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Blundstone taps Microsoft Dynamics 365 in ERP refresh
Iconic footwear company has migrated its legacy ERP system to Dynamics 365 to support the demands of its growing business
Australian footwear company Blundstone has migrated its legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to Microsoft Dynamics 365 as part of its roadmap to leverage cloud-native technology across its operations in Australia, New Zealand and the US.
The deployment, led by Avanade, an IT services and consulting firm specialising in the Microsoft platform, was driven not only by Blundstone’s ageing ERP system, but also demands from a growing business whose products are sold in more than 70 countries.
By reducing processing time, automating business processes and improving supply chain accuracy, Dynamics 365 has helped Blundstone achieve record-breaking sales during the holiday season, with only a fraction of the system capacity used, while benefitting from built-in cyber security and disaster recovery features.
In addition, Blundstone has improved agility, efficiency at scale, automation and data-driven decision-making. The business outcomes it has achieved from the cloud-based ERP system include faster shipping through direct application programming interface integrations, reduced infrastructure costs and automated planning, eliminating manually maintained spreadsheets.
Blundstone chief information officer Matthew Mann said Avanade provided the company with the expertise and capability to transform its systems in a short timeframe to achieve the record-breaking results.
“Our business strategy is anchored on building a reliable digital infrastructure, and the cloud is a crucial part of our roadmap,” he said. “Working closely with Avanade, we were able to deploy Microsoft Dynamics 365, with a focus on out-of-the-box functionality, allowing for a rapid implementation schedule and the use of proven business workflows.
“This enabled us to be ready ahead of our peak season,” said Mann. “Time was of the essence – we did not have the luxury of time to learn new processes, and we had to be ready for the peak holiday shopping season. We needed a platform to successfully manage a large-scale and diverse project while innovating as we progressed.”
Read more about ERP in APAC
- More than half of enterprises are expected to use industry cloud platforms that combine cloud-based infrastructure, platform and application services to accelerate their business by 2027.
- Vallen Asia’s cloud ERP system has enabled it to scale its operations across the region and made its supply chain operations more resilient amid the pandemic.
- A majority of large enterprises in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore are planning to move their financial applications to the cloud.
- Mid-market ERP software provider Unit4 is ramping up its investments in APAC, starting a new R&D centre in Jakarta.
Organisations across the region are reinvesting in ERP systems once again as they emerge from the throes of the pandemic, with the global ERP market expected to more than double between 2019 and 2026, according to industry estimates.
In Asia-Pacific, a TechTarget/Computer Weekly study revealed that ERP was at the top of the priority list of backend applications that organisations are looking to spend more on in the coming years.
