MIGRATING ERP TO THE CLOUD ALSO ACCELERATES ONGOING IMPLEMENTATIONS OF NEW FEATURES
THE SOLUTION
The base functionality of on-premises legacy ERP systems can continue to work efficiently for many years. However, as complementary technologies evolve—such as add-on applications that enhance the features of the system—it can be difficult to maintain system integrations. This was the challenge facing Crimson Wine Group, which previously relied on a legacy version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV customized for the wine industry.
“Because we have integrations with multiple third-party add-ons that we rely on to run our operations efficiently, we were frequently interacting with our previous ERP partner to get custom workflows to work properly,” explains Kimberly Benson, Vice President of Finance. “Part of the reason was the base ERP system was reaching end-of-support status, so we were looking at having to go through a major upgrade.”
One of the most critical third-party solutions that Benson needed the ERP platform to integrate with was Continia, which Crimson Wine Group uses to capture invoice images and process accounts payable. Other key integrations involved tools for bulk wine management, budgeting, forecasting, and workflow automation.
“We first considered upgrading to the newest on-premises version of Dynamics NAV but also considered this a good opportunity to move our ERP system to the cloud,” Benson says. “The cloud would allow us to take advantage of new functionality that’s released regularly—rather than waiting three years for another on-premises upgrade.”
With the previous ERP partner not yet ready to offer their custom solution in the cloud, Benson turned to the Amican Group, which specializes in ERP deployments for the wine industry. Amican recommended that Crimson Wine Group deploy the 365WineTrade ERP solution from Western Computer.
Running on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in the cloud, Western Computer developed 365WineTrade specifically for the wine and spirits industry. The solution enables wineries and distributors to automate and connect all aspects of their businesses, including the management of supply chains, distribution logistics, finances, purchasing, sales, inventory, and direct-to-consumer sales.
“From past experiences, we knew the Amican team would be supportive and could deliver the right solution for us,” says Benson. “This was key because we not only needed to upgrade to 365WineTrade in the cloud but also collaborate with a partner who could take us there and then support us going forward.”
Throughout Benson’s career, she has been involved in six ERP implementations and says, “The deployment of 365WineTrade was by far the smoothest. It helped that we were migrating from Dynamics NAV to another solution built on the Dynamics platform. From a data structure and data mapping perspective, the two solutions are similar, and we had solid core data to start with.”
There was very little Crimson Wine Group needed to fundamentally change from a workflow perspective, and the transition was easy for end users. The migration of the ERP system from on-premises to the cloud also occurred at a good time—given that Crimson Wine Group had decentralized its operations during Covid, moving employees from corporate headquarters to working out of the wineries. Employees can easily access the ERP data that’s transacted and stored in the cloud—no matter which winery they work at as well as from home offices and on the road.
THE BENEFITS
With 365WineTrade running in the cloud, Crimson Wine Group has a constantly updated system and does not need to invest in deploying and supporting hardware. “We don’t have to take on the challenge and disruption of upgrading an on-premises system every few years,” Benson says.
Conversely, the cloud model allows Crimson Wine Group to continuously upgrade in small iterations as new versions of 365WineTrade and Business Central are released. Benson does not have to force users to take advantage of new features on day one—she has the option to implement new functionality with manageable, small projects rather than a big-bang effort.
One of the critical areas where Crimson Wine Group relies on 365WineTrade the most is finished goods inventory management. With the 365WineTrade vertical integration layered on top of Business Central, Benson and her team can perpetually manage inventory and costing. This includes unit conversions, excise taxes, and pallet and brand and label. “All of these functions are unique to the wine industry and align closely with how we look at data and our core requirements for managing inventory,” Benson points out.
Although Crimson Wine Group has not enabled some of the capabilities of 365WineTrade—such as vineyard management—Benson appreciates being able to add more functions if the business requirements change. She also values the flexibility Western Computer has built into 365WineTrade, which allows for integration with third-party applications, such as a bulk wine management solution that the winemakers enjoy using.
The automation of bank reconciliations and payment journals is another key benefit. “Plus, there's an analysis toggle view in the 365WineTrade tables that our accounting is taking advantage of when running reports,” Benson adds. “They don’t have to dump data to Excel and pivot as often.”
From the customer perspective, 365WineTrade allows Crimson Wine Group to interact efficiently when invoicing wholesalers. For direct-to-consumer retail customers, 365WineTrade has enabled Crimson Wine Group to add new payment capabilities to its e-commerce platform, such as Apple Pay and Tock, which is used for prepaid tasting room reservations.
365WineTrade helps with vendor interactions as well by reducing the time it takes to drive approvals of invoice payments and expenses by generating email notifications to prompt approvers to act. As soon as an invoice or expense comes in that requires approval, the appropriate approver is notified immediately. “We plan to start using electronic bill payments too in order to eliminate paper checks, and we have made improvements in the payment journal process that help us move through check runs and payment batches quicker,” says Benson.
Ultimately, Benson points to the improved data integrations with other systems as the primary benefit of deploying 365WineTrade. “We were at an impasse with our data integrations on the legacy system and were facing a cliff,” Benson says. “365WineTrade allows those integrations to persist and streamlines workflow approvals, which improves our business efficiencies and transparency. We also have fewer interruptions and job failures.”