UNIMILK: Running the Russia's largest Axapta solution

UNIMILK is the result of a massive consolidation of 11 dairy companies in Russia and Ukraine. Although the company is young, founded in 2002, it is already a major player in their market supplying more than 560.000 tons of dairy products annually. In close cooperation with Columbus IT Partner, UNIMILK has recently completed the implementation of what is arguably the world's largest Microsoft Business Solutions Axapta project.

“We can proudly say, that the Axapta project, which is certainly one of the largest in Europe if not the world, has been a success”, says Michael Pliss, IT Director at UNIMILK. “It provides us with the ability to manage production, distribution and sales across all of our 11 facilities.”

Tie together

When you bring together 11 companies in a joint holding structure, you have to deal with 11 individual organizations and 11 different IT-systems of varying ages and functionality. It was clear for the UNIMILK management, that a new IT system, that could tie together all companies, was needed.

“We have encountered the same challenges as many other Russian holding companies”, says Michael Pliss. “When we buy a company we basically buy a set of workflows and these have to be consolidated into one way of working. None of the companies we have acquired, had an IT system that could form the basis of our business, which today covers all of Russia but could move into the international market in the coming years.”

Criteria

UNIMILK defined a set of criteria that the new IT system should meet. Among them were automation of product distribution and all aspects of the sales transactions (including on-line shipments), continuous reporting of available stock and current sales in all 11 companies and the ability to customize and re-design the solution in each of the 11 subsidiaries. After evaluating a number of possible systems, UNIMILK decided that Microsoft Business Solutions Axapta and Columbus IT Partner was the best choice for them.

Started in Samara

The project has been a business restructuring project as much as an ERP implementation project. UNIMILK wanted to centralize a number of key business processes and to separate the production processes from the sales and sales development transactions. The implementation began at UNIMILK's production facility in Samara and now handles 24 hour distribution, all aspects of the sales transactions from receiving orders, calculating prices, production and invoicing. Today the system has been rolled out in seven additional subsidiaries and it handles upwards 10.000 orders per day.

Centralization

The Axapta solution enables UNIMILK to run an efficient business based on centralized and easy to manage processes and policies. For example the company has implemented centrally managed policies for pricing, credit granting and discounts that encompass all 11 companies. All orders are consolidated on a dedicated server and can be seen and tracked on all relevant work stations in all relevant locations. As UNIMILK is dealing with perishable products, available stock and “use before dates” are very important. This information is continuously updated and can be seen online. The Axapta solution also helps UNIMILK to optimize product delivery, so customers receive products either from the warehouses closest to them or from the warehouses that have the specific products, regardless of where they have placed their order.

Huge project

“The UNIMILK project has been huge and it has really tested our abilities”, says Ilya Prokimnov, Consulting Director from Columbus IT Partner in Moscow. “It has been a lot more than just an ERP implementation since we have in fact contributed to the construction of UNIMILK's foundation for the future. Of course it's also satisfying to be able to say that we have delivered what is probably the world's largest Axapta implementation.”