Microsoft Dynamics
Customer Solution Case Study
Specialty Baker Raises the Bar with
Manufacturing Data Management
Overview
Country or Region: Australia
Industry: Food and beverage
manufacturing
Customer Profile
Continental Biscuit Manufacturers
(CBM) supplies baked foodstuffs for
the infant and toddler market.
Founded in 1976, the Brisbane
company employs between 30 and 40
staff.
Business Situation
The company was growing, but its
financial and production systems
couldn’t manage new business
processes and more complex customer
management.
Solution
CBM implemented Microsoft
Dynamics® AX 2009, running on
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008. It
manages manufacturing and
distribution.
Benefits
 On demand access to manufacturing
and financial information
 Rapid tracking of product inputs
 Better customer management
“We can view up-to-date financial information
whenever we need to.”
Rod Bower, Operations Manager, Continental Biscuit Manufacturers
Established in 1976, Brisbane-based Continental Biscuit
Manufacturers (CBM) produces baked goods for the infant and
toddler market. The company’s manufacturing and financial
systems were heavily dependent on manual processing so
performance data took a long time to compile. With output
increasing and plans to upgrade its manufacturing equipment,
CBM wanted a system that would help manage planning and
production and ready access to key business data. Microsoft®
Certified Partner Transform Solutions recommended Microsoft
Dynamics® AX. With a single enterprise resource planning
system, CBM streamlined its production processes and gained
access to up-to-the-minute financial information.
“Dynamics AX had the
right breadth and depth
of functionality. It was
user-friendly and fitted
with our manufacturing
processes.”
Rod Bower,
Operations Manager,
Continental Biscuit Manufacturers
Situation
Established in 1976, the Brisbane-based
C.B.M. Pty Ltd – which trades as
Continental Biscuit Manufacturers (CBM)
– produces baked foodstuffs for infant
and toddlers, and sells primarily to a
leading food multinational.
CBM wanted to expand its operations
and upgrade its manufacturing
processes. At the same time, it wanted to
improve the way it worked with its
principal client. However, the company’s
decade-old manufacturing management
system threatened to hold the company
back and a majority of CBM’s finance and
reporting processes relied on manual
inputs.
“The system was cumbersome and
difficult to use, and we struggled to get
our month-end financial reports done on
time,” explains Rod Bower, Operations
Manager, CBM. “Data had to be
compiled by external accountants, and it
could take two to three weeks before we
saw our finalised financials.
“Nor did we have an instant picture of
our inventory, supplier contracts and
pricing information.”
CBM relied on manual processes to track
the raw materials used in production. It
wanted to link customers’ forecasts of
how much they wanted to buy and when,
with its production planning, which
governs the purchase of ingredients and
packaging.
“We had to improve our ability to trace
raw materials through more streamlined,
automated processes,” says Bower. “If a
product needs to be recalled from
supermarket shelves, we need to trace
that product’s ingredients back through
the supply chain – and quickly.”
Most importantly, the company wanted
better quality information from its
business, so it could make informed
decisions faster.
“We tended to waste a lot of time
checking prices from multiple vendors,”
says Bower. “Whilst we are a small
operator in terms of business size, the
majority of our customers are very large.
We are expected to react to their
operations as though we are part of their
organisational structures.”
Solution
CBM investigated several vendors and
chose Microsoft® Certified Partner
Transform Solutions.
“Transform listened to what we wanted,”
says Bower. “That’s really important
when you’re a family owned and
operated company.”
Transform Solutions recommended
Microsoft Dynamics® AX 2009, running
on Microsoft SQL Server® 2008.
“Dynamics AX is well-suited to the food
processing industry,” says Larry Cook,
Director, Transform Solutions. “In
particular, it could manage CBM’s core
inventory, manufacturing and
distribution activities.”
According to Bower, CBM viewed the
Microsoft system as a long-term
investment in improving business
operations and wanted a solution that
enabled the growth of the business into
the future.
“Dynamics AX had the right breadth and
depth of functionality,” he says. “It was
“It helps us to negotiate
with suppliers more
proactively, and ensures
our orders are correct
and delivered on time.”
Rod Bower,
Operations Manager,
Continental Biscuit Manufacturers
user-friendly and fitted with our
manufacturing processes.”
CBM’s initial focus lay in controlling
production orders, sales and purchases.
Once these were bedded down in
Microsoft Dynamics, CBM began to
implement a full material requirements
planning module, together with some of
the quality management functionality.
In addition, Microsoft Dynamics AX is
being used to automate part of the
production planning process, which
previously consisted of hand-written
forms. This will enable the company to
electronically link customer forecasts
with sales order planning.
Benefits
With Microsoft Dynamics AX, CBM can
clearly track company finances from
month to month against key
performance indicators. The ability to
access real time data means the
company has more control over
production, which improves business
efficiency.
“We can check prices quickly in AX,” says
Bower. “It enables us to negotiate on
prices more proactively with suppliers
and ensures our orders are correct and
delivered on time.”
Time-critical traceability
CBM’s ability to instantly trace batches of
products is a huge benefit, particularly if
an item needs to be recalled.
“On one occasion, it took us a day to do
a full trace-back on a product, from the
raw materials used, to when it went out
the door,” says Bower. “Now we can
readily trace the relevant production
information with minimal effort. This is
extremely important when you are
dealing with products for infants and
young children.”
Critical business visibility
Microsoft Dynamics AX provides
managers with a far more detailed
overview of its business. The reports are
also more up-to-date.
Improved business efficiency
Eliminating duplicated data entry among
disparate systems has helped the
company to improve its day-to-day
operations.
“Previously, we had not been able to
view our financial position at any point in
time,” says Bower. “Instead of taking a
few weeks, compiling end of month
financials now takes us one or two days.
But far more importantly, we can view
up-to-date financial information
whenever we need to.”
“With AX, we use one set of information,”
explains Bower. “This reduces copytyping errors and mistakes transferring
data. The information is entered once
and can be viewed many times and
presented in various ways.”
Increased visibility has improved the
focus on inventory levels and helped to
reduce the tendency to manage risk by
overstocking. In the longer term, this
helps keep inventory costs lower and
improves cash flow requirements.
CBM can retrieve customer and supplier
information faster and track contractual
agreements with greater accuracy.
“We can link customer forecasts with our
sales order planning, and match quality
control testing with our inventory data,”
says Bower. “Matching inventory against
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft
Dynamics® products and services, call
1800 197 960.
To access information using the World
Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com/australia/dynamics/
For more information about Transform
Solutions products and services, call
+61 7 3243 6800 or visit the Web site at:
www.transformsolutions.com.au
For more information about
C.B.M. Pty Ltd t/a Continental Biscuit
Manufacturers products and services,
call +61 7 3865 7133
actual stock on hand also gives a better
idea of our true financial position. Where
we used to count every stock item
manually, AX’s accuracy will mean we
only need to count a few products to
verify actual stock against system
inventory. This saves our factory
supervisors time at month end.”
therefore we will expand this platform in
the future.”
Further development is envisaged to
allow relevant KPI’s to be displayed and
managed throughout the business
operations.
“We have few customers but very large
ones who are driven by information,”
says Bower. “This will mean we can
continue to meet their high
expectations.”
Consistent customer service
CBM has developed workflows in
Dynamics AX that capture important
information and automatically forward it
to financial systems or managers.
“If something is amiss, AX prompts me
and I can quickly check, for instance, that
a purchase order and invoice match up,”
says Bower. “That means, I’m not tied
down in the office checking paperwork.
I can now move about the plant and talk
to our production staff, customers and
suppliers more frequently.”
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of
integrated, adaptable business
management solutions that enables you
and your people to make business
decisions with greater confidence.
Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar
Microsoft software such as Microsoft
Office, which means less of a learning
curve for your people, so they can get up
and running quickly and focus on what’s
most important. And because it is from
Microsoft, it easily works with the
systems that your company already has
implemented. By automating and
streamlining financial, customer
relationship, and supply chain processes,
Microsoft Dynamics brings together
people, processes, and technologies,
increasing the productivity and
effectiveness of your business, and
helping you drive business success.
Platform for the future
CBM envisages further savings and
reduced overheads when it fully
implements AX’s materials requirements
planning.
“We’ll be able to continue to control and
fine tune our manufacturing operations,”
says Bower.
“The process manufacturing suite in
Microsoft Dynamics covers all the
important areas of the company’s
operations; from strategic planning
through to delivery of the product.”
For more information about Microsoft
Dynamics, go to:
www.microsoft.com/dynamics
“Even with a company of this size, small
optimisations make good business sense,
This case study is for informational purposes only.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published March 2010
Software and Services
Partners
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Microsoft Server Product Portfolio
− Microsoft SQL Server 2008
− Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
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