6 Reasons Father Christmas Loves His ERP System

Father Christmas’ ability to deliver on time, every time, never fails to astound. The world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of presents to good girls and boys across the globe, he has a complex and all together unusual supply chain. With a team of elves working 365 days of the year, he has just a small window to deliver the goods, 24 hours on Christmas Eve, with the aid of a magic sleigh and his eight reindeer fuelled by carrots. Of course, all this would be nigh on impossible without the help of a clever Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

Microsoft Dynamics Distribution Software & ERP software has a proven record for distribution and supply chain management. It can deliver visibility into sales data, inventory levels and delivery schedules, giving Father Christmas the confidence to meet customer demand and ensure millions of children wake up on Christmas morning to a stocking full of presents.

Here are five reasons Father Christmas loves his Dynamics NAV solution:

1. Customer satisfaction

 Today, children are more demanding than ever before. Wish lists can include everything from the latest Minecraft Xbox game, robotic puppies, Frozen Elsa doll, through to iPads and mobiles. Microsoft Dynamics Distribution Software & ERP software helps Father Christmas identify emerging customer behaviors faster and quicker than before, so kids get everything on their wish list and more.

2. Accurate order picking

On average, order picking accounts for up to 60% of warehouse costs. Processing orders quickly and without errors is vital to ensure happy kids. With a fully integrated Dynamics NAV solution, the order picking function becomes fully automated and tracked, improving picking accuracy and vastly reducing the time to complete an order – essential when you’ve got 1.9 billion orders to get through and the hopes and wishes of children resting on your shoulders.

3. Supply chain management

 Sourcing raw materials from across the world, to his large manufacturing plant in Lapland, Father Christmas’ supply chain is a long and complex one. Designed to connect the entire supply chain, Dynamics NAV allows Father Christmas to better manage relationships and gain greater insight to negotiate improved terms with vendors and suppliers. It provides employees (elves) with the necessary tools to plan, coordinate and execute timely delivery of goods, Dynamics NAV, is easy-to-use, familiar and has an extremely configurable interface.

4. Lean inventory

Managing thousands of SKUs can be a challenge; so one can only imagine what a headache Father Christmas must have (it’s no wonder he turns to whiskey). But with real time reporting on stock control, Microsoft Dynamics NAV allows Father Christmas to keep his inventory lean through instantaneous stock reporting direct to the elves that need it. Tight inventory management and alignment of inventory with current and projected demand, Microsoft Dynamics gives Father Christmas visibility into his inventory process so he can effectively balance availability with demand, and track items through their individual routes in the supply chain to streamline the ordering process. And with an in-built CRM, Microsoft Dynamics records all contact data and interactions.

5. Labour and operational agility

Capable of handling more than a million items within its integrated database, as well as multiple warehouse and storage locations, distribution centers and multiple currencies for world-wide distribution. Flexibility is at the heart of Dynamics NAV Distribution Software, helping Father Christmas tackle challenges such as rising labour costs (he has a lot of elves) and rising fuel costs (his magic sleigh covers a lot of miles).

6. Operational cost control

Dynamics NAV enables better optimisation of space and employee utilisation, meaning operational costs can easily be tracked, recorded and forecasted – and therefore better controlled. This allows Father Christmas to keep his operations competitive (he’s been the only player in the Christmas market for a long time) and present new opportunities for growth and re-investment (essential with an ever growing population and ever rising demand).