TM Group provided consultation through in-person visits, online messages or phone conversations. The organization faced very few obstacles to success after contacting the ERP consultant because The TM Group carefully audited the existing system and provided ERP solutions based on the company’s specific goals and business needs.
