SoluGrowth, leading South African business process solutions company with DAC Systems as specialist ERP implementation partner, has recently implemented the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Business Central) platform at the Food & Beverages Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority (FoodBev SETA).
The initial phase of the project implemented General Ledger, Budgeting, Journal Entry Process, Cash Management, Asset Management, Creditors/Debtors Management, Vendor Management, Contract Management, Purchasing Management, and Projects functionality as well as Reports. This enabled FoodBev SETA to enjoy a new more robust set of business management tools from the outset.
Subsequent to that, the project and technical teams of DAC Systems performed custom development of the following modules to comply with the business requirements for FoodBev:
- Levies and Grants module
- Purchase requisition module
- Enhancements to GL Budget module
- Enhancements to Projects Budget module
- Enhancements to procurement module
- Demand Management module
- BBBEE functionality
- Integration with National Treasury’s Central Supplier Database (CSD)
The cutover from the old to the new system was a seamless process that did not result in any downtime or business disruption.
The challenge
Like every other SETA, FoodBev uses a specialised Levies and Grants module in its ERP environment to collect the monthly skills development levies that all companies pay to the SA Revenue Services (SARS).
“This results in a significant amount of financial data that must be imported into an ERP system. In turn, specialised calculations must be done to ensure the levies and grants payments remain updated for a period that stretch back to 2000. Additionally, certain processes must be followed with levies and grants needing to be paid out four times per year to employers who qualify for mandatory grants. The system must perform automated calculations for grant payments. Given the sensitivity of the payments, there can be no errors,” says Laetitia Cassidy, Manager at SoluGrowth.
The solution
“SoluGrowth and DAC identified the best system that would meet all the needs of FoodBev and Business Central was the logical choice and ticked all the boxes. The system was rolled out at FoodBev to provide the organisation with a more effective way of integrating its data while accessing a custom-developed Levies and Grants module,” adds Cassidy.
It was important for FoodBev to ensure the necessary training for system users to become comfortable with the new environment.
“SoluGrowth follows a System Development Lifecycle Process (SDLC) model to work closely with a client to best determine their needs and make them an integral part of the process. DAC provided extensive functional and technical support to ensure that the project was a success. Together, we worked with the client, conducted extensive system user training, and helped to ensure that the company embraced the new environment,” she adds.
As the saying goes “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional” and in this case growth was the common goal and at SoluGrowth we pride ourselves in being a growth partner to our clients.
The benefits
Business Central introduced efficiencies into the systems process of FoodBev and especially the analytics and reporting features assists FoodBev in making decisions based on real-time access to business intelligence.
Using Business Central, FoodBev can easily scale to meet demand during peak data processing times such as when levies must be collected, and grants paid. Business Central also integrates into the existing Microsoft environment of FoodBev to maximise the existing investment the organisation has made in Office 365 and other applications.
The cloud-based architecture of Business Central includes disaster recovery as part of the service offering.
“The flexibility of using a solution like Business Central allows FoodBev to securely access data from the cloud using the latest technology that can scale according to virtually any use case. It also provides SoluGrowth with a solution that can easily be implemented at any other SETA to ensure accurate and timeous levies and rates pay outs,” says Cassidy.
The future
SoluGrowth and DAC Systems will continue to optimise the FoodBev solution in line with regulatory, reporting and process advancements.
“Microsoft platforms, like Business Central we implemented at FoodBev SETA, offer incredible flexibility and ease of customisation, allowing us to effectively cater to the unique requirements of each client. Our partnership with SoluGrowth and our expertise in Microsoft solutions have enabled us to design and implement systems that directly meet our clients’ needs, no matter how specialised they might be. This illustrates the power of Microsoft’s flexible platforms and our commitment to delivering tailored solutions that drive growth and operational efficiency,” says Tinus Botha, Programme Manager at DAC Systems.
