Manufacturer Improves Customer Service and Supports ...



Overview

Country or Region: United States

Industry: Industrial Manufacturing

Partner Profile

Oldcastle Precast is a U.S.$800 million supplier of precast concrete products. The organization has 70 plants across the United States and Canada, with more than 3,500 employees.

Business Situation

Oldcastle wanted to upgrade its Microsoft® Business Solutions-Axapta® 2.5 business management solution to take advantage of new technology developments and support future plans, such as e-commerce.

Solution

Oldcastle is upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics™ AX 4.0, as part of the Microsoft Dynamics AX Technology Adoption Program (TAP).

Benefits

■ Upgrade path is familiar to users.

■ Fits with existing IT infrastructure.

■ Fuels business productivity.

■ Complete business picture supports more confident decision making.

■ Solution future-proofs growth plans without increasing support costs. | | |“Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 works with other Microsoft products and is familiar to users. We have 800 employees, so this is very important to our business.”

Bill Blyth, Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Project Manager, Oldcastle Precast

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| | | |Oldcastle Precast is a U.S.$800 million manufacturer of precast concrete products. It has 70 plants |

| | | |across the United States and Canada with more than 3,500 employees. Having successfully implemented |

| | | |Microsoft® Business Solutions–Axapta® 2.5, now part of Microsoft Dynamics™, in 2001 to streamline and|

| | | |automate its core business processes, it has decided to take advantage of the new capabilities in |

| | | |Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0. This upgrade will help Oldcastle put in place a platform to future–proof |

| | | |its ambitious expansion plans, achieving new business productivities without increasing support |

| | | |costs. It is working with Microsoft and Microsoft Certified Partner Tectura, to take part in the |

| | | |Microsoft Dynamics AX Technology Adoption Program (TAP) for its upgrade to version 4.0. Oldcastle |

| | | |plans an official release date of February 2007, with a technology rollout to 800 users. |

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Situation

The process of fulfilling customer orders is critical for Oldcastle, a U.S.$800 million supplier of precast concrete products. With 50 per cent of products built to order, every project and sale is unique. The organization has 70 plants across the United States and Canada, with more than 3,500 employees. Ensuring it delivers products at the moment they are required, to the right location, and to the exact specification, is fundamental to the success of its business.

Bill Blyth, Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Project Manager, Oldcastle Precast, says: “Planning and scheduling are key to customer service, ensuring the product is delivered when the customer wants it. When business is slow, this is easier. But when business is fast, we need to have a system in place that helps us streamline the process and only produce what we absolutely need.”

Oldcastle’s 800 employees use Microsoft® Business Solutions–Axapta® 2.5, now part of Microsoft Dynamics™. This business management and accounting solution automates and streamlines business processes including customer quotation and order management, through purchasing, invoicing, and fulfillment. And it maintains complete, end-to-end cost visibility of projects, with its project module. Planning and scheduling modules are also available, but Blyth wanted to upgrade to the latest platform before rolling out these modules.

He says: “Having a business management solution that streamlines this process and helps to ensure you can plan and monitor every stage is very important. We’re a large user of Microsoft Axapta and we wanted an early look at Microsoft Dynamics™ AX 4.0. We were keen to upgrade to ensure we can take advantage of new technology developments and support our future plans, such as e-commerce.”

Solution

Oldcastle is a committed user of its Microsoft Axapta solution. The technical team carried out an extensive review of the market in 2000, prior to implementation of the technology. They looked at products from companies such as SAP, Oracle, and JDEdwards. But the ease-of-use of the Microsoft solution and the fact that it integrates with other Microsoft solutions, reinforced their decision to select Microsoft Axapta.

Blyth says: “The solution is easy to use for people familiar with Microsoft products and works like other Microsoft products.

“We have a culture of modifying software to fit our business needs and we wanted a solution that gave us the flexibility to adapt to new situations. The look and feel offers easy navigation, and we can look behind the scenes at the core processes, such as accounting, business productivity, and sales orders.”

Oldcastle uses Microsoft products across the business. Microsoft Windows® XP is rolled out across users’ desktops, supporting Microsoft Office System tools. Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 communications and collaboration server support e-mail through Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003, and hand-held mobile solutions such as Microsoft Windows Mobile™-based Smartphones.

Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 is the organization’s network operating system, with added support for Active Directory® directory services. And Microsoft SharePoint® Portal Server 2001 offers a central Web portal, used by all employees as their homepage. Finally, Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 acts as the company’s centralized database. The technical team plan to upgrade to SQL Server 2005, to take advantage of its tight integration with Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0.

TAP

Oldcastle worked with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Tectura to take part in the Microsoft Dynamics AX Technology Adoption Program (TAP). This involved building a working solution using Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 prior to its official release.

Blyth says: “TAP was important for knowledge transfer. We were able to communicate easily with Microsoft and get guidance from them on the upgrade process. This is important for our long-term relationship beyond the program.”

Oldcastle employees already use a number of Microsoft Axapta 2.5 modules: general ledger; accounts payable; accounts receivable; fixed assets; sales orders; purchase orders; inventory; bill material; productions, and products. With the upgrade to the latest version of the technology, they will also take advantage of the production scheduling and production planning modules of Microsoft Dynamics AX, and gain access to a repository of customer data using Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Oldcastle plans to go live with its official upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 in February 2007, with 800 users. Tectura has formed an internal team to manage the upgrade.

Benefits

The deployment of Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, through TAP, has given Oldcastle managers and employees a real insight into the additional automation features that will boost efficiency and save time. The technology fits easily with the company’s existing IT investment, ensuring that users across the business can use the new tools immediately, without large, up-front costs to the business.

Familiar Look and Feel Makes Upgrade Easier for Users

Knowing that Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 works like other Microsoft products is a crucial part of the upgrade path for the Oldcastle technical tea. It gives them the confidence that the process of upgrading 800 users will be straightforward.

“Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 works with other Microsoft products and is familiar to users. We have 800 employees, so this is very important to our business. I believe we will reap the benefits from the start, as everyone will still be able process quotes and deliver products, but more efficiently than ever before.”

Blyth continues: “It’s also important that Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 fits with our existing systems. For example, it integrates with Outlook 2003 and other familiar Microsoft Office tools. Training needs will be minimal and, for end-users, the rollout will be smooth.”

Integrated Infrastructure Lowers Total Cost of Ownership

The upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 will mean Oldcastle can dramatically expand its implementation across new users, locations, and enhancements. With the new version, all modifications are managed in one common business object layer. This solution architecture will easily support the company’s planned expansion from 800 to 1,100 users.

Blyth says: “The total cost of ownership is lowered using an integrated Microsoft platform. We no longer need a specialist at each location. One developer can take care of the entire Microsoft platform because it is standardized. With 800 users, 420 of whom are concurrent, we’re pushing the upper reaches of the earlier version. With the move to Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, we are future–proofing our expansion to 1,100 users without increasing support headcount. It will offer a stable platform on which to build and move forward.”

Business Productivity Enhanced

Employee productivity is expected to see significantly enhancements across some key business processes. More recent versions of technology will ensure that reports will be fully automated, helping to save time and support more strategic decisions.

Blyth says: “Our requirement for distribution of daily and monthly reports throughout our plants takes up energy and time. We require each plant to run reports and review financials. Using Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0, we can deliver financial reporting through SharePoint Portal Server directly to end users. We’re making it easier for them to run their plants more effectively and carry out best practices.”

As a public company, Oldcastle must maintain full compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act including transaction lifecycle visibility from the corporate organization through each operating unit and production facility. In many cases, the validation documentation management and auditing process is unique for each business unit.

Blyth says: “We’re looking to turn that around with Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 and SharePoint Portal Server. By distributing information directly from the business management solution through Outlook 2003 or the portal, managers have more time to focus on their plant, rather than compliance.”

Customer Service Enhancements Makes Life Easier for Customers

The Oldcastle technical team plans to use this seamless integration between technologies to support the company’s move into new areas of e-commerce. When customers want to place orders or distributors want to track placements, they will be able to directly access the Oldcastle portal. There will be a range of information available, such as delivery times, product quantities, or ordering functionality.

Blyth says: “Customer service and retention are among the main reasons we’re upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0. We need to make it easy for customers to buy from us so that they don’t go anywhere else.”

Business Decision Making Boosted with Greater Insight into Business

By using Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 to provide information throughout the organisation, Oldcastle managers will benefit from a total picture of the business. This greater insight will help Oldcastle make more timely and informed business decisions with increased confidence.

Blyth says: “If you know how your plant has performed, you can make better decisions. Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 will help us achieve this. You can see where costs have gone, identify any problems, and resolve them faster. It’s then possible to make comparisons between other plants, and take advantage of the synergies of being in a large organisation.”

Oldcastle also plans to use Microsoft Dynamics CRM in combination with Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 to help it optimize customer service, sales, and channel management activities.

Blyth says: “Microsoft has adapted Microsoft Dynamics CRM to make it integrate more closely with the Microsoft Dynamics AX modules for customer quoting and sales orders. This will help us to track customer prospects, competitors, and better understand our market share. This is a very manual process at the moment.

“We’ve always been a regional company. Using Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, we will be able to look at nationwide product lines and tie up opportunities between sales people in different offices. For the first time, we will be able to look at our whole business and have a completely integrated picture of nationwide opportunities.

“In today’s world you have to move forward. To grow, we need a platform that scales with our business. Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 will support us and help us achieve this.”

Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft DynamicsTM is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success. 

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to:

dynamics

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| |Software and Services

■ Microsoft Windows Server System Engineered

− Microsoft SQL Server 2005

− Microsoft Windows Server 2003

− Microsoft Exchange Server 2003

■ Microsoft Dynamics

− Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0

− Microsoft Dynamics CRM |Microsoft Office System

− Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001

− Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

■ Microsoft Windows Mobile

− Microsoft Windows Mobile-based Smartphone | |

“Customer service and retention are among the main reasons we’re upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0. We need to make it easy for customers to buy from us so that they don’t go anywhere else.”

Bill Blyth, CIO and Project Manager, Oldcastle Precast

© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Microsoft, SQL, Dynamics, Outlook, SharePoint, Windows Mobile )*34LNT^gs­½ö Windows, the Windows logo, Windows Server, and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Document published July 2006 | | |

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For more information about Tectura products and services, visit the Web site at:



For more information about Oldcastle Precast products and services, visit the Web site at:

oldcastle-

“It’s also important that Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 fits with our existing systems. Training needs will be minimal and for end-users, the rollout will be smooth.”

Bill Blyth, CIO and Project Manager, Oldcastle Precast

“In today’s world you have to move forward. To grow, we need a platform that scales with our business. Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 will support us and help us achieve this.”

Bill Blyth, CIO and Project Manager, Oldcastle Precast

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