In 2013 Aristopet decided to upgrade its ERP system to provide a series of business benefits to improve the efficiency of the business and streamline its production scheduling, manufacturing, and purchase ordering, while integrating all aspects of the operation. Having decided to implement Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Aristopet chose Fenwick Software as its implementation partner.
Aristopet is a Queensland based manufacturer of pharmaceutical and health care products for pets. It is a major supplier to the specialist pet shop, grooming and veterinarian market both locally and overseas. The company exports to more than thirty countries. Having achieved 500% growth over ten years, Aristopet is now one of Australia’s largest suppliers of manufactured pet care products to the local market. In 2013 Aristopet decided that it could gain significant advantages by replacing its outdated AMIS system with a system capable of helping it to manage its manufacturing, material requirements planning, and warehousing.
The Requirements
The system needed to be integrated with financials, sales, production scheduling, manufacturing, quality control, and purchase ordering. Microsoft Dynamics NAV was chosen because it could be implemented rapidly; would meet the immediate needs of the company to improve productivity and efficiency; had the flexibility for future growth in areas like EDI and the use of mobile devices in the warehouse; and had been successfully implemented in other companies in the Group. Dynamics NAV met the company’s specific requirements in the areas of Supplier Batch Tracking; Manufacturing; Product Picking; Workflow; and integrating all activities including Quality Control.
The Engagement
When Aristopet chose Dynamics NAV as its ERP solution the team thought they would need a number of NAV extensions developed to meet some specific requirements then they discovered that a number of the Fenwick Gold set of modules would remove the need for this development. “The availability of Fenwick Gold was a major reason why we chose Fenwick as our partner. We liked the overall philosophy of identifying common requirements and making them available to everyone,” Paul Keogh said. “It kind of future-proofed requirements, ensuring far simpler upgrades.” “We were also looking for a partner with a depth of manufacturing experience and a list of existing manufacturing customers.” Fenwick was required to do a rapid implementation of NAV – work started in January 2014 and the system went live, with a series of custom additions, on May 1st of the same year.
When we decided to implement an integrated ERP system and chose Dynamics NAV we sought out a Microsoft Partner with a strong history with the system and a track record of successful manufacturing implementations. We chose Fenwick Software and are pleased that we did.
Paul Keogh, Business Manager, Aristopet
The Implementation Challenge
Aristopet had stringent manufacturing needs and processes. They defined the following modifications and additions that Fenwick completed and implemented:
- Supplier Batch Tracking
- Manufacturing modifications for variable production
- A Special Picking process i Role based tasks for workflow optimisation
- A detailed and complex production order printout
Achieving Business benefits
Fenwick understood our need for an integrated system that could improve our processes and performance. They provided us with a system that delivered significant business benefits.
Paul Keogh, Business Manager, Aristopet
“We were looking to streamline and integrate our sales order scheduling, run sheet, supplier batch tracking, production planning, and then achieve just-in-time ordering for our production requirements,” Paul Keogh explained. “We also have stringent quality control requirements plus added complexity caused by the number of products we produce. We now have more control through all aspects of our business and have been able to achieve the business benefits that we were seeking.”
A Smooth Go-live
David Saxby, IS Manager at Aristopet said: “Our People and Fenwick Software worked well together. When we went live any issues were immediately fixed either directly or using the wider group of consultants to connect remotely, investigate and assist. Everything went smoothly.”
