Food Manufacturer Replaces 26-Year-Old ERP with Dynamics 365 Business Central
A food ingredient manufacturer producing pre-mixed flour and ingredient blends for a network of retail locations was ready to modernize the technology supporting its business. After more than two decades on the same ERP system, questions around long-term support prompted their team to consider what it needed from its next solution.
The manufacturer produces a variety of mixes, bringing together flour, sugar, and other ingredients according to different formulations before distributing the finished mixes to retail locations. Supporting that operation requires connected processes across purchasing, inventory, production, lot tracking, warehousing, and distribution.
After evaluating both Acumatica and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the manufacturer selected Business Central and partnered with Stoneridge Software to better connect the financial and operational processes supporting its business.
Business Challenges: Modernizing Processes Built Over Decades
Years of working within the same technology environment had resulted in processes that were familiar and functional, but increasingly dependent on older tools. Purchasing was one example. While the food ingredient manufacturer had an established process for determining purchasing needs, users relied on legacy tools, including Lotus 1-2-3, to analyze historical usage, sales activity, and seasonality.
Warehouse operations offered another opportunity. Employees managed the physical movement of products through receiving, storage, picking, and shipping without technology on the warehouse floor supporting fulfillment activities.
Key challenges included:
- Aging ERP with uncertain long-term support
- Manual, multi-step purchasing processes
- Paper-based warehouse fulfillment
- Limited technology on the warehouse floor
- Lot tracking requirements for food production
- Complex freight and load-planning requirements
Production and distribution added requirements the new ERP would need to support. Multiple varieties of food mix required different formulations and ingredients, making inventory and lot information an important part of production. Freight calculations also accounted for product weight and destination across 20+ geographic zones, while customer orders are combined into load sheets used to prepare outbound tractor-trailer routes.
The goal was to carry forward the processes that made sense while finding opportunities to simplify and modernize how work was managed across the business.
Solution: Bringing Familiar Business Processes into Business Central
As the manufacturer evaluated its ERP options, both the technology and the implementation partner played an important role in the decision.
Business Central proved to be a strong fit for the company’s production and operational requirements without extensive customization. At the same time, Stoneridge’s food and beverage experience gave them confidence that their industry-specific needs were understood and could be effectively supported within the broader Microsoft ecosystem.
Together, the manufacturer and Stoneridge implemented Dynamics 365 Business Central to support financial management, purchasing, sales, inventory, warehouse, and manufacturing processes, with additional solutions supporting warehouse operations and accounts payable automation.
Solution highlights included:
- Dynamics 365 Business Central for core ERP functionality
- Financial management, purchasing, and sales processes
- Inventory and lot-tracking capabilities
- Manufacturing functionality supporting bills of material and production
- Warehouse management supporting receiving, picking, and shipping
- Targeted production enhancements identified during process design
As the implementation moved forward, joint process design sessions gave employees an opportunity to work through their own business scenarios in Business Central. In production, those sessions surfaced opportunities to streamline lot selection while maintaining user control when multiple lots were available and tailor assembly-order information around the details employees use in their day-to-day work.
Rather than rebuilding the legacy system inside Business Central, the project helped evaluate familiar processes with fresh eyes, preserve what continued to work, and identify areas where a more streamlined approach made sense.
Results: A Successful ERP Implementation Creates Room to Do More
With Business Central in place, the manufacturer brought core financial and operational processes into a more connected Microsoft environment while adding technology to support warehouse, manufacturing, and accounts payable activities.
The initial project came in on schedule and under budget, creating room within the existing project investment to complete additional work during the first phase. This allowed Stoneridge and the manufacturer to address additional priorities beyond the original scope without exceeding the planned project budget.
Key outcomes and capabilities include:
- Transition from a 26-year-old legacy ERP to Dynamics 365 Business Central
- A cloud-based ERP environment for core business operations
- Connected financial and operational processes within Business Central
- Warehouse management capabilities for receiving, inventory movement, picking, and shipping
- Manufacturing support for bills of material, production, inventory, and lot tracking
- A foundation for continued process improvements as business needs evolve
The project also established a strong working relationship between the client and Stoneridge. By grounding the implementation in the company’s actual processes and focusing on the functionality the organization needed, teams were able to complete the planned work efficiently while creating room to address additional needs.
For a company that had spent decades building processes around its previous ERP, the implementation provided an opportunity to move operations forward without starting over. Business Central now provides a foundation for the processes the food manufacturer relies on today while giving the company greater flexibility to continue refining how work gets done.
