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Over the past 15 years, Marico has been continually improvising, building new
brands. It has created new categories and dominated markets with shares close to
a 100 percent. Having moved up from products to service, Marico has now taken
its brands to 24 countries worldwide, building a powerful franchise of 13 crore
loyal consumers. During this period, Marico has progressed from being a largely
industrial enterprise to a more consumer-focused entity, creating enduring value
for its consumers through a wide range of solutions – products and services.
Marico Limited, a consumer goods company, wanted to simplify its business
operations. In order to meet the growing needs of the company globally and to
streamline its internal business processes, Marico implemented Microsoft®
Dynamics™ NAV 4.0. Customized and deployed by All e Technologies, Marico has
benefited from the solution significantly by way of reduced operational costs,
improved employee productivity and enhanced customer services.
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| Situation |
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Marico Limited is a leading Indian corporation that operates companies in the
hair care, health care and skin care segments of the beauty and wellness
consumer goods market in India and abroad. In India, Marico is headquartered in
Mumbai.
Marico markets well-known brands such as Parachute, Saffola, Sweekar, Hair &
Care, Nihar, Shanti, Mediker, Revive, Kaya, Sundari, Aromatic, Fiancee and
HairCode. Marico’s brands and their extensions occupy leadership positions with
significant market shares in most categories - Coconut Oil, Hair Oils, Anti-lice
Treatment, Premium Refined Edible Oils, post-wash hair care and niche Fabric
Care etc. Marico is present in the Skin Care Services segment through Kaya Skin
Clinics (48 in India and The Middle East), the Sundari range of Spa skin care
products (in the USA & other countries) and also through an acquired nascent
soap franchise (in India and Bangladesh).
Marico's branded products are also present in Bangladesh, other SAARC countries,
the Middle East and Egypt. The Overseas Sales franchise of Marico’s Consumer
Products (whether as exports from India or as local operations in a foreign
country) is one of the largest amongst Indian Companies and is entirely in
branded products and services. Every month, over 70 Million consumer packs from
Marico reach approximately 130 Million consumers in about 23 Million households,
through a widespread distribution network of more than 2.5 Million outlets in
India and overseas.
Marico Egypt LCC (MELCC) is a part of Marico Group of Companies. Currently MELCC
is supplying RM/PM to subcontractor EAIIDC for FG processing. Thus, MELCC will
be made as single company in the database and EAIIDC is being treated as a
vendor.
MELCC was using a Windows XP based peer to peer network without any domain along
with Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet software for managing accounts. All the
data including Master data available in file structure format as no database was
being used to store this data. Also, most of the data was available in Arabic
language. This existing system was actually a semi manual system in place
without any multilanguage functionality.
While scrutinizing/internalizing, the company's executives realized that the
number of data transactions were growing by significant amount. The critical
nature of the transactions was also progressively expanding, along with the
increase in confidential data, such as sales information, and partner network
data. All these factors added to the need for high-performance and secure
computing.
With 10 users spaced across Egypt, performing the functions of
sales/purchase/accounting cum inventory tracking, a world class ERP product
implementation had become a necessity. The company found that its existing
system was not able to meet its financial and process requirements. Processing
information took too long and data was being duplicated.
The top management at MELCC felt an immediate need to ensure long-term success
in a competitive market, run company operations more efficiently, and prepare
for further growth in the future. The company needed a business solution to
streamline its business processes. Therefore, MELCC urgently required an
Enterprise system that enables automation of various functions, and at the same
time provide an extremely flexible, customizable and robust information system
for the enterprise.
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The new solution provides Marico with on-time access to accurate information at all the levels, which facilitates decision-making and increases productivity.
Vinod Kamath
Chief Finance & IT, Marico Limited
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| Solution |
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After careful evaluation and researching a number of products on the market,
Marico Limited realized that the solution that adapted best to its business
requirements was Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0. Solutions were tested on their
accounting functionality, business management potential, and operational
suitability.
With All e Technologies as the implementation partner, Marico identified the
exact requirements of the solution and rationalized the implementation process
to help ensure a seamless transition.
“We chose to deploy the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 as it is user friendly, cost
effective and easy to customize,” says Girish Rao, Head IT Solutions.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 was chosen for a number of reasons, the main one
being its excellent ability to create a homogenized environment in which all
sales and information data could be seamlessly integrated. Furthermore, the
company knew that with a familiar Microsoft interface, employees would feel
comfortable using the system immediately.
The company did an “All-e Analysis”, which detailed the functionality directly
available from Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 and the specific points needing
customization.
The solution was customized to cater to Marico’s specific needs. Marico deployed
the Finance (General Ledger), Sales & Receivables, Purchase & Payables, and
Inventory modules successfully. The company customized Microsoft Dynamics NAV
4.0 to match its operations while adding new business-critical functionality.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 was selected because it was fulfilling most of the
organization’s current business requirements and it was a trusted product from
the Microsoft stable.
Some of the customization centered around Arabic language customization and
support. Users desired to have interface captions etc. to be in Arabic because
of limited knowledge of English at the factory. Using Microsoft Dynamics NAV
Language Pack, Interface can be converted into Arabic display.
Additional customization included unique Master Data maintenance. With Microsoft
Dynamics NAV 4.0, the data is entered once into the master and all departments
access the same information. This removes unnecessary delays, duplication of
effort and errors due to human intervention.
Another major reason for implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 was integration
with Integration with Microsoft Office Word and Microsoft Office Excel.
“Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 provides integration with familiar Microsoft Office
productivity tools,” comments Bhagwant Pai, IT Infrastructure Manager. “Data
from the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system is also available to users from within
desktop applications, including Microsoft Office Word 2003 and Microsoft Office
Excel 2003.”
Working with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner All e Technologies, the Marico
team conceived and deployed the solution in just 3 months.
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| Benefits |
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Marico’s business has dramatically improved with the implementation of
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0. The company has seen many benefits from this
implementation.
Excellent Integration
Along with a clear roadmap and the ease of customization, Microsoft Dynamics NAV
4.0 provides integration with familiar Microsoft Office productivity tools. This
enhances collaboration and decision making. Bhagwant Pai, comments: “The broad
access to information and tight integration between the desktop and enterprise
systems are among the few reasons why we chose Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0.”
Easy Customization
With the help of All e Technologies, Marico has customized the solution to take
advantage of the flexibility of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0. “Earlier we were not
able to quickly access information, which used to result in delay in taking
immediate business decisions,” explains Ravin Mody, Egypt Finance. “Now, after
implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 this information is available in real
time.”
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Since Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 allows greater product customization; Marico
has been able to match the stringent needs of its customers. This has led to
improved customer satisfaction, which is reflected in the form of increased
sales.
“Customer satisfaction has increased by 25 percent,” says Brajesh Bajpai,
Country Head Egypt, Marico. “The implementation of the new solution has helped
us to become a more efficient, and capable organization.”
Extended Information Access
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 provides access to standardized information
throughout the organization to the people who need it. Access to this
information ensures that all employees know exactly what needs to be done. It
helps the employees to get the required information about their clients and
other ongoing business processes at a click of mouse. “With access to
information, sound decisions can be made,” explains Brajesh Bajpai, Country Head
Egypt. “This has increased our employee’s productivity levels by 20 percent.”
About All e Technologies
All e Technologies is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner that focuses on
deploying Microsoft Dynamics based solutions for its customers. The company has
offices in India, Germany, Switzerland, the United States, Mauritius, and New
Zealand. The Indian operations provide the backbone for global fulfillment and
technology competence. The ISO 9001:2000–certified offshore development and
services center in India forms an integral part of its offerings—enabling All e
Technologies to offer compelling advantages of high-quality global fulfillment
with reduced costs to its customers.
About Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics, a division of Microsoft, offers a wide range of integrated,
end-to-end business applications and services designed to help small, midsize,
and corporate businesses become more connected with customers, employees,
partners, and suppliers. Microsoft Dynamics applications optimize strategic
business processes across financial management, analytics, human resources
management, project management, customer relationship management, field service
management, supply chain management, e-commerce, manufacturing, and retail
management. More information about Microsoft Dynamics can be found at:
www.microsoft.com/dynamics/
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft
Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada
Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing
can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the
United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and
Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information
using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com
For more information about All e Technologies products and services, call +91
120 25886-56, 57, 58, 59 or visit the Web site at:
www.alletec.com
For more information about Marico Limited products and services, call +91 22
66480480 or visit the Web site at: www.maricoindia.com
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