The Client

As a leading trucking broker and logistics provider that has been in business since the 1920s, this client specializes in matching freight hauls for its customers with primarily independent truckers. The client also serves as a software provider, of sorts, providing tech solutions that enable the independent truckers to more efficiently manage their freight loads. In addition to these services, the client provides a number of others, including expediting, warehousing, packaging, kitting, picking, shipping and procurement.

The Challenge

Prior to reaching out to The TM Group, the client was using an old version of Microsoft Dynamics GP on a local server for accounting and a legacy truck scheduling application. The client wanted cloud-based accounting and trucking solutions that were able to be integrated, kept up to date automatically and would help them both simplify the scheduling of deliveries and track their revenues and profits.

They decided to implement a new transportation management system (TMS) designed by Amous International. Primarily leveraged by carriers and brokers, Amous TMS is designed to help carriers more effectively manage their entire fleet while tendering load information more quickly and efficiently through automation related tools and features, such as tracking, carrier dispatching, rate reconciliation, fleet management, load consolidation and more. The platform also serves as a trading marketplace that allows area truckers to find loads.

Once the client had chosen Amous TMS, one unique challenge of this project was that much of Amous’s development team needed to build the integration for this project to the new back-office accounting solution was located in the Ukraine. Having an integration partner on the other side of the world can often make communications challenging, but this project was complicated further by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war forced the team to relocate to Costa Rica, which created logistical challenges and delayed the project from going live for several months.  Thankfully, the Ukrainian staff and their families were able to relocate safely to Costa Rica.

The ERP Solution

For the accounting back office to complement the Amous TMS system, The TM Group recommended Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. In some respects, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is much like any other enterprise resource planning solution; it helps organizations manage and integrate their various day-to-day accounting processes. What sets it apart from other offerings is the fact that it’s fully scalable, and can scale up as a business grows or its needs change.

Business Central also has a host of capabilities that are in line with what the client wanted from an ERP solution. With these financial management tools available, we felt the client would be in a better position to thrive by doing every activity better and more effectively than it did previously, from job costing, to reporting, to supplier engagement and more.

In addition to these performance improvements, we also recommended that the client upgrade its solution to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central from Microsoft Great Plains (GP). Business Central and GP are both from Microsoft and have somewhat similar navigation and functionality, but Business Central is cloud based and has more modern bells and whistles than its on-premise predecessor.

The Results

After they had been live on an integrated Amous TMS and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central solution for a while, the client informed us that its users were very pleased with Business Central and said it made accounting for their deliveries more seamless and intuitive. The interface that TMG wrote to Amous TMS brought the company’s activity to Business Central as sales orders to bill the clients and purchase invoices to pay the drivers. Additionally, the client said Business Central’s multi currency and multi company capabilities were making their books more accurate and easier to manage.

The goal of ERP software is to provide an integrated, centralized system that can handle all of an organization’s business processes rather than having to use multiple ones that are all disconnected from one another. Many companies like this one have line-of-business applications that are mission critical and need to be integrated to their accounting application. The TM Group has many years of experience building such integrations with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. As a Gold Microsoft Partner, The TM Group has helped hundreds of organizations in numerous industries work smarter.

Regardless of your industry, we can help your enterprise thrive with the right Microsoft solution at your fingertips. Contact us today to learn more.