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Scalable ERP for Specialist Reporting

H E Stringer Flavours Ltd develops bespoke flavour solutions for the food and drink industry, with more than six decades of specialist experience.

The business needed to move beyond Sage 50 Manufacturing and bespoke Access enhancements, reducing upgrade complexity while improving scalability, reporting and compliance control.

Qi migrated H E Stringer to Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium using MigrateNow!, with added Microsoft extensions for hazardous materials, toxicology and product reporting. The result was a more scalable central system, stronger multi-company visibility and valuable time savings through improved reporting and analysis.

The Challenge

Having moved away from disparate systems in 2007, the company implemented Sage 50 Manufacturing alongside bespoke enhancements developed by Qi to meet their specific industry requirements. Understanding the limitations and the need for a future-proof ERP solution, H E Stringer Flavours Ltd decided to move away from Sage 50 Manufacturing.

Compatibility and Upgrade Issues:

  • Complex Upgrades: Upgrading Sage 50 Accounts Professional required not only the physical process of upgrading a server and client PCs but also ensuring that Sage 50 Manufacturing and bespoke Access enhancements were patched and upgraded in tandem.
  • Limited Scalability: The existing system could not support the company’s growth ambitions, particularly as Sage 50 Manufacturing was discontinued.

Industry Specific Challenges:

  • Hazardous Materials and Toxicology Reporting: Comprehensive reporting on hazardous materials and toxicology data was essential.
  • Detailed Financial, Inventory, and Purchasing Reports: Access to detailed and accurate reports across financial, inventory, and purchasing information was crucial.
  • Compliance in Sales Order Confirmations and Labelling: Customer sales order confirmations required a full product specification breakdown for compliance purposes.

The Solution

Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium

H E Stringer Flavours Ltd selected Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for its comprehensive features and secure, scalable platform. Key benefits included core ERP functionality, scalability and flexibility, seamless integration with Office 365, automated updates and no server hosting requirements, and the ability to develop Business Central to meet specific hazardous materials, toxicology, and compliance reporting needs.

Qi migrated Sage 50 Accounts and Sage 50 Manufacturing data in full using their specialist Qi toolkit, MigrateNow!, and added further functionality using Microsoft extensions to develop the specific reporting and product description requirements essential to H E Stringer.

Following full training, data validation and a final data migration out of office hours, staff arrived on Monday with Business Central as their new central system.

The Outcome

System Reporting & Analysis capabilities provide welcome time savings.

Inter-company trading is now achieved using the company hub tools within Business Central, allowing the senior management team to view information across multiple businesses. The comprehensive reporting and data analysis functionality returns valuable time back into the working day of the H E Stringer team, which in turn enhances productivity.