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SO natural Thrives with Dynamics NAV and Agriware
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
- Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
- Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
Applicable Industries
- Agriculture
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Facility Management
- Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Predictive Maintenance
- Process Control & Optimization
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
SO natural, the largest pot orchid plantation in the world, faced several challenges in managing their operations. They needed to manage the production of over 10 million orchids a year across four companies. Many business processes were manually managed using Excel and spreadsheets, leading to a lack of control and an increase in human error. Additionally, they required analytics that included financial integration with other systems. The acquisition of Delta Orchids necessitated the integration of multiple systems.
About The Customer
SO natural is the largest pot orchid plantation in the world, cultivating 14 million orchids per year. The family company has been in the horticulture business since 1959, initially growing lettuce and tomatoes before transitioning to orchids in 2004. Led by the second generation of the Smaal family and two Managing Directors outside the family, SO natural has solid ambitions, a keen eye for new developments, and maintains close contact with customers. In January 2015, SO natural was named Entrepreneur of the Year in the category of big business in the region of Mid-Holland. The company employs 255 people.
The Solution
To address their challenges, SO natural leveraged Microsoft Dynamics NAV’s flexible interface to integrate existing solutions used by both SO natural and the acquired company, Delta Orchids. They were actively involved in the development of the Agriware solution to ensure it met the specific needs of a nursery. The implementation of Agriware was done gradually to ensure process alignment and user adoption, with the latest feature set added being Packing Planning. Additionally, CRM functionality was integrated to facilitate direct communication with customers and streamline the order-to-payment process.
Operational Impact
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