Business Process Automation Through Technology
In episode 14 of the “Inside Dynamics Communities” podcast, John Siefert, CEO, Dynamics Communities and Summit NA, Ryan Gonzales, Senior Sales Director, Dynamics Communities and Summit NA, and Pam Misialek, Community Director, Dynamics Communities and Summit NA, break down the latest stories happening inside the Dynamics community.
In today’s episode, the hosts discuss how technology enables the automation of business processes, focusing on customer stories from ChemTreat and On.
This episode is sponsored by Summit North America, the largest independent gathering of the Microsoft Business Applications ecosystem, taking place Oct. 15-20, 2023, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Register today to connect with thousands of users across the Microsoft business applications ecosystem at the for user, by user event.
Highlights
00:57 — ChemTreat, one of the largest and fastest growing specialty chemical providers in the U.S., grew tired of endless Excel spreadsheets and needed to implement an ERP system, explains Ryan. ChemTreat worked with Fastpath, who provided a solution to help transfer over data and documents, while also overseeing auditing and compliance practices.
02:02 — John notes how this is an example of technology being an enabler of business process and automation, and asks Pam to describe how On, a shoe company, is doing similar things.
02:35 — On is a shoe company with a global reach spanning across 60 countries. Pam explains how the company implemented ERP, CRM, and banking. In doing so, the company realized a need to redefine all business processes, automating everything. In turn, On had to train all of its employees to use these new systems. Pam notes how Dynamics 365 can automate business processes, but also enables companies to “take a step back” and ensure that the business processes themselves make sense.
04:32 — John explains that reviewing business processes, and updating when necessary, is an area where partners can come in and support businesses. “The beauty of all of the partners in the D365 ecosystem is that many of them have experience as users,” he says.
05:22 — John shares a story from Ardent Mills, a leading flour supplier. Ardent Mills ran a “company-wide check sample program” to ensure their equipment was calibrated to support making consistent, high-quality flour. A long-time employee of Ardent Mills, Deborah Romero-Reinig, developed an app using Power Platform, which allows quality managers and lab technicians from different plants to enter data directly into the app, eliminating the manual process of data entry.
“The return on investment here has been huge for Ardent Mills, and then the ability to streamline the way the process is actually being run for this very important thing of quality control and quality management of the finished product is a huge issue,” notes John.
07:42 — This story is an example of of how technology, and automation, play directly into the notion of decreasing complexities to deliver results, explains John.
