KiMs frees up resources with Microsoft Dynamics AX
KiMs is a leading snack producer in Europe and one of the most established brands in Denmark. The company estimates that it has freed 10% of its administrative resources with Microsoft Dynamics® AX and expects a return on its total investment in just 3.4 years.
MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX BENEFITS
- Freed 10% of administration resources
- Reduced planning time from 40 to less than 5 hours a week
- Expects total return on investment in just 3.4 years
- Saved 25% a year on IT costs
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BUSINESS CHALLENGE FOR DISTRIBUTOR
Having been in the market for more than 38 years, KiMs has a 51% share of the Danish market, and in 2002 was awarded "Brand of the Year." The company produces more than 120 different product types. Production is complex and volume intensive and has to follow many regulations. KiMs has more than 8,000 customers, 200 suppliers, and a direct sales organisation with approximately 65 employees in the field.
"Our old system was an AS-400-based IBM system from 1982, which we used for production, order processing, logistics, and finance. It cost more than 2 million DKK to maintain annually," explains Jesper Toubøl, Technology Manager at KiMs.
The old system just couldn’t meet our needs. As a result, there were many different homemade tools and spreadsheets being used throughout the company. This meant that we were very vulnerable because we were totally reliant on the ‘experts’ in the organisation. If one of them was sick or away, our processes and decisions would get delayed," continues Toubøl. "We had simply outgrown the old system – it was a size 'small' when what we needed was an 'extra large'."
"Our greatest challenge was the lack of visibility and insight into some very complex processes because of the many sub-systems we were using. This meant we had a large number of different interfaces. We had to manage these different systems with little integration between them, which meant a lot of manual data input," says Toubøl.
ERP SOLUTION
KiMs decided that it needed to focus on streamlining its business processes and on optimising its costs in order to stay ahead of the competition.
Although the parent companies were already running on SAP, Movex (Intentia), and ASW (IBS), KiMs decided to implement Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2002 because of the full integration with the Microsoft Office suite. It also liked the fact that Microsoft Dynamics AX is Web-enabled and that all modules, from sales and production through to distribution and finance, are fully integrated and based on a single database.
It wasn't really a difficult decision to make 11 out of 12 of our project team had Microsoft Dynamics AX as their first choice, says Toubøl.
Because it had been 20 years since KiMs last had a new ERP system implemented, the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics AX gave KiMs together with consultants from Tectura the opportunity to review and optimise all processes and business procedures. Tectura used its quality methodology to implement the solution at KiMs. The Tectura Methodology ensured that KiMs did not pay for anything more than exactly what was needed and that Tectura consultants had implemented everything correctly.
MICROSOFT DYNAMICS BUSINESS BENEFITS
The company estimates that it has freed 10% of its administrative resources and that the new system has enabled people to be more productive. For example, where planning used to take 40 hours a week, now it takes less than 5 hours a week.
KiMs expects to realise a return on its total investment in just 3.4 years. The new system has allowed it to keep IT costs down to a minimum. As a result of the implementation, KiMs has already saved 25% a year on IT costs alone.
The system has also made resource allocation more efficient throughout the company and, as a result, optimised production runs. This in turn creates savings in production.
Toubøl is particularly impressed with BizTalk Server, which transports and translates data to and from Microsoft Dynamics AX in the form of thousands of orders from the retailers and ensures that these orders reach the distribution center: “The single point of integration that the BizTalk Server provides is really excellent. It takes care of data, it’s fast, very secure, always running, and it saves us both time and money. I can’t be positive enough about the BizTalk Server. It’s a great example of how a single point of integration can be made accessible to people who are not IT experts.”
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