Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Leading Sanitaryware Manufacturer Consolidates Systems, Optimizes Operations with ERP Solution
Overview
Country or Region: India
Industry: Manufacturing
Customer Profile
Based in Kadi, Gujarat, Cera Sanitaryware is India's leading manufacturer of sanitaryware and bathroom fitments. With more than 1400 employees, the annual turnover of the company in year 2010 was approximately U.S.$ 43 million.
Business Situation
Cera wanted to replace its numerous standalone systems that made access to up-to-date business information difficult; which meant business operations were inefficient.
Solution
With the help of CorporateServe Solutions, a Microsoft Gold Certified partner, Cera implemented Microsoft® Dynamics™ NAV 2009 for its flexibility, price, support, and customization.
Benefits
n Improves quality of service
n Increases visibility into business
n Provides greater efficiency
n Enables faster report generation
n Accelerates forecasting / “Earlier preparing a sales order (SO) consisting of 150 lines used to take us 45 minutes. Now, with a fully automated process, we can do the same task in just 10 minutes.”
Atul Sanghvi, President-Sales and Marketing, Cera Sanitaryware Limited
Cera Sanitaryware, one of the pioneers in the sanitaryware segment in India, had an IT infrastructure made up of disparate systems. This made it difficult for employees to access real-time business data, which they needed to operate effectively. Wanting to take advantage of a fully integrated system, Cera teamed with Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner CorporateServe Solutions to implement a Microsoft Dynamics™ NAV 2009 solution. The new system presents consolidated, company-wide business information to managers in real time, helping them make better decisions and focus on customer needs. In addition, the company management has achieved the level of analysis and reporting that it needs to adapt to changing business needs.
Situation
Launched in 1980, Cera Sanitaryware Ltd. is a pioneer in the sanitaryware segment in India. Based in Kadi, Gujarat, it is the first sanitaryware company to use natural gas. Usage of international technology has ensured Cera’s superiority over others in quality. Established with an initial capacity of 3,600 metric tons per annum (MTPA), the plant has undergone several periodical upgrades and modernization to expand to 24,000 MTPA (2 million pieces per annum). Company has taken its expansion programme to enhance its existing capacity to 32,400 MTPA (2.7 million pieces per annum).
To achieve growth in the rapidly changing retail market in the country, Cera, has launched its one of a kind Cera Bath Studios across the country. These complement its existing network of 500 dealers and 5000 retailers.
Cera also has sales depots spread all over India such as Delhi, Chandigarh, Zirakpur, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Kolkata, Siliguri, Mumbai, Indore, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Cochin.
With a growth rate of more than 20 percent over the last 3 years, Cera today is amongst the fastest growing sanitaryware company in India.
The company has traditionally relied on basic enterprise resource planning (ERP), FoxPro and .NET based applications to manage operations. Because of the disconnected systems, manual data entry was often required, which resulted in islands of information not to mention the errors.
Also, with little or no integration between the systems, management was not able to easily retrieve information on the day-to-day operations thus hindering the overall decision-making process.
In addition to these inefficiencies, the company was relying on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets for MIS report generation. Manual data entry had made this process cumbersome and inefficient thus, delaying the timelines of reporting.
Vidush Somany, Executive Director, Cera, says, “This set up was hampering the progress of Cera. It caused duplication of effort and there was little visibility into operations. These complexities made finding information in the system a cumbersome and time-consuming process.”
Recognizing that the existing technology was no longer meeting its needs, Cera decided to look for a single solution that would replace all these systems. It began searching for a comprehensive, all-in-one solution that would provide employees with quick access to unified data. Overall, it needed a more flexible business management system that would provide real-time insight into business operations, streamline processes, and significantly reduce data entry mistakes.
Solution
Cera initially considered a range of solutions, including those from SAP, but ultimately decided on Microsoft Dynamics™ NAV 2009.
Factors considered during the selection process were familiar user experience, ease of use of the software for users, and integration with other Microsoft products.
Cera called on the expertise of Microsoft Gold Certified Partner CorporateServe Solutions Pvt. Ltd. to perform the implementation.
“Our key objective was to have single window application integrated business process,” says Vidush Somany, Executive Director, Cera Sanitaryware. “Microsoft Dynamics NAV has helped us achieve this objective quickly, efficiently, and cost effectively.”
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 offers an affordable toolset that can be customized to the company’s needs. It integrates multiple departments by delivering a single, real-time view into all information. This easy-to-access information provides employees with greater insight into business processes.
The implementation was carried from August 2009 to December 2009. A parallel run was done for three months including trainings and it went live on 1 April 2010. It was implemented at one factory location, 12 depots, and 5 office locations. Cera deployed the Production, Purchase, Finance, Sales, and Marketing modules. Currently it has been deployed for 100 concurrent users.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV features a built-in development environment in addition to a flexible architecture, facilitating easy customization. Some of the key customizations built included discount pattern for sales, production process, and user setup according to division and location.
The flexible architecture of Microsoft Dynamics NAV also supports seamless integration with independent software vendor applications. For example, sales employees of the company effectively use GoGLobal, third party software, while on the field. “Our sales personnel can book orders even while on the move,” says Atul Sanghvi, President-Sales & Marketing, Cera Sanitaryware. “This saves time as at the end of the day they need not reenter the data in the main database, it is automatically updated. Microsoft Dynamics NAV connects smoothly with the application, which helps us to maximize our technology investment.”
The new environment has resulted in a centrally managed solution that spans the entire company. It has already enabled Cera to achieve significant operational and business gains.
Benefits
With the enhanced flexibility, new features and capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009, Cera benefits from a fully integrated solution platform to take advantage of its existing IT investment while pursuing growth. The company is completely satisfied with the high level of performance from Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
Improves Quality of Service
In an increasingly competitive market environment, Cera, a customer centric company, needs to stay competitive. With new integrated system, it is now better equipped to take on the marketplace, and most importantly, maximize management visibility and traceability. Centralizing management of business processes and data helps the company improve customer service.
As Vidush Somany, Executive Director, Cera Sanitaryware says, “Microsoft Dynamics NAV has tied all information together. This gives everyone access to the same, consistent information throughout the organization. With the new solution, we can provide information to customers in a faster manner and at a higher quality than ever before thus, ensuring total customer satisfaction.”
Increases Visibility into Business
Microsoft Dynamics NAV provides a comprehensive system for all business information. As it provides a clear view of all business activities, the company is able to make quick decisions in a fast-paced business environment.
“The biggest benefit is that Microsoft Dynamics NAV provides consistent, accurate information we can analyze,” Vidush Somany, Executive Director, Cera Sanitaryware. “The improved data visibility in turn enhances our decision-making capabilities.”
Provides Greater Efficiency
The sales team at Cera is extremely happy with the implementation. “Earlier preparing a sales order (SO) consisting of 150 lines used to take us 45 minutes,” says Atul Sanghvi, President-Sales and Marketing, Cera Sanitaryware. “Now, with a fully automated process, we can do the same task in just 10 minutes.”
Microsoft Dynamics NAV has helped the company automate time-consuming processes to reduce workload. It has taken the pain out of daily processes thus simplifying all tasks.
Enables Faster Report Generation
Easier integration has also enabled employees to easily access business information that they need, which significantly eases the task of reporting. Microsoft Dynamics NAV makes it easy for employees to slice, dice, and extract the right information to prepare various reports including MIS for sales performance, and sales hierarchy. “A task that takes just a click to complete as compared to several days of pulling and collecting information.” says M.K. Bhandari, Director–Technical, Cera Sanitaryware.
Accelerates Forecasting
Managing data on a real-time basis gives the company greater control on budgeting, planning and also costing. “We can see the advantages of having an up-to-date view of activities across the organization,” says R.B. Shah, President and Chief Financial Officer, Cera Sanitaryware. “Balance sheets and profit and loss statements are easily accessible. And we know exactly where we are with our budgets. This means we can forecast more effectively.”
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics 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 systemsthat 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:
www.microsoft.com/dynamics
About CorporateServe Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
CorporateServe is one of the leading Microsoft Dynamics ERP implementation companies in India. CorporateServe implements Microsoft Dynamics. The strength of CorporateServe lies in its focused approach on only one business. The company has strong skill set and established methodology for operations.
CorporateServe was awarded Microsoft’s prestigious President Club Award for 2007 and 2008 amongst partners worldwide for its outstanding performance for 2006-07 and for 2007-09. CorporateServe was awarded “MBS Partner of the Year 2010: Most Consistent Performance”
CorporateServe has been a successful ERP implementation company and has created a number of success stories in ERP business that includes Life Sciences, Professional Services, Education, Publishing, Real Estate, Auto Engineering, Textile and Chemicals.