Hampton secures warehouse efficiency with Dynamics 365

Integrated systems support growth and value

Hampton is continually evolving to meet the needs of its customers, from expanding product categories and introducing new technologies to reducing costs and continuously improving supply chain efficiency. Navigating complex international shipping concerns and quickening the pace of product distribution for multiple brands and store locations requires constant attention, planning, visibility, and business insights that can only come with modern and agile business systems.

When a company is selling to high-volume retailers in a highly competitive market, even the smallest reduction in unit pricing makes a significant difference to profitability. To account for supply chain and transportation costs associated with products sourced from Asia, Hampton wanted to improve the agility of systems that track costs. It needed to move beyond standard costing methods, account for true landed costs, and generate pricing with real-time insights to continue providing the best products at the best price to its customers.

A clear view to the business

Hampton’s customers need to have current, accurate views of product data and order status to ensure their inventory meets consumer demand. To fill that need, Hampton required a fully integrated order fulfillment system. One unified Dynamics 365 platform with a 360-degree view of customer account and order data would allow users to see the real-time status of every order, and customers using Hampton’s self-service platform could have confidence, knowing exactly what was ordered and where inventory was at any given time. And automated order status updates could add a layer of service without added labor hours. Real-time, accurate, and optimized warehouse management with an eye to inventory status—from global transportation, to warehouse receiving, and fulfillment—is critical to the success of Hampton’s business.

“As a manufacturer and wholesale distributor, we rely on accurate, complete, and real-time information," said Brian Millsap, Hampton's Senior Vice President and CIO. "Our success depends on efficiency, and Dynamics 365 provides the platform we need to provide world-class service to our customers!”

Betting on Microsoft since 2008

Hampton implemented Microsoft Dynamics AX in 2008. Since that time, the company’s growth has been impressive. Supporting that growth required investments in its people and innovative products. Millsap admits that because their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system was operating smoothly, "our aging AX system never let us down, but we relied on it longer than we should have.” Hampton’s IT team had been preparing for the eventual upgrade for some time, but in late 2021, Hampton’s CEO recognized that to stay competitive and achieve their business goals, it was time to move to Dynamics 365. Engaging Real Dynamics advisors was the first step to meeting their modernization objective.  

Real Dynamics performed a full system assessment to establish the right plan to address Hampton’s requirements. Moving from such an old platform to the new system was daunting, but they were confident that the benefits were well worth the investment. The new single and scalable platform connecting Hampton’s ERP and Warehouse Management System (WMS) would leverage unlimited access to real-time data for reporting and analysis. Internal order fulfillment planning and picking could be tracked and managed more efficiently, and costing processes could be much more accurate. The quality of Hampton’s data would be improved by Dynamics 365’s powerful controls. Now Hampton’s implementation team was energized and committed to a successful implementation.

“Hampton's previous multi-system implementation was limited by a small data pipeline and gaps in system controls," explained Yogesh Kasat, Principal at Real Dynamics. "It was time to move forward and consolidate their systems with Dynamics 365.”

Smarter, faster, better all around

Hampton replaced multiple aging systems with Dynamics 365, and all the powerful functionality that comes with it. Well supported by the partnership with Real Dynamics, the Hampton team’s efforts were quickly rewarded with major improvements in efficiency, data quality, and reporting.

Order fulfillment teams work smarter and faster

One of the biggest wins for Hampton is connected and streamlined order processing in the distribution center. Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management warehouse management system directs pickers to the location of an item in the distribution center down to the precise section and bin, saving associates significant time and energy. Now, tracking inventory through transit, receiving, and fulfillment using automated replenishment alerts and picking bin locator data has improved efficiency—and team cohesion around the distribution center.

Inventory managers have better visibility to product availability

From incoming and to quality control, inventory managers have visibility to products in transit and available stock in the warehouse. They can better manage orders with accurate inventory data, which in turn enables more precision when verifying item location, quantity, and availability. 

“With Dynamics 365, we optimized the picking process to deliver record pick and ship numbers within 90 days [of go-live]," said Flor Salcedo, Hampton's Director of Operations and Continuous Improvement. "That means our productivity has significantly improved already.” 

Customer service is efficient, personal, and proactive

Customer service agents have gained a complete view of each retailer’s history, current order status, and future needs. With end-to-end integration and a single source of data, they can confirm orders with confidence that stock is available and ready to ship without checking with the inventory team offline. An intuitive user interface, automated workflows, and consistent and accurate process documentation make even new users productive in a short time.

Accounting processes are streamlined and secure

Dynamics 365 Finance has transformed Hampton’s accounting processes. Accounting specialists process financial transactions faster, accurately, and securely with access to finance and operational data in real time, without waiting for offline business cycles. They can rely on accurate forecasting based on precise inventory cost models and visibility into total inventory value, whether in warehouse or in transit. Dynamics 365 Finance simplifies management of fixed assets, revenue deferment, and year-end closing. With streamlined workflows and a central data source, manual journal entry is no longer needed. Finance managers especially value the simplified regulatory reporting, electronic invoicing, and global payment management that Dynamics 365 Finance offers.

Procurement and sales potential are unlocked

Procurement and sales teams work more efficiently with Dynamics 365. Procurement teams can use real-time inventory visibility and master planning to recommend replenishment orders, and the landed cost capability to forecast international supplier product and transportation costs. Sales teams can view wholesale pricing and adjust their sales orders in real time. Linked purchase orders and invoice processing makes helping retailers with billing and pricing issues seamless.

Now, inventory managers seamlessly control stock availability for a large variety of hardware SKUs across channels. Inventory allocation gives them confidence that the right products are in the right place at the right time. They can easily locate stock in warehouse picking bins, and thanks to auto-replenishment capabilities they avoid stock outages. Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management automates operations, processing orders and shipments with real-time inventory location tracking—anywhere on earth.

“Our distribution and support teams are better connected via Dynamics 365 with access to all relevant product information," said Dora Elena, Hampton's Vice President of Engineering and Operations. "We have significantly reduced the need for separate information platforms and the risk of data inaccuracies."

With Dynamics 365, business processes are connected, streamlined, and standardized across all departments. With new automated processes, manual tasks have been eliminated and accuracy has improved.

Ready for the future

Bringing systems together, adding functionality, and equipping the team with the right tools has secured an even brighter future for Hampton. The company has its eye on more innovation and is looking at expanding on Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management warehouse automation capabilities like templated workflow directives that automatically shepherd purchase orders through the system, and out-of-the-box support for next-generation barcode scanners.

Hampton is also interested in using Dynamics 365 Finance invoice capture to automate its accounting process using artificial intelligence (AI) and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities. The company is exploring the remarkable potential of generative AI and Microsoft Copilot to boost the efficiency of its sales, service, and supply chain operations.

Hampton’s IT department is pleased to announce this will be “the last ERP implementation we will ever do,” referring to the regular updates Microsoft automatically manages, unlocking new functionality and security on a reliable and user-friendly platform.