HSO replaces UNIX-based financial system with Microsoft ERP Solution 
High volumes of data were frequently re-typed from one application to another, so finding a fully integrated environment that met all Kwik-Fit’s demands was extremely important. Paul Traas, Kwik-Fit Financial Manager explains, "We worked with Triathlon, a UNIX based financial package. This product was already pretty old and definitely not flexible. The data could not be exported to other applications and we had to do almost everything on paper, sometimes several times and we were constantly printing things out.
Initially we did not consider a Microsoft ERP solution. We had a good look at a couple of other administrative and financial packages, (eg: Exact and AFAS). Although Exact seemed to cover all the basic requirements, in practice we would have also needed several additional applications. We soon realised we wanted an all-round ERP package and choosing a Microsoft solution enabled us to standardise our software technology and meet our overall objective of minimising the number of applications used throughout the organisation.”\
Good Choice
Once Kwik-Fit researched the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics ™ AX they became more and more convinced of its flexibility as a package and realised it was a "good fit” for the organization. Despite early reservations, Kwik-Fit decided to proceed and concentrated their efforts on implementing the Dynamics AX accounting module. The project was of strategic importance and the financial team were very specific with their requirements – they wanted a robust solution with standard functionality, minimal customization and at a fixed price based on implementing by operational module.
What Next
The next challenge for this strategic project was in finding a suitable AX implementation company with whom to partner. HSO is a highly regarded Microsoft Gold Certified Partner who already had many successful Dynamics AX implementations to their credit. Mr Traas said, “HSO had an excellent team of professional people who understood exactly what we wanted. Our financial team wrote the specifications and were also closely involved on all aspects of the implementation. HSO were totally focused and we were always well -informed of the progress of the project. As a result our own people reaped the benefits of this close collaboration”
Rapid Deployment
Although ‘minimal customization’ was a pre-requisite, a number of interfaces had to be developed within Dynamics AX to allow the new environment to communicate with Kwik-Fit’s existing systems. This development begun straight away in November and the system went live the first week of January. Ordinarily other organisations test their systems with test data. This was not the case in Kwik Fit’s experience because careful preparation of the required interfaces, ahead of schedule, meant they could use actual data to test the system.
As a consequence, Kwik-Fit people experienced on-the-job-training and because they were closely involved with the implementation they knew exactly what to expect. By March the new system was fully implemented and totally operational.
Mr Traas commented. “Despite complex in-house business processes, HSO quickly developed a clear understanding our multifaceted structure and proved to be the perfect partner. Clearly HSO has a great deal of Dynamics AX and financial process knowledge, but more importantly, they understood our business needs”.
Benefits
Mr Traas jokingly said, "Our printers are now much quieter! One of the downsides of the old system was that data could only be read on screen or had to be printed out. So a big benefit today that is so absolutely invaluable to us is the ability to export data into Microsoft Office Excel and prepare statistical reports for the day to day management of the company. We can easily transfer data from Dynamics AX to Excel in an instant and vice versa.
Another advantage of the new system is its performance speed and reliability. We do not hold much data but import it daily from other systems. Month-ends are so fast now that we hardly have to wait and can now process 100,000 records within half an hour!
The collaboration between all 180 Kwik-Fit organizations and our wholesalers has been excellent. The system has been wholly reliable and has not gone down once. Based on our current output, we will be running in excess of 500,000 invoices a year through our Dynamics AX system.”
As confidence in Microsoft Dynamics ™ AX has grown, Kwik-Fit has started to incorporate other business operations in to the system. The Belgian Kwik-Fit subsidiary was still using Exact for DOS but now the entire administration operation is run through Dynamics AX via the Dutch system. All Belgian tax rates and Belgian specific accounting policies are taken into consideration.
Colleagues in the Gent office now simply log onto the system from their desks using a DSL connection with linked servers in order to access their workspace.
Battle Ready
Microsoft’s Dynamics ™ AX has enabled Kwik-Fit itself to be more productive and flexible too. Kwik-Fit recently introduced the Kwik-Fit WebShop – a customised add-on that uses web services. It is the first sales and marketing tool they have developed in collaboration with Dynamics AX. Fully automated, it required no further investment and the system rarely needs any hands-on assistance. Without the help of the IT Department, the Finance Department is now self sufficient, however, if and when Kwik-Fit requires any support, a single phone call to HSO's helpdesk is usually sufficient.
Future Perfect
With such a great first-hand experience of how flexible Microsoft Dynamics ™ AX is, and now that the foundation has been properly laid for further administrative and financial processes to be implemented, the next logical step is to roll out Dynamics AX to the rest of the business. Therefore, Kwik-Fit will soon phase out the remains of their old ERP systems and replace them with Dynamics AX.
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About Kwik-Fit
Headquartered in Hardewijk, Holland, Kwik-Fit was established over thirty years ago and started out as an advanced fast fit concept in Scotland. Today it is the largest car service outlet chain in Europe employing 11,000 employees and servicing over 8,000,000 customers a year. In some countries Kwik-Fit operates under other well-known names such as Pitstop (Germany) or Speedy (France).
About HSO
HSO is a leading provider of Microsoft Dynamics AX, and Dynamics AX industry specific add-ons and enhancements. HSO also provides Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Server solutions.
Founded in 1989, HSO specialises in the sales, implementation, technical integration, business consultation and on-going support of Dynamics AX solutions for Customers in various industries and markets – in particular Wholesale Trade & Distribution, Logistics, Manufacturing and Retail.
HSO has a well established and fully referenceable track record with its unique Implementation Project methodology. Driven by results and the desire to provide the best service, HSO customers gain innovative business solutions that increase and optimize efficiencies in their business processes. This starts at the beginning of every customer engagement with Value Discovery and a Scope Analysis review. HSO uses their thoroughly proven Implementation Methodology (in excess of 1,000 successful Projects) to ensure predictable results on every task and an ROI that can be based on a fixed-scope and fixed-price approach.
With more than 20 years of practical hands-on experience, HSO has successfully delivered complex ERP solutions to hundreds of companies worldwide including international customers who required multi-country and multi-site implementations.
HSO is a leading member of Microsoft’s Inner Circle. This membership is only awarded to the elite Top 50 worldwide Microsoft Partners in recognition of achieving the highest levels of Customer Satisfaction, the most impressive Sales Performance and continued growth in Revenues and Employment.