Business Situation
The BMZ Group is a leading manufacturer of high-tech battery systems headquartered in Germany with locations in the US, France, Poland, China and Japan. Following rapid growth, the company accumulated several disconnected legacy systems that were only partially supported by IT. This resulted in limited visibility of the materials and capacities available on the factory floor, making it challenging to keep production moving.
BMZ Group wanted to harmonize its ERP processes and systems to improve production planning and meet customer demands. Given Avanade’s global presence and experience as a leading manufacturing systems integrator in Germany, it partnered with us to help it implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations.
Solution
Using Avanade Intelligent Enterprise Solutions (AIES), we supported BMZ Group with a complete ERP implementation. Nearly 100% of the new end-to-end processes and functionality came right out of the box. Other features include a specialized production preparation garage, giving employees a simplified and intuitive way to control logistics and production work directly from the Dynamics 365 platform. They can now quickly prepare or replan the production flows in a seamless way, depending on customer demands.
Results
BMZ Group is combining emerging and connected technologies to transform the employee and customer experience and unlock new revenue streams. Results include:
- More consistent material planning and improved product quality
- Increased transparency to help solve issues in material flow and production resource planning
- Delivery reliability to improve customer service
- Greater flexibility to adapt processes and structures
The company now knows what transactions take place in its warehouses and production plants and can scale to meet the growing demand for its products.
“The Dynamics 365 system gives us transparency in stock, orders and financials, which was missing with the old systems. Additionally, Dynamics 365 has the flexibility to change processes depending on new business requirements.”