Invensys Operations Management is out to make it easier and less expensive for small electric utilities in the United States to participate in smart grid, an energy modernization program supported by the U.S. government. Utilities need a high-performance, low-cost way to distribute real-time pricing data to customers so that they can make smarter consumption decisions. Invensys responded by creating a smart grid communications platform using The Service Bus and Access Control Service, both part of the Windows Azure™ platform. The resulting platform enables utilities to immediately embrace smart grid services at affordable prices. Such services will help utility customers save money by using energy more wisely. Invensys developed its pilot solution in just three months as part of a plan to realize increased revenues from selling smart grid–compliant products and services.

Metalman Auto syncs Sales, Procurement and Production to improve bottomline by 10 percent

Food manufacturer and distributor Halwani Brothers (Egypt) wanted to improve the company’s productivity, efficiency, and profitability by replacing its existing business management system. Working with Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner RIGHT, the company deployed Microsoft Dynamics® AX 2009 at its head office and six branches. The software has cut operating costs by 50 per cent and given managers a single view of financial data across the group.

BMI Defense Systems designs and manufactures protective equipment with patented energy-absorbing designs for the U.S. military. In 2008, the company won a multimillion-dollar contract to ship a gunner platform and restraint system in direct support of the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan under the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle program. Faced with a need to exponentially scale up its operations, BMI Defense worked with Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner SIS to implement Microsoft Dynamics® SL for accounting, supply chain, and manufacturing. The solution helped BMI Defense better demonstrate to the government its direct and indirect costs for the new contract, thereby saving the company more than the amount it cost to implement the system. In addition, BMI Defense now tracks inventory with greater accuracy and is better able to meet shipment schedules.

Russia's "Borovicheski Plant,' the country's largest producer of fire retardent materials has implemented an ERP system based on Microsoft Dynamics AX to better manage orders planning and cost control, while automating its supply chain procedures.

“Flint and Co” (“KSI Corporation”) together with Microsoft partner “Impact-Soft” implement an enterprise management solution based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The new system based on Dynamics NAV manages the production of point-of-sales terminals and electronic gambling machines.

Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe (MCFE) is a joint venture between forklift manufacturers Mitsubishi and Caterpillar. The company manufactures, sells, and distributes 18,000 forklifts and related spare parts each year. MCFE relied on manual or sometimes paper-based processes to support dealer inquiries and orders, resulting in missed orders or unanswered dealer requests. To improve the forklift configuration and ordering process, the company deployed Microsoft Dynamics® CRM 4.0. Because of the flexible xRM development platform that underpins Microsoft Dynamics CRM, MCFE created several customized applications. By using xRM to rapidly develop relational business applications, MCFE has increased employee productivity, improved its ability to respond to business needs, reduced development costs by 60 percent, and improved order processing times.

United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM) operates the most technically advanced cement plant south of the Sahara. The company needed a modern business process management system to comply with new reporting standards and improve controls. After considering SAP and JD Edwards software, UNICEM opted for Microsoft Dynamics® NAV 2009, which was implemented for 45 per cent less than the cost of deploying SAP, and exceeded targets set by UNICEM.

Polaris Industries Inc. is the number one off-road vehicle manufacturer in the world and a recognized leader in the snowmobile industry. The company relied on a group of unconnected systems to provide support to customers and a network of 1,500 dealers. Because these systems did not share information, Polaris support teams could not effectively track individual dealer issues, and it was difficult to assess the performance of the teams holistically. Polaris evaluated several solutions, but chose Microsoft Dynamics® CRM as an application platform layer because of its superior technical flexibility and cost effectiveness. After deploying several applications to its various support operations, Polaris continues to extend Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a platform for other projects, including a dealer extranet and e-commerce Web site.

One company that has actually seen business increase during an economic downturn is supply-chain services firm PCH International. The company quickly realized, however, that its current enterprise resource planning system could no longer keep up with its growth. PCH began looking for a system that could automate tasks that employees had to perform manually and integrate and unify company data for faster, more efficient storage and retrieval. Working closely with Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner ePartners, PCH implemented Microsoft Dynamics® AX 2009 at its headquarters. Soon after, the company deployed the solution to six other locations. Now, the company benefits from border-free data access and management; faster, more cost-efficient transactions; and improved compliance with local tax codes and financial regulations.