Microsoft Dynamics Case Studies

Case Study

Apparel Stores, External Consultants, Finance, and Production Get Instant Data and Cut Steps

As Tanner Companies, a 77-year-old womens apparel enterprise, grew to 1,700 consultants, 12 stores, and approached U.S.$100 million in revenues, its systems strained to track 72,000 SKUs. Microsoft Dynamics AX soon became the enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, cutting task time and helping manage sales, manufacturing, finance, and distribution. But aging store systems bogged down during polls, which stopped checkouts, repricing, and replenishment. Hard copies, faxes, and double data entry were still required. Tanner evaluated seven point-of-sale systems, three in detail. Managers concurred that Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System would complete the companys end-to-end integration. Within 90 days, Tanner had instant visibility of all transactions, customer histories, stock levels, income, and store profits.

Case Study

Twenty-Store Tourist Chain Lowers Costs and Task Times, Expects Two-Year Payback

Managing Historic Tours Retails 20 locations once seemed like running 20 separate businesses. Each store carries its own merchandise, and chain-wide inventory grew to 30,000 SKUs from 3,000 suppliers. Communication to corporate was spotty. Staff spent hundreds of hours monthly consolidating and verifying data. But associates liked the power of legacy QuickSell 2000, which proved hard to duplicate. Managements product search rejected J.D. Edwards and Oracle-based systems in favor of Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System installed by Retail Technology Experts (RTE), formerly Business Automation Consultants. Implementation went very smoothly; the staff acquired new capabilities, inventory was trimmed from 15 to 20 percent, month-end closings occur much faster, and instant stock knowledge empowers buyers to snap up fast-moving items before larger competitors do.

Case Study

34-Store Chain Grows 10 Percent Annually with the Help of a New Retail and Financial Solution

Phyllis Heppenstall and daughter Kris founded Peekay, Inc. in 1980 as a direct-marketing company. They saw a market for adult products tastefully presented and sold. In six months, revenues had reached U.S.$500,000. Fiscal year 2007 ended with 31 stores and 20,000 daily transactions. As new marketing channels developed, an Apropos point-of-sale and inventory management system proved difficult to modify. When Peekays initial three-store network of Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, installed by New West Technologies, demonstrated its worth in speed, ease, and flexibility, the comprehensive retail application was expanded chain-wide. Next, management chose Microsoft Dynamics GP to create an enterprisewide solution. Peekay and Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner Tectura rethought and streamlined processes, clearing barriers so expansion can encompass several new stores a year.

Case Study

County Museum Integrates Gift Sales, Admissions, Memberships, and Finances

With no IT solution to build upon, Dallas Countys forming Old Red Museum had to extrapolate future data needs for souvenir sales, customer records, donations, admissions, memberships, and social events. Data had to integrate with a comprehensive financial system and reports had to meet tight non-profit standards. Museum-specific solutions proved costly, and melding disparate business systems was risky. The integrated solution of Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) through Retail Automation Systems and Microsoft Dynamics GP through Aztec Business Solutions provided a central database and the ease of teaching staff many tasks. Initial cost savings were significant and installation and training went fast. Today, transactions and credit card sales are flawless, report and audit power exceeds expectations, and the IT Manager praises his all-Microsoft stack and its support.

Case Study

Specialty Jewelry Chain Boosts Profits by Linking POS, Stock, Purchasing, Accounting

Managing the details and intricacies of a multistate jewelry chain with Web sales had outpaced Christian Bernard Jewelers aging and disjointed IT system. Executives couldnt rely on its sales numbers, stock levels, profit margins, or sales commissions before double-checking data. Support, once costly, was unavailable. After many evaluations, management chose Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) and Microsoft Dynamics GP. MPI-Jeweler® added niche-specific functionality. Today, the CEO has reliable information at near-realtime speeds. The CFO closes books in days, not weeks, and no longer works late doing verification. Sales staff dont call weekly to query paychecks. Perhaps, most important, purchasing is now based on exact knowledge of which products sell best at each store, so display cases are appropriately stocked and negative inventory cannot occur.

Case Study

Hundred-Store Cosmetics Chain Smoothly Applies New Retail System in USA and Canada

When LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics tallied the pain from two disparate POS systems and five databases covering a hundred stores in the United States and Canada, the mandate for system-wide conversion was clear. Corporate staff spent hours manually polling, normalizing, collating, and verifying store data. Month-end closings took weeks. Store managers had to know their systems quirks and update stock changes by hand. Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System offered a solution that could expand with the chain, yet flex as business demands evolved. Tri-City Retail Systems experience installing and integrating this Microsoft® solution into chain stores helped ensure fast, systematic rollout. Today, a central database and strong reporting tools help complete once-tedious chores, monthly closings take a day, and store managers see automated daily updates on their screens each morning.

Case Study

Innovative Retail Concept Integrates Three Microsoft Systems to Run Like a V-8 Engine

Three business partners combined skills to create and implement a new retail concept: An exciting venue where customers select a model car chassis, accessorize it with parts, build it, get pictures taken for a drivers license, competitively race their models, see their names in lights, and even combine several complex transactions on one credit card. Owners studied and rejected 20 software approaches, picking Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) as the most flexible and customizable retail engine around which to assemble the many parts of their system. Three Certified Microsoft® PartnersMerchants Solutions, Retail Information Technology Enterprises, and West Monroe Partnerscombined specialties to co-develop a solution that helped Raceline open on time and below system budget. Today, location managers have the visibility and controls to motivate staff and themselves.

Case Study

Nutrition Supplement Firm Improves Reporting; Stays Competitive

The nutrition and sports supplements industry is a tough business, with national, regional, and local companies competing to offer the lowest prices on products. Capitol Nutrition, which plans to become a large regional player, needed technology that could easily track retail data, such as inventory levels or the cost of goods sold on a particular day. Capitol Nutrition found the answer with an Office Business Application (OBA) from Professional Advantage, a Microsoft® Certified Partner. Using the OBA, Capitol Nutrition can take information from Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System software and analyze it in Microsoft Office Excel® 2007 spreadsheets. Using Office Excel, company employees can quickly and easily analyze and report on critical business data, which helps the company maintain a competitive edge.

Case Study

Discount Retailer Streamlines Sales and Stock Processes with Management System

Discount retailer Diskos sells everyday consumables at its 10 stores in north Wales. Its previous IT system was unable to cope with the large quantities of data generated by its high-volume, low-cost sales, and meaningful sales information was difficult to extract. Microsoft® Partner RSS helped Diskos deploy the Microsoft Retail Management System to automate time-consuming tasks and manage a range of store operations. The solution accelerates and streamlines point-of-sale, inventory, pricing, and promotions and can be tailored to meet specific needs in individual stores. With more detailed information, managers in the head office can now make informed business decisions, while store managers can save a combined 80 hours of administration a weektime they now use for merchandising and serving customers.

Solution Brief

Wine Merchant Streamlines Retail Operations with Innovative Technology

Direct Wine Shipments is a specialist wine retailer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. First established in 1955, the business has become a modern wine merchant, offering numerous services and hosting tasting events to make quality wine more accessible. It has an annual turnover of £1.2 million (U.S.$2.08 million). Direct Wine Shipments examined the market for a solution before choosing to implement Microsoft® Retail Management System, a powerful retail software package that runs on personal computers and helps small to medium-sized retailers manage their store operations and customer marketing. The company worked with Microsoft partner Retail Solutions and Support (RSS) to deploy and customise the solution.