Studii de caz

BSB

BSB Romania chose Novensys for the implementation of the integrated solution Microsoft NAV – LS Retail

About the company

With a two years' presence on the Romanian market, the clothing retailer BSB Romania gained the position as one of the leading companies in women's fashion, developing a network of top stores in 11 cities (Bucuresti, Cluj, Iasi, Galati, Timisoara, Constanta, Ploiesti, Sibiu, Ramnicu-Valcea, Pitesti and Brasov). BSB SA was established in Greece in 1980 as a company producing women's clothing and became, after more than 30 years of business, a top producer in this business area and a company owning an international network of 80 stores selling clothing, accessories and complementary products.

Out client's situation

The fast expansion policy at national level, as well as the need to coordinate the activities with the partners in Greece pointed out to the BSB management that they needed to identify a centralized information management solution that would enable the company to react fast to the demands of the local market and to gain real time visibility of operations both at the local heal office and at the head office in Greece.

The solution

The need of reports compliance with the information system of the Greek partners, as well as the efficiency requirements of the local operations flows led to the conclusion that the integrated information management solution Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Microsoft) -LS Retail (edited by LS Retail) was the optimal choice for BSB Romania.

Once the solution was identified, the search area for a company able to implement such a system fast and efficiently and having solid references in the retail industry was greatly restrained.  Taking these efficiency and quality criteria into consideration, BSB Romania chose the company Novensys to be the implementation partner. The reasons for this choice were:

• a high level of expertise as solutions integrator of the Novensys;
• the fact that Novensys is one of the main partners for Microsoft in Romania (Microsoft Gold Partner, with the highest sales records of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics AX in H1 2007 (the Microsoft fiscal year);
• the superior level of competences of Novensys in integrating the Microsoft application with the LS Retail solution (competences certified by numerous customers in the retail industry, where Novensys has a leading position thanks to the broad customer portfolio and the number and quality of its implementations).

„The solution we were previously using within our stores network and at our head office was overstrained; it did not fulfill our reporting needs or other demands anymore. In fact, information we required for centralized management and fast decision making was hard to obtain at the level of accuracy we were demanding. Now, thanks to the fast implementation of the integrated solution Microsoft Dynamics NAV - LS Retail, the head office in Greece has access to the local server - in Romania being the central head office, which now has the information it needs for consolidation ", explained George Carabas, Financial Manager at BSB Romania.

The advantages of Microsoft Dynamics NAV

By implementing the Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution the company improved the efficiency at operational level and the results can be seen by using the reporting tools. The centralized management of all activities in the BSB stores network enables real time visibility of operations in every single store. Thus, by using the ERP solution from Microsoft, BSB management owns now a powerful optimization tool for its strategic business processes, capable of responding fast to market challenges. Facing the changes in customer behaviour, retailers must identify and adopt fast efficient tools not only to react to changes in the business environment, but also to be able to foresee them and react according to them before they occur.

By optimally using the scalability and flexibility of the NAV application, as well as the superior capabilities of the Microsoft solution for monitoring all operations, Novensys made a parametrization of the ERP which was thus adapted to perfectly satisfy all specific demands of the BSB management.

This process simplified the operations for every store manager, through:

• fast access to critical information (such as: sales volume, revenue, purchases, payables, etc.);
• easier configuration of inventory operations;
• improved visibility and control over stock levels;
• real time access to relevant information on customers (such as: payment terms, invoicing and shipping methods, purchase history, etc.)

Through the adaptation for the retail system, the NAV solution is fully integrated with other retail-specific applications running in the stores and warehouses throughout the country, enabling local managers to access consolidated data from all main business areas (accounting and finances, sales and receivables, purchases and payables, stock levels, service, human resources).

At central level, the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics NAV enabled BSB management to access:

• consolidated data, received in real time;
• advanced reporting possibilities on profit centers, the possibility to trace the profitability for every store;
• close tracing of payment terms;
• superior control and evidence at every level (sales, purchases, distribution, stocks, customer relationship, etc.);
• identification of risk factors which can result in blockages;
• monitoring of the traceability of operations;
• total control over the financial situation;
• elimination of activities carried out manually and shorter booking times;
• fast employee access to updated information in real time, while benefiting from the Microsoft interface, ensuring high user acceptance rates;
• close tracing of customers and orders, greatly increasing customer satisfaction.

Due to the fact that Microsoft Dynamics NAV allows a fast and efficient implementation at all enterprise levels, resulting in a great costs/quality ratio, the company gained improved speed and accuracy of reporting activities (by centralizing the information flows throughout the entire Romanian network), this being one of the main requests of the customer-company BSB. The company achieved good visibility over its business (by integrating the information at store level), which is a high-quality support for its decision making process. The availability of information to every user greatly improved response times to customer requests and to market changes, while constantly increasing the accuracy of decisions both at operational and at strategic level.

The advantages of LS Retail

The worldwide acknowledged software application LS Retail provides complete features for sales management and automation, thus being an efficient management system specially designed for the retail sector and linking the POS terminals to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution at the central head office. The application is available with a modular structure (having the main components LS Retail Basis and LS Retail Plus POS) and enables the management of the whole retail process, being based on Microsoft and Microsoft Business Solutions technologies. Thus, the solution from the company LS Retail facilitates the integration process, while guaranteeing a unitary information management system with no blockages in information flows between back office and head office. The users gain access to the information provided by the application Microsoft NAV, the integration also offering the advantage of a unitary interface at all levels (though which can be freely configured) and the system administrators only manage one single system. (In fact, the application allows a high level of granularity, enabling the identification of every single transaction from the POS to the general accounting system. The LS POS module is seamlessly integrated with the other LS Retail modules and with the application Microsoft NAV, ensuring superior efficiency by increased operating speed and easier and error-free operation.)

The main competitive advantages resulting from the application for the BSB retail chain are:

• the unitary application architecture enabling companies to configure the application in accordance with their specific needs without investing in customized solutions;
• price management (pricing policies, item and item group discounts, customer and customer group discounts, multiple purchases etc. can be managed at store level);
• control and storage of information from all stores;
• BI features, facilitating multidimensional analysis of information from any level;
• inventory management (transfers, adjustments, stocks levels, etc.);
• advanced merchandising and replenishment features;
• employee and vendor performance management by monitoring profitability, purchase order fulfillment, etc.;
• warehousing and store operations automation by using mobile computers and bar code technology;
• bar code printing;
• administration of hundreds of POS systems;
• remote reporting and management capabilities;
• online data update.

Because factors such as time, comfort and snugness are important for consumers when choosing where they do their shopping, LS Retail soon proves to be useful in central management of price policies of retail chains, creating a direct link between head office and stores. The contribution of the application to the improvement of the quality of services and to creating a competitive advantage shows at store level, LS Retail putting a broad range of options at store manager disposal, such as: local price definition and reductions management, editing and printing of item and shelf labels, goods receipt, reporting and statistics generation, day-end procedures, etc.

Customer benefits

Through the implementation carried out by, BSB gained a unitary monitoring, control, analysis and action tool that can intervene fast and efficiently in critical business areas, according to the statement made by George Carabas, Financial Manager of BSB Romania: „The fast implementation carried out by Novensys represented an important competitive advantage for BSB on the local market. The high level of expertise of the Novensys specialists and the great availability they proved resulted in a fast implementation that optimally addresses our main business needs. Besides online monitoring of sales and of all activities in the BSB retail chain, the solution enables us to automate accounting and stock evidence operations, to centralize data and to achieve superior efficiency at operational level. Through customizations - modifications for compliance with the law, personalization and addition of reports (sales, financial, etc.) - the application perfectly covered the needs of BSB Romania".

The consistent support provided by Novensys throughout the implementation process, as well as benefits already gained by the customer both at operational and at decision level, contributed to the decision of the management of BSB Romania to continue developing the implemented solution by adding new reporting features allowing for superior business control.

„For companies, the benefits of the integrated solution Microsoft Dynamics NAV - LS Retail result in certitude, control and peace of mind, efficiency in business management and competitive advantages. It is very important to us to be able to offer our customers solutions that are making all the difference on a continuously changing market. Novensys provides all services - from planning to implementation, as well as permanent support, ensuring that the implemented solution truly satisfies our customers' needs", states Cezar Golumbeanu, Managing Partner Novensys.