Success story Supply Chain
information can be downloaded and uploaded automatically, this saves us an enormous amount of time and resources.” Isaacs added that, with regard to the UK – Direct Wines’ seventh target site – AX is yet to be installed, although, with the assistance of Infosys, it has already implemented a large e-commerce platform called ATG, and is now planning to link this up to AX internationally.
The Infosys development model
Direct Wines required a globally agile, integrated and scalable IT system. With these key criteria in mind, the company contacted Infosys Technologies.
company was an $18 million concern at the time we installed AX, but around the time of implementation we also injected a large amount of investment, and so needed a highly robust system to cope with our US market expansion plans. Indeed, during 2011 we anticipate that the revenue generated by this US site will reach between $110 million and $150 million.” Isaacs added that, in the US, every alcohol company must comply with licensing laws that vary from state to state. “AX, together with Infosys’ skills in system customisation, proved invaluable here in as much as we were able quickly to build an extensive knowledge base of the different states’ licensing laws,” he said. “So we had a set of rules that we could implement when delivering wines in each state. This ability within AX has certainly given us one of the strongest differentiators in the US wines market.”
One of Direct Wines’ bigger requirements involved turning AX from being primarily at B2B solution into more of a B2C solution. Therefore, Infosys did a substantial amount of customisation concerning payment processing and order taking to allow Direct Wines to operate the system as predominantly a B2C package. AX’s link to the website means the moment an order is placed online, or the moment an order is changed online, this is picked up by the AX server. “This gives customers a lot more choice and flexibility,” said Isaacs. “For example, if a customer has ordered a case of mixed reds online and decides he or she wants a mixed case of reds and whites, the order can be easily changed online up until the time of dispatch. And because customer orders and product
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For the Direct Wines global roll-out project, Infosys employed its InTrak methodology to reduce risks and costs and to speed implementation. It also used the Infosys Global Delivery Model to distribute activities within each project phase between offshore and onsite locations. Additionally, it sought to lower total cost of ownership. During the project, Infosys designed an ecosystem for
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[Infosys personnel] went beyond the usual nine-to-five routine to ensure the system was fully designed, developed, implemented and operational in all six territories on schedule.” – Gary Isaacs, Direct Wines.
the single instance of Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 to support multiple companies across the international business. It then incorporated a mechanism to track and report statutory regulatory compliance for shipping wine in the US, improve federal and state tax reporting and reclaim sales tax from states for returns. Infosys also built a wine plan management solution on Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 to support the sale of recruitment and upgrade wine plans with multiple payment options including instalments. Among other benefits, Infosys helped to set up the production environment of Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 at a third-party hosting site. As well as having all the AX skills and knowledge Direct Wines required, Isaacs pointed out that all Infosys personnel on site gave what he refers to as “a full professional day’s work”. “They went beyond the usual nine-to- five routine to ensure the system was fully designed, developed, implemented and operational in all six territories on schedule,” he said.
Key benefits
With the new solution, Direct Wines now benefits from increased sales and better customer service and satisfaction levels. Sales per hour from outbound calls have increased by around 10 per cent due to customer service interface improvements. In addition, a new customer dashboard has helped to improve call quality and reduce call times by up to 30 seconds per call. The company also enjoys faster business processing; being able to reclaim sales tax faster, recovering an estimated US$300,000 in sales tax. And by using efficient wine substitutions management, Direct Wines has saved around 20 person-hours each week. In addition, the order-to-cash cycle time from the online order entry to the fulfilment processing is about 47 per cent faster, plus Direct Wines benefits from improved market reach. It has streamlined its core business processes across international locations to support acquisitions.
“Microsoft Dynamics AX plays a central role in how we manage and control our expanding international business,” said Simon McMurtrie, chief executive of Direct Wines Group, while Isaacs concluded: “The powerful combination of Microsoft Dynamics AX multi- country capabilities, the Infosys team’s expertise, professionalism and dedication, and the drive and enthusiasm of the Direct Wines team proved to be an unstoppable force.”
March 2011
MANUFACTURING &LOGISTICS
IT 43
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