Transformation fuels healthy growth

Our client distributes heathier snack and meal replacement options in major retail channels including grocery, club and mass merchandise, as well as through e-commerce, convenience, specialty and other channels.

Company leadership engaged KPMG to implement a new ERP system during a merger of two well-known brands, standardize business operations across the two companies, automate order management, and formalize consistent master data sets as part of the postmerger integration—while keeping the brands themselves separate.

One of the two healthy food retailers had planned to upgrade its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system before it merged with a complementary nutrition business that had just gone through an ERP implementation of its own. The newly merged company realized that it made more sense to join the recently implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) Finance and Supply Chain Management platform, despite the challenge of completing a merger and launching new software at the same time. 

The new company turned to KPMG to leverage our deep experience in Microsoft implementations and the KPMG Powered Enterprise methodology, guided by leading practices and fueled by cloud-enabled technology along with a target operating model that delivers speed-to-value for business transformation.

From the beginning of the yearlong project we made a point of creating a “one-team” atmosphere; we knew that it would be beneficial for the two merging brands to help close any technological gaps based on the overall entity’s strategic roadmap and growth plans.

Based on the data integration framework in the D365 platform and leveraging Powered Enterprise leading methodology, we helped turn a complex transformation with several large workstreams including the automation of sales and procurement transactions, introducing EDI processes for order management, financial consolidation, trade promotions, and change management, to drive reporting, analytics, and proactive decision-making, so that our client can take advantage of its data for years to come.

When the project went live, the client reported an easy integration with a Microsoft system that positions the company for continued transformation, growth, and efficiently on boarding future mergers and acquisitions.

Thanks to the adoption of Microsoft D365 and standardized processes across both companies, our client came out of the merger with not only a one-company focus, but also a multibranded business model. This approach enables it to:

• analyze brand data at a granular level while showing one face to the customer
• take advantage of key Microsoft apps—such as Power BI for financial reports and Power Apps to create sales orders and manage contracts—to transform and simplify its business while improving overall company and employee productivity
• gain ongoing access to timely new functionality—such as lease accounting capabilities—because of Microsoft’s annual $5 billion investment in the D365 platform
• balance central control and local flexibility with robust governance and standardization
• increase productivity with 3PL for customer and vendor order management by introducing automated EDI capabilities, increasing the speed from order to delivery, and improving customer satisfaction.

A responsive global team

Clients want advisors with deep understanding of their chosen technology solutions. KPMG drew upon a decades-long, global partnership with Microsoft that includes specialized practice groups for the company’s Azure, Dynamics, and Office 365 cloud platforms; thousands of Microsoft-certified professionals; and hundreds of successful digital collaborations in almost every sector and business function.

Decisive leaders want to move quickly

The KPMG Powered Enterprise approach is explicitly designed to generate rapid, measurable results. It distills our experience and insight into prebuilt components, so clients can leapfrog generic issues and move confidently toward their objectives from day one.