Fleetwood Corporation

Fleetwood Expands Business, Riding on Manufacturing and Financial Management System

Perth-based Fleetwood Corporation has eight divisions including manufacturing, rental, retailing caravans, campervans, transportable homes, and a chain of holiday parks. Fleetwood's mission is to "deliver the promise" in providing mobile accommodations for retirement, recreation, and resource. The high-growth company has implemented a new manufacturing and financial management system to support its future expansion. Fleetwood Corporation is using Microsoft® Business Solutions for Financial Management–Navision® (now part of Microsoft Dynamics™) to streamline its entire operations.

Situation

The company has grown rapidly through acquisitions including Hertz Campervans in 1997, Coromal Caravans in 1999, and in 2000, caravan components manufacturer Camec and Flexiglass Challenge, manufacturers of fibreglass canopies. Fleetwood Corporation now operates eight divisions, of which five are manufacturers.

Fleetwood Group Financial Controller, Mr. Brad Denison said the company is well-positioned to be the leading provider of recreational vehicles and transportable accommodation in Australia. Following the acquisitions, Fleetwood required a cost-effective and versatile business solution that would manage the manufacturing side of its operations, as well as its rental and sales divisions, and caravan parks.

"As we acquired each business, we took on their existing control system. Most have retained their existing management, so up until about 12 months ago, we had five different financial packages in use throughout the group," Mr. Denison said. "With that came five different software vendors and virtually no economy of scale. We looked for a system that was flexible enough to be integrated group-wide to replace several redundant systems at each division."

Solution

We looked for a system that was flexible enough to be integrated group-wide to replace several redundant systems at each division. Brad Denison Financial Controller, Fleetwood Corporation

Mr. Denison said they had divisions using combinations of Microsoft® Office Excel® 2003 spreadsheets, Microsoft Access databases, and small, off-the-shelf accounting packages to produce the management reports that the company's board of directors required. "The key was to replace this with one package that was particularly strong in supply chain management and would allow more effective and efficient reporting," he said.

Mr. Denison said the tender process, which started in June 2001, was long and comprehensive because each division had individual requirements. "We spent several months preparing a very detailed document in-house that outlined our requirements for every division," Mr. Denison said. "This was critical to the project's success, because our people were able to take ownership of it and define our true requirements as a whole."

The tender process opened with submissions from nine software resellers, from which the Perth-based Focal Systems, a Microsoft Business Solutions Partner, was chosen. Mr. Denison said Focal Systems was selected due to the company's local reputation and longevity–it was established in 1987.

Benefits

"Now that we hold that knowledge in-house, we can continue the deployment to a couple of divisions at a time," Mr. Denison said. "I expect each division to come on-line in about half the time required by the initial pilot."

Effectiveness

Fleetwood has an interesting gauge of potential return on investment for their Microsoft® Business Solutions for Financial Management–Navision® implementation: The potential gains from deploying just Microsoft Navision Materials Requirements Planning to the manufacturing divisions could pay for the project within five years.

"There isn't a specific group-wide financial measurement of the success of this implementation because those things can only be considered on an individual basis for each division," Mr. Denison said. "We've never had an effective manufacturing resources planning system anywhere in the group. Microsoft Financial Management–Navision will provide that for our five manufacturing divisions. It's helping us with a direct reduction in stock so that we can free up funds for other activities."

Ease of Use

That Microsoft Navision is a good fit for each of Fleetwood's eight divisions attests to the application's immense flexibility. Flemming Beisner Managing Director of Microsoft Business Solutions-Australia/Asia

Across the organisation, Mr. Denison said Microsoft Financial Management–Navision would be central to Fleetwood keeping a strong rein on the group's operations throughout its current and future expansion. Flemming Beisner, Managing Director of Microsoft Business Solutions–Australia and Asia, said Fleetwood Corporation's use of Microsoft Financial Management–Navision showcased the software's flexibility, ease of use, and strong integration capabilities.

Close Control

"Microsoft Financial Management–Navision is facilitating Fleetwood's close control over its own operations, which means the company can continue to power ahead rather than be held back by inadequate business solutions that hamper the decision-making process," Mr. Beisner said. "That Microsoft Financial Management–Navision is a good fit for each of Fleetwood's eight divisions attests to the application's immense flexibility."

Partner Details

Focal Systems is a leading information technology (IT) services company in Western Australia that implements and supports Microsoft Financial Management–Navision for medium-sized companies. The company offers global software with local IT expertise. Focal Systems services 19 clients including Toyota WA and Jandakot Airport.

Last year, Focal Systems was named Microsoft Navision Most Valued Partner. Focal Systems was established in 1987 by Managing Director Mick Cook. It was with Focal Systems' guidance that Fleetwood, from June 2003, was able to drive its Microsoft Financial Management–Navision implementation internally, almost halving initial cost estimates for the project.

"Because of the flexibility of the Microsoft Navision application, and the way it is simple to use, we spent most of the consulting time with Focal Systems, educating our project team. Within four months, we were driving the project but Focal were there with us the whole time," Mr. Denison said.

"After that, our team effectively deployed the software themselves," Mr. Denison said. Focal Systems Sales Director, Mr. Bill Jarman, said the implementation went relatively smoothly.

"Working closely with Focal Systems' supply chain consultants and utilising Microsoft Business Solutions' ‘on target' implementation method, Fleetwood conducted and led the implementation approach," Mr. Jarman said. "This resulted in a close alignment between their initial expectations and the ultimate project outcomes." The parent company, Coromal Caravans, and the Parks divisions have gone live with Microsoft Navision in March 2004. All eight divisions are expected to be fully operational by the second half of 2004.

"Having a strong Perth presence was significant for us because the Perth market is fairly fickle—enterprise resource planning vendors seem to come and go," Mr. Denison said. "We felt comfortable with Focal Systems. They have a solid history in Perth with a strong base of customers and a bright future. Because they're aligned with Microsoft Business Solutions, we knew we would be supported right across Australia and New Zealand."

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 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:
www.microsoft.com/dynamics

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For more information about Fleetwood Systems products and services, call 61 8 9323 3300 or visit the Web site at: www.fleetwood.com.au

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