Agribusiness Company Centralizes Tools and Training

Services Professionnels
Professional Services
Montréal, QC
6 months
Microsoft Dynamics 365 & Power Platform
Desktop & Mobile
Brief
Contexte
When a global company specializing in frozen food procurement seeks to modernize its operations, it is as much its systems as its processes that need to be addressed. The company is responding to the international demands of distributors who often need to have large quantities of food products delivered to a port as quickly as possible. Faced with these demands, the company's first task is to produce a price estimate. This is where the organization is at a disadvantage. With an in-person estimating system and paper price lists, it is difficult to provide quick pricing to its impatient customers. XRM Vision is proud to have been able to modernize its systems and help the company with its transformation.
The challenge
Le défi
The first challenge was to provide an alternative to a system that relied on paper lists, they needed to centralize the estimating tools. But another roadblock stood in the way of the digital shift. The company already had a Dynamics 365 system in place with some Power Apps integrations. However, these tools were not being used effectively, as they had been implemented with a "piecemeal" approach that did not allow for good consistency between tools and processes. This was a barrier to early adoption of the cloud, as the system did not offer real efficiency improvements. For XRM Vision, it was also important to think of solutions that would prevent this issue from happening again in the future.
The solution
La solution
XRM Vision envisioned and designed a multi-step solution that would not only enable reliable implementation of tools, but also ensure that their adoption would be smooth. We started with a training plan built around the cloud strategy and its growth. We then assembled a custom technology solution based on Power Apps, Power Automate, Business Process Flows and that would allow for Power BI reporting. The solution is also integrated with Sharepoint with governance managed from the CoE (Center of Excellence) Starter Kit. Similarly, Quick Quotes allows to share information with customers quickly and efficiently.

Challenges encountered

  • Complex and slow paper-based system;
  • Lack of consistency in existing cloud systems;
  • Applications that do not communicate with each other;
  • Need for real-time data;
  • Need for fresh thinking on cloud usage and implementation.

Goals

  • Centralize the information necessary for the proper functioning of the company;
  • Bring more consistency between cloud tools;
  • Bring more speed to the processing of customer requests;
  • Create a cloud culture that will allow the company to grow thanks to the flexibility of the tools. 

Agribusiness industry: think human before cloud  

From the beginning of the project, the XRM Vision team knew that the success of the solution would depend on the humans who would support it later. The first step in the process was to put together a cloud training program to enable the company's managers to think strategically and get an overview of the cloud tools. This approach will not only give them a deep understanding of the new tools being implemented, but also allow them to carry that same thinking forward into future tool adoption. Training is critical to the sustainability of cloud projects like this.  

Responding to demand accurately and in real time  

The success of a procurement company still depends on its ability to provide accurate estimates as quickly as possible. The fraction of a penny can often mean the difference between a successful deal or a missed opportunity. The solution created by XRM Vision enables this efficiency through integrations that allow the various Microsoft tools to communicate with each other. By enabling this constant communication, the company can now receive an order request, retrieve pricing information (accurate to the minute), possible delivery locations and product availability. These changes now allow the company's customers to have the information they need to make a decision as quickly as possible.  

The XRM Vision competitive advantage

It is through projects like this that XRM Vision's expertise shines the brightest. Our high level of expertise with the Power Platform tools allows us to quickly identify issues and propose a suitable solution specific to the client. Our extensive experience as a Microsoft partner means that we understand how to use the flexibility and adaptability of the tools. This is how we enable our business partners to take advantage of them to their full potential.  

The solution created by XRM Vision enables this efficiency through integrations that allow the various Microsoft tools to communicate with each other. By enabling this constant communication, the company can now receive an order request, retrieve pricing information (accurate to the minute), possible delivery locations and product availability.

Growth opportunities  

Since launching the solution, Quick Quotes has given the company another key advantage. That is, it can now access a database of potential customers for any product the company has in surplus to offer them that product with favorable terms. This solution has allowed the organization to target new distributors and be more proactive while providing new growth opportunities.  

Improved training  

The company has also found an additional benefit in the reduction of training time for its employees. In the past, the time required to produce an estimate for a client was highly dependent on each broker's individual experience. Today, the integrated Business Process Flows solution automatically guides each user step-by-step through the estimating process. The result of this addition has been to greatly reduce the training time required for each new employee.  

Overall Strategy  

By putting people at the center of this company's cloud solution, XRM Vision has created a flexible platform that enables great competitive advantages. While the technology solution and its integrations bring greater speed with greater accuracy today, it is the training of the company's stakeholders that will ensure that the solution evolves healthily over the next few years. We believe that the user should always be central when designing a solution and that the human must continue to participate in the evolution of the solution to allow for the continued growth of the business.  

Understanding the cloud to use it to its full potential  

The cloud and its adoption are enabling businesses in all industries to achieve a higher velocity of growth to meet planned goals. But, its use and implementation must be thought of with a global idea in mind. It is important to ensure that all the tools can communicate with each other to allow the people using them to fully benefit from them. XRM Vision prides itself on its ability to offer adapted technological solutions while ensuring that users have the necessary knowledge to use them properly.  

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Points clés

Take Aways

Optimized collaboration between Microsoft technologies for the client​.
Automated lead acquisition from multiple sources to optimize the lead pipeline​.
Improved productivity through cloud-based solutions and integrations.
Prioritized user experience, ensuring easy tool adoption and efficient services.