Vicinity and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Provide a Batch and Assembly Manufacturer with Flexibility and Facilitate Growth
Are you a batch or process manufacturer in the chemical, food, or beverage industries? You know that finding an ERP solution that meets your unique needs is difficult in a world geared toward discrete manufacturers. However, there is a way to achieve both growth and flexibility with the right tools, as one such business discovered.
The Challenge – Selecting a Batch Manufacturing Solution
House of Cheatham, a manufacturer of personal care products, had reached the limits of their current system and found themselves needing to improve their business processes, from financial to manufacturing and distribution.
“We pushed and pulled our system way beyond what it was intended for,” says Frank Auman, Senior Vice-President of Finance and Operations. “It was time to find a system that could grow with us as we took our business to the next level. We needed a system that would engage all members of our staff to make sound business decisions.”
House of Cheatham isn’t an ordinary manufacturer. While they have elements of batch or formula manufacturing, such as making shampoos, conditioners, and other personal products, they also assemble items into kits. As a key part of their transformation, they did a deep business analysis to better understand their needs and select a software solution that would meet them. “We determined that we are a hybrid of batch and assembly. We had to find a solution that could compound our formulas and assemble our various multi-part kits”, Auman remarked.
The Solution – Vicinity Software and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Batch and Assembly Manufacturers
House of Cheatham found Vicinity Software to be the best fit for their manufacturing processes, combined with Microsoft Dynamics for other common ERP functions, such as financials and distribution.
“We compared discrete systems and process applications. Vicinity offered the best flexibility for us”, says Auman.
They’re in a constantly changing and evolving industry, so flexibility was a key requirement. Auman recalls: “We are constantly developing new products and solutions. There is no telling what is going to change for us tomorrow. We feel our system with Vicinity provides that needed flexibility.”
The implementation of their new software systems came just in time as House of Cheatham entered a period of unprecedented growth. Each quarter since they went live with Dynamics 365 has set new sales records. “It’s good that we did not wait any longer than we did. The volume would have been too much to manage on our old system”, Auman noted.
Additionally, they were able to streamline their distribution channels through the integration of vSync’s EDI Compliance solution with their Microsoft Dynamics ERP. Having the right tools for the job has allowed them to overcome their toughest challenges with ease.
The choice of Vicinity Software proved to be particularly advantageous for House of Cheatham, as it is designed specifically for the chemical manufacturing industry. This saved them considerable time and expense on customizations and allowed them to focus on improving workflows instead.
“I shudder to think what we would have done if we had not made the change when we did. We learned a great deal about ourselves, and we would make the same decision again. Our systems are truly part of our success”, Auman observed.
Developed on the solid foundation of Microsoft’s .NET Framework and SQL Server database, Vicinity provides both the reliability and affordability growing organizations, like House of Cheatham, need in order to succeed in today’s market. With Vicinity, they’re poised to continue growing without hindrance from outdated or poorly matched business systems.
The Future – Flexibility and Continued Growth
Auman sums up their experience: “It is nice to know that we have Microsoft and Vicinity in our corner. When we needed help the most they were there. We are now able to focus our attention on our most important task — serving our customers.”
Would you like to streamline your processes and gain greater control over formulas or recipes, enhance inventory visibility, improve quality assurance, eliminate redundancies, reduce costs, and more?
Then to learn more about how Vicinity Software will help your business experience smart growth.
By Vicinity Software |
